Beano Videos and DVDs

[Old Freddy]

"I'm Bidding farewell to the Dandy" is beginning to go off topic, so I've made this thread so that we can chat about the Beano Video, beano Videostars, Beano Interactive DVD and What you'd like to see in te future.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Dandy DVD to be honest, mind you i'd like characters like Bully beef & Chips, Winker Watson and Smasher.

But, If the Beano makes another DVD I'd like to see Roger the Dodger, because he could be in a cartoon since he has the potential to do so.

[Digifiend]

Would have been nice to see a Dandy Video 15 years ago when the Beano's videos came out, but there aren't enough well established characters now unfortunately.

I wonder why they haven't made a Beano Video 3 (perhaps titled Beano DVD)? I reckon it would sell if they used the same animation as the new Dennis and Gnasher series - while the two existing videos are faithful to the comic artwork, it looks just as dated as anything from the late 1980s! Anyway, computers can do things much better these days.

I'd also like to see a sequel to Beanotown Racing, or even a brand new game - a Dennis the Menace platformer maybe, or a game involving time travel where you'd meet Beano and Dandy stars from past and present.

Sadly, for financial reasons, I can't see any of these things happening. Shame.

[Old Freddy]

Has series 3 of Dennis & Gnasher come out yet? haven't seen it but I've seen the artwork in a Beano special. They don't seem to look as faithful to the comic as Series 1 and 2.

[Digifiend]

It's not series 3, it's a reboot. And no, it hasn't aired yet. September I bet.

Info on Lew's blog: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2009/04 ... eries.html Apparently the episodes are only half the length of the 1996-1998 series.

Trailer (actually a 85 second short) and stills here: http://www.redkite-animation.com/index.php?page=dennis
It has a Beano Productions endcap! The same website also has some info for Marvo the Wonder Chicken.

[Old Freddy]

Dennis' new voice doesn't really suit him much. He sounds too young and too Northern. But, It shouldn't be terrible.

I once heard that they made a very short lived Dennis the Menace series during the late 1980's. this isn't true, is it?

[Conor B]

I'd also like to see a sequel to Beanotown Racing, or even a brand new game - a Dennis the Menace platformer maybe, or a game involving time travel where you'd meet Beano and Dandy stars from past and present

I'd completely forgotten about that! They should do one for Wii, DS, PS3, X360, and the other 7G consoles, maybe even give it as a subscription gift. But, for my own sake, not a racing game Can't stand them!

[Digifiend]

Freddy, yup, you're referring to TCC's puppet series, it's briefly mentioned in the book Dennis the Menace: 50 Years of Menacing 1951-2001, which can still be ordered from the DC Thomson website. TCC also broadcast series 1 of the 1996 cartoon, Fox Kids broadcast the 1998 series because TCC had closed down by then, and CBBC aired both. I don't think the puppet series was ever on the main four channels.

[Old Freddy]

Hmm, I never knew about a puppet series. I'm guessing with the fact it's only been referred to a couple of times, its popularity is similar to that of the Thomas & Friends little known early TV series from 1953. (The actual TV series started in 1984) It was broadcast live, but in the first episode Henry comes off the rails, and a hand came down and put him back on the tracks!

If a new game came out, I'd like it to be a 3D platformer or something.

[Digifiend]

That must've been on what's now called BBC1, since it was the only TV station at the time. I assume it was never taped, or if it was, it's been wiped. Pity, because it is part of TV history - how did you find out about this 50s Thomas anyway?

[Old Freddy]

There's this guy on the Sodor Island Forums called Ryan, and he's got a fansite. One of his pages is about the history of the Television Series and that's where I found it.

I wonder why they never bothered with Roger the Dodger or Little Plum. even if they didn't have episodes to themselves they could have had a short role like Billy whizz or make a quick cameo like Benjy.

[Jonny Whizz]

I was a big fan of Thomas the Tank Engine as a child (I spent many hours watching videos of the early series), and interestingly enough I bumped into the same site. The original poem (not sure if this is quite right, word for word) that the Rev. Awdry wrote in the story 'The Sad Story of Henry' was:
'There once was an engine attached to a train
Who was afraid of a few drops of rain
With a squeak from his funnel,
He entered a tunnel
And never came out again'

On The Sodor Island Forums, a similar short poem was written about the incident...
'There once was an engine attached to a train
Who was afraid of a few drops of rain
He came off the track,
The rails were too slack
And a hand put him back on again!'

Weirdly, when I watched the Beano video when I was younger, I didn't like it that much. Not sure why. Also, I think 'Lake Beautiful' came from a serial in the comic in autumn 1993 - I found a couple of old issues from that period once, just before it went full colour.

[Old Freddy]

Oddly enough, Some of the animation in the Beano video looks like an old Nursery rhyme vid released by either Tempo or Polygram in the early 1990's (Produced by the same company as the beano video). I haven't got the vid, but I recall seeing about 3 or so episodes in "NSPCC Kids' TV favourites vol. 2", which was released long before the Beano Video came out. The beano videostars kinda still looks a bit older than it really is, but the animation looks smoother and I haven't seen the same animation style in a different program.

Also, in both the beano video & the beano videostars the animation veries a bit. In the Beano video there were lots of animators and the style always varies. Even though the Beano videostars is more consistant, "On Safari" and "Flutterby" seem to be the first to be completed. "On safari" because the drawings are copied from Nixon's work (The animation is still smooth though) and "Flutterby" because the animation is a bit wacky and looks like the Beano video to an extent.

[felneymike]

I can remember (being of the right age when they came out) being a bit dissapointed with the Beano Video, but liking Videostars a lot more.

I do very vaguely remember seeing mere seconds of a claymation (Wallace & Gromit style) style Dennis cartoon a very long time ago. Was this the "puppet series" referred to, blurred by time?

I beleive i did see it on the Childrens Channel. It was in the time when nobody at TCC seemed to care anymore though. They'd be running adverts for a competition that had closed months ago, and there would be 10 minute segments of the channel logo and nothing else. It went off air shortly afterwards.

[Digifiend]

Probably, but if it was claymation, then Dennis the Menace 1951-2001 50 Years of Mischief made a mistake, it specified that Dennis had a puppet series on TCC.

Dennis was no longer just a comic star - a puppet version of Dennis and Gnasher were up to mischief in their own show on The Children's Channel.

The book also attributes the 1996 cartoon to the BBC and Fox Kids, even though series 1 was on TCC as well.

Note that when I checked it, I realised I got the book's name slightly wrong.

[Jonny Whizz]

I don't think the Beano characters would lend themselves to claymation or, correctly, stop motion animation. Anyone who knows anything about the making of Wallace and Gromit knows how long it takes them to make the films - 2 or 3 seconds of useful film in a day! Also, there are a lot of special effects that are difficult to do in this style - fire, water, even gravy, and aside from Nick Park's films, which truly push the boundaries of the technique, it is fairly basic, ritualistic and slow paced, and that style really isn't suitable for capturing the unmistakeably British madness of the Beano.

In fact, the reason why Trumpton only ever put out one fire was because, with the animation, they couldn't do fire. In Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-rabbit, the rabbits you see floating in the Bun-Vac (the big cylinder with all the rabbits in) had to be done with CGI, as there was no way an animator could get them to float around in it, although at least one tried! I'm not really a fan of CGI though I do like some good CGI films. I wouldn't want them to use that animation technique for the Beano characters. If any more Beano characters were to appear on TV or DVD, they would have to stick to the traditional hand drawn animation.

NB. The figures used in stop motion animation are often known as puppets, which may be the source of confusion. Still, it's not like anyone's ever heard of that Dennis series anyway...