The Observer has reported on the resurgence of Dennis the Menace:
Viewing data this week will show the cartoon series Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed has become the top show on the BBC’s children’s channel CBBC in its first week, and the 10th most-watched programme in the country among children aged six to 12, alongside The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.
It is a lifeline for Britain’s longest-running comic, founded in 1938, which has seen weekly sales slide from 2m in its 1950s heyday to around 35,000 today. As well as a new website, app and TV venture, there are plans for live shows, merchandising, partnerships and even films and fashion tie-ups.
If it all seems a million miles from the days when Biffo the Bear and Lord Snooty ruled the comic’s pages, then that’s because it is.
“It’s about recreating the characters for the 21st century and getting into the zeitgeist of children across the UK,” says Emma Scott, chief executive of Beano Studios, set up last year by the comic’s publishers, Dundee-based DC Thomson, to steer the brand into the digital era. “What we’re trying to do is galvanise the love and the affection, and the very high trust levels that we have among parents.”
>>> https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/03/dennis-the-menace-beano-dandy-minnie-the-minx
