Polka Dot Door
| Polka Dot Door | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Children's television series |
| Created by | Peggy Liptrott |
| Based on | BBC's Play School |
| Developed by | Dr. Vera Good Peggy Liptrott L. Ted Coneybeare Marnie Patrick Roberts Dr. Ada Schermann Dick Derhodge Pat Patterson Dodi Robb |
| Written by | Pat Patterson Dodi Robb Jed MacKay Emily Hearn Fran Handman Ian Ritchie Susan Murgatroyd Nancy Crystal Lori Hauser Anne McCourt Clive Endersby Mary MacKay-Smith Carmel Suttor L. Ted Coneybeare |
| Directed by | Peggy Liptrott (1971) Ian Morris Susan Murgatroyd (1979–1984) David Moore (1983; 1985–1993) Douglas Williams (1987) |
| Presented by | Various; See Article |
| Theme music composer | Pat Patterson and Dodi Robb |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 22 |
| No. of episodes | 383 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Dr. Vera Good (1971–1972) |
| Producer(s) | Peggy Liptrott (1971) L. Ted Coneybeare (1972–1984) Jed MacKay (1985–1993) |
| Location(s) | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Running time | 28:50 |
| Production company(s) | TVOntario |
| Distributor | TVOntario |
| Release | |
| Original network | TVOntario |
| Original release | 1971 – 1993 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Polka Dot Shorts and Gisèle's Big Backyard |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Polka Dot Door is a Canadian children's television series which was produced by the Ontario Education Communications Authority (later known as TVOntario) from 1971–1993. The series features two hosts who acknowledged and presented directly to the home viewing audience.
The content of the shows was generally geared towards education and creativity. Each week of episodes focused on a single theme with each weekday assigned a different "motif" in which the theme was explored in different ways (For example, Tuesdays were "Dress-Up Day" in which the hosts would use costumes to explore the theme).
One of the most well-known elements of the series was "Polkaroo": a mythical character whose name combines the words "polka dot" and "kangaroo". Normally played by the male host in costume, Polkaroo would appear to the female host to perform a pantomime; upon the second host's return, they would typically express disappointment when informed that they had once again missed Polkaroo. In earlier years, Polkaroo appeared just once per week on "Imagination Day", although due to the character's popularity additional appearances were added later in the show's run.
Another feature of the show was "looking through the polka-dot-door." This feature of the show, usually on "Finding-Out Day," was unique in that the camera would zoom in to a special dot on the door, which would open up to reveal a short educational film.
Polka Dot Door was created and developed by a team of employees from TVOntario, hired and led by original series producer and director Peggy Liptrott.
Significant contributors to the creation and development of the series in 1971 included executive producer Vera Good, who laid the conceptual foundation of the show, educational supervisor Marnie Patrick Roberts, educational consultant L. Ted Coneybeare, script writers and composers Pat Patterson and Dodi Robb, animator Dick Derhodge (who designed the familiar opening/closing animation) and Dr. Ada Schermann, a professor at the prestigious Institute of Child Study in Toronto who was consulted in the early stages of Polka Dot Door's development and is responsible for giving the show its name.
New episodes of Polka Dot Door originally aired on TVOntario Monday to Friday beginning in the fall of 1971 until the show's cancellation in 1993, with reruns running in constant rotation both on weekdays and weekends well into the 1990s.
The show itself was an adaptation of the BBC children's show Play School. Initially many aspects and concepts of Play School were licensed by TVOntario for use on Polka Dot Door, including designs of some of the stuffed animals used in the show (which were similar to those used in Play School as well as educational film inserts/segments which were shown to viewers "Through the Arched Window" on Play School and "Through the Polka Dot Door" on Polka Dot Door.
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