Before retro was totally cool, and the hipsters took everything over, I had a long obsession with Danger Mouse. This was a nostalgia for the 80s in the 90s, when video on the Internet wasn’t exactly a possibility. I’d watched the original series as a kid, and loved it—and so did my parents. Penfold was, briefly, even the name of one of my first bands. Apparently it’s considered a “cult hit” of the 80s, but in my house it was the big time.
But I couldn’t find out much about Danger Mouse. I couldn’t just go find episodes. Heck, I remember trying Real Player for the first time, and being so excited to be watching the NEWS. Except I couldn’t see it. At all. I could almost sort of hear what they were saying. The wiggly lines just barely hinted at faces and the result was more often terrifying than inspiring. I ended up printing out a handful of .bmps that I found on a Netscape search, and put them in my locker.
Now, it’s almost 20 years later, and I may or may not have let out a squee of joy and did a happy dance, shouting out, “Oh, crumb!” when I heard that the classic series had made its way to Netflix. All ten seasons of the show are now there, and you really need to brush up on your lore because… well, they’re making a new series.
With everything “coming back” I’m honestly a little surprised that it took this long, but I’m overjoyed. I love the original, don’t get me wrong. But I really get a kick out of watching new iterations (I’m still stunned by how much I love the new TMNT, for instance) written for new generations. And old generations. Because it’s got to work both ways these days, y’know?
And did I mention Stephen Fry is voicing Colonel K?
The new series starts Spring 2016, so you still have time to catch up with favorites like Penfold, Greenback, and Danger Mouse himself.
Natania is a member of the Netflix Stream Team.
