Western Animation / Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings (2002)

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Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings is a Chinese/Canadian cartoon by Cinar and Shanghai Animation Film Studio (their second collaboration after A Miss Mallard Mystery). It's an Animated Adaptation of a series of four children's books by Edward McLachlan and a remake of the original 1970s British series. It is narrated by Ernie Coombs, aka Mr. Dressup; his final role.

Simon is a young boy who owns a chalkboard. What's so special about it? Why, simple. Whatever Simon draws on it becomes real in the Land of Chalk Drawings, a land composed entirely of chalk drawings that Simon can reach by climbing a ladder and looking over a fence. Each episode deals with Simon drawing something on his chalkboard, and then being called to the Land of Chalk Drawings by his friend to see what his latest creation is doing.

The series aired on Teletoon in 2002. It ran from September 2nd to September 18th, 2002.

Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings contains examples of:

• All Just a Dream: The episode where Simon turned the Land of Chalk Drawings into a miserable city is this.
• Bears Are Bad News: In "Grin and Bear It", after a friend makes fun of Simon for still owning a teddy bear, Simon vents by drawing an angry version of said bear on his chalkboard. When he's called to the Land of Chalk Drawings, Simon discovers the teddy bear he drew running around, wrecking other people's things.
• Bewitched Amphibians: In "The Magician", the titular magician first demonstrates his magic by turning a random child into a frog and back.
• Clingy Costume: In "Mask-Erade" (coincidentally the last one made before Ernie Coombs's death), Lily has a lion mask stuck to her face that scares away everyone who looks at her. When she realizes this, she tries to take the mask off, only it refuses to budge. Simon rectifies this by drawing strings on the mask's back.
• Continuity Reboot: The cartoon is essentially a modern day revamp of the 1974 original.
• Cowboy: One of the residents of the Land of Chalk Drawings is a cowboy.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Zigzagged. Simon's world is presented in black and white (except for Simon's chalkboard, which is dark green), while the Land of Chalk Drawings is more vibrant and colourful.
• Eye Glasses: Simon's eyeglasses would occasionally conform to his mood.
• Eye-Obscuring Hat: The cowboy in the Land of Chalk Drawings wears a hat that covers his eyes.
• The Face of the Sun: Like in the original 1974 cartoon, the sun in the Land of Chalk Drawings is sentient and has a face.
• Gender Flip:
  • Simon's companion Henry from the original cartoon is replaced in this continuity with a girl named Lily.
  • The teacher in the Land of Chalk Drawings is a woman rather than a man.
• Living Drawing: All of the inhabitants of the Land of Chalk Drawings are these.
• Snowlems: A sentient snowman named Bartholomew is featured in "Simon and the Snowman".
• The Narrator: Ernie Coombs narrates the new show.
• Pull a Rabbit out of My Hat: "The Magician" has its conflict occur when Simon inadvertently cause a rabbit infestation in the Land of Chalk Drawings by creating a chalk drawing of rabbit ears sticking out of a magician's top hat.
• Time Stands Still: In "Calendar Chaos", when the Sun and Moon get jammed in the top of the sky, the Land of Chalk Drawings gets stuck between night and day, and everyone is frozen between the two, this happens in the original series too, but, in that version, Simon draws an alarm clock to wake everyone up, even Henry, Simon’s friend that was replaced in the revival by Lily
• Walk Like an Egyptian: In one episode, Simon draws some Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on his chalkboard. Later, he discovers that the hieroglyphs have manifested in the Land of Chalk Drawings, and are compelling everyone there to imitate the Egyptian walk.