Over 161 episodes and 11 years on the BBC starting in 1981, the animated kids’ series Danger Mouse put a deadpan spin on the classic tropes of Britain’s espionage fiction legacy. With riotous, absurd humor, international superspy Danger Mouse and his bumbling sidekick Penfold the vole jet to whichever far-flung corner of the globe has been threatened by the nefarious frog Baron Silas Von Greenback that week. The mature, bone-dry comedic sensibility of the show’s writers makes it a boon for parents in search of something they can enjoy watching with their kids, and even better, all of the episodes of this cult treasure are available to stream on Netflix. They’ve been prominently highlighted in order to rustle up some anticipation for a new reboot season set to premiere on the site April 29, having run on the BBC last year.
Today brings a trailer previewing the shiny new Danger Mouse before it appears in the library on Friday. It’s only about 30 seconds, and it features a spiffed-up version of the catchy theme tune introducing ‘D.M.’ and Penfold without any dialogue. And so while that won’t provide any impression as to whether the signature droll humor has survived the jump from then to now, the trailer does provide an eyeful of the slick new style for the revival. The new series employs digital animation technology to give the show a highly-polished sheen of spy sophistication — think the Archer credits — while the original series worked with hand-drawn animation.
But most importantly, the new series features the same old Penfold. The great tragic irony of Danger Mouse is that D.M. would really be better off without Penfold, who’s without a doubt dead weight on the larger Danger Mouse enterprise, as he’s constantly getting into trouble necessitating a rescue, which often allows the villain to escape. Penfold’s still the bumbling albatross around Danger Mouse’s neck that he always was, so even if the new series doesn’t capture the sardonic spirit of the original, it’s pretty much already halfway there.