It’s time for a feel-good Mister Rogers song to get an update for a new generation.
Billboard Family is exclusively premiering a colorful new music video for “It’s You I Like” from PBS Kids’ Donkey Hodie below. The song was originally written and performed by the late Fred Rogers for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in 1971. The character of Donkey Hodie was also introduced on the classic TV show, as part of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and was spun off into its own series by Fred Rogers Productions in 2021.
The video was directed by Haley Jenkins, the voice behind the show’s title character, in her directorial debut for the show.
“From our first dance at our wedding to the song I sing my 3-year-old every night, ‘It’s You I Like’ has become the soundtrack of love in our family,” Jenkins tells Billboard. “Getting to direct it with the full menagerie of Donkey Hodie characters was a true joy, and I’m incredibly grateful to help pass that love on.”
The characters in the video include Jeff Mouse, who was named in honor of Jeff Erlanger, a young guest who appeared on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and famously sang “It’s You I Like” with Mister Rogers.
The new Donkey Hodie version of “It’s You I Like” — which will be digitally released on Friday — was arranged by Ashli St. Armant (aka kids’ musician Jazzy Ash), who gave the track a New Orleans jazz-style update.
“I could not have been more thrilled to be asked to write a new arrangement for an original song by my childhood hero, Mister Rogers. (Can you believe he wrote his own songs?!),” St. Armant says in an exclusive quote to Billboard. “This project also gave me the opportunity to honor my roots in New Orleans and jazz, and to learn about the inspiring world of Donkey Hodie and her friends. I’m so in love. I honestly get teary just thinking about it.”
Watch the video below:
“It’s You I Like” will be included on the five-song EP Donkey Hodie Hee-Hawesome Songs Volume 2, which arrives on Jan. 23. The new project follows Donkey Hodie Hee-Hawesome Songs Volume 1, which debuted last summer and features “The Panda Dance” and “It’s Such A Good Feeling,” another reimagined Fred Rogers song.
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