Google Doodle Celebrates Mister Rogers

The legacy of Fred Rogers continues to shine, thanks to a new Google Doodle that has been dedicated to the beloved educational entertainment icon. As you can see below, the image is striking a deep chord with fans, who overwhelmingly agree that the pictures conveys a treasured piece of their shared childhood experience.

If you are someone who grew up on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood as a kid, this image will be a fond reminder. In it’s own simple animated way, the image captures the positivity and enthusiasm Fred Rogers brought to the screen, a vintage aesthetic that reminds us of the era in which Rogers ruled kids TV, as well as the wide and very diverse range of kids he was able to reach.

Mister Rogers has seen something of a resurgence in pop-culture this past year, thanks in part to the release of the highly acclaimed documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?. That film by Morgan Neville does an in-depth breakdown of just how important of a figure Fred Rogers was beyond his onscreen persona to the actual battles for child education he fought, going so far as to the US Congress to advocate for PBS funding, and does so very successfully.

These days, the world of Mister Rogers still lives on, thanks to the animated spinoff show Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. The animated program has been around since 2012, and has captured the imagination of millions of children, across multiple generations. Daniel Tiger conveys many of the same life lessons and educational materials to kids, in the trademark friendly neighbor tone of Fred Rogers’ work. Between the accolades, the animated series, and the documentary, Mister Rogers seems to have all necessary components of an enduring legacy.

You can catch Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood on PBS Kids; the documentary Would You Be My Neighbor is now available for streaming or home video.