Mr. Men (cartoon)

DVD Cover

Mr. Men was a series that aired from 1974 to 1978 produced by Flicks Films, being narrated by Arthur Lowe and is based on the books. Arguably the most famous adaptation of the books in the UK. It was followed up by Little Miss (1983).

Five episodes were re-dubbed into American English and released on VHS as The Adventures of Mr. Men by MCA Home Video in 1987.

Series 1

1. Mr. Happy (31 December 1974 (UK))
2. Mr. Bump (14 January 1975 (UK))
3. Mr. Tickle (21 January 1975 (UK))
4. Mr. Silly (28 January 1975 (UK))
5. Mr. Sneeze (4 February 1975 (UK))
6. Mr. Snow (25 February 1975 (UK))
7. Mr. Messy (11 March 1975 (UK))
8. Mr. Small (18 March 1975 (UK))
9. Mr. Greedy (25 March 1975 (UK))
10. Mr. Bounce (11 July 1976 (UK), 1987 (USA))
11. Mr. Jelly (25 July 25 1976 (UK))
12. Mr. Forgetful (22 August 1976 (UK))
13. Mr. Funny (12 September 1976 (UK), 1987 (USA))

Trivia

• Mr. Snow has ears, buttons, and fingers and his nose is white in his episode.
• Mr. Small's voice resembles Mickey Mouse's voice.
• Mr. Jelly, Mr. Bounce, Mr. Forgetful, and Mr. Funny get their own episodes before their own books were created.
• The intro uses the outro theme in Mr. Sneeze, however the outro is still the same. (Goof)
• Mr. Jelly simply eats his breakfast instead of hearing the cereal as guns in his episode.
• The Nonsenseland Worm and Pig were removed in Mr. Silly.
• Speaking of that, a Nonsenseland Worm appears in Happyland in Mr. Happy instead of a regular worm.
• Mr. Jelly does a gibber whenever he panicks.

Colour differences

• Mr. Small's hat is black instead of blue.
• Mr. Bounce's hat is black instead of pink.
• In Mr. Forgetful's episode opening, Mr. Forgetful was wearing a yellow hat instead of red.
• In the Mr. Small episode, Walter the Worm is red instead of yellow.

Cameos

• A character resembeling Mr. Skinny appears in the episode Mr. Bounce, being pink without a nose and having a blue bowler-hat. Mr. Happy, Mr. Daydream, Mr. Greedy, a mix between Mr. Silly and Mr. Impossible and Mr. Bump are also seen on the bus in the episode.
• Little Miss Bump, a prototype Little Miss Whoops was the first Little Miss.

Openings

• Mr. Happy: Mr. Happy pops up behind a wall and starts laughing. A rainbow then appears with him as the yellow part, and his name in bold then pops up.
• Mr. Silly: The word "Mr." pops up in a background with flowers and butterflies flying around. Mr. Silly then comes with the word "Silly" and puts the word in the wrong place, saying "Silly Mr.". He then comes back putting the word in the right place, now saying "Mr. Silly".
• Mr. Jelly: Mr. Jelly walks nervously walking behind a sign with his name on it. He tries to get away, but a pole keeps pushing him back. In the end, there is a closeup of his name wiggling.
• Mr. Snow: The background starts snowing, and some snow starts making the name "Mr. Snow".
• Mr. Bounce: Mr. Bounce appears as the "O" in the word "Bounce". He then starts bouncing around his name then gets back in his place at the end of the opening.
• Mr. Forgetful: Mr. Forgetful makes his name on a wooden sign, but then, Mr. Forgetful forgot how to make it a couple of times. In the end, he remembers how to make it.
• Mr. Funny: Mr. Funny walks over to a small table, takes off his hat, gets a wand, and then out pops his name.
• Mr. Bump: Mr. Bump bumps into his name three times. He then succeeds, but in the distance, he crashes into something.
• Mr. Tickle: The word "Mr." pops up in the same background in "Mr. Silly". Mr. Tickle's arms then pop up carrying the word "Tickle". The arms then come back to tickle the letter "C" in "Tickle".
• Mr. Small: Mr. Small walks, carrying a pin. He then walks near his name in big letters, and appears on top of the word "Small".
• Mr. Messy: Mr. Messy walks around, making footprints everywhere. His footprints then turn into his name.
• Mr. Greedy: Mr. Greedy's name appears in colourful letters. He then walks by eating the pink "G", and walks away leaving a black "G" instead.
• Mr. Sneeze: Mr. Sneeze walks by sneezing the word "ATISHOO!". He then sneezes, and his name appears.

Title Cards

Version 1

Version 2

Version 1

Version 2

Series 2

1. Mr. Topsy-Turvy (7 January 1977 (UK))
2. Mr. Uppity (11 February 1977 (UK), 1987 (USA))
3. Mr. Nosey (18 February 1977 (UK))
4. Mr. Daydream (4 March 1977 (UK), 1987 (USA))
5. Mr. Mean (4 July 1978 (UK))
6. Mr. Chatterbox (18 July 1978 (UK))
7. Mr. Impossible (1 August 1, 1978 (UK))
8. Mr. Muddle (8 August 8, 1978 (UK))
9. Mr. Strong (15 August 15, 1978 (UK))
10. Mr. Fussy (29 August 29, 1978 (UK))
11. Mr. Noisy (5 September 1978 (UK), 1987 (USA))
12. Mr. Lazy (19 September 1978 (UK))
13. Mr. Dizzy (26 September 1978 (UK))
14. Mr. Grumpy (1 November 1978 (UK))
15. Mr. Worry (8 November 1978 (UK))

Trivia

• For unknown reasons, on DVD and VHS releases, Mr. Worry's episode is pushed back to between Mr. Fussy's episode and Mr. Uppity's episode.
• When Mr. Strong puts on his hat and goes into town most scenes, his hat disappears. (Goof)
• One scene of Mr. Dizzy's story has him smile with tears running down his face; he is still smiling. (Goof)
• The Cleverland Birds are still smoking instead of wearing morter boards and walking, as it was released before 1990.

Colour differences

• Mr. Strong's hat is pink instead of green.
• In the episode Mr. Dizzy, The Clever Elephant is yellow instead of grey.
• Mr. Topsy-Turvy's hat is brown instead of yellow.
• Mr. Muddle's hat is orange instead of red.
• Mr. Mean is grey instead of blue.
• Mr. Impossible is red-orange instead of purple.
• Mr. Lazy is orange instead of pink.
• Mr. Uppity is red instead of brown.
• Mr. Grumpy is dark blue instead of light blue, and his hat is grey instead of green.
• Mr. Chatterbox's hat and shoes are grey instead of green and blue, respectively.
• Mr. Dizzy's hat is fuchsia instead of blue.
• In the episode Mr. Impossible, William's hair is black instead of brown.

Cameos

• Mr. Clumsy appears in the episode Mr. Fussy (like in his book).
• Mr. Noisy appears in the episode Mr. Worry before his own.
• In the episode Mr. Uppity, there are pictures of Mr. Happy, Mr. Topsy-Turvy, Mr. Bump, Mr. Messy, Mr. Sneeze, Mr. Daydream, and even himself.
• A picture of Mr. Silly appears in the episode Mr. Chatterbox, having no shoes and eyes.
• Mr. Happy, Mr. Bump, Mr. Tickle, and Mr. Greedy (who appear in Series 1) appear in some of the episodes.
• Mr. Quiet appears on the book that Mr. Topsy-Turvy is reading in the episode Mr. Topsy-Turvy.
• In the episode Mr. Topsy-Turvy, the hotel lobby has a picture of Mr. Uppity.

Openings

• Mr. Strong: Mr. Strong walks carrying a iron-bar, and then ties a knot in it. It then shows him bending it into his name.
• Mr. Daydream: A cloud turns into Mr. Daydream, and then he walks along with puffs of clouds coming out of him, turning into his name.
• Mr. Fussy: Mr. Fussy's name appears in large, grey letters hanging on a nail. Mr. Fussy then comes out with a feather-duster, cleaning his name.
• Mr. Worry: Mr. Worry wrote his name on an easel saying "Mister Worry", but is worried that he wrote it wrong.
• Mr. Uppity: Mr. Uppity smokes a cigar and blows a big smoke-cloud that has his name on it.
• Mr. Dizzy: Mr. Dizzy's name starts doing a static shock.
• Mr. Topsy-Turvy: Mr. Topsy-Turvy's name appears on a hill in large, black letters. Mr. Topsy-Turvy then walks on his name, making it upside-down.
• Mr. Muddle: Mr. Muddle and his name appear on a puzzle and it gets muddled up. In the end, it turns regular.
• Mr. Mean: Mr. Mean's name is grey, but starts turning into yellow letters. It then turns back into grey letters.
• Mr. Nosey: Mr. Nosey's nose gets stuck in the "O" in "Nosey" and walks with it.
• Mr. Chatterbox: Mr. Chatterbox starts talking where the "O" should be and then leaves with a chattering "O".
• Mr. Noisy: Mr. Noisy walks with his shoes making a loud noise. His name appears near his shoes.
• Mr. Impossible: Mr. Impossible walks on the word "Mr." on a cliff. He then walks over to the other cliff without falling. On the other side, he is on the word "Impossible". He then tips his hat and has "Mr." on his head, and then the "O" falls, however Mr. Impossible does not fall, which is impossible.
• Mr. Lazy: Mr. Lazy's name shows up slowly, and then Mr. Lazy makes his name. The word "Lazy" then turns into Mr. Lazy sleeping.
• Mr. Grumpy: Mr. Grumpy's name appears, and Mr. Grumpy walks from the right side of the screen, holding the flowers upside-down and knocking down the letters, leaving a "G".

Title Cards

Version 1

Version 2

Characters Introduced

1. Mr. Tickle
2. Mr. Stamp
3. Teacher
4. The Greengrocer
5. Railway Station Guard
6. Mr. Greedy
7. The Giant
8. Mr. Happy
9. Mr. Miserable
10. Mr. Nosey
11. Mr. Chips
12. Mrs. Washer
13. Mr. Brush
14. Mr. Brown (name on a letter)
15. Mr. Herd
16. Mr. Sneeze
17. The Wizard
18. Mr. Bump
19. Mr. Barley
20. Little Miss Bump
21. Mr. Snow
22. Father Christmas
23. Mr. Messy
24. Mr. Tidy and Mr. Neat
25. Mr. Topsy-Turvy
26. Mr. Silly
27. Mr. Snooty (known as Mr. Uppity)
28. The King Of The Goblins
29. Mr. Small
30. Mr. Robinson
31. Walter the Worm
32. Mr. Daydream
33. Jack
34. Mr. Forgetful
35. Farmer Fields
36. Mr. Jelly
37. The Kindly Tramp
38. Mr. Noisy
39. Mrs. Crumb
40. Mr. Bacon
41. Mr. Lazy
42. Mr. Busy And Mr. Bustle
43. Mr. Funny
44. Mr. Mean
45. Mr. Chatterbox
46. Mr. Bowler
47. Mr. Fussy
48. Mr. Bounce
49. Dr. Makeyouwell
50. Mr. Muddle
51. George
52. Mr. Brick
53. Mr. Black
54. Mrs. Scrub
55. Mr. Dizzy
56. The Clever Elephant
57. The Clever Bird
58. The Clever Pig
59. Mr. Impossible
60. William
61. Teacher
62. Mr. Strong
63. Mr. Grumpy
64. Mr. Clumsy
65. Mr. Worry
66. Mr. Skinny (prototype) (cameo)
67. Mr. Mean's brother (mentioned)

Broadcasts

• United Kingdom - BBC (1974-1975), ITV (1976-1978), Channel 4 (1992-1993)
• United States - PBS (1980-1981)
• Canada - CBC (1987-1994)
• Australia - Cartoon Network (2001)
• Germany - RTL II (2001)
• Indonesia - SCTV (2004)
• India - Cartoon Network (2006)
• Iceland - RUV (2007)
• Latin America - Toon Disney (2008)
• France - TF1 (1983), Canal J (1994), Gulli (2009), TiJi (2010)
• Italy - Italia 1 (2010)
• Spain - Clan, Cartoon Network (2011)
• Russia - TiJi (2012)
• Middle East - Spacetoon (2015)
• Japan - TV Tokyo (2017)

International Titles

• Monsieur Bonhommme (France)
• Herramennirnir (Iceland)
• מר אדם (Israel)

Credits

• Animation - Flicks Films
• Storyteller - Arthur Lowe
• Editor - Jean Morrice
• Music - Joe Campbell and Tony Hymas
• Rostrum Camera - Doug Weymouth and Bob Cheesman
• Director - Terry Ward
• Producer - Trevor Bond
• Series Created & Written by - Roger Hargreaves

Trivia

• Episodes were originally planned to be 5 minutes long, but the BBC mandated them to be 7 and a half.
• Alongside the 80s Little Miss series, this series never got an HD remaster due to the original film negatives presumed missing in the archives. The series survived under their broadcast tapes.
• The Icelandic dub of the show has the dialogue slightly out of sync, and often times doesn't match the lip movements.
• The French and Hebrew dubs of the show have different intros.

References

V · T · E	Mr. Men and Little Miss