Mister Rogers Google Doodle Invites You To Be Its Neighbor

In addition to the Doodle, Google will launch a behind-the-scenes video exploring the making of the Doodle as well as a Mister Rogers exhibit on Google Arts & Culture.

And he's animated, no less.

51 years ago, on September 21, 1967, Fred Rogers recorded the very first episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood at WQED Pittsburgh.

If you visit Google today, you'll see a friendly neighborhood face.

The video shows a spry Rogers riding the Trolley into town, greeting children and even turning a sad boy's frown upside down with some slick origami. However, children continue to discover the show through reruns, which are still broadcast on some PBS stations.

This whimsical Google Doodle is the ideal capper to a Mister Rogers-filled year. "He encouraged us to find positive ways to deal with our feelings, to treat others with respect and kindness, and to appreciate the world around us".

When Fred Rogers was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in February of 1999, he said that fame was "a four-letter word like tape or zoom or face or pain or life or love".

It's a lovely day in the neighborhood to celebrate Fred Rogers, one of the most beloved figures in television history.

The Doodle ends with Rogers teaching one such lesson: "You help to make each day a special day by just your being yourself". Rogers died in 2003 at age 74, but the iconic children's entertainer is still with us: all 856 episodes of his classic show are available to watch for free on livestreaming site Twitch.