Comedy Archaeology - Animation Part The Second

While American cartoons largely dominate the world of animation, they’re not the only ones out there. If I’m going through this in an archeological sense then there is definitely British cartoon that stands tall amongst those early influences. It’s the fastest, it’s the greatest, it’s the best (to paraphrase the theme tune)....

Danger Mouse
A product of the British animation company Cosgrove Hall (sadly no longer around) who also gave us such 70s kids TV classics as Chorlton And The Wheelies and Jime And The Magic Torch*, Danger Mouse was a programme that made its way all throughout my childhood. In fact, the original series ran for a surprisingly long time - 1981 to 1992 - meaning that it ran through well into my teenage years. 

What’s so good about it then? It’s very, very silly. Lots of daft wordplay, groan-inducing puns, breaking of the fourth wall and a very British sensibility. In a way, it’s an inheritor of that anarchic streak that’s present in Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry but leavened by two things - a much more British tendency towards understatement and a minuscule budget which certainly limits the capabilities of the animators (the series contains a high number of scenes either in the dark where there are only eyes visible - eye in the case of DM himself - or in DM’s car where the dashboard obscures their mouths thus meaning lots of shots can be reused!).

It’s one of those series which strikes a humor balance that appeals to both kids and adults. It’s worth noting that, at the height of its popularity in 1983, it racked up an astonishing 21 million viewers even beating out Coronation Street (a feat that has yet to be rivaled by any other children’s programme in the UK). This would be helped largely by the calibre of the voice talent with David Jason as Danger Mouse and Terry Scott as Penfold. Both of them were already household names by this point, especially when you reach the highs of those 1983 ratings as both Only Fools And Horses and Terry And June were well into their runs by then. It also helps that they’re both great in the roles as are Edward Kelsey and Brian Trueman rounding out the regular cast as Baron Greenback, Colonel K and Stiletto between them (as well a providing most of the supporting cast).

It’s been successful enough to spawn both a spin-off (Count Duckula also starring David Jason in the title role) and a reboot a couple of years with moved from ITV to CBBC (and starred Alexander Armstrong, Kevin Eldon and Stephen Fry in the main roles - keeping the tradition of using established comedians going).

I absolutely loved it and was appropriately obsessed with it as a small spotty herbert. Danger Mouse, along with the Looney Tunes/Tom & Jerry, seeped into the general mulch that was becoming my sense of humor (such as it is) but it wasn’t just cartoons that were imprinting upon my tiny little mind….


* To any non-UK readers out there:- Yes, these do sound like I’ve made them up but they are genuine programmes.