SDCC 2015 – Danger Mouse New Series: Exclusive Reveal

Comic Con, Photos, TV & Movies
BBC, sdcc 2015

Some of you may remember a British cartoon that ran in the 80s for about ten seasons, a little series called Danger Mouse. The cartoon has a loyal fanbase in the US, but it’s wildly popular in the UK. In welcome news to fans of the the Greatest Secret Agent In The World, the BBC in conjunction with Fremantle Media made the official announcement in July: Danger Mouse is coming back! All-new episodes are set to air on September 28, thirty-three years to the day after the iconic show was released back in 1981.

On Sunday, Elizabeth and Kathryn sat in on the panel hosted by Sarah Muller (executive producer, head of CBBC acquisitions, animation and drama development), Chapman Maddox (director of development at Fremantle Media Kids & Family Entertainment) and moderated by Bob Higgins (executive producer at Fremantle Media Kids and Family Entertainment), as they revealed details about the new series, including an SDCC-exclusive showing of a brand-new episode!

Bob Higgens started out by trying to summarize the Danger Mouse fandom in the UK. The word “rabid” was used. Danger Mouse is even on a stamp, something which Mr. Higgens joked has previously been reserved for “The Queen, Winston Churchill, and Father Christmas.” With something this important, the creators knew they had to tread very carefully in order to make a show that will appeal to a new audience, while staying true to the original.

One of the most important updates is the inclusion of female characters. The original Danger Mouse had no females, other than Colonel K’s often heard but never seen secretary (and maybe the mysterious Fifi, who was possibly Danger Mouse’s Parisian girlfriend. Or maybe his ex. She was only mentioned a few times, and Danger Mouse refused to talk about her. Because it’s private.)

In the revival, Danger Mouse and his assistant Penfold will be joined by new characters Professor Squawkencluck (not the one from the original series, this is a brand new “Q” character who just happens to have the same name) voiced by Scottish actress Shauna Macdonald, and the CIA operative Jeopardy Mouse, voiced by Lena Headey. Yes, that Lena Headey; Cersai from Game of Thrones is in fact joining the cast. The panelists made sure to emphasize the fact that none of these will be token characters. In the case of Jeopardy Mouse, the character is actually going to be something of an adversary for Danger Mouse, since the creators thought it would be fun to have a second character who also thinks she’s the Greatest Secret Agent in the World.

Other voice talents include Stephen Fry as Colonel K, and John Oliver as the villain Dr. Augustus P Crumplehorn III. The entire cast is extremely enthusiastic about the whole project, and many of them were fans of the original show. Apparently the producers decided to end a day of recording by showing one of the first completed episodes to the cast. The reception was overwhelmingly positive; never mind that they’d just spent a whole day in the recording booth, they insisted on seeing all three of the completed episodes after they’d watched the first one.

Danger Mouse was one of those rare cartoons that treated the audience with respect. For the updated version, the show’s creators have worked hard to make a show that works on both a kid and an adult level. To demonstrate this, the panel then treated the audience to the first full-length episode, “The Planet of the Toilets”. Yes, you read that right, it’s an action-adventure with Danger Mouse and Penfold having to face an army of rebelling toilets, led by the high-tech super-toilet, Dr. Loocifer. Too subtle? Not to fear, every single toilet-based double entendre is thrown at the audience, with the villain being handed lines like “You’ve pulled my chain for the last time!” and “We’ve got to STRAIN for freedom!” and “We’ve got to PUSH for our rights!” It was all very, I have to say it, potty-minded, but also a heck of a lot of fun. The animation is clean-lined and fast-paced, a far cry from the quaint, many-times-recycled frames from the original that I’m still a little nostalgic for. And most importantly (to me, anyway) Penfold’s first appearance had the cowardly assistant screaming in terror, which felt exactly right.

Oh, and speaking of nostalgia, Elizabeth got to ask the last questions of the day: “Will Baron Greenback’s henchman Stiletto be in the new series, and if so, what will his accent be?” Fans in the US will remember Stiletto as having a cockney accent, which was re-dubbed from his original Itallian accent that US producers thought would be “insulting to Italian Americans” (the who in the what now?) UK fans can rejoice, because Stiletto will be in the new series, and the panelists confirmed that they’d be going “old school” with his accent, meaning Italian. US fans, well, all ten seasons of the original series are now available on Netflix, so you’ve got a couple more months to rewatch the show and get used to what the UK fans describe as the “right” version.