For some reason, the British have cornered the market on secret agents. Perhaps it was the success of the suave James Bond. Maybe it’s a cultural wish to be a cold war spy who beds all the beautiful women rather than an accountant in London. Perhaps the British are only good at having a stiff upper lip and keeping their cool.
Who knows?
Danger Mouse certainly is a worthy descendent to Bond, even if he is a mouse.
Well, perhaps not completely, since he doesn’t bed the chicks at the same rate Bond does. He is pretty slick in almost every other arena Bond is, though.
Anyway, these 37 episodes from seasons 5 and 6 are all well done. The adventures in each episode are all self-contained. Essentially the basic premise of almost every episode involves Danger Mouse and his manservant, Penfold, foiling the attempts of Baron Greenback to take over the world. Or do other diabolical things.
Or
something.
Actually, I never get the idea that Greenback is much more than a nuisance. He’s more like a bully or self-righteous literary agent.
The show’s real star in my mind is Penfold. Penfold is the real heart of the operation. Behind his ineptitude lies the mask of self doubt, of being unsure about oneself, which contrasts with Danger Mouse’s self sufficiency and confidence.
Also, he’s damn funny. He’s a mole or something, so he’s blind. Blind people, like the deaf, are usually funny. He’s also constantly getting into trouble. Check out Tiptoe Through the Penfolds for hilarity and many, many clones of Penfold. Why is that the ultimate Penfold episode? Because if one nearly blind probably retarded Mole sidekick with a penchant for physical follies is funny, then dozens are hilarious.
The series hits its high point I think in season 5, in an episode entitled Remote Controlled Chaos. In it, Greenback sabotages the Danger Mobile so that it can be controlled remotely, thus endangering Danger Mouse when he gets in the vehicle. Tim Burton not so subtly robbed this very idea and inserted it into his 1992 Batman Returns, where the Penguin does nearly the identical gag with incredibly similar results.
Burton, we’re on to your tricks.
The ultimate compliment I can pay these episodes is that not only did they engage me, but my son as well. Too often with kids’ entertainment, it seems it’s either so dumbed down that even the kids are bored, or it inserts so many sexually themed double entendres that you wonder if your kids aren’t subconsciously being turned into perverts. Danger Mouse is a nice normal dose of kid friendly fun, but at the same time written well enough that you won’t feel dumber for having watched it.
Disc Presentation
This is hand-drawn animation, so to some it might come off
less slick than what we have out there on Cartoon Network
these days. However I like the look and feel. The one complaint
I have is that the episodes themselves look old and in need
of some care. They look like bad reruns on a UHF station.
I don’t expect A&E to spend a lot of money refurbishing
these, but at the same time, it certainly seems like they could
have been cleaned up a little more. A&E did a far better
job with this on other titles, like the Monty Python series. It’s not enough to get upset about, but I think
worth noting.
The audio fared better. Sounded fine. Like most kids DVDs, you won’t be buying this to use in your system to impress anyone. However, enough care was taken so that these episodes sound as they should. No problems here.
Disc Extras
There are virtually no extras. What is included amounts to an ad for another series created by some of the Danger Mouse people, Count Duckula, and the Danger Mouse theme song.
And let me just add that the theme song is just an abomination after about the third episode. And the intro to each episode has it, so you have to listen to it. It sinks in and causes brain rot. Why anyone would WANT to listen to it later, of his or her own free will, baffles me. That the same culture that produced The Beatles also produced someone capable of making this theme song seems almost criminal.
The end result is the set is sorely lacking with regards to extras, though I can’t really think of anything I’d really have wanted.
The Bottom Line
The world’s smallest secret agent will make both kids and adults laugh.
|
