50 Years of Mr Men with Matt Lucas
WITH MORE THAN 250 MILLION copies sold worldwide, the Mr Men and Little Miss books, created by Roger Hargreaves, are a publishing phenomenon, and one of Britain’s most successful and enduring global brands.
As the colourful characters celebrate their 50th birthday, comedian and Mr Men fan Matt Lucas presents a documentary charting their evolution, in which he talks to superfans, collectors and collaborators.
‘I’ve loved the Mr Men and Little Miss books for as long as I can remember,’ says
Lucas. ‘Mr Bump, Mr Tickle, Mr
Happy and Mr Strong were the ones
I remember asking my parents to read over and over again, and were also the first books I learnt to read on my own. My favourite character was Mr Bump, because I was always bumping into things and could identify with him.’
The global success story began when Hargreaves, then working as an advertising executive, was asked by his eight-year-old son Adam what a tickle looked like. He doodled a rotund orange figure with long arms, and created a story which, despite being initially rejected by publishers, was picked up by a friend who worked in printing.
Within nine years, dozens of Mr Men books had been published, featuring a variety of much-loved characters including Mr Messy and Mr Chatterbox.
‘They pretty much exploded on to the scene in the early 1970s,’ says Lucas, 47. ‘They sold one million books in their first three years.’
An animated TV series followed in 1974, narrated by Dad’s Army actor Arthur Lowe, and in 1981, the first Little Miss book, Little
Miss Bossy, hit the shelves.
Sadly, Hargreaves died suddenly in 1988 from a stroke, aged 53.
But his son Adam, who appears in the documentary, picked up the Mr Men and Little Miss mantle.
‘I also visited [Japanese company] Sanrio, who are the rights holders for Mr Men,’ reveals Lucas. ‘I asked them about merchandising ideas and they told me somebody once wanted to make Mr Men condoms! Sanrio felt that, even though condoms were a socially responsible thing, it wasn’t an appropriate match. I think they made the right call on that one...’
Lucas also visits a primary school, where he encourages the children to come up with their own Mr Men creations and discuss their favourite characters.
‘It was great to see how alive the Mr Men and Little Miss characters still are for children today,’ he says. ‘They’re an explosion of colour and comedy, and the characters have traits and sometimes flaws. They’re warm and likeable. They feel like your friends.’