# Will The REAL Dennis Stand Up (Dennis The Menace) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576 "2011-06-23T17:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/21 "2011-06-24T19:34:00Z")
I never knew of the British Dennis until some months ago, when I googled Dennis (for some reason I’ve long forgotten) and images of the funny-looking British kid were mixed in with the familiar red overalls. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/22 "2011-06-24T20:01:24Z")
They started showing the Brit version on one of the cartoon stations my daughter watches, but I don’t recall them ever saying “Dennis the Menace” – it’s always “Dennis and Gnasher”. Yeah, here we go – it’s on [The Hub](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_and_Gnasher_(2009_TV_series)#International_Broadcast), and they don’t play up the “menace” part much. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/23 "2011-06-24T20:10:17Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > The American Dennis was a major hellion when he debuted; the comic panel was originally more about the trials faced by those around him, with Dennis as a destructive force, to appeal to parents who had to deal with their own child-rearing ordeals. He quickly became the actual focus, and was watered down over the years to be more appealing (and probably to not serve as a bad role model). Huhn. Interesting. The title makes so much more sense in light of that. Never saw the early ones. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/24 "2011-06-24T21:16:39Z")
I’ve known about both for a long time. I grew up with the American version, but when I was a kid, a friend of mine went to England and came back with a stack of _Beano_ comics. Can’t say I was much impressed by them. Might be that I was out of the age range they were intended for. The American Dennis, of course, has been direly unfunny from since before I was born. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/25 "2011-06-24T21:17:24Z")
I only know of the British one from some webpage (it might have been Cracked) talking about the bizarre coincidence-- I’ve never actually read the strip, or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/26 "2011-06-24T21:30:04Z")
I lived in England for three years as a kid, and read a lot of _Beano_ magazines, so I knew. The UK Dennis made the US Dennis look like a little wuss. I remeber “Roger the Dodger” as well. There were also one or two other magazines similar to _Beano_, but I can’t remember what they were called. They were basically complete copycats (this was mid 70’s). I read them all, though. They were great. Different from anything in the US. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/27 "2011-06-24T21:44:09Z")
I’ve known about the American Dennis since I was a kid - I’m sure it was on TV here (just called ‘Dennis’). But I was a HUGE Beano fan, so I automatically hated the American Dennis, who looked like a softie. My daughter still gets the Beano every week and I sometimes read it - it’s actually stood the test of time pretty well. Trivia: there were 3 artists for Dennis in his first 47 years, and they were all called David. > [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > They started showing the Brit version on one of the cartoon stations my daughter watches, but I don’t recall them ever saying “Dennis the Menace” – it’s always “Dennis and Gnasher”. > > Yeah, here we go – it’s on [The Hub](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_and_Gnasher_(2009_TV_series)#International_Broadcast), and they don’t play up the “menace” part much. The main show’s called Dennis the Menace in the UK. There’s a TV Dennis and Gnasher here too, but it’s a separate story series focusing more on the dog than the Dennis the Menace ones do. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/28 "2011-06-24T21:50:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I lived in England for three years as a kid, and read a lot of _Beano_ magazines, so I knew. The UK Dennis made the US Dennis look like a little wuss. I remeber “Roger the Dodger” as well. > > There were also one or two other magazines similar to _Beano_, but I can’t remember what they were called. They were basically complete copycats (this was mid 70’s). I read them all, though. They were great. Different from anything in the US. There’s the Dandy, which still exists but has ‘updated’ to be more American and Japanese and less British. The Dandy’s actually a little older than the Beano. The others are all gone - Beezer, Topper, Whizzer & Chips… Gah, can’t remember the others. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/29 "2011-06-24T22:14:47Z")
In the early eighties, my folks’ news & magazine shop carried _The Beano_, and I ate 'em up. (I’m in Vancouver, so of course I know the American one from the newspaper funnies and Dairy Queen. The British Dennis would never be so lame. “_Scrumpdillyitious!_”) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/30 "2011-06-24T23:01:19Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Huhn. Interesting. The title makes so much more sense in light of that. Never saw the early ones. Well, even today, the title can make sense if you think of it from the POV of Mr. Wilson, to whom he still is, and always will be, a menace. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/31 "2011-06-25T00:23:04Z")
Only heard about the British one a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/32 "2011-06-25T01:02:13Z")
Read “The Beano” when I was young, and “Viz” later on when I was in university. “Buster Gonad and His Unfeasibly Large Testicles” and “Billy the (Football Playing) Fish” were two of my particular favorite “Viz” characters. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/33 "2011-06-25T03:54:51Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > There’s the Dandy, which still exists but has ‘updated’ to be more American and Japanese and less British. The Dandy’s actually a little older than the Beano. The others are all gone - Beezer, Topper, Whizzer & Chips… Gah, can’t remember the others. _Beezer_ and _Topper_ sound really familiar to me. I think _The Topper_ was the other one I used to read stacks of. Thanks. They were all kind of the same, a distinct style unlike anything in the US. Fairly violent as compared to US fare too, from what I remember. I devoured them. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/34 "2011-06-25T05:41:29Z")
I stumbled on this fact cruising either Wikipedia or TV Tropes. Before this, I only knew of the American version–and only the cartoon and movie versions, not the comic. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/35 "2011-06-25T17:13:54Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > _Beezer_ and _Topper_ sound really familiar to me. I think _The Topper_ was the other one I used to read stacks of. Thanks. They were all kind of the same, a distinct style unlike anything in the US. Fairly violent as compared to US fare too, from what I remember. I devoured them. Some of the characters still survive - the Numskulls from the Beezer went to the Beano, Beryl the Peril from the Topper went to the Dandy, and I think one or two others are around now and then. There was another comic called Buster, but I never really go into that. They are utterly different to American comic books: aimed at kids, telling individual stories each week rather than continuing ones, minimal backgrounds, cuter drawings (usually), very few superheroes - just kids, often naughty - lots of humour… It’s barely even the same genre as things like Marvel, it’s just the same medium. ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/36 "2011-07-05T16:16:22Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Yep, I’ve known about the British character for some time, and grew up with the American. > > Fun fact, they debuted, like, a week apart. > > ‘Better’ and ‘funnier’ are rather in the eye of the beholder, but the British version is much more of a menace - the American version is a nuisance, but that’s it…the British one is a little thug. Agree - I grew up with the UK one - never heard of the US one till the movie (thought you guys whaere trying to copy a UK icon till I read more about it) Same name - different cultures idea of a menace - the UK one was a bully and more of a thug who knew what he was doing - rather than a spoiled kid who has no idea of right or wrong ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/37 "2011-07-05T16:19:02Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I still get either _Oor Wullie_, or _The Broons_, every Christmas. 🙂 Me too - my mum used to love them till she passed away at 75 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/38 "2011-07-05T17:31:06Z")
It’s not so much that the American Dennis is spoiled, more that he’s just oblivious to how much mayhem he causes. ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/39 "2011-07-06T08:20:53Z")
Spoiled by the fact that his parents do nothing about it and he remains oblivious - no punishments for what he does wrong - oblivious or not if he does something wrong he should be punished - if not he’s spoiled ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576/40 "2011-07-08T19:47:13Z")
I grew up with the Brit Dennis the Menace and he was a total thug, but always got a good beating from his dad at the end of the story. (Probably hi jacked by PCs to show that if you punish a thug. you only encourage him) I THINK that I know the American version, who had cute blonde ,touselly hair and wore a striped tee shirt and overalls. When Gnasher came along, it was all getting a bit P.C. Dennis became a lot less violent, and I think that gnasher was put in to, distract the kids from the fact that Dennis was becoming a bit of a Wuss. If I’m wrong put me right, I wont set fire to your garden shed or put stink bombs in your bed. …Or WILL I ? HA HA HA ! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-real-dennis-stand-up-dennis-the-menace/586576.md?page=3)