Editing Mystery! (section)

==Edward Gorey, Derek Lamb, and the ''Mystery!'' opening sequence==

''Mystery!'' is noted for its animated opening and closing [[title sequence]]s with original drawings created by cartoonist [[Edward Gorey]] and animated by Eugene Federenko, [[Derek Lamb]], and [[Janet Perlman]],<ref name=Lenburg>{{cite book|last=Lenburg|first=Jeff|title=Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators|publisher=[[Applause Books]]|isbn=978-1-55783-671-7|pages=283–284|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVShFCjVzvIC&q=%22Penguins+Behind+Bars%22&pg=PA283|date=June 1, 2006}}</ref> with music by [[Normand Roger]]. A PBS veteran, animator Lamb had also created programming for series like ''[[Sesame Street]]'', ''[[The Electric Company]]'', and ''[[The Great American Dream Machine]]''.

Gorey’s first attempt at creating a storyboard of the opening was estimated to run 10 minutes. Because executive producer Joan Wilson was looking for a 75-second sequence, Gorey was eventually asked to hand over the drawings and allow animators to use his work as inspiration. Gorey, known for his eccentric and stubborn nature, recounted:

{{cquote|When we first started talking about it, I gave them a scenario for the credits, but they said, 'Thank you, very much, dear, but this will take half an hour.' I told them it wouldn’t if they put in on at a reasonable rate of speed, but they didn’t seem to care for that idea very much. So Derek Lamb or somebody concocted the final scenario and I had very little to do with it.<ref name="Miller">Miller, Ron (1996). ''MYSTERY!: A Celebration'', San Francisco, CA: WGBH Educational Foundation, 1996. {{ISBN|0-912333-89-8}}.</ref>}}

The Lamb/Gorey sequence has changed several times since 1980. It consisted of a non-linear series of animated [[historical drama|period]] [[country house]] tableaux. The scenes include a formal ball, a crowd of umbrella-toting funeral attendants, three investigators, a croquet game in the rain, and a moaning damsel in various scenes of distress. Over time, the sequence became more streamlined, shorter, and slightly more colorful. For the Hillerman episodes, the American flag was worked into the opening title sequence.

Today, the ''Masterpiece'' opening sequence is almost identical across the sub-brands. Each opening fades in and out of scenes of popular characters from each series. The ''Mystery!'' version still features the Gorey/Lamb characters.