I have a newfound respect for Fred Rogers. Until watching _Won't You Be My Neighbor?_ I honestly had no idea he was an ordained minister. That's a huge credit to him and the way he did his work. In the religious world it seems all too common for the faithful to "spread the joy" in service of some ulterior motive (like conversion, ultimately), but Fred only wanted to instill good values in a generation of children, with no religious dogma attached. In a world that has seen crusades, jihad, and worse, all in the service of spreading one faith or another, Fred's focus was on the values alone. He wasn't in it to preach, but to teach. I can't help but respect that.

Anyway… I'm here to review a movie, right? Let's get to it.

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The standout production value of this documentary is its transitions. Honestly. I have seen very few documentaries that manage to flow so well from segment to segment. While there were a couple of places that seemed a bit abrupt, most of the film feels like one continuous, winding path from one topic to the next. It was only near the end that the segues became (understandably) more difficult.

Taking a look behind the scenes was a treat. Watching the show as a kid on PBS while it was still in production, I never bothered watching the credits, of course—what child does?—so I had no idea that Fred was the writer and composer of pretty much everything spoken or sung on screen. Obviously that's easily found out without watching a 93-minute documentary, but as with so many things I also never bothered to go look up the production history of this fondly remembered—but paradoxically, half-forgotten—show from my youth.

When I got older I did, however, realize that Mr. Rogers performed the voices of all the puppets. Interview and archival footage of him pulling one out and launching into a character voice—or even just slipping into one without the benefit of a puppet at all—is peppered through this film, and it's a treat. So are the interviews with Fred's widow, Joanne Rogers; his sons, James and John (hello, biblical names); and several cast and crew (among them: Betty Aberlin, François Clemmons, Joe Negri, David Newell, and Margaret Whitmer).

The factual content of this documentary is admittedly light, but I do think it was made up for in emotional content. Fred's hopes and doubts were covered just enough, but not given so much screen time that they overshadowed the message. I believe Morgan Neville was trying to paint a portrait of the man, not to precisely chart his course through life. And I believe he succeeded. Wikipedia or The Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Archive can tell me the who's, when's, where's, and (sometimes) how's of _Mister Rogers' Neighborhood_ came to be, but I think no other source can convey the why's quite like this very enjoyable documentary.