Daniel Striped Tiger

First MRN Appearance Episode 0001 Last MRN Appearance Episode 1763 Performed By Fred Rogers

Daniel Striped Tiger is a shy and meek resident of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. He lives in the clock located near the Platypus Mound on the west side[1] of the Neighborhood opposite the castle.

In his earliest days on the Children's Corner, Daniel was the president of the Tame Tiger Torganization, loved hamburger, and often hosted parties at his clock for seventeen of his closest tiger friends.

Daniel is very soft-spoken, is easily frightened, and tends to be quite a worrywart. He often finds comfort in playing with his truck -- his favorite toy -- and talking with his friend Lady Aberlin. She and Daniel show their affection for one another by rubbing their noses together and saying "ugga mugga." Once worried that he was a mistake, Daniel was reassured of his worth by Lady Aberlin.[2] Daniel is colorblind[3] and also somewhat naive. Bob Dog once convinced him that a plant could grow cans of soup.[4]

Although Daniel does not have a grandfather[5], he does have many friends throughout the Neighborhood of Make-Believe including his imaginary friend, Malcolm Apricot Dinko, and his schoolmates at Someplace Else -- Prince Tuesday and Ana Platypus.

Daniel shares his birthday with Purple Panda[6] who did not have a birthday of his own. He served as the ring bearer in the wedding of Betty Okonak Templeton and James Michael Jones[7], is a founding member of the Neighborhood's Reindeer-Tiger sports team[8], and is known to attend the occasional clock-lover's meeting.[9] Daniel was even able to communicate with Yo-Yo LaBelle -- the visitor from the stars -- when no one else was able to.[10]

Looking into Margaret Witch's crystal ball, it was revealed that Daniel Striped Tiger would one day marry Grandpere's granddaughter, Collette.[11]

Daniel's Name and Background

Daniel Striped Tiger is named after the first general manager of WQED in Pittsburgh -- Dorothy Daniel. In his interview for the Archive of American Television, Fred Rogers describes how Daniel Striped Tiger first came to be:

Before [The Children's Corner] went on the air on April 5 [1954]...Mrs. Daniel gave us a party -- all the people who were going to be on the air -- and she gave favors at the party. My favor was a little tiger puppet and I said to Josie [Carey], "Why don't we just make a slit in the set and I can poke this puppet through. Let's call it Daniel. We'll just use it once." The art department had painted this fanciful set and there happened to be a clock on it. So I just put the little slit in the clock and poked Daniel [through] and said, "Hello, Josie, it's 5:03 and Columbus discovered America in 1492." The people liked him so much...and that's how the puppetry began. We never expected to use puppets on the program.

Furthermore, the story behind Daniel's wristwatch is documented in the first issue of Around the Neighborhood from 1973:

The Daniel puppet seems to have a great fan following among the children who watch the program. When Daniel offered membership in his Tame Tiger Torganization (T.T.T.) on The Children's Corner, he was soon receiving 750 letters a day. Not long ago a very thoughtful present came for Daniel from a child who watched him often. The child explained in a letter that he had noticed Daniel's clock had no hands, so he was sending Daniel the most useful present he could think of -- a wristwatch.

Operas and Plays

Daniel Striped Tiger's experience with the Neighborhood operas and plays includes the following parts:

In the credits at the end of Episode 1608 and Episode 1609, Daniel S. Tiger is credited as a cast member of Josephine the Short-Neck Giraffe.

Puppet Demonstration

Mister Rogers demonstrates the Daniel Striped Tiger puppet in Episode 1384, Episode 1530, and the Musical Stories VHS release.

Songs

Merchandise

Puppet Variations

The original Children's Corner version of Daniel Striped Tiger puppet had dark horizontal stripes while the version used for the duration of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood had much lighter, less noticeable stripes.

Notes

Daniel shares his first ugga-mugga with Lady Aberlin in Episode 0036.

It is often considered that Daniel's birthday is in April -- coinciding with the premiere of the Children's Corner. According to Our Small World, Daniel's birthday is actually July 9.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

In Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Daniel Striped Tiger has grown up and married Mom Tiger. Together they live on Jungle Beach and have a son named Daniel Tiger.

Images

Appearances

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

The Children's Corner

MisteRogers' Neighborhood (EEN)

Books

CDs, Records, and Tapes

Home Video

Other Video

References