Production to begin on Prime Time documentary on long time Pickering entertainer ‘Mr. Dressup’

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Published September 29, 2022 at 9:47 am

Ernie Coombs, 67, celebrates with a young fan after the taping of the final Mr. Dressup show in Toronto Wednesday Feb. 14, 1996. Coombs, 73, a friend to generations of Canadian children as Mr. Dressup, died early Tuesday Sept. 18, 2001 in hospital following a stroke a week ago. As the news spread across the country, friends, colleagues and former kids remembered a quiet man with thinning grey hair and round, dark-rimmed glasses, who was a fixture on CBC-TV for more than 30 years. The Tickle Trunk is forever closed. (CP PHOTO ARCHIVE/Frank Gunn)

Prime Video is pulling a new documentary out of its tickle trunk.

The Amazon-owned streaming service says production begins this fall on the feature-length look at the legacy of Canadian children’s entertainer Ernie Coombs, better known as Mr. Dressup.

The as-yet-untitled project will trace the origins of “Mr. Dressup,” which saw Coombs draw on an endless array of costumes from his bottomless trunk over the course of the show’s 4,000-episode run on CBC.

The show was in production for 29 years, ending in 1996. Coombs, who was a long time resident of Pickering, died in 2001 at the age of 73.

Amazon says the film will include never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with series puppeteers and musicians, as well as recall Coombs’ friendship with Fred Rogers.

The project, which is being produced by Marblemedia, will be released exclusively on Prime Video in 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2022.

The Canadian Press

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