An important part of the original Mr. Rogers’ show was the opening shot of zooming into his miniature neighborhood set. Pee Wee’s Playhouse used a similar device in its opening shots as well. There is nothing quite as charming and engaging as a miniature world of make believe and the Green Room is determined to follow in the steps of the greats!
Building the Buildings
The first and most important building was to find the house that would be Mr. Rogers’ home. There is a company that actually made that very model building. We acquired it, but it had to be slightly modified to match the original. from left to right (original-model-our adaptation).
Mr. Rogers’ home now is surrounded by fruit bearing orange trees. We think he’d like that!
The main “Green Room” green house was next in line. It had to be something fairly fun and innovative. And there was a wonderful Googie inspired MidMod house HO scale model from the 1960s that fit the bill perfectly… once it was painted lime green.
The remaining main character next door neighbors homes were all specially customized. Best gal pal Ruby’s house is done in red and pink colors. Colonel Bombay is maroon-white-and-blue. And Billy the Beachcomber lives in an A frame tiki shack surrounded by palm trees.
Then there was an entire neighborhood blocks and city buildings to make, paint, and customize… Some were vintage HO models from her dad’s train set that Mary-Margaret grew up with. These were old German HO model house buildings repainted and spruced up to look fresh and new.
Stay tuned for Part 5 with some wonderful detail shots of the final set.
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