4 out of 5

Directed by: Robert Cullen

covers season 1

Well, in case the question was asked whether or not British kids are cooler than our dumb American ones…  Okay, so we’d be bartering loud and brash shouty culture for American Idol-inspiring top-of-the-pops culture.  But, if we were to just focus on Danger Mouse, then or now, we’d conclude in a swoop that the UK youngsters must a smartly snarky lot be.  Then Or Now: file the 2015 edition of DM under the slim file of reimaginings / reboots / whatevers that totally get the originals – and in this case, series director Cullen and his writers don’t even go out of their way to justify the re-emergence, with the opening episode titled “Danger Mouse Begins… Again” and the mousey secret agent arriving origin / setup / rogues gallery fully formed, which was kind of the gag of the first series, too.  It’s all pretty meta, folks.  But Danger Mouse always was, knowingly poking fun at the spy genre.  And decades on, we can add all those years worth of material to knowingly poke at as well, along with a more flexible cartoon world wherein the creators are more able to play up to modern chitlins’ frighteningly piqued culturally awareness.  Or maybe we’re just giving kids more credit nowadays.  Either way, like a lot of good cartoons happening now – Turtles, Sonic Boom, Star vs. – a tossed off line might catch you off guard for how smart it is, and how well it plays both to kids and adults.

Danger Mouse also deserves some extra appreciation for staying in the non-CGI realm, very much maintaining the look and feel of the original, just with broader colors and, obviously, better resolution.  Computer graphics sneak their way in, but their not disruptive and shift DM’s technology to modern times.  And boy, did we score with an excellent voice cast: Alexander Armstrong and Kevin Eldon and Dave Lamb nail DM and Penfold and the narrator (naturally, not just aping what came before), and names like Lena Headey, Richard Ayoade, and Stephen Fry popping up in the supporting cast means we get energetic deliveries for pretty much each and every character.

Now, of course, there’s a usual caveat that comes along with this praise: Part of the shtick is built on calamity, and so while the characters and banter and core concepts might all be witfully inspired, it’s still a kids’ show that must fall back on noise and bluster on occasion, and some episodes had me tuning out for not adding much to the DM / Penfold / explosions formula.  But overall, this is an incredibly respectful update, and one that can be unhesitantly said to be enjoyable for returning viewers, as the creators very clearly appreciated the tone of the original and saw no reason to change that all that much.