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Clip description
The fourth and current version of the opening Play School titles run and then presenter Justine Clarke uses a monkey in the cardboard jungle ‘Opposites Calendar’, and a song ('Monkey up a tree’) to introduce the concept of up and down.
Curator’s notes
Play School has evolved over its long life and this clip reflects some of those subtle changes. While overall simplicity, warm personal interaction, direct addresses to camera and use of music continue (and are all evident in this clip), the production values are higher than they were in previous decades in line with increasingly sophisticated audience expectations.
Early television programs were made on lower budgets and the sets, particularly for children’s shows were very simple with little detail or design. The presenters in Play School – Trains Thursday (1969, clip one), for instance, simply sat on the floor in front of a cardboard wall. Contemporary children, however, are used to colourful sets and detailed props, such as the cardboard jungle seen in this clip.
Remaining faithful to its philosophy of didactic content, Play School has constantly modernised itself, responding to its audience’s expectations. This evolution is evident, from the creation of a new, fully animated opening sequence featuring the series’ easily recognisable toy characters – as opposed to the rudimentary animation seen in Play School – Trains Thursday (1969, clip one) and Play School – Bags Wednesday (1984, clip one) – to increased production values – including sets, props, costumes and music – comparable to those seen in any of the show’s numerous domestic and international competitors.
