'Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe' documentary: The impact Ernie Coombs made with 'kindness'
"Dad is still really very much in the hearts and minds of Canadians. All these years later," Coombs' daughter Cathie LeFort said
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
In a emotional, but fun and heartwarming documentary, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe on Prime Video, the magic of Canada's children's entertainer Ernie Coombs, known as Mr. Dressup, is now being shared with the world.
The documentary, from London, Ont., filmmaker Robert McCallum, chronicles Coombs' life in the U.S., to his journey to Canada and eventually the 4,000 episodes of Mr. Dressup.
Watch Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe with a 30-day free trial, then $9.99/month or $99/year for Amazon Prime
McCallum has spent the last 20 years of his life making pop culture documentaries, with topics ranging from Nintendo to metal band Kittie, but it was actually his kids that led him to making a film about Mr. Dressup.
"They weren't necessarily curious what dad watched when he was growing up, but dad was certainly interested in showing them," McCallum told Yahoo Canada. "That usually never pans out at all."
"But Mr. Dressup was completely different. They were hooked, I didn't even have to say anything. From that theme song alone Mr. Dressup had them sold right from beginning to end. ... They were interested in the crafts. They were interested in the drawing. They were interested in the Tickle Trunk, Casey and Finnegan. All the same things that ... live in that special place in your mind and memory still works today on kids. I thought, oh my goodness, this is not just a product of its time. It's something that still has the power to enlightened imaginations today."
'Dad is still really very much in the hearts and minds of Canadians'
In order to get this documentary off the ground McCallum had to get Coombs' kids, Chris Coombs and Cathie LeFort, on board with his idea.
As LeFort recalled, they spent about an hour together on a Zoom call where McCallum was talking about his feelings about Mr. Dressup and the "passion" he had for the show.
"My brother and I kind of did a reconnect briefly afterwards and we both just said, 'Wow, he's the one. For sure,'" LeFort told Yahoo Canada. "We just had so much of a sense of trust with Rob."
"He's a very genuine person and his integrity just shone through. We just knew that he would be the right person to tell dad's story."
Watch Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe with a 30-day free trial, then $9.99/month or $99/year for Amazon Prime
That passion that McCallum has for Coombs and Mr. Dressup is something you absolutely pick up on in the documentary, weaved beautifully into this historical narrative.
McCallum also includes messages from notable Canadians, including Michael J. Fox, Eric McCormack, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Barenaked Ladies and Yannick Bisson, sharing how important Mr. Dressup was for them.
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe had its world premiere Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where LeFort was also able to get first-hand responses to the film from people in the audience.
"My takeaway from that was, everybody had their own connection to Mr. Dressup. Everybody had their own individual experience seeing the documentary. But collectively, we had this iconic experience of nostalgia and getting back to the way things used to be," LeFort said.
"For me, it was really, really emotional, but I just had such a feeling of pride being able to share that, to have people understand the whole story, and kind of a validation of the fact that dad is still really very much in the hearts and minds of Canadians. All these years later."
LeFort explained that when she was younger, she understood that her dad's job allowed her family to have a lot of great experiences. But as she got older and became a mother, and then a grandmother, she really understood how important the messages of Mr. Dressup are for children.
"I could see how important it was not just to my generation, but to this next generation, because my kids are all 30 and over now, and old enough to remember watching Mr. Dressup," LeFort said.
"In my life now, I'm a grandparent, and I remember him as 'Grampy' to my kids, and the one thing I always admired and I can feel myself channeling him when I'm with my grandkids, is remembering the silliness. Remembering the child inside and the playfulness, and just being present, and just being present with the kids, being present with my family and those experiences."
Friendship between Ernie Coombs and Fred Rogers
One of the particularly interesting moments in Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is how the film explores the close relationship Coombs had with Fred Rogers. In fact, Rogers is actually a critical part of why Coombs ended up in Canada in the first place.
"I love that they were friends for so long and remained friends even after their careers went in different directions," McCallum said. "Because in this industry, it's so easy to be friends during summer camp when you're making these movies, which is what it's like sometimes, ... and then we go our own separate ways."
"Because it was a philosophy and an approach to children's entertainment and education that connected them. ... That's something that kept them together throughout the years.
LeFort was a year old when her parents came to Canada from the U.S., she knew Rogers was her dad's best man at their wedding, but a lot of that relationship she lived vicariously through her parents.
"One memory that really sticks out to me, ... I went to Pittsburgh on a trip with my mother, back there to see her family, and we were upstairs on the second floor of our friend's house and Fred arrived," LeFort said. "It was just his voice, hearing his voice, his iconic voice that everybody would recognize, but he had so much warmth in meeting him that time."
"Later on, when my mum had passed away, I remember him calling just to offer some comfort and condolences to the family. I really had no ongoing relationship with him, but I felt just that genuine closeness and comfort. It was like he gave me a big hug through the phone when we had experienced that tragedy in our family.
Lesson of 'kindness'
When it comes to what LeFort was able to learn from her dad, the one thing that sticks out is "kindness."
"Always be kind, always trust that people are good and look for those qualities and those good things, because they're there in everybody," she said. "My dad's mother, my grandmother, who I had the experience of having in my life until I was a teenager, never said an unkind word in the entire time I knew her, to anyone, to any creature."
"I think dad learned that and imparted that to us as children. Respect for people, kindness to other people, to the environment, animals. Just a general approach to situations with respect and trust."
For McCallum, what really hit him in terms of wanting to make Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe was "how long we've been living in a world without Mr. Dressup."
"People like Mr. Dressup ... just lead with kindness, not off a soapbox, but genuinely showed you love and communal compassion for people that had differences, and highlighted them because they were different," McCallum said. "We don't have that anymore."
"It means everything that the world gets to see a part of Canada that has defined our nation. ... As a Canadian, I'm proud that we get to share that story."
Where to watch 'Mr Dressup' documentary
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is available to stream on Prime Video
