The Most Important Person

Did You Know?

• From 1975 to 1981, the shorts were syndicated to local television stations, mostly independent stations that ran large amounts of animated cartoons and other children's programming.
• They also ran in the late 1970s on a few PBS stations running in-school programming.
• Some pre-1994 syndicated prints of The Underdog Show have included Most Important Person shorts.

Production

Dan and Elaine Weisburd, a husband and wife team, created, directed, wrote the stories, composed the songs, and recorded the voices for the series. Funding came from the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). According to one reference work, it was the first television animation program to receive financial aid from the American federal government. A report to the United States House Committee on Appropriations stated that the series aimed to give preschool children self-assurance and appreciation of their own physical well-being, covering relationships, self-concepts, feelings, attitudes, nutrition, learning, communication skills, and health. HEW provided $500,000 in funding for fiscal years 1972 and 1973.

Reception

A report to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations stated that The Most Important Person was among a group of educational television programs widely acclaimed as excellent. The series' theme song includes the line, 'The most important person in the whole wide world is you.' Journalist Anneli Rufus commented in her book Stuck that in principle this was a nice heartwarming boost but in practice overkill, teaching a new generation to look out for Number One. Tina Fey wrote in Bossypants that the message was the worst thing to instill in a child, as children already think they are the most important. An Adventures in Odyssey book criticized the song from a religious perspective, stating that God wants people to think of others before themselves.