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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
One of my favorite kid shows, 18 June 2002
Author: c382000 from Austin, Tx

Couldn't get this show in my hometown, but it was a real treat to go to my grandmother's house in Oklahoma, because Winky Dink was on there. I even had the Winky Dink kit there - green plastic to put on the screen, a couple of crayons, and a cloth towel to wipe the marks off. It was so exciting to draw a bridge for Winky Dink to escape across a river, then erase it before the villain could cross it!

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Interactive Simplicity - The prefect formula for the 50"s., 27 May 2006
10/10
Author: willyclassof66 from United States

Some of my fondest early memories was interacting with the Winky Dink Show on Saturday mornings at my grandmother's house. It's amazing how a plastic sheet the size of a TV screen, three crayons, and a cloth can be the creative tools of the first interactive TV show. But I believe my fond memories of helping Winky Dink through dangerous situations with my crayons and cloth will easily surpass the memories of today's kids with Nintendo, XBox, etc. The Winky Dink show is just one example of the clean, simple fun that makes the 50's so euphoric to those of us who were pre-teens during this time. The different between the good guys and the bad guys was clear cut. And even though Winky Dink was always getting into situations where we had to draw a bridge for him to cross a river, a tree to hide behind, etc., we were given the opportunity to be the hero with Winky Dink. I wish I still had my magic drawing screen so that I could draw the "white picket fence" of the 50's again.

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"Now boys and girls, whoever has the Green crayon, go over and draw a Football Field so Winky Dink can run back the kick for a game winning Touchdown!", 14 February 2009
8/10
Author: John T. Ryan (redryan64@hotmail.com) from Chicago, Illinois, United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

REMEMBERING the saying that one will "Catch more Flies with Honey than with Vinegar", the creative team behind WINKY DINK AND YOU (Jack Barry & Dan Enright Productions, 1953-56*) used the small, unspectacular video world of make-believe to launch this most quietly educational show on the CBS Television Network. It was brought into this domain as new, made for Television programming as an addition to the kids Saturday morning parade of Cartoon Shows. Cutting into a slice of the turf that was, until that time, the province of theatrical cartoons. CBS had made good use of their recently purchased Terrytoons Animation Studios.

ASSEMBLING their network Saturday Programming from the short subject cartoons by using titles culled from the backlog of the output of producer Paul Terry's long and varied characters such as Dinky Duck, Little Roquefort, Farmer Al Falfa, Heckle & Jeckle, the Terry Bears and Mighty Mouse. The various character series were shown as either the stars or supporting features in three cartoon shows; being THE MIGHTY MOUSE PLAYHOUSE, HECKLE & JECKLE and THE FARMER AL FALFA Show.**

DONE as a combination of animation and live action, the series was in a sense a sort of relative of the earlier theatrical animations that pioneered the use of such mixed format. Both Max & Dave Fleischer's OUT OF THE INKWELL Series, starring Koko the Clown and Walt Disney's ALICE IN THE CARTOONLAND, were two prime examples of this cartoon/live-action hybrid type of film.

THIS is not to say that we are declaring the WINKY DINK Show to be on par with those full-animation theatrical productions; for we are not. The show's animation style is like all other made-for-television cartoons-only more so. That 'limited movement' school of animation is taken to new heights (depths?) of non-movement. The little boy Winky Dink barely changes positions, which puts him into serious contention for the all time 'nomination' award with the older, previous Champion, the earliest episodes of CRUSADER RABBIT (Jay Ward Productions/Television Arts, 1950-51 & Creston Studios/TV Spots, 1957).

THE PIPSQUEAK VOICE of little Winky was made by the veteran voice actor from the POPEYE Cartoons. No, Schultz, it was not the voice of Jack Mercer; but rather that of Mae Questel. Miss Questel was creative larynx of not only the Sailor Man's 'main squeeze, Miss Olive Oyl; but also of BETTY BOOP.

ACTING as our M.C. and liaison between the "live" and "cartoon" worlds is the shows co-producer and frequent Game Show Host, Jack Barry. Among his duties were any introductions into the day's adventures as well as doing a 'soft sell' lesson or two. We well remember a talk about common table fruit and what region of the country was known for their cultivation. Among talking icons of Oranges in both California & Florida and Pears, Peaches, etc.; there was an Apple that was placed in the Pacific Northwest, the State of Washington , to be particular.

WHEN Jack would say something like, "I like Oranges from Florida and Oranges from California; and I like Apples, too", to which the talking Apple would ask. "What's Apple Stew?" It was humorous to even, or rather mainly, to small children.

EACH week, prior to the introduction of the Winky Dink Adventure, Jack would announce that the Official Winky Dink magic TV screen was available via direct mail sales from the program. The price was quite low, probably about $2.00; so no one could accuse Jack of practicing unscrupulous merchandising methods. Even further evidence is found in the fact that Mr. Barry also told us that we could easily create our own makeshift Kit by making use of some clear, plastic food wrap and some crayons.

WHETHER 'official' or home-made, a screen was rendered WINKY DINK ready by placing the plastic screen over the glass viewer that covers the picture tube of your television set. One then used their crayons to draw certain simple shapes or even a single line over a certain part of the image. He also suggested that if there were more than one child present, that the crayons should be evenly divided to give everybody a chance to participate. A typical audio queue would say something like this; "Now boys and girls, whoever has the red crayon, draw a straight line across the river, so Winky Dink can use it as a bridge to cross over.

ALTHOUGH in our home we neither bought nor improvised a kit, we still watched WINKY DINK. I mean, after all it was only a half an hour; being followed by the likes of FARMER AL FALFA, HECKLE & JECKLE and MIGHTY MOUSE PLAYHOUSE!

NOTE: * These were the same Jack Barry and Dan Enright who produced the big buck$ Quiz $how, TWENTY-ONE; with Mr. Barry acting as the Master of Ceremonies to folks like Herb Stempel and Charles Van Doren of the great Quiz Show fiasco of the mid 1950's.

NOTE: ** In addition to these venerable theatrical cartoons of Animator-Producer Paul Terry, shortly after becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Columbia Broadcasting System, Terrytoons did produce new, made for TV cartoon series such as: TOM TERRIFIC, DEPUTY DOG and LARIAT SAM.

POODLE SCHNITZ!! .

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One of the all-time great kid's shows and a truly a pioneer., 12 December 2008
10/10
Author: kens0000

I enjoyed this show very much. Some of you older readers might remember a few of the following things after I remind you. The cost of the "kit" was $1.00 (actually that amount was supposed to cover the postage and handling). The address was Winky Dink, Box 5, New York, New York (no NY or zip codes - the box number was sufficient at that time). The items came shipped in a cylindrical mailing tube which you could use to roll up the screen and put it back into for storage. I remember them telling you that Winky Dink would be hiding somewhere in the next episode (they usually showed you a few places where he could be)and then they would put lines on the screen one at a time, which you would trace. And when the last line had been traced you would see an image of the place he was hiding (might be a barn or a lighthouse, etc.) This program was the granddaddy of all interactive videos. It was the internet of that era, in that you had input,(lines traced on the screen),from which you got output, (the images you ultimately created from the lines you traced). I know it all looks hokey by today's standards, but to me it was one of the most enjoyable shows I can remember from my childhood. And a far cry from the Simpsons and Bevis and Butthead...

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Gabe Kaplan, 4 May 2008
Author: trishredhop

I never saw the show, but Gabe Kaplan discussed it in his stand-up routine, which could be heard on his comedy album "Holes and Mello-Rolls". "Mello-Rolls" also had the stand-up bit which was later developed into "Welcome Back Kotter."

Kaplan mentioned he was a fan of the show as a kid, but like most kids, never bothered to get the "magic drawing screen" sold, and instead just drew directly on the TV screen, and did not erase his drawings. His father would be annoyed to find that Gabe had been watching Winky-Dink again, cursing the cartoon that had encouraged his kid to draw all over the TV screen.

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