- 'Drat! Drat and bother!'
- — Mr. Mean
Mr. Mean
| |
Book No.
|
19 (UK and US)
21 (France) |
Release Date
|
19 January, 1976
|
Preceded by
|
|
Followed by
|
|
First appearance
|
Mr. Mean (Retitled Mr. Stingy in the US) is the nineteenth book in the Mr. Men series by Roger Hargreaves.
About him[]
- Colour: Blue (seemingly grey in the TV adaption of his story)
- Shape: Extended oval with visible ears in his story and the 1970's and 1980's television series, shorter and slightly more wider normal oval in the 1995 television series.
- Features: Yellow nose and visible ears
- Gender: Male
- Personality: Misery-guts, gloomy, discontented, moody, sullen, dreadful, fearful, unhappy, lonely, cheap, greedy, frugal, cruel, hurtful, heartless, rude, mean, ill-tempered, insensitive.
- Relatives: A brother
- Friends: At least Little Miss Tidy, Little Miss Magic (sometimes), Mr. Strong (sometimes), Little Miss Bad, and Mr. Rude
- Rivals: Everyone else, and all of the other Mr. Men and Little Misses
- Love: Money, solitude, food
- Dislikes: Spending money, (even just one single penny), being polite, kindness, having company and about everything, etc.
- Job: Being mean and never spends his money so he keeps it all in storage.
- Voice Actors: Arthur Lowe (1975-1978), Gordon Peters (Mr. Men and Little Miss), Ron Rubin (US dub), Effron Etkin (Hebrew dub), Chen Hagai (Hebrew dub, Little Miss Late Finally Catches Up only)
Story[]
Mr. Mean lives up to his name. He lived in what could've been a nice house, but wasn't. It had no pictures, curtains, carpets nor fires. He made his furniture out of old orange boxes and complained about the price of nails. He has a tiny appetite so he only eats very small meals, usually only one meal a day which isn't much at all. He never spends a penny of his money so he keeps his money in a box in a cupboard in his kitchen. He is so mean he gave his brother a piece of coal last Christmas.
One day an old rather fat and very wordy wizard pays Mr. Mean a visit and asks him for a glass of water (even though Mr. Mean doesn't have any glasses because they break easily and they can be expensive) to which Mr. Mean replies with a rude "No!" The wizard teaches him a valuable lesson that he is soon not to forget which he starts by magicking all his money in a wooden box into a box full of potatoes which upsets Mr. Mean so then the wizard turns all the potatoes back into money again. He decides to go into town to do some shopping, Mr. Mean would always walk there since he never took the bus as that costs money.
The wordy wizard starts disguising as people in need, an old washer woman with an enormous bundle of washing, an old woodchopper man who chops wood in his garden and a little boy who owns a ball. Each time Mr. Mean rejects helping them by responding to all of their favours with a negative "No!", a spell is placed on a part of his body, such as his nose turning into a carrot and his ears turning into tomatoes. He gives help when he realizes his feet are about to fall under a spell. Then he becomes a generous person and spends his money on getting his house done up and looking as good as new and spick and span, and now he gives his brother two pieces of coal for Christmas.
International publications & translations[]
This is a list of alternate titles for this book being published internationally.
- Mr. Stingy (US)
- Monsieur Avare (French)
- Unser Herr Geizig (German, 1984)
- Mister Knickrig (German, 2016)
- Don Tacañete (Castilian Spanish)
- Mr. Tacaño (Chilean Spanish)
- Meneer Gierig (Dutch)
- Ο Κύριος Τσιγκούνης (O kýrios Tsingoúnis) (Greek)
- Hr. Gnier (Danish)
- Herr Gjerrigknark (Norwegian)
- Herra Nískur (Icelandic)
- Pan Liczykrupa (Polish)
- Mali Skopuh (Slovenian)
- 吝啬先生 (Lìnsè Xiānshēng; China)
- 吝嗇先生 (Lìnsè Xiānshēng; Taiwan)
- 討厭先生 (Tou² jim³ Sin¹ saang¹; Cantonese)
- ケチンボさん (Kechinbo-San; Japanese, 1979)
- けちんぼくん (Kechinbo-Kun; Japanese, 2018)
- 구두쇠씨 (Gudusoe-ssi; Korean)
- מר קמצא (Mar Kámtsa; Hebrew, 1978)
- מר קמצן (Mar Kamtsán; Hebrew, 1998)
- מר רישעוני (Mar Rish'oni, Hebrew dub of the 1970's Mr. Men cartoon only)
- آقای خسیس (Âqâ-ye Xasis; Persian, Azabad/Avae Andisheh)
- خسیس آقا (Xasis-e Âqâ; Persian, Ghadiyani)
List of characters[]
This is a list of Mr. Men, Little Miss and other special characters that appear in this book:
- Fat Wizard
- Mr. Mean's brother (mentioned)
Title character in other appearances[]
Books[]
- Mr. Brave
- Mr. Perfect
- Little Miss Magic (Mentioned in the book where he moans after Mr. Tickle tickles him, and physically appears in the TV adaption of her story, also moaning after Mr. Tickle tickles him. Here his nose is blue instead of yellow and his ears are missing)
- Little Miss Tidy
- Little Miss Valentine
- Little Miss Brave
- The Mr. Men Christmas (1977)
- Mr. Men on Holiday (1976)
- Mr. Mean's Good Deed
- The Mr. Men Sports
- Little Miss Late Takes Her Time
- Mr. Worry's Christmas
- Mr. Mischief the Artist (cameo)
- Mr. Noisy The Musician (cameo)
- Mr. Chatterbox's Parrot (cameo)
- Mr. Clever Flies a Kite
- Mr. Muddle's Good Catch (cameo)
- Little Miss Trouble Changes Colors (cameo)
- Mr. Men - A Christmas Carol
- Mr. Men - The Christmas Tree
- Mr. Men - A Christmas Extravaganza
- Mr. Men - The Great British Tour
- Little Miss Princess and the Very Special Party
- Mr. Men - Ready, Steady, Bake!
- Mr. Men Chinese New Year
- Little Miss Princess and the Pea
- Mr. Men Fire Station
- Mr. Men Little Miss - The Christmas Contest
- Mr. Men and Little Miss go Green
- Mr. Mean's Guide to Management
- Little Miss Trouble's Guide to Men
- Mr. Messy's Guide to Student Life
- Mr. Men Little Miss - Sharing
- Mr. Men: Birthday Party
- Mr. Men Little Miss: The Super Silly Day
Cartoons[]
- Mr. Mean (TV)
- Little Miss Magic (TV)
- Little Miss Naughty (He is only shown in the TV adaption of her story with Little Miss Shy's hair)
- The Christmas Rescue (TV Special) (cameo)
- The Great Alphabet Hunt (TV) (cameo)
- Mr. Mischief is Caught at his Own Game (TV)
- Happy Christmas, Mr. Worry! (TV)
- No Food is No Fun For Mr. Greedy (TV)
- Mr. Forgetful...Hey waiter! (TV) (cameo)
- Mr. Strong: King of the Circus (TV) (cameo) (green)
- Mr. Nonsense Rows to the Moon (TV)
- What a Question, Little Miss Curious! (TV) (cameo)
- Little Miss Star the Leading Witness (TV) (cameo)
- Little Miss Late Beats Them All! (TV) (cameo)
- Little Miss Tidy and the Winning Ticket (TV)
- Little Miss Star Goes to Jollywood (TV)
- Mr. Clever's Invention (cameo on the 2011 australian dvd cover)
- Little Miss Chatterbox Goes to Sea—Town (TV) (cameo)
- Mr. Lazy Takes an Afternoon Nap (TV) (cameo)
- Mr. Mean hasn't a Penny Left (TV)
- Little Miss Wise's Day Out at the Fun Fair (TV) (cameo)
- Mr. Silly's Silly Secret (TV) (cameo) (pink)
- Mr. Chatterbox and the Parrot (TV) (cameo)
- Little Miss Late Finally Catches Up (TV)
- Mr. Noisy, the music man (TV) (cameo)
- Mr. Muddle Goes Skating (TV) (cameo)
- Little Miss Helpful Goes to the Fair (TV) (cameo)
- Little Miss Trouble and the Magic Paint (TV)
- Mr. Clever Flies His Kite (TV)
- It's Very Noisy for Mr. Quiet (TV) (cameo)
- Mr. Mischief Becomes an Artist (TV) (cameo)
- A Big Surprise for Mr. Mean (TV Series Finale)
- The Christmas Letter (TV Special)
Mr. Men Little Miss / ミスタ一メン リトルミス[]
Mini Cinema[]
- Little Miss Princess' Invitation (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- Moral: Don't be mean.
- Out of the Seven Deadly Sins, Mr. Mean represents Greed.
- He is the first Mr. Men character to be shown with visible ears; he is one of three characters with that trait, with the others being Mr. Clever and Mr. Fib.
- Much like Mr. Nosey, his shape has varied from his beginnings and nowadays is drawn as his interpretation in Mr. Men and Little Miss.
- In Britain, he has a nasally voice in all forms of media, be it audiobook or animation.
- In the 1997 American dub, he speaks with a gruff voice.
- In the same dub, despite his book being re-titled he is still called Mr. Mean.
- He, along with Mr. Grumble, was visited by a wizard twice (in his book and A Big Surprise for Mr. Mean.)
- Despite being a meanie, he seems to be friends with Little Miss Tidy given that he helped her find her purse and brought her lottery ticket back to her.
- He is at his worse in The Christmas Letter when he not only tells Jack that he must pay him for directions to the North Pole, but also reveals that he had forced Little Miss Tiny into servitude when she asked him for a glass of water about 6 months prior to the events of the special!
- Mr. Mean is one of the tallest Mr. Men.
Counterparts[]
See Counterparts Wiki.
Gallery[]
External links[]
V · T · E |