Google Doodle celebrates "Mister Rogers"

On Friday, Google celebrated the 51st anniversary of the day Fred Rogers recorded the very first episode of his classic children's show, "Mister Rogers & Neighborhood". The video animated by Google Doodle, animated in stop motion, recreates the opening of the show, with Rogers' voice singing his iconic opening song, "Won & # 39; t You Be My Neighbor?" The video ends with children at home watching "Mr. Rogers' neighborhood" on television.

The video also shows a diverse group of kids with Rogers, including a wheelchair kid. Rogers, an ordained pastor who studied early childhood education and musical composition, was known for celebrating diversity on his show, which was groundbreaking at the time.

Mobile application users can watch the video here.

"Mr. Rogers' neighborhood" was premiered on PBS in February 1968, with the civil rights movement in full swing and the tensions following desegregation high. Rogers hired actor and singer François Clemmons to play at Clemmons officer. Clemmons broke new ground by becoming one of the first African-Americans with a recurring role in a children's television series. During a 1969 episode, at a time when some pools were still separate, Rogers invited Clemmons to cool off in a plastic pool with him.

Clemmons said "CBS Sunday Morning" of the moment"I thought it was" Civil Rights Light ", that water pool was so insignificant, I did not really understand the impact of the symbolism, that so many people see it and totally understand it. "

Clemmons remembers: "He walked with me and showed me the tree, the clock, the castle, and I thought everything was fine, but there was a part of me that was thinking, what does this have to do with me? I am a ghetto boy! I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, the steel mill. The guys I grew up with played. They drank. They did other things not very positive, but they did not play with the puppets. "One day, Clemmons understood Rogers' message.

"During this segment we made eye contact and said," You know, I love you as you are. You know, you make every day a special day. And I love you as you are. "And something inside me went on, as it lit up right away. me!

"No man ever told me that he loved me and I knew he was thinking it – I knew he was thinking it!" said Clemmons.

The recent documentary "Won & # 39; t You Be My Neighbor?" explored the life and career of Rogers. Filmmaker Morgan Neville said about Rogers: "I think what he was trying to do is teach us to be human, that new media was coming, television." He recognized something from the moment to be raised by this thing, and that someone must have used it as a tool to help the children. "

Rogers died in 2003. Neville says that the sweet message of tolerance and love of television personality is needed more than ever.