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I haven't seen this show for many years, but I remember it vividly. My favourite skit was the Captain's and the Town Clown's retelling of Jack in the Beanstalk, with the silent Clown in charge of the sound effects. As I recall, there were different bits of dialogue for each of the characters ("Hello, my name is Jack!" for Jack, which the clown repeats throughout Captain Kangaroo's retelling of the story, and "Fee Fi Fo Fum" for the giant, and something like "Hello, who's there?" for the Giant's wife and Jack's mother)which appear to come out of the three cups on the table that the clown is using. As usual with the Town Clown, everything went wrong at the end, probably because Keeshan and the shows producers realized that Jack would never say "Hello, my name is Jack!" to his own mother.
Canis_Lupus
Rare in all time is one placed upon this earth who truly makes glad the heart of childhood. The Captain is most assuredly one of these most special people. Captain Kangaroo was a dear friend to me growing up. Captain Kangaroo stayed true to the core convictions of promoting positive self esteem, placing high value on education and stressing humane ideals of caring in childhood. Captain Kangaroo lived his lofty honorable child mental and physical health centered ideals his entire life.When networks tried to modernize or update (Bastardize) the honorable core values and morals of the original Captain Kangaroo shows he rightly had the gonad's to tell the people he would have nothing to do with the new mess they were creating. Captain Kangaroo was not just some lame dude doing a children's show. Captain Kangaroo really cared about the young people he spoke to. Captain Kangaroo always behaved as if the children watching his shows were placed directly in his care during the time spent together via Television. Captain Kangaroo's ship was both a ship of state advocating on issues affecting young people and a battleship that fought to protect the hearts and minds of young people from the perverse things this society exposes its children to in the name of generating huge profits. Captain Kangaroo dared stand up for the children and in my heart that gives him the heart of a real captain as such he has my undying respect.Few people with the possible exception of Mr. Fred Rodgers had a honest respect for children that was the equal of that held by Captain Kangaroo. Captain Kangaroo gave all his children a moral anchor that if used properly insured they would grow up to be fine honorable upstanding people. There really are not enough words to define exactly how much I thank Captain Kangaroo for making my heart glad in childhood so I will just say thank you Captain Kangaroo, Mr Moose, Grandfather Clock, Dancing Bear and Mr Green Jeans and others for being part of my life in the 1960's.Thank you Captain!
gazzo-2
I donno, Sesame Street was okay, but as a little kid, THIS was the show for me. I loved the dropping ping pong balls, Mr Moose, the Tom Terrific toons(remember THEM?), Dancing Bear-they used to do these real pre-MTV pieces with him-flying around to the tune of 'Up Up and Away' or 'Green Green', the show had some unique animation bits and overall a good message too.Keeshan, Mr Greenjeans and Mr Bainter were the best of course; its a shame that they don't make things like this anymore. Myself I miss it and would want my kids to watch it too. Beats the heck outta Barney any day of the week...
**** outta ****
Marta
If you were a child in the 50's, 60's, 70's and even early 80's, you probably watched Captain Kangaroo. Howdy Doody was king of the very early days of TV, and Bob Keeshan was a part of that since he portrayed Clarabell till 1953. But when he left Howdy and came up with a show of his own, he managed to surpass Howdy. For the kids of the mid to late 50's and the 60's, "Captain Kangaroo" reached epic proportions in our lives. We were new to the medium of TV and what it could do, and it seems impossible to use words to describe how wonderful the Captain and the show were. I watched it every morning; when the first strains of his trademark theme song came on, you saw the door to his world and all the small windows on that door that he opened at random to give you a peek beyond into the Captain's place. Then, the door itself was opened and the camera took us inside. It was a thrill that never got old for me. The Captain read stories to us; Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel; Stone Soup; Curious George; and on and on. Mr. GreenJeans came by with a different animal every show, and those animals were a source of wonder and laughter to me. They didn't stick to a script, but had their own mind and did their own thing. Instead of cutting to something else, we saw the animal either misbehave, or sit on Mr. GreenJeans head, or jump over the Captain, or be chased around the set by Mr. GreenJeans while the Captain laughed. It was a natural and easy going place. Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit were there in those early days, but as the show progressed through the 60's and into the 70's, they grew up a little and became a satirical reflection of the time. Mr. Moose constantly tricked the Captain, who fell for his jokes every time and usually had a batch of ping pong balls fall on him. Bunny Rabbit never said a word but managed to get his point across with perfect accuracy. Grandfather Clock was always there to complement the ensemble, and later Dennis appeared, a neighborhood boy who was a handfull. Magic Drawing Board was a source of consternation and mystery to me when I was very young; how could a drawing emerge when no one was standing there drawing it? After I grew up a little I knew how it was done, but that didn't negate the effect. The BananaMan was strange and wierd and wonderful, and each time he showed up the Captain's place became surreal; we were introduced to someone who was not as he (or she) appeared. The juggler who frantically balanced plates on poles was another semi-regular. The Captain and his troup would put on silent skits; my first introduction to pantomime and how effective a tableau without words can be. As a whole, the Captain's place was where I wanted to live, and each day the Captain gave me and millions of other kids just what we wanted.Of course, this show could not last forever, but it certainly seemed like it did. Almost 30 years of the original Captain and his place were broadcast. In later years Cosmo Allegretti, the man behind the puppets and Magic Drawing Board, came out of the darkness to protray Dennis and various other characters, and Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum would play every instrument known to man for us as Mr. GreenJeans. He would evolve into a complete character on his own, aiding Mr. Moose and the others in their tricks on the Captain and sometimes figuring in his own stories. Bill Cosby joined the show for a few minutes each day in the late 70's. Special acts and sometimes actual stars showed up; Magic Drawing Board would paint us a picture to a Barbara Streisand song. Special episodes were filmed, the most interesting of these was "The Missing Paint Mystery", about a small island in the Caribbean that has to paint it's houses once a year or risk bad luck, and how the Captain and his crew helped find the paint that had disappeared and saved the day (I would love to have a copy of this if anyone out there has it). The show has been resurrected in the late 90's with a new, younger captain, but no one can ever take the place of Bob Keeshan, and frankly it seems silly to try.These characters formed a complete family, and we were a part of that because the Captain made it so. I miss the Captain and his show; I wish all the old shows were being rebroadcast on cable somewhere, because I would watch it still. He and his characters occupy a special place in my heart and I would love to thank him for making my childhood a magical place.