Mister Men
Something strange is happening to the Mr. Men!
The Mr. Men is a series of children's books written in the 1970s by Roger Hargreaves, and published first in England. Roger died in 1988 so after that his son Adam carried on writing the books. He still does, but the whole Mr. Men "brand" was sold for a lot of money - so much that if you spent all the money on Mr. Men books and laid them out end to end, they would stretch round the earth five times! (They cost £2 each and I hope I worked that out right!)
Actually, they are worth more than that. They are very good.
I have two that were printed in the 1970s (because I was produced in the 1970s!): Mr. Sneeze and Mr. Funny. At that time, here were the other books you could get:
And, on the front, this is the kind of thing you would see:
Today, the only difference on the front covers is that the signature by Roger Hargreaves doesn't slope anymore. It is upright:
That's ok. Which do you prefer? (PS Mr. Silly looks funny, eh?)
The other changes are not so OK, in my opinion. First of all, look at what has happened to the back cover line-up of Mr. Men. They have all changed! Look at Mr. Funny and compare him with his picture above:
This is not the same Mr. Man! I don't think the colours came out right here, but one major difference is that his gloves aren't the right colour! Mr. Funny's body is green and his gloves are yellow. In the new picture his body and his gloves are green. Hmm, not good I think. Then look at the eyes. This is the most disturbing change. What is wrong with the eyes? Look at them! They are completely different now, and have no character! The bold lines of the original have been replaced by this hideous cosmetic surgery nightmare operation look. Maybe someone thinks he looks more human? Well, these days, perhaps that is true - when so many people in the public eye do have this weird plastic surgery/botox injection eye-look. Is that what it is? Has Mr. Funny had botox??? I don't believe it! He would never do that! This is the man who cheered up all the animals in the zoo when they had colds! But now they would have us believe that he is a fading star of the 70s, clinging on too long to his share of the spotlight and sinking ever deeper into a whirlpool of alcoholism like many before him (Krusty the Clown?)
Hmm. The Mr. Funny inside the books is the same one as before. Perhaps this back-cover image is some look-alike or impersonator they used for publicity material. Obviously Mr. Funny, like Saddam Hussein, is a person of such importance that he has many doubles for use in public work. I understand.
Having suggested that the insides of the books have not changed, I am afraid this is not true in the case of Mr. Dizzy. What on earth has happened to the images? They look like they have been scanned in by dogs. Or hamsters! (They find it harder to operate the mouse. Which wasn't supposed to be a joke. But I suppose you could see it as one if you want). Just look at Mr. Dizzy's edges:
Dear me. That's what it looks like in the book, I am afraid. Not good!
So you see, I am not completely happy with the state of the Mr. Men books today. But I can tell you: if you want to read them, they are all still with us, even if there is something strange on the back, even if there are a few odd things about them today. The insides are the same (except Mr. Dizzy and I haven't checked all of the books so I can't promise everyone else has escaped this treatment).
They come highly recommended (by me). They have been translated into 20 languages, so you should be seeing some near you! In fact, you are reading this in English so I would recommend you look for the English ones. They are the first and best!
Let me know what you think.
The Mr. Men is a series of children's books written in the 1970s by Roger Hargreaves, and published first in England. Roger died in 1988 so after that his son Adam carried on writing the books. He still does, but the whole Mr. Men "brand" was sold for a lot of money - so much that if you spent all the money on Mr. Men books and laid them out end to end, they would stretch round the earth five times! (They cost £2 each and I hope I worked that out right!)
Actually, they are worth more than that. They are very good.
I have two that were printed in the 1970s (because I was produced in the 1970s!): Mr. Sneeze and Mr. Funny. At that time, here were the other books you could get:
And, on the front, this is the kind of thing you would see:
Today, the only difference on the front covers is that the signature by Roger Hargreaves doesn't slope anymore. It is upright:
That's ok. Which do you prefer? (PS Mr. Silly looks funny, eh?)The other changes are not so OK, in my opinion. First of all, look at what has happened to the back cover line-up of Mr. Men. They have all changed! Look at Mr. Funny and compare him with his picture above:
This is not the same Mr. Man! I don't think the colours came out right here, but one major difference is that his gloves aren't the right colour! Mr. Funny's body is green and his gloves are yellow. In the new picture his body and his gloves are green. Hmm, not good I think. Then look at the eyes. This is the most disturbing change. What is wrong with the eyes? Look at them! They are completely different now, and have no character! The bold lines of the original have been replaced by this hideous cosmetic surgery nightmare operation look. Maybe someone thinks he looks more human? Well, these days, perhaps that is true - when so many people in the public eye do have this weird plastic surgery/botox injection eye-look. Is that what it is? Has Mr. Funny had botox??? I don't believe it! He would never do that! This is the man who cheered up all the animals in the zoo when they had colds! But now they would have us believe that he is a fading star of the 70s, clinging on too long to his share of the spotlight and sinking ever deeper into a whirlpool of alcoholism like many before him (Krusty the Clown?)
Hmm. The Mr. Funny inside the books is the same one as before. Perhaps this back-cover image is some look-alike or impersonator they used for publicity material. Obviously Mr. Funny, like Saddam Hussein, is a person of such importance that he has many doubles for use in public work. I understand.
Having suggested that the insides of the books have not changed, I am afraid this is not true in the case of Mr. Dizzy. What on earth has happened to the images? They look like they have been scanned in by dogs. Or hamsters! (They find it harder to operate the mouse. Which wasn't supposed to be a joke. But I suppose you could see it as one if you want). Just look at Mr. Dizzy's edges:
Dear me. That's what it looks like in the book, I am afraid. Not good!
So you see, I am not completely happy with the state of the Mr. Men books today. But I can tell you: if you want to read them, they are all still with us, even if there is something strange on the back, even if there are a few odd things about them today. The insides are the same (except Mr. Dizzy and I haven't checked all of the books so I can't promise everyone else has escaped this treatment).
They come highly recommended (by me). They have been translated into 20 languages, so you should be seeing some near you! In fact, you are reading this in English so I would recommend you look for the English ones. They are the first and best!
Let me know what you think.
Labels: books, children, classic, comedy, excitements, friendly, fun, wishing
4 Comments:
I'd prefer to read the English ones as you recommend, since I believe reading in original language (when possible) is the best way to appreciate the rhythm of words as the author intended. So,if I only read your weblog in translation,I would find (literally) no pun at all!?
-Masako
The Men person is written by the quantities of every of Roger Hargreaves which is the consecutive book of the child seventies, first is published in England. So and his / her son of Adam's of the letter of the book which dies carried the Roger in 1988. But still he " the money and complete person standard " the person was sold because of the quantity - So thing, the edge consuming to those, the your Men all the money for the person of your book which it ends extend in the entour, the lump of their 5 times! (As for those. ' 2 each one that main point of desired private right interest it did me! It can use),
This is what you would get if you asked Google to translate it! I cheated a bit because I translated it from English to German to French, back to English then into Japanese and back into English again! It always makes for interesting reading!
Actually the normal one-language Google translation can be a bit problematic. But still, it is very clever!
Translators can be very good but I agree that there is only one original. Hope you get the chance to read them!
-Philip
Please note, I have looked at another copy of a recent Mr Man book, and Mr Funny's gloves are more yellow-looking.
We have to be fair!
However, there are still serious questions about the quality of available Mr Men material!
Have you noticed what goes on in the signature tune to the Mr Men? It starts in F major, shifts onto a supertonic chord which then becomes the subdominant for D major, which the rest of the theme is in. So a plagal cadence leading to a modulation to the mediant major - does that betoken both religious symbolism and an implication that some of the Mr Men are gay (a la McClary on Schubert's Unfinished)? :)
Ian Pace
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