Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
"Indecisive Prince/Fiji/Ballerina." Mr. Piper is a 1963 Canadian children's TV series. The series was created by Martin Andrews and Allan Wargon, who was also the producer.
Originally in color, this rare print is in black and white. (Lost media) This is the first ever full episode on the internet.
The show's host was a large Canadian opera tenor Alan Crofoot, dressed as a Pied Piper with a flower in his hat. He would introduce four segments in each half-hour programme:
Teletune/Tale Time - as a narrator of limited animation cartoons of fantasy stories (fairy tales)
Port of Call - presenter of films about children and events in other lands
Bag of Tricks - Crofoot performs magic tricks
Animal Farm - Farmyard characters telling the story of the day in miniature barnyard sets, featuring Rupert the Rat, Bessie the Bunny, Kookie the Kitten, Harriet Hen, Freddie Frog, Calvin (Rac)Coon and Charlotte Cow.
And: a joke with the parrot.
It was originally shown by CBC Television and also became well known in the United Kingdom, where it was repeated on ITV throughout the 1960s and 1970s, often as part of school summer holiday programming. In May/June 1972, some Mr. Piper episodes were transmitted, dubbed into Italian, by the RAI-TV network.
The series was never officially shown in the US, due to UK producers ITC deciding to make it a tax writeoff. They were having success with adventure series and Mr. Piper did not fit their plans. This was a great sadness to the producer and crew. The series aired worldwide but has become increasingly rare.
Producer Allan Wargon wrote a blog / book about the experience before his passing. Actor Alan Crofoot committed suicide in 1979 after a bad drug interaction (heart medication and alcohol).
While many of the fairy tale animations circulate via DVD bootlegs, this is the first full episode to hit the internet. One episode circulates as a bootleg DVD but I don't have it.
Transfer by Tom Oszman (TCMediaNow). A seemingly full (or nearly full) collection of prints was found at an American TV station. However, they were decayed with vinegar syndrome and in bad shape, and to date no one has been brave enough to try to transfer them. This episode was in better shape, and was transferred. (There were maybe 15-18 half hours in total.)
The travelogue and other segments may contain material which is dated and offensive by today's standards, although intended for a young audience at the time.
This project has been awhile in coming, and I'm glad that we've been able to finally bring one full episode to the internet, even if the others are not available at this time.
For more:
archive. org/details/mr-piper-pied-pipers-house-1
(If this version has frame rate issues at any point, the version at the above link won't.)
"Indecisive Prince/Fiji/Ballerina." Mr. Piper is a 1963 Canadian children's TV series. The series was created by Martin Andrews and Allan Wargon, who was also the producer.
Originally in color, this rare print is in black and white. (Lost media) This is the first ever full episode on the internet.
The show's host was a large Canadian opera tenor Alan Crofoot, dressed as a Pied Piper with a flower in his hat. He would introduce four segments in each half-hour programme:
Teletune/Tale Time - as a narrator of limited animation cartoons of fantasy stories (fairy tales)
Port of Call - presenter of films about children and events in other lands
Bag of Tricks - Crofoot performs magic tricks
Animal Farm - Farmyard characters telling the story of the day in miniature barnyard sets, featuring Rupert the Rat, Bessie the Bunny, Kookie the Kitten, Harriet Hen, Freddie Frog, Calvin (Rac)Coon and Charlotte Cow.
And: a joke with the parrot.
It was originally shown by CBC Television and also became well known in the United Kingdom, where it was repeated on ITV throughout the 1960s and 1970s, often as part of school summer holiday programming. In May/June 1972, some Mr. Piper episodes were transmitted, dubbed into Italian, by the RAI-TV network.
The series was never officially shown in the US, due to UK producers ITC deciding to make it a tax writeoff. They were having success with adventure series and Mr. Piper did not fit their plans. This was a great sadness to the producer and crew. The series aired worldwide but has become increasingly rare.
Producer Allan Wargon wrote a blog / book about the experience before his passing. Actor Alan Crofoot committed suicide in 1979 after a bad drug interaction (heart medication and alcohol).
While many of the fairy tale animations circulate via DVD bootlegs, this is the first full episode to hit the internet. One episode circulates as a bootleg DVD but I don't have it.
Transfer by Tom Oszman (TCMediaNow). A seemingly full (or nearly full) collection of prints was found at an American TV station. However, they were decayed with vinegar syndrome and in bad shape, and to date no one has been brave enough to try to transfer them. This episode was in better shape, and was transferred. (There were maybe 15-18 half hours in total.)
The travelogue and other segments may contain material which is dated and offensive by today's standards, although intended for a young audience at the time.
This project has been awhile in coming, and I'm glad that we've been able to finally bring one full episode to the internet, even if the others are not available at this time.
For more:
archive. org/details/mr-piper-pied-pipers-house-1
(If this version has frame rate issues at any point, the version at the above link won't.)
![Star Wars [1978] Duel at Death Star Car Racing Set Toy Commercial Kenner FunDimensions Power Passers](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sNcz_P2Ug_E/mqdefault.jpg "Star Wars [1978] Duel at Death Star Car Racing Set Toy Commercial Kenner FunDimensions Power Passers
(1978) Star Wars Fundimensions - Duel at Death Star Car Racing Set toy commercial
Kenner / Power Passers
Here is a rare commercial from 1978, in the early days of Star Wars toys. Fundimensions was a division of General Mills, the same parent company that Kenner had. This Star Wars-themed racing set was meant to capture the action-packed thrills of the dogfight and chase through the Death Stars trench. In 1978, maybe this was about as close as a kid might come.
Fundimensions was a division of General Mills, primarily known in the 1970s and 1980s for managing toy brands like Lionel trains, MPC (Model Products Corporation) model kits (including Airfix), and other hobby items, acting as a fun-focused part of the larger food conglomerate before being sold off, with Lionel eventually going to General Mills Spin Master.")
