Dennis The Menace Cartoon Download
Tamar Rochon
The inspiration for the comic strip came from Dennis Ketcham, the real-life son of Hank Ketcham,[76] who, at four years old, refused to take a nap and made a complete mess of his room. Hank tried many possible names for the character, and translated them into rough pencil sketches, but when his studio door flew open, and his then-wife Alice, in utter exasperation, exclaimed, "Your son is a menace!,"[77] the "Dennis the Menace" name stuck. The character of Henry Mitchell bore a striking resemblance to Ketcham, while the Mitchell family of Dennis, Henry/Hank, and Alice were all named after the Ketcham's.
Ketcham's line work has been highly praised over the years. A review on comicbookbin.com states: "...a growing legion of cartoonists, scholars, aficionados, etc. have come to appreciate the artistry of Dennis's creator, Hank Ketcham. Ketcham's beautiful artwork defines cartooning elegance. The design, the composition, and the line: it's all too, too beautiful."[78] AV Club reviewer Noel Murray wrote: "Ketcham also experimented with his line a little early on, tightening and thickening without losing the looseness and spontaneity that remains the strip's best aspect even now."[79]
In the newspaper cartoon and comic book series, Dennis's parents were aggressive towards him, usually forcing him to sit in the corner whenever he was caught into mischief. However, in the cartoon series, Dennis almost never got punished, and any consequences he received were nowhere near as harsh. This format may be due to U.S. laws enacted by the 1970s forbidding aggressive behavior in any form from being shown on Saturday morning cartoons and all children's programming.
Another area of social change in the entertainment arena was newspaper cartoons and comic strips, a field that included a number of long-running entries set in seemingly all-white suburbias. Charles Schulz's Peanuts, which debuted in 1950, had by the 1960s become by far the most popular and influential comic strip of its day, and it was in 1968 that Schulz added a Black character named Franklin to the ranks of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and the rest of the Peanuts gang. Franklin was a little-used, undistinguished character, though, prompting Chris Rock to joke (incorrectly) in 1992 that Franklin hadn't spoken a single line in 25 years.
It was in this climate that Hank Ketcham, the cartoonist whose Dennis the Menace feature had debuted in newspapers in 1951 (and proved popular enough to spawn a live-action television series in 1959), decided to introduce a Black character of his own in 1970, the fleetingly seen Jackson:
Unfortunately, Ketcham completely undercut his message by visually portraying Jackson as if the character had just stepped out of a 19th century minstrel show or the pages of Little Black Sambo. As Ketcham wrote in his autobiography The Merchant of Dennis, the panel (predictably to everyone but the cartoonist, it seemed) offended many readers and prompted outbursts of violence in several American cities:
I made a point not to apologize but to express my utter dismay at the absurd reaction to my innocent cartoon and my amazement at the number of "art directors" out there. Any regular Dennis-watcher would surely know that I am never vindictive or show any intent to malign or denigrate. But I guess those violent protestants were not avid followers of newspaper comics. And they weren't complaining about the "gag"; it was my depiction of Dennis's new pal that got their tails in a knot. I gave them a miniature Stepin Fetchit when they wanted a half-pint Harry Belafonte.
I find the following cartoon interesting in that it was the very first Dennis comic ever to appear in syndication. When Ketcham got the green light for Dennis, he completed this cartoon in October 1950, and it would be the first Dennis the Menace comic the public would ever see when the strip debuted in American newspapers on March 14, 1951. This comic is not part of the reprint series since it is a primitive Dennis and not the one we are used to seeing, nor is Henry Mitchell even remotely similar to the one Ketcham would eventually develop. But it IS a funny cartoon nonetheless and definitely of historical significance...
this part i don't understand about many comic shops... they'll have the expensive new donald duck books on the rack ($6.95) and archies at cover price, etc., but they'll toss nice looking gold key/whitman donald duck, deniis the menace, archies, etc. and other child appropriate books in the 50 cents/$1 bin where nobody will look at them -- they could just bag 'n board these oldies, put them on the rack for $2.00 - $3.00 and I bet they sell great to a parent looking for some comics for their kids
David Bozward, Chairman of Blue Sphere Games Ltd. says: "Dennis the Menace is one of those classic children's cartoon characters that can still resonate with an adult audience. We look forward to producing a number of engaging games based on this mischievous character."
? It seemed like a cute T-shirt: a cartoon of Margaret from the "Dennis the Menace" comic strip saying "Someday a woman will be PRESIDENT." But some Wal-Mart customers didn't agree, and after they complained, the chain removed the shirts. Designer Ann Mollivar Ruben said a company buyer told her the shirt's message "goes against Wal-Mart's family values." Now, after a counterprotest by women's groups, the shirt is back on Wal-Mart shelves.
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