Dennis the Menace (1986 TV series)

Dennis the Menace is an American animated series produced by DIC Entertainment (now owned by DHX Media) (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 which 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.

Cast/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 friend and occasional 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 and later Sharon Noble.
 * 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. Voiced by Riva Spier
 * Ruff, the Mitchells' family dog. Voiced by Phil Hartman in Season 1 and Maurice LaMarche in Season 2.
 * Other Kids, voiced by Matthew Godfrey in Season 1 and Kimberly "Kim" Duncan 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) The Wright Stuff/Hassle in the Castle/Wilson's Night Out

VHS
On June 2, 1993, CBS/FOX Video released four VHS compilations in the USA:

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.

In Sweden, 2 compilations were released containing the following episodes:

Dennis Får Besök Från Rymden – contains the episode 'A Visitor From Outer Space'

Dennis – Yankee Doodle Dennis – contains the episodes 'Yankee Doodle Dennis', 'Dennis the Barnstorm', 'Trail and Error', 'Instant Replay', 'Thor-Sicle' and 'Seal of Approval'.

DVD releases
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.

On March 18, 2014, Mill Creek Entertainment released Dennis the Menace – Volume One on DVD in Region 1. The 3-disc set contains the first 33 episodes of the series. On August 5, 2014, Mill Creek released ''Dennis the Menace - Lights! Camera! Menace!'', which contains the remaining 32 episodes from the first season.

USA
Television syndication (1986–1988 [first run]; 1992-2006 [second run])
 * CBS (1988)
 * USA Network (1996–1998)
 * Fox Family Channel (1998–1999)
 * Cartoon Network (2001)
 * Black Family Channel (2005)
 * Boomerang (2007, 2010)
 * i-Lifetv (now Halogen TV; 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 and released on home video 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)

Canada

 * YTV

Australia

 * ABC
 * Network Ten
 * Nickelodeon

Czech Republic

 * ČST (1991)
 * TV3 (2000–2001)
 * Fox Kids (2002–2004)

Croatia

 * RTL Kockica (2014–???)

Philippines

 * GMA Network (1986 - 1992)

Turkey

 * Fox Kids (1997–2003)
 * Show TV (2002-2003)
 * Jetix Play (2004-2010)
 * Samanyolu TV (2004-2007)
 * Yumurcak TV (2007-2013)
 * Cine5 (2007-2010)
 * Smart Çocuk (2007-2008)
 * Maxi TV (2009-2010)
 * KidsCo (2008-2012)