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.
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.