- “Shout fun for all and all for fun!”
- ―Opening Theme lyrics
Dennis and Gnasher is a British-Australian animated television series which aired on the CBBC Channel. Based on the original comic strips from The Beano, it features the adventures of the rebellious schoolboy Dennis the Menace and his dog Gnasher. The programme is aimed for ages 6–12 and commenced on 7 September 2009 after 500 episodes. A second series broadcasted at 3:45 pm on 8 July 2013 on the CBBC Channel. It was preceded by Dennis and Gnasher which aired in 1996 and a new series in 1998.
Production[]
In February 2008, it would be announced that Dennis the Menace and his dog Gnasher would be getting a politically correct makeover for the twenty-first century. Originally, the media investment company Ludorum would be to represent the Dennis and Gnasher brand on behalf of its owners DC Thomson. Ludorum's chief executive Rob Lawes outlined global ambitions for the new Dennis, whose TV series had also been pre-sold to an Australian network. Rob Lawes said "We're very excited about the current production plans and we are looking forward to refreshing the Dennis property and taking it to a global audience in both TV and interactive formats". Aim-listed Ludorum also announced broadcast deals for its 3D train animation Chuggington.[2][3]
In early 2009, images from the TV series were shown on Red Kite Animation's website[4]
The new series features the return of Dennis, Gnasher, Mum, Dad, Curly and Pie-Face and also features the introduction of Dennis' little sister Bea, as well as several original characters like Athena. The production shots also showed Dennis' treehouse with a more menacing design. Screenshots and an episode can be found at the production company Red Kite Animation's website.
Images of the characters and production were featured in The Beano's 70 year anniversary.
The show was a co-production between Red Kite Animation in Scotland and Sticky Pictures in Australia. Consisting of 52 11-minute segments, the animation is directed by Glenn Kirkpatrick with Executive Producers Donna Andrews (Sticky Pictures) and Ken Anderson (Red Kite) and producers Jane Schneider (Sticky Pictures) and Sueann Smith (Red Kite). Jane O'Brien, Sarah Aubrey, Jimmy Hibbert and Keith Scott are confirmed to be voice actors for the series.
Changes[]
A number of changes have been made to the original format compared to the comics and previous television series. As well as being updated and modernised, Dennis lost his catapult and peashooter and will no longer deliberately cause trouble, In addition, Walter, Dennis's main rival, was made more masculine, removing elements like his pink pyjamas, a small poodle, effeminate voice and his friends being mainly girls. There were fears that Dennis could be seen as homophobic or at the least bullying Walter about his effeminacy, sparking fears and criticism that the show has been toned down for reasons of political correctness. However, the producers have stated that "Dennis will not lose his sense of fun."
Cartoonist Lew Stringer has refuted on his blog the political correctness claims made by some areas of the media, especially the reports that Dennis will no longer use catapults and Gnasher will no longer bite people. Describing these claims as "another 'political correctness gone mad' myth embellished by the media", he has posted videos showing that the show has not been softened up to the extent that the media has reported.
Despite, or possibly because, of these changes, the show was received positively by the mainstream audience and a small number of professional critics, and the show was a rating winner on the CBBC Channel at launch.
For the production of series 2, it was decided that the series would change yet again. 'The Menace' returned to the title 'Dennis the Menace and Gnasher' and his personality change slightly in tribute to the classic comics. The designs of Dennis' parents also changed to match up to the weekly Beano comic. The style of animation was also adjusted. Pie Face and Walter's voice actors have also been changed. He also got his catapult and peashooter back and uses them directly at them.
DVD releases[]
4 volumes of DVDs have been released so far, which include Double Trouble, School Rules?, Highly Over-rated! Fangs for the Memories and Masters of Mayhem for Series 3, with currently one volume, Come Menace With Me, for Series 4.
The Diary of Dennis the Menace[]
On 6 February 2014, a book called The Diary of Dennis the Menace was released to celebrate The Beano's 75 Anniversary. The second book Beanotown Battle was released on 1 May. The third book Rollercoaster Riot will be released on 7 August 2014. Steven Butler wrote the books. Butler also released audiobooks for the first two titles.
International Broadcast[]
The show began airing on The Hub in the United States on the same day the network launched on 10 October 2010. The programme also airs in Australia on Channel Nine and later on ABC3. The programme also began airing on Disney XD in India. It started airing on Disney Channel Asia on 14 May 2011.
Episode list[]
- Main article: List of Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (2009) episodes
Characters[]
- Main article: List of Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (2009) characters
60 Second Dennis[]
35 shorts were also made and air on CBBC. 60 Second Dennis is also the name of a former strip in The Beano.
- Time Machine
- Dogs Dinner
- Costume Drama
- Fore
- Machine Menace Mayhem
- Pie Face-Off
- Wax Work Dummy
- Dry As A Bone
- Ice Cream Mogul
- Prank N Karma
- Yard Sale
- What Goes Up... Stays
- Simply The Best-Befores
- Pirate Ship
- Pic-Nicked
- Letter Me Entertain You
- Flea-ing The Scene
- Pie in the Sky
- Beahave
- Dog Duty
- Off the Cuff
- Bungee Ball
- Radiation Inspector
- Ultra Stinkbomb
- Runaway Skateboard
- Green Paws
- Lilo Race
- Ultimate Water Balloon
- Under Pressure
- The Usual Suspect
- Piggy Bank
- Tough Crowd
- Street Crew Dennis
- Jumbo Waterbomb
- Archaeologist
Home media[]
5 DVDs have been released and all of series 2 is available to stream on Netflix.
DVD releases[]
| DVD title | Series(s) | Aspect ratio | Episode count | Total running time | Release date(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Double Trouble | 1 | 16:9 | 6 | 60 minutes | 8 March 2010 |
| School Rules? Highly Over-rated! | 1 | 16:9 | 6 | 60 minutes | 16 August 2010 |
| Fangs For the Memories | 1 | 16:9 | 8 | 80 minutes | 4 October 2010 |
| Masters of Mayhem | 1 | 16:9 | 6 | 66 minutes | 28 February 2011 |
| Come Menace With Me | 2 | 16:9 | 6 | 60 minutes | 10 February 2014 |
Gallery[]
logo2.jpg "DennistheMenaceandGnasher(2009TVseries)logo2.jpg (174 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qs47x
- ↑ https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2008/feb/07/telecoms.bbc
- ↑ https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-1619779/Dennis-heads-back-to-TV-with-Ludorum.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090503170750/https://www.redkite-animation.com/index.php?page=dennis
External links[]
- Website
- Dennis & Gnasher at BBC Programmes