Mon 3 Oct 2011
A TV Review by Michael Shonk: DANGER MOUSE (1981-1992).
Posted by Steve under Comic Books, Cartoons, Comic Strips , Reviews , TV Comedy[5] Comments
DANGER MOUSE. Animated. Episodes of five to twenty five minutes each. UK: 1981 through 1992. US: Nickelodeon premiered June 4, 1984. Cosgrove Hall Films. Thames Television. Created by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall. Voice Cast: Danger Mouse (David Jason), Penfold (Terry Scott), Colonel K (Edward Kelsey), Baron Silas Greenback (Edward Kelsey), Stiletto (Brian Trueman), Isambard Sinclair (David Jason), Nero (David Jason’s voice sped up). Available on DVD. Recommended: The shorter episodes on YouTube over the longer ones available on Hulu.com and IMDB.com.
“He’s the greatest. – He’s fantastic. – Wherever there is danger he’ll be there. – He’s the Ace. – He’s amazing. – He’s the strongest, he’s the quickest, he’s the best! Danger Mouse…” (Theme sung by Sheila Gott.)
This action hero/spy comedy will appeal to all ages. The animation is limited, cheap, and guilty of reusing too much stock footage, but it also has a visually pleasing look and adds enough visual gags to be forgiven for its shortcomings.
The writing is top notch British silly, not unlike Monty Python. Parody and satire is common and not limited to the obvious targets of Bond and John Drake (Danger Man). Bad jokes and silly puns are there as well for the kid in all of us, though I guess children could watch this cartoon as well.
The character are well defined and funny. The narrator Isambard Sinclair introduces the story, explains things to the audience to keep the action moving, and occasionally asks questions at the end spoofing the narrators of old serials.
The good guys are lead by Danger Mouse. DM is a white mouse with an eye patch that goes well with his white jumpsuit that has DM monogrammed over his left breast. He is everything his theme song claims he is and more. His sidekick Penfold is a daft, but loyal hamster, codenamed “Jigsaw” because he always falls to pieces.
Colonel K is head of a secret organization and gives Danger Mouse his assignments. There is some question over what animal Colonel K is, a chinchilla or walrus (like it matters).
The villains are lead by DM’s archenemy Blofeld … oops, I mean … Baron Silas Greenback, the fiendish frog, the terrible toad, whose only wish is to take over the world or kill Danger Mouse so he can take over the world. Filling the role of insane villain’s pet is Nero a fluffy white caterpillar. Stiletto is a crow, an idiot, and the Baron’s top henchman.
DM and Penfold live in a red pillar-box near Sherlock Holmes on Baker Street. As any proper spy of that era, Danger Mouse has a special car. The Mark III can do a variety of things including fly.
The plots the Baron creates to take over the world illustrates the series’ absurdist humor. In “Who Stole the Bagpipes?” bagpipes are sheep-like creatures grazing in Scotland. The Baron rustles ten thousand bagpipes to build a sonic weapon capable of destroying cities.
“Lord of the Bungle” has the Baron turning elephants into sugar cubes so when heads of state all over the world put the sugar cubes into their tea the elephant will reappear and squash the government leader.
My favorite is “The Dream Machine” when Danger Mouse and Pedfold are trapped in the Baron’s dream machine where surreal is reality, the impossible possible, and Penfold’s thoughts turn into visual puns.
If you are willing to overcome the misguided prejudice that cartoons are just for kids, give this a try. Or find some child to watch it with. Neither of you will regret it.
SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Cosgrove Hall Ate My Brain
DangerMouse.org
October 3rd, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Doing this blog continues to do wonders for me. My education grows by leaps and bounds!
Now to find a kid to go into the DVD department at Barnes & Noble and buy these for me, and yes, I’ll let him watch them with me, too.
October 4th, 2011 at 12:30 am
Animation is a great source for mystery fans, Daffy Duck, Goofy, Mutt and Jeff are just a few of the old classics that took a look at mystery fiction.
Japanese animation or anime is another source for adult cartoons in the mystery genre such as Gunslinger Girl (12 year old female cyborg assassins) to Lupin the 3rd (there is a tie in to the Maurice Leblanc’s Lupin, sort of).
Someday, I hope to review more animation, but there is a endless amount of mystery fiction to explore, so I will continue to wander around bumping into things.
October 4th, 2011 at 1:03 am
I’ve always loved DANGER MOUSE! Fantastic show. If you like this then you should try the spin-off series, the absolutely barmy COUNT DUCKULA. The adventures of a vegetarian vampire duck, the show was made by the same creative team as DANGER MOUSE (with David Jason again playing the lead part)and pushes the wackiness and satire even further. And how could you miss a show when the episodes have titles like RETURN OF THE CURSE OF THE SECRET OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB MEETS FRANKEN DUCKULA’S MONSTER, THE WOLF MAN AND THE INTERGALACTIC CABBAGE?
October 4th, 2011 at 1:18 am
I knew at least one of our British readers would respond. One of the comments I read in my research about this series was it was the British’s ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE.
BRADSTREET, have you seen the unaired pilot? It is on the DVD for season one and two (from A&E and Thames). I left it out of the review since its not available to watch for free anywhere, and it is so different it could have confused anyone who had never seen this show. The voices are different, DM is more a detective than a spy. The plot is the same as “Who Stole the Bagpipes?”.
October 5th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Never, ever seen the pilot show. I had no idea that there was one! I’ll have to look this up. Thanks for the info.