''Danger Mouse'' is a children's animated television series, produced by FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment and

Boulder Media Boulder Media Limited is an Irish animation studio founded by filmmaker Robert Cullen in 2000. It is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian media company Princess Pictures, which purchased the company in 2022 from its previous owner ...

, though it started being produced by

Boat Rocker Media Boat Rocker Media Inc. is a Canadian multinational entertainment company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 2013 by the executives of Temple Street Productions, it holds interests in media production, distribution, brand licensing, ...

in 2018 after they acquired FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment. The series, which is a revival of the 1981 television series of the same name, sees the return of Danger Mouse, the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Secret Agent", and his hamster sidekick Penfold, who protect the world from a variety of dangers. With help from his boss Colonel K and the genius scientist Professor Squawkencluck, Danger Mouse is equipped to defeat his nemesis, Baron Silas von Greenback. Plans for a revival of ''Danger Mouse'' were first considered in 2013, before being announced the following year, with original series co-creator

Brian Cosgrove Brian Joseph Cosgrove (born 6 April 1934) is an English animator, designer, director, producer and sculptor. With Mark Hall, he founded Cosgrove Hall Films in 1976 and produced successful animated children shows including ''The Wind in the W ...

helping to develop the series. The main cast were announced in 2014, with more cast members being announced later in the year. The series premiered on

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

on 28 September 2015, more than 20 years after the end of the show's original run. Within three weeks of the series running, ''Danger Mouse'' achieved 2.4 million viewers and became the highest rated show on the CBBC channel. On 19 May 2016, the series was commissioned for a second series and on 4 April 2017, for a third series of 26 episodes. ''Danger Mouse'' won the Best Sound Design and Best Music awards at the 2017 and 2019 Irish Animation Awards. Aidan McAteer also picked up the award for 'Best Director' at the 2019 awards.

Production

In 2013, FremantleMedia confirmed to ''Broadcast'' that an updated version of the series was being considered, and in June 2014 it was announced that a new series consisting of 52 episodes; was being made for broadcast on

in 2015. The series is produced by Boulder Media for

, who acquired

FremantleMedia Fremantle Limited (), formerly FremantleMedia, is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. The company was founded as Pearson Television in 1993 when publishing and education company Pearson ...

's kids and family entertainment business in January 2018. It is directed by Robert Cullen, with Brian Cosgrove, one of the original creators, as a creative consultant.

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter, singer and farmer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', and is a weekday morning-show presenter on C ...

and

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (TV ...

voice Danger Mouse and Penfold, Dave Lamb takes the role of the narrator, whilst

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

and Ed Gaughan take on the roles of Colonel K and Baron Greenback respectively. Armstrong's ''

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestan ...

'' co-host

Richard Osman Richard Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and novelist. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show ''Pointless''. He has presented the BBC Two quiz shows ''Two Tribes ( ...

also appears in the series as Professor Strontium Jellyfishowitz. It was also announced that

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

would voice Dr Augustus P. Crumhorn IV and

Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is an English actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO fantasy drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she received ...

would voice new character Jeopardy Mouse. According to Eldon, the animation style is 'much the same as the original'. The series is animated in Toon Boom Harmony, as the animators thought that

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

was too limited. The series was picked up by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in several countries, including the United States. In August 2019,

CBS All Access Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily ...

acquired the US streaming rights to the series. Several of the characters' voices were recorded at

Windmill Lane Studios Windmill Lane Recording Studios (earlier Windmill Lane Studios) is a recording studio in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It was originally opened in 1978 by Brian Masterson and James Morris on Windmill Lane, and it subsequently relocated in ...

in Dublin, Ireland.

Characters

* Danger Mouse (voiced by

) is the main

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

and title character, Danger Mouse is the world's greatest secret agent. Supremely confident in his abilities, Danger Mouse can be

narcissistic Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

, which sometimes leads him to take actions that create risky situations. * Ernest Penfold (voiced by

) is a timid and neurotic hamster who works as Danger Mouse's assistant and is his best friend. * Colonel K (voiced by

) is a chinchilla who serves as Danger Mouse and Penfold's boss. His beard and moustache is a sentient lifeform and now and then detaches itself from his face. * Professor Squawkencluck (voiced by Shauna Macdonald) is a Scottish chicken scientist who invents gadgets for Danger Mouse to use on his missions. * Baron Silas Von Greenback (voiced by Ed Gaughan) is an evil, German, toad mastermind who is Danger Mouse's

archenemy In literature, an archenemy, (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) or nemesis is the main enemy of the protagonist — or sometimes, one of the other main characters — appearing as the most prominent and most-known enemy of the hero. Etymolog ...

. * Nero (vocal effects by

Marc Silk Marc Silk (born 14 September 1972) is a British voice actor. Career During his school years, Silk was a quiet student who was aspiring for creativity. He presented a mock radio show for his media course, in which he performed an "unusual mix" ...

) is Greenback's pet fluffy white caterpillar, whose intelligence and duplicity is often underestimated. * Stiletto Mafiosa (voiced by Dave Lamb) is Greenback's dim-witted Italian crow henchman. * The Narrator (voiced by Dave Lamb), as with the original series, an unseen character, frequently breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

, interacting with both the viewer and the other characters and often finds himself in danger from the episode's antagonist.

Episodes

Home media

The first DVD of the series was released on 2 November 2015. The whole of series 1 has been released across 6 DVDs, with 1 being released in 2015, 2 in 2016 and 3 in 2017. All 2015 episodes have been released for digital download through Amazon and other services.

Other media and merchandise

Video games

In July 2017, it was announced that an official ''Danger Mouse'' mobile game was in development by 9th Impact and the game ''Danger Mouse: The Danger Games'' was released on

iOS App Store The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple, for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be download ...

and

Google Play Store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

in August 2017. The game is a multiplayer racing battle with card trading. It was nominated for ''Best Mobile Game'' at the 2017 Best of Gamescom awards, but lost to '' Metroid: Samus Returns''. It was also nominated for "Best Racing Game" at The Independent Game Developers' Association Awards 2018, but lost to '' F1 2017''. The game was released for the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

on September 13, 2018.

Stage adaptation

It was announced in December 2016 that there would be a live stage show based on the TV series in 2017. The show was produced by FremantleMedia who created the series for CBBC and is also produced by

Butlins Butlin's is a chain of large Seaside resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, incorporated as Butlins Skyline Limited. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1 ...

holiday park where it toured around all three of its parks from Easter 2017 until January 2018. The show is titled ''Robo Mop''. The stage show returned in 2018.

Merchandising

Jazwares is the master toy partner,

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

publish a range of printed books, including story books, official guides, sticker books, novelty books, annuals and electronic titles and D.C. Thomson & Co. have started publishing a monthly magazine (from July 2016) with comic strips, puzzles, fact files, poster and competitions.

read Danger Mouse audiobooks, the first one being released on 2 June 2016. A Danger Mouse ''Scribble Book'' was also released on 2 June 2016, as well as ''Sticky Situations! Colouring Book'' and ''License to Chill''.

References

External links