Dennis & Gnasher’s menacing makeover
GENERATIONS of children waited breathlessly every week for the Beano, to follow the adventures of Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx and the Bash Street Kids.
With regular sales of two million, the storylines mirrored the privations of post-war Scotland, with bomb craters turned into playgrounds and a whiff of revolution at the mere mention of a shortage of soor plooms.
But the legendary DC Thomson comic is now carving a new niche in the digital age. It has used computer-based technology to spawn a website, a mobile phone app and a range of merchandising deals. There is even talk of fashion tie-ups with leading UK designers.
The Beano’s profile will come to the fore again this week, when new viewing data shows cartoon series Dennis and Gnasher Unleashed has – within a week of its debut – become the most-watched programme on CBBC.
It is the tenth most popular TV programme in the country among six-to-12-year-olds, alongside such hits as The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.
Staff at Beano Studios interview a panel of young ‘trend spotters’ every week. Aged eight to 12, they talk about what they are watching and what music they like. Beano Studios chief executive Emma Scott said: ‘It’s about recreating the characters for the 21st century and getting into the zeitgeist of children across the UK. What we’re trying to do is galvanise the love and the affection and the very high trust levels that we have among parents.’
She added that she would love to take Dennis to America. There are also plans to cash in with Beano merchandise, from Minnie the Minx T-shirts to Dennis the Menace striped jerseys and Bash Street Kids sportswear.
Actor Freddie Fox, 28, who voices the ‘wildest boy in the world’ in the cartoon series, said: ‘He might have been around for decades but his humour and spirit are timeless.
‘He’s the kid that everybody wants to be.’