Speedy Delivery profiles McFeely

“Speedy Delivery” A Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Documentary by Paul Germain Thursday, 8 p.m. Regent Square Theater 1035 Braddock Ave. Tickets $5 to $7 Q’A with David Newell, Paul Germain, Brian Senti and Fritz Meyers following the screening

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood when CMU alumnus and filmmaker Paul Germain first shook hands with Mr. McFeely. McFeely (David Newell) of the Pittsburgh-produced children’s TV show “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” was busy speaking with children and signing autographs at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall when the two were introduced in 2005.

Germain’s interest in Newell’s career as Mr. McFeely inspired “Speedy Delivery,” a documentary that looks at “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” through the eyes of the Speedy Delivery Man. The film premieres Thursday at Regent Square Theater.

“[Newell] has to put on this wool costume and glue on this mustache, and kids crawl all over him. I wanted to know what makes someone continue to do this for 40 years,” Germain said in a recent telephone interview.

“Speedy Delivery” follows Newell, a University of Pittsburgh alumnus, as he makes appearances around the nation to inspire and interact with three generations of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” fans.

Highlighting Newell’s contributions both in and outside the neighborhood, the documentary includes clips from the show as well as interviews with Newell, emphasizing his perspective on the show.

“There are parts of the film intended to make you laugh, and there are parts where you might cry,” Germain said, referring to a segment of the documentary during which Newell speaks about host Fred Rogers’ passing in 2003.

“Speedy Delivery” cost a mere $4,000 to produce, largely because of contributions from Germain’s friends. Composer Bryan Senti, who was recently hired by singer Rufus Wainwright, scored the film for free.

In addition to playing the Speedy Delivery Man, Newell was a prop man and eventually became the main spokesperson for “The Neighborhood.” Television and radio stations that wanted Rogers to make appearances would call Family Communications Inc., the nonprofit organization founded in 1971 by Rogers as the production company for “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

But his involvement with production meant that Rogers was often unable to attend events. Already involved in public relations for FCI, Newell offered to represent the show in Rogers’ place. He continues to appear at numerous concerts, conferences and family events as Mr. McFeely.

“Attending events is always educational for me, to be able to talk to children and see what they respond to,” Newell said in a recent telephone interview.

“Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” first aired on PBS in 1968. Filmed in Pittsburgh, the show aimed to provide a safe haven for children, a place where they could come to learn, imagine and feel respected.

“‘Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood’ gave kids a safe place to go. Even when something horrible was going on in the world, Mr. Rogers always came to the door,” Germain said.

Since its premiere, there have been almost 900 episodes of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Although no new episodes were filmed after 2001, almost all of the shows from 1979 to 2001 are still in active rotation on PBS.

According to Germain, the show maintained appeal for so long partly because of how closely the neighborhood characters resembled the actors who portrayed them.

“When Fred [Rogers] met me, he noticed that I spoke very quickly. He wanted to use this as a lesson to teach children to take their time with things,” Newell said. Rogers essentially caricatured Newell to create Mr. McFeely: a speedy deliveryman in more than one respect.

“There’s a lot of David Newell in Mr. McFeely. He’s a heightened version of me,” Newell said.

McFeely’s interests on the show also reflect Newell’s personal passions. Rogers incorporated Newell’s love of film into the show by assigning Mr. McFeely the task of delivering educational movies to the neighborhood.

He also knew that Newell enjoyed perusing flea markets and saw this as an opportunity to introduce them to children during one of the episodes.

Newell believes the show endured for so long because of Mr. Rogers’ patient, courteous demeanor and dedication to understanding his young audience.

“Pre-school kids need time to reflect on what is said to them. Fred gave them a chance to do that. He knew how to talk about difficult things in a simple way,” Newell said. “I think essentially what the show did was give kids a caring adult who respected them for who they were.”

Newell continues to believe firmly in Fred Rogers’ mantra that learning is “caught, not taught.”

“Everyone on the show had such an enthusiasm for what they did, and kids would catch that enthusiasm and be inspired to try things for themselves,” he said. Through the filming process, Germain became aware of just how much detail went into making the show accessible to young audiences. According to Germain, Mr. Rogers always hangs up his sweaters from left to right, to mirror the way a child learns how to read.

When characters in the neighborhood refer to conversations they had, they always say, “I spoke with” rather than “I talked to,” in order to inculcate pre-school-aged viewers with grammatically correct English. Rogers was always extremely conscious of his audience when writing scripts for “The Neighborhood.”

As a documentary filmmaker, Germain is most interested in profile pieces. For him, documentaries are vehicles through which people can learn more about admirable public figures with interesting life stories.

“Making a documentary is about having a curiosity powerful enough to pursue. It’s also the best excuse for stalking someone you want to know more about,” Germain said.

Germain saw Newell as a positive influence on children and wanted to better understand Mr. McFeely. He learned there was even more to the character than he expected.

“[Newell] is so modest about ‘The Neighborhood,'” Germain said. “Whenever someone mentions the show to him, he always throws it back to [Rogers]. The film was my way of pointing the arrow back to him to show how dedicated he is to a noble cause.”

Newell has not yet seen the film in its entirety but will be attending the premiere on Thursday and participating in a Q’A with Germain and others involved in the documentary’s production. Newell resides in Pittsburgh and continues to work in public relations for FCI.

“As a person, David gives constantly,” Germain said. “He’s a delivery man in every sense.”