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Ernie Coombs was an American cartoonist cum television personality who was hired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to appear as a character named Mr. Dressup in a children's program, "Butternut Square". While the show became popular, Mr. Dressup had the most appeal and got his own series within a few years. The opening animation was always interesting - this was animated for many years by crack CBC staffer Gary Pearson, who did a great job of duplicating Coombs drawing style and putting it in motion.

The two puppets Casey and Finnegan were great characters for Mr. Dressup to play off. Casey, the naive little boy with a slight British accent and his silly dog Finnegan, who made us all laugh. Coombs style was simple, tasteful and respectful. It wasn't the zany, condescending, almost lewd style some kid's programs, like "Tree House", "Soupy Sales", "Uncle Floyd" and others embraced. He, Casey and Finnegan would have a challenging craft, or dress up for a fun little skit, but it never got lascivious, or offensive. I have to take my Napoleon hat off to him for that!

CBC always recognized the importance of quality children's programming, with shows like "Chez Helene", "Friendly Giant", the first incarnation of "Mister Rogers" and later on "Sesame Street", "Fred Penner" and so on. Puppeteer Judith Lawrence retired and Coombs died in the mid-1990s, effectively ending production. However, the show remains extremely popular with kids in reruns, as CBC occasionally shows them today.

Mr dressup is the greatest guy I know. when he died in 2001, I may not have been crying on the outside, but on the inside, i was bawling like a 3 year old.

So, Mr. dressup is your average neighbor who loves children (And not in the way we automatically assume today) he lives in a house, and he knows tons of people, including puppets, children, and other people. He usually invites them over (or they just pop up in his house) and they make crafts, dress up in costumes from the tickle trunk, or sing. and even sometimes watch a short video that was filmed in the 70's. all in all, Mr dressup ends the show with the legendary line, "till next time, bye-bye, from, whoever is with him, and me, Mr. dressup! bye. then we get to hear a jaunty piano tune which fills any Canadian with joy.

10/10

There are many TV shows from my childhood in the 1980s that still remain highly memorable to me. One of these shows was Mr. Dressup, one of the many quality Canadian children's programs at the time. I also loved Polka Dot Door, Friendly Giant, Profiles of Nature, Under the Umbrella Tree and Today's Special. Of those, though, Mr. Dressup was undoubtedly my favourite.

When Mr. Dressup came on, nothing, and I mean nothing, could take my attention away Mr. Dressup and his friends. While they didn't view TV as a babysitter, my parents were thankful for this, for it encouraged my creative mind and enthusiasm to learn.

One of the great Canadian icons of my youth was Mr. Dressup. I forgot all about Mr. Rodgers and Captain Kangaroo and Uncle Bobby. Mr. Dressup was where it was at when I was a kid. Ernie Combs was truly a gem to kids who were born between 1967-1996. He seemed to know exactly what kids would relate to. I always related to Casey and Finnigan. I was quite upset when the puppeteer who voiced Casey and Finnigan retired but I knew that everyone, no matter what the profession, retires when the time comes. The thing that I'll miss the most about Mr. Dressup is his smile and the way that he made me feel everytime I watched the show. I'll miss you Mr. Dressup and I hope that you'll still be doing your show in heaven. :)

This was a great children's show. I'm still very saddened that Ernie Coombs passed away because he was a fantastic TV show host who you could tell was an incredibly nice man who genuinely cared about children and enjoyed doing the show.

It was a pretty simple format with Coombs as "Mr. Dressup" showing kids how to do drawings, doing simple crafts, talking with his puppet friends Casey and Finnegan, and of course always putting on one of his costumes from his "tickle trunk".

I wish there was still a simple show with a host like Mr. Dressup today, but at least a ton of these episodes were made so hopefully they're available on DVD or will be replayed by CBC forever!

Children nowadays don't have good shows like this anymore. I still wonder why?

Shows like this have proven to be successful so why not continue the trend?

Growing up in metro Detroit, I watched as much CBC content as PBS. Obviously, there was Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers', but I also could watch Canadian Sesame Street (second language was French, not Spanish), The Friendly Giant, and Mr. Dressup. I had mittens that looked like dogs and I pretended they were Finnegan puppets. Ah, when life was fun and simple. Good memories. I need to find some videos now.

Does anybody remember the episode about a huge yellow duck who was going on and on about how he was tired of being an 'outside duck', and now he wanted to become an 'inside duck'. It was a total riot. This giant yellow duck was trying to fit himself into a box, trying to swim in an umbrella filled with rainwater. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen on children's TV. I'm trying to find the video. If you have any ideas please let me know at kizmetkat999@hotmail.com. Thanks. Does anybody remember the episode about a huge yellow duck who was going on and on about how he was tired of being an 'outside duck', and now he wanted to become an 'inside duck'. It was a total riot. This giant yellow duck was trying to fit himself into a box, trying to swim in an umbrella filled with rainwater. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen on children's TV. I'm trying to find the video. If you have any ideas please let me know at kizmetkat999@hotmail.com. Thanks.

When I arrived home from school this is what I watched. I was informative, fun and realistic. Children have emotions and don't know how to react and this show took that on.

I am thankful that Ernie stayed in Canada and developed this show which had much more impact that anything Mr Rodgers did (and he never stole a traffic light).

The only thing negative to me as a child was the owl. He scared the hell out of me.

I remember it fondly, the two puppets Casey and Finnegan, that big trunk, etc. This along w/ the Friendly Giant were just a fine pairing of great kids shows back when. There wasn't much about it that changed-same ideas, songs, characters, which I think is a must for that early-childhood kind of viewing. Continuity counts.

Felt bad when I heard he'd died, about a year or so after the Friendly Giant had too. Both were certainly icons of my youth. Something relaxing, approachable and memorable about these shows as compared to Sesame Street for example. You didn't get pounded over the head w/ graphics and stunts, just gentle puppets, themes and the like. Very good stuff.

This was a cool show. I use to watch it all the time when I was younger. It's a really good show for children. The puppets were neat too. It They need to make more shows like this for children. If you ever see a rerun of this show I recommend your kids watching this show. It's a great show for kids.

Mr. Dressup was and continues to be a wonderful educational show for young children. It is timeless, teaching the basics such as manners, courtesy and encouraging imagination and creativity.

There is so much junk on television for kids these days, with the focus more on entertainment and ratings and $$$. Mr Dressup is definitely recommended and refreshing watching. Children will find that he talks to them, not AT them - that he is not interested in the 25 second sound bite or being "popular".

And on a personal note - I will miss him greatly. He was inspirational and made generations of Canadians better people. A hero...

Growing up I watched quite a few shows that I still remember fondly. "The Polka Dot Door" springs to mind as does "Sesame Street". But nothing quite calmed me down and made me listen quite so much as "Mr. Dressup". I've always wanted my own Tickle Trunk and the desire to live in a treehouse still hasn't been flushed from my system. I'll miss this show. I'll miss the others as well, but not in the same way. All the other shows were shows that I watched in my childhood. "Mr. Dressup" was a *part* of my childhood.

Right now even in my teen years, I remember those precious toddler years when I was still learning my abcs. Every morning I would watch Mr. Dressup with my friends and everytime we watched it, it was like a magical spell was put over us. We watched quietly without speaking a word and I think I learned from this show more than any other kids show I've ever seen. When I get a holiday and watch the present children's programs, I see shows that do not benefit the children's learning in any way. The shows are meant for entertainment and I found a small increase of violence in the shows. But even if they stopped filming Mr. Dressup, it is still broadcast on TV and his kind and loving spirit is still greatly appreciated in Canadian children's television.

And as for Mr. Dressup, thank you for all those wonderful years of all those crafts, songs and stories. I loved this show even more than Sesame Street or any other show in my early years.

When I was a wee lass living in the sunny tropical city of Ottawa Canada, I waited until 9:30 in the morning with bated breath. You see that was the time that Mr Dressup aired. He was always there with a new story or a new idea, or just all around fun. It inspired me to be imaginative. It inspired me to be creative and not just plod through life. It taught me that you can make up your own friends and have them live in trees. It taught me everything.

I will miss him very much. Everyone in Canada, who grew up with a TV will. I am glad that CBC still shows it, so I can hopefully show my Children this show.

RIP Mr Dressup.

This was the best children's show of all time. Even as a teen, if I was at home in the morning I loved watching it. The show gave a sense of nostalgia for all in their latter years and enjoyment in the earlier years. It's unfortunately he could not continue forever.

Before there was Barney, Sesame Street, or even the latest sensation Arthur there was a children's program that entertained generations of children. This show was called "Mr. Dressup" and entertained children for 29 years. As a child I remember fond memories of this series. This show was one of the truly greatest in not just Canadian television but internationally as well. This show may be gone from the networks but if you live in Canada you can still catch it along with another great Canadian children's gem that is "The Friendly Giant" back to back on the Canadian cable channel SHOWCASE.