Danger Mouse (1981 TV series)
| Danger Mouse | |
|---|---|
Spy-Fi | |
| Created by | |
| Voices of | |
| Narrated by | David Jason |
| Opening theme | "Danger Mouse" by Mike Harding |
| Ending theme | "Danger Mouse" by Mike Harding |
| Composer | Mike Harding |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 89 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 5–22 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 28 September 1981 – 19 March 1992 |
| Related | |
| |
Danger Mouse is a British
The series spawned a spin-off show, Count Duckula, which aired between 1988 and 1993, and an updated series of the same name, began airing in September 2015 on CBBC.[2][3]
Plot
Danger Mouse is a secret agent with the British Secret Service, and together with his sidekick Penfold is repeatedly ordered by Colonel K, the head of the Secret Service, to save the world.
They work underneath Scotland Yard on Baker Street in London, hidden inside a red pillar box. Their arch-enemies are Baron Silas Greenback and his criminal organization, who try to achieve world domination by unconventional means such as stealing all famous buildings, or creating giant robots, etc.
A special role is played by the off-screen narrator, Isambard Sinclair, who accompanies the action by commenting on it sarcastically, talking to the characters or musing about his private life.
Characters
 | It has been suggested that this section be List of Danger Mouse characters. (Discuss ) (September 2023) |
Main
"The Odd Ball Runaround"
- Danger Mouse (voiced by David Jason)[4] is often called the world's greatest secret agent—so secret, in fact, that his codename has a codename.[5] His catchphrases include "Good grief" when he becomes upset or shocked, "Penfold, shush" when his assistant makes a foolish remark. He was originally going to be brown; however, the creators thought that he and Penfold needed to be different colours.[6]
- Brian Cosgrove described Jason's portrayal as "His voice had the perfect mix of forcefulness, humour and gentleness. He was totally committed to doing voiceovers for silly cartoons, which warmed my heart, and we became great friends." Jason said "I wanted to make him sound believable. We decided he would be softly spoken, very British, very heroic, but also a bit of a coward. He’d save the world, but he’d also run for it!"[4]
- Ernest Penfold (voiced by Terry Scott)[4] is a timid, bespectacled hamster, and Danger Mouse's reluctant assistant and sidekick. He is often mistaken for a mole; however, Brian Cosgrove has stated Penfold is supposed to be a hamster.[7][6] Penfold stands just over half the height of Danger Mouse, and always wears thick round glasses and a crumpled blue suit with a white shirt and a yellow and black striped tie. In the first episode, he is codenamed the Jigsaw "because when he is faced with a problem, he goes to pieces."S1 ep 1
- Brian Cosgrove came up with Penfold's character design when he was waiting for a meeting with Thames Television, and had drawn up "this little fellow with heavy glasses and a baggy suit" and then realized he had drawn his brother Denis, who worked for the Sunday Express and "who was bald with heavy black glasses".[4]
- Colonel K (voiced by Edward Kelsey):[8] Danger Mouse's boss; often mistaken for a walrus, it was revealed in an issue of Look-in magazine that he is, in fact, a chinchilla.[volume & issue needed] During the last two seasons, he became more absent-minded, tending to frustrate both DM and Penfold with his tendency to ramble nonsense.[episode needed] A running gag in the later seasons is that he botches the usage of the phrase "over and out" multiple times.
- Baron Silas Greenback (voiced by Edward Kelsey):[9][8] The recurring villain and Danger Mouse's archenemy; a toad with a wheezy voice, although, sometimes, he was referred to as a frog.[episode needed] Known as Baron Greenteeth in the unbroadcast pilot episode.[6] Commonly known as the "Terrible Toad". In America, "greenback" is slang for dollar bill in many regions, adding to the sense of his commercial greed.[6] Allegedly, he turned to a life of crime as a schoolboy when other children stole his bicycle and let all the air out of its tyres.[episode needed]
- Stiletto (voiced by Brian Trueman):[10] Greenback's henchman; a crow. He always called Greenback "Barone", Italian for "Baron". In the original British version, he speaks with an Italian accent; this was changed to a Cockney accent for the U.S. distribution to avoid offending Italian-Americans.[4] His last name is Mafiosa.S5 ep 7 In series 5, he is more incompetent and klutzy that Greenback usually has to whack him with his walking stick, and in series 9, Greenback uses a "hit box" that whacks Stiletto on the head with a mallet.
- Nero (sounds provided by David Jason):[11] Greenback's pet. A fluffy white caterpillar (equivalent to the stereotypical white cat frequently associated with arch villains, particularly Ernst Stavro Blofeld). He is a non-speaking character, although his noises and laugh are supplied by David Jason's voice sped up.[11] Readily understood by Greenback and, less frequently, by Stiletto. He does not have any superpowers, except In the season 5 episode "Nero Power", where he temporarily exhibits the ability of telekinesis.S5 ep 10 In the special features of Danger Mouse cartoons, audiences were informed that Nero is actually the mastermind of Greenback's schemes.[episode needed]
- The Narrator (voiced by David Jason):[10] The unseen narrator, who occasionally interacts with the characters, sometimes to the point of halting the plot for one reason or another. In a series 6 episode, he accidentally sends Danger Mouse and Penfold back in time with his broken mike. He often voices his disdain for the show and his job towards the end of the episode and through part of the closing credits. His name is Isambard Sinclair.S6 ep "Bandits"
Supporting
- Professor Heinrich Von Squawkencluck is an inventor accent. Penfold is naturally leery of the professor, as he often winds up on the wrong side of his experiments.
- Flying Officer Buggles Pigeon: Another of Colonel K's agents who came to the aid of Danger Mouse and Penfold in the episode, "Chicken Run," and appeared in several episodes afterward.S1 ep 4, 10
- Agent 57: A master of disguise, appearing initially as an earthworm. Agent 57 has disguised himself so often that he forgot his original appearance.S1 ep. 8 In the series 6 episode, "The Spy Who Stayed In with a Cold", he gained the ability to change shape to resemble any character or animal whenever he sneezed, but when he shows Danger Mouse his original form, Danger Mouse is horrified.S6 ep. 6
- Leatherhead : Greenback's other crow henchman. Even less intelligent than Stiletto, he appeared in several of the early episodes, where he spent most of his time reading comic books.S1 ep. 8, S3 ep. 4 "Ghost Bus"
- Count Duckula (voiced by David Jason):vegetarian, makes far greater use of his vampiric magic, and has an accent consisting of a lisp and a stutter, as well as occasional stuttering and duck-like squawks and quacks.
- J. J. Quark: a space alien who recurs in series 6. He speaks with a Scottish accent and claims possession of Earth based on a cosmic charter granted to his great-great-great-great-grandfather. He has a robot assistant named Grovell, who always grovels whenever his name is mentioned, much to Quark's frustration.
- Doctor Augustus P. Crumhorn III (voiced by Dionysis Barry ManilowCrumhorn", omitting both Augustus and the III. He and Greenback were at odds; once Crumhorn kidnapped Penfold and Penfold managed to escape simply because the two villains were too busy quarreling to notice his absence.
Production
Development
The show was created by Mark Hall[13] and Brian Cosgrove for their production company, Cosgrove Hall Films. Danger Mouse was based on Patrick McGoohan's lead role in Danger Man.[14][4] The show was intended to have a more serious tone as seen in the pilot episode but Mike Harding (who wrote the music for the show) gave Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall the idea to make the series silly. "The characters had got stuck in reality and were doing James Bond type things rooted in the solid real world," said Harding, "I argued that once you invented a Mouse Secret Agent then all of creation and a good chunk of not creation was his oyster. In other words we could be as barmy (crazy) as we wanted."[15] In an interview with The Guardian, Cosgrove said "We reckoned a secret service mouse foiling the plans of an evil toad – Baron Silas Greenback – was suitably ridiculous."[4]
Cosgrove and Hall brought in
On 4 June 1984, the show was (along with
It returned to terrestrial television after the BBC purchased episodes of it to broadcast in its daytime schedules with its first broadcast on 12 February 2007.[18][19]
The show was expensive to make, sometimes needing 2,000 drawings[20] thus footage was reused while certain scenes were set in the North Pole or "in the dark" (i.e. black with eyeballs visible only, or, in Danger Mouse's case, simply one eyeball) as a cost-cutting measure. This time-and-money saving device was cheerfully admitted by both Brian Cosgrove, who conceived the character and the show, and Brian Trueman, who wrote almost all the scripts from the beginning.[11]
Reception
During the cartoon's run, it reached a peak viewing figure of 7.2 million viewers on 3 January 1983,[21] with average figures being around 3-4 million per episode.
In 2001, the show was ranked third in
Awards and nominations
Danger Mouse was nominated for 11
BAFTA Films
A listing of British Academy Film Awards.[24]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 (37th) | Danger Mouse series 4 | Best Short Animation | Nominated |
| 1985 (38th) | Danger Mouse series 5 | Best Short Animation | Nominated |
| 1986 (39th) | Danger Mouse series 6 | Best Short Animation | Nominated |
| 1987 (40th) | Danger Mouse series 7 | Best Short Animation Film | Nominated |
BAFTA TV
A listing of British Academy Television Awards.[24]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Danger Mouse series 2 or 3 | Children's Programme - Entertainment / Drama | Nominated |
| 1984 | Danger Mouse series 4 | Children's Programme - Entertainment / Drama | Nominated |
| 1984 | Danger Mouse series 4 | Short Animation | Nominated |
| 1985 | Danger Mouse series 5 | Short Animation | Nominated |
| 1986 | Danger Mouse series 6 | Children's Programme - Entertainment / Drama | Nominated |
| 1986 | Danger Mouse series 6 | Short Animation | Nominated |
| 1987 | Danger Mouse series 7 | Short Animation | Nominated |
Other awards
In 2012, Brian Cosgrove received a Special Award from the British Academy Children's Awards.[25]
In other media
Comics
A long-running
Video games
A series of video games based on the character also appeared. The first were Danger Mouse in Double Trouble and Danger Mouse in the Black Forest Chateau (both in 1984) followed by Danger Mouse in Making Whoopee! in 1985.[26][27][28]
Two mobile games were published by ZED Worldwide; Danger Mouse: Quiz in 2010 and Danger Mouse in 2011.
Audiobooks
Some stories were also available as read-along cassettes with accompanying books. They were re-read by the cast for audio.
Merchandise
During its run, the show spawned a wide range of merchandise, including storybooks, hardback annuals, jigsaw puzzles, a Panini sticker album, View-Master reels, and of course, VHS releases. In the years since, products have continued to sell, often aimed at the now-adult audience which grew up with it, such as T-shirts, mugs, key rings, fridge magnets and posters. To coincide with the 25th anniversary, Cosgrove Hall also licensed rights to a number of companies to produce a range of new anniversary merchandise including Blues Clothing (women's and girls' underwear and sleepwear) and Concept 2 Creation (collectible figurines).
Other appearances
- American musician & producer Danger Mouse chose his stage name as a reference the show, initially performing in a mouse costume.[29]
- In the 1989 film Cosgrove-Hall, a Danger Mouse poster is shown above a boy's bed.[11]
- Victor and Hugo(1991): Appeared as themselves in the episode titled "French Exchange" S2E7.
- South Park (2008): In the video, Danger Mouse is in Imaginationland. [citation needed]
Episodes
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | |||
10 | 7 | 6 February 1992 | 19 March 1992 | ITV | |
Home media
Broadcast history
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2020) |
The series was transmitted on
He was Dzielna Mysz (brave mouse) in Polish, Dundermusen (Thundermouse) in Swedish, and Dare Dare Motus in French, "Dare Dare" being French slang for "as fast as possible". The Slovene translation omitted the DM initials entirely, however, dubbing Danger Mouse Hrabri mišek ('Brave Mouse').
In
In the United States, the show was broadcast on Nickelodeon from 1984 to 1987, and 1991 to 1994. It would be the first fully-fledged animated show to air on the network.
Revival
It was reported in 2013 that the series was under consideration for a revival,
Spin-off
- Count Duckula (1988–1993)
Notes
- ^ "Sx Ep. y" is shortened form for series x and episode y in the original Danger Mouse TV series
References
- ^ Wolfe, Jennifer (19 May 2016). "'Danger Mouse' Returning for Second Season". Animation World Network. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ a b Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (13 July 2015). "Crumbs! Lena Headey and John Oliver join Danger Mouse remake". the Guardian.
- ^ a b "Jazwares, Penguin and DC Thomson sign with Danger Mouse". licensing.biz. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Pelley, Interviews by Rich (6 January 2020). "How we made Danger Mouse – by David Jason and Brian Cosgrove". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d "11 things to know about Danger Mouse". 17 June 2014.
- ^ "Interview with Brian Cosgrove on danger-mouse.net". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ a b Hadoke, Toby (25 April 2019). "Edward Kelsey obituary". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ YouTube, a Google company. YouTube. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ a b "BFI Screenonline: Dangermouse (1981-92)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ a b c d e "21 charming things to know about Cosgrove Hall Films". Den of Geek. 3 August 2018.
- ^ "John Oliver joins Danger Mouse : News 2015 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide".
- ^ "Danger Mouse co-creator Mark Hall dies". BBC News. 18 November 2011.
- ^ "Club DM". danger-mouse.net. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Cosgrove Hall". mikeharding.co.uk.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Danger Mouse - Nick Knacks Episode #039 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ISBN 0-7535-0919-9.
- ^ "Dangermouse (1981-1992)". British Film Institute.
- ^ "Dangermouse back on 25th birthday!". BBC News. 5 September 2006.
- ^ Laws, Roz (23 July 2011). "Nostalgia: Danger Mouse (1981-1992)". birminghammail.
- ^ "The strange case of inaccurate viewing figures". dirtyfeed.org. 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows". channel4.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2002. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
- ^ Top 100 Animated Series - IGN.com, retrieved 24 January 2021
- ^ a b "BAFTA Awards Search | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
- ^ British Academy Children's Awards
- ^ "Danger Mouse in Double Trouble". SpectrumComputing. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ "Danger Mouse in the Black Forest Chateau". SpectrumComputing. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ "Danger Mouse in Making Whoopee!". SpectrumComputing. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ "An American musician and producer, Brian Burton, created remix CDs under the stage name Danger Mouse, which he took from the television series." Associated Press, "Mark Hall, 75, 'Danger Mouse' cartoonist," The New York Times, 20 November 2011.
- ^ "BBC ALBA - Donnie Murdo/Danger Mouse". BBC.
- ^ "'Danger Mouse' reboot considered after CITV Old Skool weekend success". Digital Spy. 12 March 2013.
- ^ "Danger Mouse to return to TV screens". BBC News. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ Koch, Dave (18 June 2014). "Three New Animated Series, Reboots All". Big Cartoon News. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ "BBC - Danger Mouse back on TV as new series announced for CBBC - Media Centre". bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Danger Mouse to be voiced by Alexander Armstrong". BBC News. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ "Stephen Fry and Richard Osman join cast of CBBC's Danger Mouse". Prolific North. December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (25 February 2015). "Netflix picks up Inspector Gadget and Danger Mouse reboots". The Verge. Vox Media.
- ^ "Kevin Eldon on Danger Mouse reboot: 'It's pretty imaginative'". WOW247. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- ^ "Danger Mouse: Still 'the greatest' secret agent in the world?". BBC News. 28 September 2015.
External links
