Richard Scarry’s iconic characters have been entertaining children for almost 50 years.
The children’s author created characters like Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm that have been at the forefront of many of his Busytown series books.
Those characters are coming to life on the Auditorium stage this Sunday, March 25 as Richard Scarry’s Busytown Busy arrives in Thunder Bay.
Huck Scarry, or Richard Scarry Jr., loves children’s theatre and sees the touring live show as a great opportunity to adapt his father’s characters and put them on the stage.
Since his father died in 1994, Scarry has since kept his father’s characters alive by writing them new adventures under his father’s name.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to do with one’s child, to go to a theatre play and see live actors on stage is always a memorable experience,” said Scarry. “I think there are a lot of songs in there that will be fun for the kids and a lot of interplay between the actors and the kids. They should have a good time.”
Stepping into his father’s shoes was a natural decision for Scarry.
He had grown up alongside the characters. He is Huckle Cat’s namesake and his father drew inspiration for the character from Scarry’s childhood.
Lowly Worm grew into a full-fledged character by the will of the fans.
He was created as a Where’s Waldo-type character that kids were supposed to look for in the pages of the Busytown books.
“He started getting fan mail with drawings down of Lowly and he realized what a lovely character this could become. He grew out of this very incidental little character without a name,” said Scarry.
As a teen, Scarry would help his father colour in the drawings in his books. While it was a tedious process, Scarry said the time working alongside his father was a treasured experience.
So it was no surprise he eventually published children’s books of his own. When his father passed, Scarry thought it would be nice to continue with his father’s books and characters.
“I started developing some new books under his name and I continue to do that and I continued to do that under his name because he’s the genius who created these characters of Busytown,” he said.
The first Richard Scarry books are nearly 50 years old, but they have remained popular through countless generations.
Scarry attributes that longevity to the fact the characters are funny and they have a lot of charm.
“Even just the way they are drawn with a soft pencil line and the gentle drawings that he does are whimsical and charming. Somehow that doesn’t grow old; it doesn’t lose its fascination,” he said.
Richard Scarry’s Busytown Busy starts at 1 p.m. on March 25 at the TBCA.
