Dennis the Menace

Dennis the Menace
1. a character in the British comic The Beano. He is a small boy with untidy hair who is always playing tricks on people and getting into trouble. He has a dog called Gnasher that regularly bites people.
2. a US cartoon character created in the early 1950s. He is a small boy who behaves badly and especially annoys his neighbour, Mr Wilson. Dennis has also appeared in a television series (1959–63) and a film (1993).

* * *

▪ comic strip character
      American comic strip character, a five-and-a-half-year-old boy whose curiosity continually gets him in trouble.

      Dennis Mitchell, nicknamed Dennis the Menace, has messy blond hair with a characteristic cowlick in the back. He was initially depicted as a defiant child who deliberately sought out mischief, but over the years his personality softened considerably. He does not mean any real harm, yet he cannot help creating a racket or a mess at home, making a scene in public, and driving his parents, Alice and Henry Mitchell, to distraction.

      The most frequent target of Dennis's mischief is George Wilson, an older neighbour whom Dennis seldom allows a moment of peace, having adopted him as a surrogate grandfather. Wilson's wife, Martha, obligingly behaves like an indulgent grandmother. Among the minor characters in the strip are Dennis's shaggy dog, Ruff, and his toddler sidekick, Joey McDonald. Dennis's nemesis is the slightly older and gratingly superior Margaret Wade, and he harbours a secret crush on the tomboyish Gina Gillotti.

      Cartoonist Hank Ketcham (1920–2001) created Dennis the Menace as a daily comic panel in 1951; by the end of the decade, it was syndicated in more than 1,000 newspapers. Ketcham received the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1952. A live-action situation comedy starring Jay North as Dennis ran on television from 1959 to 1963, followed over the years by a number of animated specials and series and a 1993 live-action movie featuring Walter Matthau (Matthau, Walter) and Joan Plowright (Plowright, Joan) as the Wilsons. After Ketcham's death, the daily panel and Sunday strip were carried on by his assistants, Marcus Hamilton and Ron Ferdinand, to whom he had turned over the cartoon's creation in 1994.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dennis the Menace — may refer to: Dennis the Menace (U.S.), a daily US syndicated newspaper comic strip since March 12, 1951. Various television and film adaptations of the comic strip: Dennis the Menace (1959 TV series) Dennis the Menace (1986 TV series) All New… …   Wikipedia

  • Dennis the Menace (U.S.) — This article is about the US newspaper strip Dennis the Menace. For other uses, see Dennis the Menace (disambiguation). Dennis the Menace Author(s) Hank Ketcham Marcus Hamilton Ron Ferdinand Launch date …   Wikipedia

  • Dennis the Menace (UK) — This article is about the Beano comic strip. For other uses, see Dennis the Menace (disambiguation). Beano strip Dennis Gnasher Current/last artist Barrie Appleby First appearance Issue 452 (17 March 1951 as Dennis the Menace) …   Wikipedia

  • Dennis the Menace — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Dennis Originaltitel: Dennis the Menace Produktionsland: Vereinigte Staaten Erscheinungsjahr: 1993 Länge: 94 Minuten Originalsprache: Englisch …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dennis the Menace — {n. phr.} After the notorious television character played by a young boy who always creates trouble for the grownups. Any hyperactive little boy who needs calming down. * / Your son, Joey, is becoming a regular Dennis the Menace , Jane said to… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Dennis the Menace — {n. phr.} After the notorious television character played by a young boy who always creates trouble for the grownups. Any hyperactive little boy who needs calming down. * / Your son, Joey, is becoming a regular Dennis the Menace , Jane said to… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Dennis\ the\ Menace — n. phr. After the notorious television character played by a young boy who always creates trouble for the grownups. Any hyperactive little boy who needs calming down. Your son, Joey, is becoming a regular Dennis the Menace , Jane said to Elvira …   Словарь американских идиом

  • Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (1996 TV series) — Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Genre Cartoon Written by Tony Collingwood Chris Trengove Jimmy Hibbert David Freedman Alan Gilbey Directed by Tony Collingwood Starring Richard Pearce Kerry Sh …   Wikipedia

  • Dennis the Menace Strikes Again — Directed by Charles T. Kanganis Produced by Robert Newmyer Jeffrey Silve …   Wikipedia

  • Dennis the Menace: Dinosaur Hunter — Directed by Doug Rogers Produced by Phil Fehrle Starring Victor DiMattia, William Windom Music by R …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”