Detroit Kids TV - Wixie's Wonderland Traditional Cache
Detroit Kids TV - Wixie's Wonderland
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THIS SERIES WILL FOCUS ON WHAT WE WATCHED AS KIDS DURING DETROIT'S PAST.
THESE SHOWS WILL ALSO BE UNIQUE TO THE DETROIT METRO AREA.
Wixie's Wonderland
The year is 1953. In the cramped studios of WXYZ Marv Welch waits patiently under a bank of hot incandescent lights for director Pete Strand to give the signal from the control room.He raises three fingers...two...one, then signals ET man Lytle Hoover to play the theme song. "Roll music!"
"Taxi your tricycles close to the screen.
Take your dolly by the hand.
For there are many wonderful things to be seen,
On WIXIE'S WONDERLAND!!!"
The red light of camera one flickers on as Wixie jumps into view. For the next 60 minutes the elf-like man in the blue tunic charms the children of Detroit. What Wixie's young fans didn't realize was that their beloved pixie pal spent his evening hours entertaining mom and dad at some of Detroit's hottest supper clubs.
Marvin Welch Jr. was born in Detroit on October 14, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan.
In 1953 WXYZ-TV's programming director John lee approached Welch with an idea he had for an early morning children's show, Wixie's Wonderland. Lee thought that Welch's extroverted personality and boyish good looks were perfectly suited for Detroit's pre-school set.
Wixie's Wonderland made it's debut in the fall of 1953. The show aired live every day with no real script to speak of , except for a few hastily written ideas jotted down on a piece of paper. Welch sang, joked, introduced Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse cartoons, peddled BOSCO, pantomimed to records and basically ad-libbed for an hour every day. Rounding out the Wonderland cast were pert piano player Diane dale, who sang and told stories, Gramps, the resident animal expert, played by Frank Nastasi, and mute clown Gee-Wjiz, the fastest artist there is, played by Ken Muse.
Wixie's Wonderland ended it's run in 1957.
Welch passed away on February 22, 2007 after a short illness.
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