Dennis the Menace

DTM was a classic show. A show of a troublemaker ADHD that annoyed his neighbor. Dennis may be a menace, although this show is classic.

One morning back in 1987, while I was home on leave (I was in the Navy stationed overseas and I was back stateside for some leave), I was up early one morning armed with the TV Guide and I saw "Dennis the Menace" listed.

Thinking it was the old TV series from the 1950s that I grew up watching, I decided to check it out, only to discover that it was a new cartoon series.

What I thought would be a disappointment turned out to be a pleasant surprise! The series was actually more true to Hank Ketcham's great comic strip than the old black & white series. Actually, the old black & white series was not true to the comic strip because the PTA, which was a pretty powerful force to deal with, managed to reduce "Dennis the Menace" to more of a "Dennis the good boy whose good intentions somehow went haywire".

The artwork of the cartoon series was true to Hank Ketcham's style. And the animation was very good, which was unusual for a TV cartoon of the time.

Being a cartoon, the writers had a lot more leeway and were free to allow Dennis to be as much of a menace as he was originally intended to be.

This series is not only entertaining for children of all ages, but is also entertaining for the child that still lurks in every grown up as well.

I didn't think TV's original version of "Dennis the Menace" (way back in the '50s) was enough of a menace to earn the title. Let's fact it: it was the '50s, how much COULD he get away with?

That's part of the reason that this 1986 reinvention works so much better. Also the fact that here he's actually a CARTOON! Yes! Hank Ketcham should have been proud: this is the proper venue for a character born in the Sunday funnies.

But where Jay North was limited as to just what kind of mischief he could get into, this model of Dennis (voiced by Brennan Thicke) could literally get into ANYTHING! Here, he played with dinosaurs, foiled bomb-carrying spies, interacted with movie hero Cowboy Bob straight from the movie screen (a la Woody Allen's "Purple Rose of Cairo"!) and regularly thwarted aliens, opera singers, bullies, rude adults, criminals and, of course, frazzled neighbor George Wilson.

Wilson (as voiced by LaMarche and, especially, Phil Hartman!) stayed the same in every episode and rightfully so: any simple task he would start or try to start would consistently be thwarted by Dennis' misguided attempts to be neighborly, help him out or otherwise simply be there. Mr. Wilson knew what he was capable of, so why shouldn't he be wary of his mere presence? You know the equation: Mr. Wilson + Dennis = disaster!

I thought this was another great series distributed by DIC Entertainment and if you appreciate the mischief a child can get into (and get others into), you'll agree - this "Menace" was never better!

Ten stars. catch it, and enjoy this master of "Menace"!

"Dennis the Menace" was, and is still one of my favorite cartoons that I watched growing up. I loved it how Dennis would always torment Mr. Wilson. Of course, Dennis had NO idea that he was giving Mr. Wilson such a hard time. The episodes where Dennis would always end up going on an adventure with one or a few of his friends were the coolest!!! This show also had some great vocal talent such as the late great Phil Hartman (I miss him!!!), and Maurice LaMarche to name a few.

If you ever see this show in the near future, and have never watched it, then check it out, you WON'T be disappointed. 10/10

This is a cartoon show based on the comic strip, where a naive and inquisitive boy named Dennis Mitchell, dressed in overalls and constantly yelling "Heyyyy, Mr. Willllson!" tries to befriend everybody and help out with stuff, but always ends up in mischief or in a sea of misadventures - particular driving his neighbor, George Wilson, crazy.

Overall, it's a funny little innocent cartoon that is full of that childhood innocence and some slapstick comedy. I used to watch it when I was a kid - a nice little show to pass the time. It's not the funniest or greatest cartoon I've seen, but its innocence and good old fashion childish fun and dialog make it quite entertaining to a little kid.

Grade B-