Mr. Men and Little Miss (series)
Mr. Men and Little Miss are a British series of children's picture books created, and formerly written and illustrated by Roger Hargreaves. The series consists primarily of individual books that each star a specific "Mr. Man" or "Little Miss" character named after their single dominant personality trait, in stories used to teach simple moral lessons. Each character's design is based on a simple geometric shape, with a bright and bold colour to represent their personality.
The series first began in 1971 with the original Mr. Men books, starring characters who were exclusively male, before being accompanied a decade later by the Little Miss series, bringing female characters into the mix. The characters have since expanded into other media, such as television series' and games. New books continue to be published, currently written and illustrated by Hargreaves' son, Adam, who took over from his father following his passing in 1988.
Mash-up
In 2017, the series joined forces with Doctor Who for a series of special "mash-up" books called Dr. Men, which featured a different incarnation of the Doctor in simplistic stories in the classic Mr. Men and Little Miss style, each featuring companions, enemies, and other elements from their respective eras in this style. As with current books in the series, Adam Hargreaves wrote and illustrated all fourteen instalments released thus far, one for each numbered Doctor by 2018, as well as an additional Christmas book.
To promote the Dr. Men series, two animated webcasts were released: The Daleks Chase Walter the Worm, featuring the reoccurring Mr. Men character Walter the Worm, and Doctor Who meets Mr. Men, an episode of The Fan Show.
Other references
In 2014, three years before Dr. Men was published, the DWM 479 instalment of The Daft Dimension was released, the punchline of which involved a partial cameo appearance by Mr. Tickle. In the strip, which acts as a loose sequel to the TV episode, Robot of Sherwood, Clara Oswald questions why they cannot meet any more "legendary characters", to which the Twelfth Doctor responds that they all fictional, "especially the one [she is] suggesting", unaware that the long, wiggly arms that Mr. Tickle are known for are presently reaching toward him from off panel behind him.
Connections
Voice cast
Pauline Collins, who played Samantha Briggs in The Faceless Ones and Queen Victoria in Tooth and Claw did the female vocals for the 1983 cartoon "Little Miss".
Miriam Margolyes, who voiced the Meep in The Star Beast [+]Loading...["The Star Beast (TV story)"] and Leef Apple Glyn Slitheen-Blathereen in The Gift narrated a few Little Miss stories for Tempo Talking Stories.
Josie Lawrence, who voiced voiced Gaznak in The Ninth Doctor Adventures audio story Salvation Nine, narrated a few stories from the Little Miss line from the 1990s to 2000s.
Geoffrey Palmer, who played Edward Masters in Doctor Who and the Silurians, the Administrator in The Mutants and Captain Hardaker in Voyage of the Damned narrated the 1998 Mr. Men special "The Christmas Letter".
Simon Callow, who played Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead and The Wedding of River Song and voiced Tree Lorn Acre Slitheen-Blathereen in The Gift narrated the the British dub of the 2008 cartoon "The Mr. Men Show".
Simon Greenall, who played Mr Skinner in Love & Monsters voiced multiple characters in the British dub of the 2008 cartoon "The Mr. Men Show", such as Mr. Happy (first season only), Mr. Bump, Mr. Grumpy, Mr. Strong and Mr. Quiet.
Steven Kynman, who does voice work for Big Finish Productions voiced Mr. Nosey in the British dub of the 2008 cartoon "The Mr. Men Show".
Keith Wickham, who is one of the voiceovers for Tomorrow's Times and voiced characters in Intelligence for War, voiced Mr. Small and Mr. Tall in the British dub of the 2008 cartoon "The Mr. Men Show".
Miscellaneous
- The Spice Girls had a partnership with the Mr. Men and Little Miss between 2019 to 2023 that they released books and merchandise on four of the members (excluding Posh Spice) as Little Misses.
- Matt Lucas hosted a documentary called "50 Years of Mr Men with Matt Lucas" that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Mr. Men and Little Misses that aired on Channel 4.
- Australian ice cream brand Streets produced Mr. Men ice cream bars in 1982 and had an advertisement in 1982 promoting it alongside the Doctor Who branded ice cream bars.
