Dennis the Menace (film)

This article is about the American live-action film. For other uses, see Dennis the Menace. For the 1986 animated American series, see Dennis the Menace (1986 TV series). For the 1959 American series, see Dennis the Menace (1959 TV series). For the video game, see Dennis the Menace (video game).
Dennis the Menace

One-sheet poster
Directed by Nick Castle
Produced by
  • John Hughes
  • Richard Vane
Written by John Hughes
Based on Dennis the Menace
by Hank Ketcham
Starring
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography Thomas E. Ackerman
Edited by Alan Heim
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • June 25, 1993 (1993-06-25)
Running time
 96 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $35 million
Box office $117,270,765

Dennis the Menace (initially released in the United Kingdom as Dennis to avoid confusion with an identically named character) is a 1993 live-action American family film based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name. It, however, is not the first live-action Dennis the Menace film; that was Dennis the Menace: Dinosaur Hunter, which premiered on television in 1986.

The film was directed by Nick Castle, written and produced by John Hughes, and distributed by Warner Bros., which released it under its Family Entertainment banner. It concerns the misadventures of a mischievous child (Mason Gamble) with a cowlick and a grin who wreaks havoc on his next door neighbor, George Wilson (Walter Matthau), usually hangs out with his friends, Joey (Kellen Hathaway) and Margaret Wade (Amy Sakasitz), and is followed everywhere by his dog, Ruff. Jeannie Russell was the only member of the original television show's cast to appear in the film.

A direct-to-video sequel called Dennis the Menace Strikes Again was later released in 1998 without the cast from this film. It was also followed by a Saturday morning cartoon series called All-New Dennis the Menace.

Plot

Dennis Mitchell (Mason Gamble) is a five-year-old boy who lives with his parents in Wichita, Kansas. Henry (Robert Stanton) and Alice (Lea Thompson), and is the bane of next door neighbor, George Wilson (Walter Matthau). One morning, Mr. Wilson pretends to be asleep in order to avoid dealing with Dennis. Dennis enters his bedroom, only to find him asleep with by his prescription medication on his night stand, and assumes he's sick. To make him feel better, Dennis flings an aspirin into his mouth with a slingshot which causes him to gag and spit it out, as Dennis flees home.

When Dennis arrives home, his parents learn of the incident he had caused to Mr. Wilson and are both angered, but because they are both working, Alice has to take him to stay at Margaret Wade's house for the day. He isn't too happy about this, because she is mean to him. When he arrives, he and Margaret, along with his best friend, Joey, venture into the woods to an abandoned tree house and intend to fix it up. Later, while getting paint from a high shelf in the garage, Dennis tries to grab his slingshot, which was taken away from him by Henry, and accidentally spills the paint on the floor. He then fervently attempts to vacuum it up, but ends up spilling a glob of it which splinters onto Mr. Wilson's barbecue grill, while he's cooking chicken, and he tastes the paint and wood splinters as he eats it. That night, Dennis has a set of babysitters; Polly and her boyfriend, Mickey. He plays doorbell pranks on them and they retaliate by sticking a thumbtack on the doorbell and preparing water and flour to dump on the prankster. However, Mr. Wilson goes over there to prove that Dennis was responsible for the paint on his chicken, against the wishes of his wife, Martha (Joan Plowright), only to ring the doorbell, stick his thumb, and get water and flour dumped on him, much to Martha's amusement. The next morning, Dennis goes over to the Wilsons' house to apologize for the events of the previous evening, but finds himself playing with Mr. Wilson's dentures, losing the two front teeth down the drain, and replacing them with Chiclets in the process. This gets noticed when Mr. Wilson gets his picture taken for the newspaper. Meanwhile, a burglar named Switchblade Sam (Christopher Lloyd) arrives in town and begins robbing people's houses, as well as stealing things outdoors and striking fear into children he meets.

Unfortunately for Henry and Alice, they have a difficult time getting people to watch Dennis while they both work. Unfortunately for Mr. Wilson, he and Martha are being charged with the task of doing so, as both Henry and Alice are being called away on business trips on the same weekend. Martha loves him as if he were her own grandson, as she and Mr. Wilson never had children, and she enjoys telling Dennis a bedtime poem that her mother told her. Alternatively, Mr. Wilson is further irritated by him who spilled bath water on the bathroom floor, replaced his nasal spray with mouthwash, and his mouthwash with toilet cleanser, even brought his pet dog, Ruff, into the house for a while.

Fortunately for Mr. Wilson he's been selected to host the Summer Floraganza, a long awaited summer event. He has been growing and nurturing a rare night-blooming orchid for about forty years especially for it. Despite the investment the flower dies shortly after it blooms. Alice’s flight is delayed due to a thunderstorm forcing Dennis to stay at the Wilsons for the night of the party. Martha is understanding, but Mr. Wilson is deeply dismayed about this. But, at her insistence, he eventually agrees to let Dennis stay outside for the party only with a firm warning to behave himself. He does not enjoy it much because the guests pinch his cheeks, and distances himself from them. However, in his curiosity, he finds himself pushing the garage door button, causing it to open, knock over the dessert table, and make a huge mess. Mr. Wilson sees it and angrily bans Dennis from the party. From inside, he hears Switchblade Sam robbing the house, goes downstairs, and finds Mr. Wilson's gold coins missing from the safe. Just as the flower is about to bloom, he alerts Mr. Wilson of the robbery, distracting everyone just long enough to miss the flower's brief blooming span. Furious about his forty year investment gone to waste and everything else, Mr. Wilson severely scolds Dennis, telling him that he does not want to see or know him anymore and orders him out of his way, sending all the guests home. He tries to apologize, flees on his bike, and rides off into the night. He then heads into the park, where he eventually bumps into Switchblade Sam, who abducts him, intending to use him as a hostage.

Henry and Alice arrive home soon after only to learn of Dennis' disappearance. They then contact the authorities and his friends to begin searching for him. Mr. Wilson, now feeling intense guilt and remorse about what he had said, especially since he really had been robbed, joins in the search in his car, and everyone ends up searching for him all night. Meanwhile, he unintentionally but effectively defeats Switchblade Sam by tying him up with a rope, setting him on fire twice, accidentally bludgeoning him several times, handcuffing him, and losing the key amongst other things. He then returns to the Wilsons' house the next morning with an injured Switchblade Sam in the wagon attached to his bike, having also recovered Mr. Wilson's gold coins. Switchblade Sam is then taken into police custody by an amused sheriff who had advised him earlier to leave town. Dennis and Mr. Wilson make amends, and both the Mitchells and the Wilsons become close friends on better terms. That night, Alice told the Wilsons that she does not have to travel out of town anymore and will stay to work on local projects and Dennis can come to work with her since they have a day care center. Mr. Wilson scoffs at this saying he and Martha will be happy to continue watching him, explaining that he's learned some things about children by saying to both Henry and Alice that kids are kids and they have to play by their rules, roll with the punches, and expect the unexpected. Around the same time, just as Dennis is still trying to get the flame out of his marshmallow, it lands on Mr. Wilson's forehead.

As the closing credits begins to roll, Andrea, Alice's egotistical coworker, finds Dennis sitting near the copy machine as she comes in to use it. He asks to push the button on it, but she arrogantly tells him that he doesn't know what one to push. Sure enough, he pushes the "PRINT" one and runs off with other workers, including Alice, looking on. The paper feeder sucks up Andrea's scarf, her head gets pinned face down on the scanner bed, and the machine relentlessly flashes its blinding light in her eyes, repeatedly copies her face, and spews out page after page of black and white photos showing her various agonized facial expressions as she screams and cries on the scanner bed, eventually getting herself free.

Cast

Production notes

Mason Gamble won the role of Dennis Mitchell after beating out a reported 20,000 other children who had auditioned for it.[1] The script was written to use certain references from both Back to the Future (also starring Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson) and Home Alone (also written and produced by John Hughes and starring Devin Ratray).

The film premiered on 25 June 1993. It is known simply as Dennis in the UK to avoid confusion with an unrelated British comic strip, also called "Dennis the Menace", which also debuted in 1951.

Music

The film's music was composed by veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith, who was John Hughes' first and only choice to write the music score for it.

Additionally, three old-time pop hits were featured in the film: "Don't Hang Up" by The Orlons, "Whatcha Know Joe" by Jo Stafford (from the 1963 album, Getting Sentimental over Tommy Dorsey), and "A String of Pearls" by Glenn Miller.

Video game

The film also spawned a platforming video game for the Amiga, Super NES and Game Boy platforms. The stages for it include Mr. Wilson's house, the great outdoors, and a boiler room among others.

Reception

The film was a success at the box office. Against a $35 million budget, it grossed $51.3 million domestically and a further $66 million overseas to a total of $117.3 million worldwide,[2][3] despite generally negative reviews from film critics.[4][5] On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a "rotten" rating of 23%, with the consensus saying, "Walter Matthau does a nice job as Mr. Wilson, but Dennis the Menace follows the Home Alone formula far too closely".

Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "There's a lot to like in Dennis the Menace. But Switchblade Sam prevents me from recommending it.".[6] Mason Gamble received a Razzie Award nomination for Worst New Star but also won "Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture: Comedy" at the 15th Youth in Film Awards.

References

  1. ↑ TV Guide September 17-23, 1994. pg. 23.
  2. ↑ "Weekend Box Office : 'Park' Paces Summer Moviegoing". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  3. ↑ "July Fourth Weekend Sets Off Box-Office Boom : Movies: 'The Firm,' with $31.5 million for the weekend, leads the way. Total movie receipts for the four-day holiday are an estimated $120 million.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  4. ↑ "Review/Film; Dennis, Mr. Wilson, Slow Burns And Cats". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  5. ↑ "MOVIE REVIEW : No Menace, but No Macaulay Either : In the Era of 'Home Alone,' 'Dennis' Is Agreeably Low-Key". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  6. ↑ "Dennis the Menace". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01.

External links

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