Dennis the Menace (1986 TV series)

This article is about the 1986 American animated series. For other uses, see Dennis the Menace (disambiguation).

Dennis the Menace
Format	Animated series
Created by	DIC Entertainment DFS Program Exchange Crawleys Animation (co-producer, season 2)
Starring	Brennan Thicke Phil Hartman Marilyn Lightstone Jeannie Elias Donna Christie
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	78 (234 segments)
Production
Running time	22 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	syndication (season 1) CBS (season 2)
Original run	September 22, 1986 – March 26, 1988

Dennis the Menace is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment (with season 2 co-produced by Crawleys Animation), based on the comic strip by Hank Ketcham.

The young blond boy with a cowlick and a mischievous personality, Dennis the Menace, gets into numerous scrapes and adventures with his dog Ruff and his friends Joey, Margaret, Gina, Tommy, PeeBee and Jay.

Dennis is an impulsive, angel-faced little devil who is always getting into scrapes whom end up tormenting his hapless next-door neighbor, Mr. Wilson (though Dennis always means well). Dennis finds himself involved in all kinds of wild adventures (some of which are fantasy-based like the international espionage and trips into the past stories) but always manages to save the day.

The series was originally aired in syndication in the U.S., distributed by The Program Exchange. The second season aired on Saturday mornings on CBS. Each half-hour show consists of three six or seven minute shorts. The show was sponsored by General Mills.

Characters

• Dennis Mitchell, a well-meaning but trouble-prone boy. Voiced by Brennan Thicke.
• Henry Mitchell, father to Dennis and Alice's husband. Voiced by Phil Hartman in Season 1 and by Maurice LaMarche in Season 2.
• Alice Mitchell, Henry Mitchell's wife and Dennis's mother. Usually voiced by Marilyn Lightstone, but on certain occasions by Louise Vallance.
• Mr. George Wilson, the Mitchells' neighbor, often exasperated with Dennis's antics. Voiced by Phil Hartman in Season 1 and Maurice LaMarche in Season 2.
• Mrs. Martha Wilson, a loving, grandmotherly type who enjoys Dennis's company. Voiced by Marilyn Lightstone or Louise Vallance.
• Joey McDonald, Dennis's best friend. Voiced by Jeannie Elias.
• Tommy Anderson, Dennis's other best friend. Also voiced by Jeannie Elias.
• Margaret Wade, Dennis's nemesis, a goody-goody girl in the neighborhood. Also voiced by Jeannie Elias.
• Gina Gillotti, Dennis's tomboyish, yet warm and feminine friend. Voiced by Donna Christie.
• PeeBee Kappa, Dennis' friend and resident genius and technology freak. His name is a play on Phi Beta Kappa. Voiced by Marilyn Lightstone.
• Jay Weldon, Dennis's "too-tall" friend who loves to play basketball.
• Ruff, the Mitchells' family dog. Voiced by Phil Hartman in Season 1 and Maurice LaMarche in Season 2.

Episode list

78 episodes were produced:

Season 1: 1986-1987

1. So Long, Old Paint/Trembly Assembly/Private I
2. A Visitor from Outer Space/Train That Boy/Genie Madness
3. Cheer Up/Ghostblusters/The Life You Save
4. Shark Treatment/Jungle Bungle/Racetrack Menace
5. All the President's Menace/The Love Rowboat/Wilson the Menace
6. Fishing for Trouble/Future Fortune/Time Bomb
7. Spa Blahs/Whale of a Tale/Disaster on the Green
8. Here, Kitty!/Circus Berserkus/The Monster of Mudville Flats
9. The Price of Stardom/Space Menace/The Magic Flute
10. Dennis' Yard Sale/The Abominable Snow Menace/It Came from the Planet Dennis
11. Snowman Madness/The Invisible Kid/Home Destruction
12. Chitty Chitty Moon Walk/Wet 'N Wild/Dennis at the Movies
13. The Supermarket/The Big Candied Apple/The Defective Detector
14. Henry the Menace/Come Fly with Me/Camping Out
15. Up Up and Away (From Here)/Going Ape/Dennis the Pirate
16. It's a Ruff Life/Professor Myron Mentalapse/Dennis Race 2000
17. A Better Mousetrap/The Wizzer of Odd/Canine Car Wash
18. Ride'Em Cowboy/Tenting Tonight/A Hair Raising Tale
19. Medieval Evil/Beaver-Mania/Say Uncle
20. Hopping Mad/Mayan Mayhem/The Big Power Trip
21. Strong Medicine/Gold Strike/Lights! Camera! Mud!
22. Invasion of the Blob/Wild West Show-Down/The Hen Party
23. Up Up and Oh Boy!/The Company Picnic/Aw Nuts!
24. Clip-Joint Capers/Tanks for the Memory/Second Honeymoon
25. A Couple of Coo-Coos/The Cloneheads/Nothing But the Tooth
26. Mummy's Little Boy/Horsing Around/Dennis Plasters Pamplona
27. Dennis Predicts/Dennis & the Kangaroo Cavalry/Meatball Mess
28. My Fair Dennis/A Good Knight's Work/Life in the Fast Lane
29. A Nightmare at the Opera/A Royal Pain/Having a Marbleous Time
30. Marky the Menace/Dennis the Genius/A Step Ahead
31. The Boss Gets Scalped/Mr. Dennistein/Lean Green Jumping Machine
32. Laundry Business/Journey to the Center of Uncle Charlie's Farm/Dennis Springs Into Action
33. Ruff's Hat Trick/A Moving Experience/Lemon-Aid
34. Sounds in the Night/Dennis Does Hollywood/Ruff to the Rescue
35. The Bicycle Thief/Menace of the Mine Shaft/Margaret's Birthday Party
36. So Sorry!/Shock Therapy/Yard Wars
37. Ruff's Masterpiece/Going to the Dogs/Big Baby
38. Building a Better Dog House/Dennis and the Dragon/Hic!
39. Strike Up the Band/Queen of Chinatown/Tale of a Tux
40. Give a Little Whistle/Charmed I'm Sure/After Hours
41. Baseball's Best Ballplayer/Mr. Wilson's Diet/The Backyard Band
42. Double Dennis/Timber Wolves/Help Not Wanted
43. Million Dollar Dennis/3-D and Me/Barber Shop Disharmony
44. Bowling for Dennis/Dennis Conquers the Navy/The Longest Half-Yard
45. Vampire Scare/Give Me Liberty or Give Me Dennis/Wilson for Mayor
46. Dangerous Detour/The Prodigy/The Chimp
47. High Steel/Bicycle Mania/Little Dogs Lost
48. Dennis Destroys Dallas/Black & Blue Hawaii/Oil's Well That Ends Well
49. Door to Door Bore/Dennis in Venice/Young Sherlock Dennis
50. Surf's Up/Yo Ho Ho/The Karate Kiddie
51. Dennis and the Deep/K-9 Kollege/Housepests
52. Animalympics/No Bones About It/Dennis Takes the Cake
53. Quiet Riot/The Magic Pen/A Feeling for Stealing
54. Househusband Henry/Wheeling & Double-Dealing/Stop That Car!
55. Lights, Camera, Auction!/Boy Ahoy/Faulty Alarm
56. Hail to the Chief/Dennis in Microchipland/Handy Dandy Dennis
57. Dennis the Businessman/Soccer it to Me, Dennis/Camp Over Here-Over There
58. Hullaballoo at the Harmony Homes/Phantom of the Wax Museum/Dennis and the Gypsy Woman
59. Attack of the Giant Tomatoes/The Dinosaur Doozy/Funhouse Grouch
60. Dennis Rocks Out/Deserted with Dennis/Fashionable Menace
61. Back to the Drawing Board/Part-Time Helper/G.I. George
62. Wanted: Scarface Wilson/Ruff Come Home/10-4 Dennis
63. Heroes Unwelcome/The Martians are Coming/Ancient Olympics
64. Pool Haul/Fool for Gold/Nothin' to Be Afraid Of
65. Yankee Doodle Dennis/Dennis the Barnstormer/Trial and Error

Season 2: 1988

1. Frankenstymied/Space Race/The Incredible Shrinking Dennis
2. The Great Pie Swap/Climb of the Century/Little Beauty Shop of Horrors
3. Crummy Mummy/Swiss Family Mitchell/Pie in the Eye
4. It's Magic Time/Dennis in Wonderland/Water on the Brain
5. Tunnel Vision/Super Duper Dennis/Ice Show Show-Off
6. Snow Wars/The Moroccan Pigeon/Dennis of the Jungle
7. Young at Heart/Thor-Sicle/A Word from Our Sponsor
8. A Froggy Day/Loch Ness Mess/Box Office Smash
9. Menaced Marriage/Dennis of the Yukon/Seal of Approval
10. Instant Replay/Underwater Wonderland/Safe at Home
11. A Fox Tale/Gorilla Warfare/Shared Interest
12. Kooked Goose/Pell Mell Hotel/The Old Ball Game
13. Wilson's Night Out/The Wright Stuff/Hassle in the Castle

Home video

On June 2, 1993, these four NTSC VHS tapes were released by CBS/FOX Video:

• Dennis' Great Adventure contains the episodes All the President's Menace, The Abominable Snow Menace, Dennis in Venice and The Big Candied Apple

• Animal Antics contains the episodes Lean, Green Jumping Machine, Shark Treatment, Jungle Bungle and Dinosaur Doozy

• Boys Will Be Boys contains the episodes Disaster on the Green, Baseball's Best Ballplayer, Soccer it to Me, Dennis and Racetrack Menace

• Spies, Robbers and Ghosts contains the episodes Ghost Blusters, The Monster of Mudville Flats, Young Sherlock Dennis and The Defective Detector.

DVD release

On March 18, 2008, Fox Home Entertainment released a select 7-episode DVD entitled Dennis the Menace: Trouble, Trouble Everywhere in Region 1. This compilation includes the episodes Dennis in Venice, Mayan Mayhem, The Big Candied Apple, A Royal Pain, Dennis and the Kangaroo Cavalry, Dennis Plasters Pamplona and Black and Blue Hawaii.

Broadcast history

USA

Television syndication (1986–2006; first-run 1986-1988)

• CBS (1988)
• USA Network (1996–1998)
• FOX Family Channel (1998–1999)
• Cartoon Network (2001)
• Black Family Channel (2005)
• Boomerang (2007, 2010)
• i-Lifetv (2009)

In 1992, The Program Exchange re-released the series with a different opening sequence and end credits (but containing the same theme songs). This edit is still used when the show is rerun today.

UK

The title was shortened to Dennis so as not to create confusion with the UK character Dennis the Menace.

• CITV (1987)
• Channel 4 (1989–1994)
• Sky One (1994–1997)
• Fox Kids (1997–2003)
• POP (2006–2008)
• Kix! (2008–2009)
• KidsCo (2011-present)

Canada

• Global

Australia

• ABC

External links

• Dennis the Menace at the Internet Movie Database
• Dennis the Menace at TV.com