Mr. Dressup's gender-neutral puppet Casey showed kids they could be whoever they wanted

Queeries is a column by CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt that queries LGBTQ art, culture and/or identity through a personal lens. 

"When children would ask me if Casey was a boy or a girl," puppeteer Judith Lawrence says in the new documentary, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe, "I would say, 'Yes.'"

Casey, of course, is perhaps the defining puppet of Mr. Dressup for the millions of children who watched over the decades it aired on CBC Television. A child who was never gendered on the show (and purposely not given physical characteristics to suggest a gender either), Casey — along with their dog, Finnegan — was Mr. Dressup's best friend, often playing in his backyard treehouse.

Both Casey and Finnegan were created by Lawrence, an extraordinary puppeteer who the documentary makes clear deserves nearly as much credit for the legacy of Mr. Dressup as Mr. Dressup himself, Ernie Coombs. It also shows that Lawrence believed wholeheartedly in the power of dress-up and make-believe in moving beyond a binary world. And through Casey, she should be heralded as creating seemingly the first non-binary character ever on children's television when the puppet debuted in the Mr. Dressup precursor Butternut Square way back in 1964.

"Judith knew what was right and wasn't going to be bullied when it came to sticking to her beliefs," Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe director Robert McCallum tells me. "I think her attitude inspired a lot of other people to find their voice as well and not give into fear of upsetting the wrong folks, especially when you're doing what you know is inherently best."

Like Lawrence, McCallum knows that kids "need to play and dress up because it's transformative and empowering."  

"It not only serves a child in the moment but it also serves them forever; someone who understands playtime at its most basic level can imagine solutions and scenarios to solve any problem, often involving some sort of change," he says. "Rehearsing that narrative of being a kid, adding costume elements and seeing how those added costume elements change themselves and the world as a result is invaluable."

"So by saying, 'Yes, Casey is whatever you think they are,' Judith really further empowers the child to imagine and define their reality as they choose and not as it's handed to them." 

As a child who himself was an avid Mr. Dressup watcher, McCallum says that he had no idea how ahead of its time the show was. 

"I just accepted Casey for who they were," he says. "Having a character be fluid and giving the kid agency to decide was not just ahead of its time then — it's ahead of its time now. It's not only important to put in the film because it was one of its many groundbreaking elements of the show, but also to serve as a reminder that we still need to do better today as content creators and as a national community."

Trans icon Beverly Glenn-Copeland — who spent 25 years as a regular on Mr. Dressup — agrees. 

"[It was] way ahead of its time," he says in the film with respect to the show's depiction of Casey. "Not a little bit — waaay ahead of its time."

The fact that this documentary coming out a time that is increasingly dangerous time for trans and non-binary people — particularly children — is not lost on McCallum.

"It's been really heartbreaking because the current climate for trans and non-binary folks completely underlines the need for a show like Mr. Dressup — a safe haven where you can be you without worry," he says.

"Life rarely gets to be like it is on TV, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to aspire toward a better idealized world. And frankly, there is no better reality to strive for than the one created by the many talented Mr. Dressup writers, producers, directors and performers. As long as there is a tickle trunk, there will always be imagination and hope inside."

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is now streaming on Prime Video.