Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (2024)

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is an American-Canadian Musical Animated children's television series created by Angela C. Santomero and produced by Fred Rogers Productions, 9 Story Media Group, and Out of the Blue Enterprises. The cartoon is based on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a children's television show created by Fred Rogers. The show debuted on September 3, 2012.

Starring Asher Bolduc-Theron as the current voice of Daniel Tiger.

Premise[]

The show takes place in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, the same setting of the puppet portion of the original Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It takes place years after the original show, when many of the original characters are older, married, and have children. The series follows five main characters, Daniel Tiger, son of the original Daniel Striped Tiger (the main protagonist and host), Katerina Kittycat, daughter of Henrietta puss*cat, O the Owl, nephew of X the Owl, Miss Elaina, daughter of Lady Elaine Fairchilde, and Prince Wednesday, the newest member of the royal family.

Each episode is made up of two fifteen minute episodes, each one having the same basic lesson, one that is based on one of the ideals that Fred Rogers taught.

On July 29, 2019, the series was renewed for a fifth season.

On August 20, 2021, the series was renewed for a sixth season, which premiered on September 5, 2022.^[1] A one-hour television movie titled Daniel Visits a New Neighborhood aired on June 20, 2022.^[2]

Characters[]

Characters from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood include Daniel Tiger, his little sister Margaret and their parents Mr. and Mrs. Tiger. Teacher Harriet is his kindergarten teacher and his classmates are Miss Elaina, O the Owl, Katerina, and Prince Wednesday. They ride a semi-sentient trolley known as "Trolley" retaining the design from Mister Rogers.

Tiger Family[]

• Daniel Tiger (voiced by Jake Beale, Devan Cohen, Keegan Hedley) – The host of the series. Daniel is a tiger cub who lives on Jungle Beach with his parents. In season 2, he became a big brother when Baby Margaret was born. His favorite toy is a blue stuffed tiger named Tigey, which he named after "Tigey the Adventure Tiger," his favorite storybook hero. Daniel normally wears a red zipper cardigan sweater hoodie and red sneakers (in contrast to Mister Rogers' blue sneakers). He differs in physical appearance from the character he is based on from the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood television show. In his house, the wardrobe and much of his home furnishings (such as the traffic light, shelves with the Neighborhood of Make-Believe models, and Picture Picture), are direct allusions to Mr. Rogers' studio house. He is allergic to peaches. His catchphrases are: "Grr-ific!", "Tiger-tastic!", "Ugga Mugga", "Wasn't that Grr-ific?" and "Grrrrrrrr!"^[3] He has been the mascot of Fred Rogers Productions since 2018.
• Mom Tiger (voiced by Heather Bambrick) – Daniel's mother. She is a carpenter because of the new job in the first episode of season 4.^[2] In the first episode of season 2, she was pregnant, and in the subsequent episode, she visited Dr. Anna and gave birth to Margaret. In Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood there was a "Collette Tiger" who referred to her grandfather (as Daniel does to his) as "grandpere".
• Dad Tiger (voiced by Ted Dykstra) – Daniel's father works at the clock factory where he maintains various clocks and is responsible for "chime time". He is also a photographer. He wears a blue cardigan sweater and blue sneakers. He is loosely based upon the Daniel Striped Tiger puppet from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a very shy orphan who lived inside a non-functioning grandfather clock. He mentions that he has a paternal grandmother named Margaret in the season 2 premiere.
• Margaret (voiced by Kira Gelineau) - Daniel's baby sister who was introduced in Season 2. Her favorite toy is Pandy, a stuffed panda.^[3] She is named after Daniel's favorite baby book, "Margaret's Music", and her great-grandmother with the same name.
• Grandpere Tiger (voiced by François Klanfer) – Daniel's grandfather ("grandpere" being French for "grandfather") who travels in his sailboat and has a French accent. He wears a blue pea coat and a blue beret. (The family tree in Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood diverges from that of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, in which Grandpere was actually the grandfather of Collette, and Daniel Striped Tiger was an orphan.) In the season 2 premiere, he tells Daniel that his mother was named Margaret.

Owl family[]

• O the Owl (voiced by Zackary Bloch, Stuart Ralston, Parker Lauzton, then Benjamin Hum) – A little blue owl with green sneakers. O lives with his uncle, X, in the Treehouse. He loves books and has books about everything in his room. His catchphrases include "Hoo hoo!" and "Nifty galifty!".
• X the Owl (voiced by Tony Daniels) – X is O's uncle. X's feathers are still the same dark blue color as they were in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He wears a green bowtie and brown loafers. He works at the neighborhood library. X's catchphrases are "How in the world are you?" and "Nifty galifty!"

Cat family[]

• Katerina Kittycat (voiced by Amariah Faulkner, then Jenna Weir) – Katerina is one of Daniel's classmates and lives with her mother, Henrietta puss*cat, in the treehouse and loves dancing. She is O the Owl's next-door neighbor. Her catchphrase is "meow-meow".
• Henrietta puss*cat (voiced by Teresa Pavlinek) – Katerina's mother. She is a supporting character who shares her love of dancing with her daughter.

Royal family[]

• Prince Wednesday (voiced by Nicholas Kaegi, Jaxon Mercey, then Callum Shoniker) – The Royal Family's youngest son who lives in the Castle. He is one of Daniel's four classmates and his best friend, has a rock collection, and often pretends to be various animals. He frequently uses the adjective "royal" to refer to objects in his possession and says Boop-she-boop-she-boo when he is happy.
• King Friday XIII (voiced by Jamie Watson) – Ruler of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, King Friday is married to Queen Sara and has two sons—Prince Tuesday and Prince Wednesday. His arrival is often preceded by trumpet fanfare, and he makes all the public announcements in the neighborhood. He enjoys bowling in his spare time, one of the rare instances he does not wear royal garb. He usually greets others with "Royal Greetings, royal greetings".
• Queen Sara Saturday (voiced by Catherine Disher) – King Friday's wife, Prince Tuesday's and Prince Wednesday's mother, and the aunt to Chrissie. She is a supporting character, not seen as often as the other members of the royal family.
• Prince Tuesday (voiced by Tommy Lioutas) – Prince Wednesday's older brother and King Friday's heir apparent. Prince Tuesday is Daniel Tiger's babysitter. He has lots of jobs, working at the neighborhood restaurant as a waiter, at the market as a cashier, as a crossing guard near the school, as a lifeguard at the neighborhood pool, and he also cleans Trolley.
• Chrissie (voiced by Matilda Gilbert) – Prince Tuesday and Wednesday's cousin, and King Friday and Queen Sara's niece. Her legs don't work on their own, so she has to use braces on her legs and crutches to support her while she walks. Occasionally she needs some help, but mostly she likes doing things for herself. She has a horse named Peaches. Chrissie is based on Chrissy Thompson, a regular visitor on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Museum-Go-Round family[]

• Miss Elaina (voiced by Addison Holley then Markeda McKay) – Miss Elaina enjoys doing things backwards and lives with her parents, Lady Elaine and Music Man Stan, in the Museum-Go-Round. She is one of Daniel's five classmates and often imagines space travel and robots. Her favorite toy is "Astrid the Astronaut" and her catchphrase is "Hiya, Toots" to Daniel Tiger.
• Music Man Stan (voiced by Jeremiah Sparks) – Miss Elaina's father. He owns the Neighborhood Music Shop, one of Daniel's favorite places to visit. He is also a firefighter with Dr. Anna and is in the musical duo "Bread and Jam" with Baker Aker. Music Man Stan is based on the actor Stanley Bennett Clay and his character he played on Christmastime with Mr. Rogers called The Music Man.
• Lady Elaine (voiced by Teresa Pavlinek) – Miss Elaina's mother. She works at the crayon factory and is a curator of the Museum-Go-Round.

Platypus family[]

• Jodi Platypus a.k.a. (JoJo Bean) (voiced by Laaibah Alvi) – A four-year-old platypus is shy around new friends but is silly when she has adjusted. She loves to play hide-and-seek and is resourceful with a well-stocked pocket of supplies. Her catchphrase is: "Yippee Skippy!"^[4]
• Dr. Platypus (voiced by Miku Graham) – "Dr. Plat" (or "Mama"), Jodi's mother, is the new town dentist and a painter. Sometimes, she calls her daughter Jodi (JoJo Bean).
• Teddy Platypus (voiced by Bryn McAuley) – A two-year-old twin to Leo and one of Jodi's younger brothers, Teddy is fast, rambunctious and loves to play hide-and-seek.
• Leo Platypus (voiced by Milo Torriel-Gibbon) – A two-year-old twin to Teddy and one of Jodi's younger brothers, Leo is careful and shy, but loves to cheer on his family.
• Nana Platypus (voiced by Elizabeth Hanna) – Nana, Jodi's grandmother, lives with her grandchildren Jodi, Teddy, and Leo. Nana works as a hairdresser.

Other neighbors[]

• Teacher Harriet (voiced by Shawne Jackson) – The schoolteacher who works at the neighborhood school. Her class consists of six students: Daniel Tiger, Miss Elaina, Prince Wednesday, O the Owl, Katerina Kittycat, and Jodi Platypus. Teacher Harriet the human may be based on the Mister Rogers character Harriet Elizabeth Cow from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe^{[citation needed]}.
• Baker Aker (voiced by John Filici) – Baker Aker owns and runs the neighborhood bakery. He is Cuban, as he says in a 2016 segment called "A Visit with Baker Aker." He has baked pastries for Daniel and his family on various occasions and plays with Music Man Stan in Bread & Jam. He's based on the Mister Rogers character Chef Brockett. Baker Aker's name is an homage to Neighbor Aber, Charles R. Aber, of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
• Mr. McFeely (voiced by David Newell) – Mr. McFeely is the neighborhood mailman. He is often on his bicycle delivering parcels, and arrives and departs by saying "Speedy delivery!" He is the only human character from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood to be brought to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.
• Dr. Anna (voiced by Laara Sadiq) – Dr. Anna is the neighborhood physician; she is Indian. She assisted Mom Tiger give birth to Baby Margaret, got new eyeglasses for Prince Wednesday, and has helped various characters with injuries or illnesses to recuperate. She is also a firefighter with Music Man Stan. She is allergic to peanuts. Though human, she shares several characteristics of the platypus family of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: their patriarch, Bill Platypus was the neighborhood physician and spoke with a foreign accent (Scottish, in his case), and his daughter was named Ana.
• Trolley – A red, autonomous, semi-sentient trolley which transports Daniel and his friends anywhere in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. It understands verbal commands clearly and replies by ringing its bell twice, which Daniel often imitates. It is the same trolley from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Episodes[]

For a complete list of episodes, see Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood By Season

Production[]

The series is produced by Fred Rogers Productions (formerly The Fred Rogers Company and Family Communications), 9 Story Media Group, and Out of the Blue Enterprises and music created at Voodoo Highway Music & Post.

Broadcast[]

In the United States, the show airs on PBS Kids and CBeebies (United States). In Canada, the show airs on CBC Kids and Family Jr. In Australia, the show airs on ABC Kids. On September 26 2022, the show aired in the UK on the British children's channel CBeebies with a British Dub.

References[]