Review: "Danger Mouse" 2015

With all the various reboots and remakes out there, especially with kids' properties, it's rare that you come upon one which plays perfectly for the old, nostalgic crowd and the new generation. Danger Mouse (2015) is one of those shows - not to be confused with the musician of the same name. With a nod to the original, a comedic pacing for modern kids, and an art/animation style that speaks as much about quality as it does the decision of the makers to pursue that quality for a reboot in the first place... the CBBC (and as of Spring 2016, Netflix) has a hit on their hands. To the review!You can listen to this blog post as a podcast!This segment was used in episode #101 of the RubberOnion Animation Podcast (click to listen to the entire episode) 

Just the facts:

How many seasons? As of this post (Oct 12, 2015), there have been 52 x 11 minute episodes ordered. I believe 26 are in the bag and they're working on the other 26 now.Where can I watch it? Again, as of this post it's being shown on the CBBC in the U.K. and will be available on Netflix in the U.S.A. in Spring 2016When can I watch it? 6pm Mon-Fri on the CBBC (all-new episodes), previous night's re-runs at ~7:15am the next morning.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfiIlfwGy-8

Voice Actors:Alexander Armstrong = "Danger Mouse"Kevin Eldon = "Penfold"Stephen Fry = "Colonel K" - basically M, from the Bond filmsJohn Oliver = "Dr Augustus P Crumplehorn III"Lena Headey = "Jeopardy Mouse"Shauna Macdonald = "Professor Professor Squawkencluck" (first name professor) - basically Q, from the Bond filmshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohWtRQfE89w 

Updating but Not:

The original Danger Mouse series ran from 1981 all the way until 1992 in the U.K. and even came to the States on Nickelodeon (though I remember its spinoff show, Count Duckula, more). It was based on an action series from the 1960's called Danger Man (Get it? Man... mouse... you follow).Full disclosure, I never really watched the original. I thought it was a normal 30 minute show until I looked at some of the background and depending on the season it was anywhere from 5 minutes to 25 minutes, but when it came to Nickelodeon they stitched 3 episodes together back to back to fill the block.In the new series there are wink-and-nod gags on the source material being in this new era like having Danger's trademark eye patch replaced with an "iPatch," complete with modern tech. It's very Bond-ish in that way... but more like Pierce Brosnan's because of those referential jokes.The relationship between Danger & Penfold is a lot like Sherlock and Dr Watson... but again, more like the Benedict Cumberbatch / Martin Freeman version. The comparison breaks down if you look to closely at it but I specifically got that vibe when Penfold was trying to get Danger to take a break from the spy-work and go on a vacation but Danger just got sucked back into an assignment. 

Let's talk Comedy:

The comedic cuts are a lot like the kind you'll see in an Edgar Wright, and that's to say: fast but purposeful. Even Danger Mouse sounds like Simon Pegg to me but that may just be my American ear (self effacing jokes, I'm following the show).But the actual voice of Danger, Alexander Armstrong did say this of the comedic timing

“It’s a very American approach to scriptwriting, Five laughs on each page.”

I'll grant you that, Alex... may I call you 'Alex?' I'll grant you that, Alex, but while the appeal might be broad there is a lot of culturally "British" humor here - just not enough to distract, as regional humor often does outside of that local market. Mostly, the jokes center around breaking the 4th wall - especially the narrator!I don't necessarily think it's an "American" approach to screenwriting as much as it is a "modern childrens' programming" approach. Thing about the rapid fire comedy of a movie like The Lego Movie (and read my review */plug).

Timing

I took a stopwatch to the last 2 minutes of episode two and timed out each cut to a new scene (whenever the background changes). Here's the result:THAT... is some quick cut comedy. But you know what? It works. It's not too frenetic, you can follow all the action, and actually works perfectly for (in this case) the finale of an 11 minute episode. 

Let's talk Animation:

The animation is great. Done, end of section.It's animated in Toon Boom Harmony by Boulder Media, an animation studio based in Ireland. They've brought us the wonderful movement in shows like:

• Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends
• El Tigre
• Wander Over Yonder (season 2)
• The Amazing World of Gumball

The action is readable. The colors are vibrant and the highlights are slick. The lipsync is also great - the variation between open and closed mouth shapes, especially for the leads, are enough to be interesting but not too much to be distracting. I like to call it "dancing lipsync" because when paired with an established comedic cadence, the open-closed-open has a kind of rhythm to it that just looks great.That was a little animation-nerdy but it's true. And the backgrounds... 

Verdict:

Even though it's shown mostly on weekday nights right now, this is a perfect "Saturday Morning Cartoon" for kids today as well as those nostalgic for when "Saturday Morning Cartoons" were actually a thing (that's a topic for a different day).What did YOU think?  TL;DR It's really good. Watch it.