Google's feel-good tribute to 'Mister Rogers' is melting hearts


It’s been more than 15 years since his death in February 2003, but Fred Rogers is undeniably the man of the hour right now.

The beloved children’s TV host has recently inspired a documentary (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?), a series of stamps, and an upcoming film in which he’ll be played by Tom Hanks (2019’s You Are My Friend).

Now he’s scored his very own Google Doodle in honor of a special anniversary only the most avid Rogers fans would know. Sept. 21, 2018, marks 51 years since the first episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was filmed, though it wouldn’t actually air until Feb. 19, 1968.

Visitors to the search engine are being treated to a kid-friendly (and big-kid-friendly) stop-motion animated short with a soundtrack of Rogers’s famous vocals to “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and featuring cameos from Neighborhood of Make-Believe favorites like King Friday XIII.

The video also includes a feel-good message of self-acceptance.

“You help to make each day a special day by just your being yourself,” Rogers says. “There’s nobody else in the whole world who’s exactly like you, and people can like you exactly as you are.”

If that made you reach for a Kleenex, trust that you’re not alone.

Nicely played, Google. Nicely played.

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