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# Let's go to Misterland The land of magic
# Come on and see
# Mr Fields and Mr Trees...#
Hello. Matt here.
Or should I say Mr Matt?
Because I am here in Mattland
with the Mr Men and Little Miss characters
and I've loved these books ever since I was a little kid.
I love how subversive they are,
how funny and original,
and how informative they are too.
Isn't it amazing to think that all of this began
50 years ago with a tickle?
LAUGHTER
The Mr Men went from a tickle,
to becoming one of Britain's most successful brands.
They captured the nation's hearts
and have now sold over 250 million books worldwide.
I've been given the chance to get under the skin
of this extraordinary family story...
This is where the Mr Men live.
..and get to meet the artists who brought my favourite stories
and characters to the world...
How long would it take you?
We could probably do...
..a few seconds a week.
A few seconds a week? Yeah.
..and meet the modern experts.
I think I would prefer Mr Tickle not to be touching my leg. It's a bit creepy.
Goodbye, Mr Tickle. Stop touching me.
But, mainly, I just want to be Mr Silly.
Oh. Or Mr Bump.
Sorry!
You know you're breaking rule number one?
Oh, because I'm not supposed to speak? Yeah.
Sorry.
And for their 50th birthday,
two new characters are being voted on by the public.
And I get to announce who the winners are.
Hip hip...
ALL: ..hooray!
ARCHIVE: It was a warm, sunny morning.
Mr Tickle munched his biscuit.
He looked out of the window.
"Today looks very much like a tickling day,"
he thought to himself.
The Mr Men burst onto the children's publishing scene in 1971
with a Tickle.
And with his friends Mr Bump, Mr Greedy,
Mr Happy, and Mr Sneeze
sold a million copies in just three years.
And from there, well, it just got bigger.
Today, there are over 90 characters
and more than 250 million books have been sold,
making these characters one of the biggest success stories
in British publishing history.
The Mr Men were the brainchild of Roger Hargreaves,
an ad man at one of the biggest advertising agencies in the UK,
responsible for campaigns like, "Bring out the Branston."
# Bring out the Branston. #
Bring out the unique, tangy, fruity flavour
of Branston Pickle much more often.
# Bring out the Branston. #
Sadly, Roger died suddenly in 1988 at the age of 53.
But his son, Adam, took over the family firm,
and he's been writing and illustrating
the Mr Men and Little Miss books
for the past 30 years.
And I'm lucky enough to get to meet him.
MUSIC: Mr Men Theme Song
Well, I am excited to be going to the home of the Mr Man
who is responsible for many of our favourite Mr Men
and Little Miss characters, Adam Hargreaves.
If I was a Mr Man right now,
I might be Mr Mildly Drenched.
I know rain doesn't always show up on camera
but I'm...
My head is not a waterproof head, so...
I'm... Yeah, I'm quite wet.
I want to find out where this phenomenon began.
This is where the Mr Men live.
KNOCKING ON DOOR
Hello. All right, Matt? How are you?
Wow, look at this.
Mr Messy,
who is possibly the easiest character to draw...
..cos he is just one big scribble.
You can't help but smile when you look at these characters.
Yeah, they are quite joyful, yeah.
They're just full of fun.
The idea of Mr Men is...
The concept of it is really clever
but it's also the fact that my dad managed to ally it
with such a unique look.
I mean, it is wholly of its own,
which is, kind of as an artist, is always the Holy Grail
because it's actually being able to visually create something
that's completely new.
He was a copywriter in London,
had been for many years,
so he was an ideas man.
He always, I think, harboured an ambition
to create something of his own.
Also, I think a lot of it was that
he wanted to not have to commute to London every day.
I think he really liked the idea of working from home.
When I was very young,
I asked my dad one of those impossible questions,
"What does a tickle look like?"
And I think that sparked off
a chain of thoughts in his mind,
that if you can draw and turn a tickle into a character,
then you could write a story about it.
And if you could do that with a tickle, then you could personify
any human emotion or character or trait.
Thus Mr Men was suddenly born, I think, in his mind.
He created the first Mr Men book
and made it himself to show to publishers.
And that's it? And this is his original.
This is the only copy that exists? Yeah.
This is the first ever Mr Men book.
And so these are all his original drawings. Wow.
And he typed out all of this
and stuck it all together with Sellotape.
So, he, yeah... And he created this little, square format
which was, I mean, also a kind of really clever part
of the whole sort of Mr Men idea.
He always said it's little books for little hands,
which I always thought was a lovely idea.
Because he wanted children to really enjoy his books,
And I think he wanted them to...
..kind of, almost identify with them.
And there is this sort of anarchic angle to Mr Tickle,
in that he's always tickling people in positions of authority -
teachers, policemen and stationmaster.
Can I see the back? Yes.
Ah. No characters.
You can see this.
There's nothing on the back when everyone knows that...
I can't believe I'm touching, holding in my hands,
the first ever Mr Men book.
Everyone knows that on the back of the Mr Men books,
you get to go, "I've got that one, I've got that one.
"My friend's got that one.
"I've seen the cartoon of that.
"I want that one."
And you get to sort of tick them off, don't you?
But back then, the world of children's publishing
wasn't quite ready for the anarchic world of the Mr Men.
He could not find a publisher at the time.
He showed it to all the major publishers
and got rejected on all counts.
In true ad man fashion,
Roger published the books himself
and sold over a million little books for little hands
within the first three years.
His sense of humour was really what drives
the whole Mr Men, Little Miss story process.
And I think that's what he was really trying to achieve,
was amusing children.
I think, for him, a four-year-old giggling
would've been his ultimate goal.
I want to know what makes these stories and characters
as popular today as they were in the 1970s.
And who better to ask than children themselves?
Hello.
How are you? Good. I'm just going back to my class.
I have that effect on people.
He's obviously seen my work.
Look, Ellen DeGeneres,
"Sir" Ian McKellen.
LGBTQ.
It's amazing because when I was at school,
there was no way that you would have LGBTQ fortnight at your school.
And a lot of people would say this is progress,
but considering I'm not on this board,
I don't think it's progress at all.
How are you doing?
I want to find out about the enduring magic
of the Mr Men and Little Miss stories.
But I'll have to get my audience to settle first.
Little Miss Contrary. Oh, I love Trouble.
So, we're here today
to talk about the Mr Men and the Little Miss books.
But before we do,
does anyone need to do a wee?
LAUGHTER You do, you need a wee?
Yeah, go and do a wee, and then come back when you've done your wee.
We don't want any accidents.
Do you need a wee as well?
Go and do a wee.
You don't all need... Do you all need a wee?
Go and do a wee, then, go and do a wee.
Rookie error.
But whilst the children are indisposed,
I think I'll call in an expert.
Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, a child psychologist,
to help me understand how children read the Mr Men.
I love the fact that we can introduce to children
the idea of naughtiness, or kind of bad behaviour,
or what would be socially undesirable.
Being rude, being difficult, not cooperating.
I mean, what a lovely thing to say.
These are such normal things.
And in the stories, nobody is punished.
The negativity of consequences aren't there
that children might experience in the real world. So there's a freedom
to say, "Actually, it's OK to be like that."
I never cease to be amazed at how beautifully honest
and straightforward children see the world.
And that's what I like about the books.
I quite like Little Miss Scatterbrain.
And I think I'm a bit like her
because I forget a few things often.
My favourite character is Mr Happy.
Mr Happy, and why is that?
Because I feel really happy a lot.
My favourite is Mr Noisy
because when I get home I normally, like, shout
because I'm excited that I've got home.
Every child can find a character that speaks predominately
to how they see themselves,
but every child can find a character within one session.
"Today, I'm feeling like Mr Messy.
"Today I'm feeling like Mr Strong."
It helps children understand we are many things.
We are not just one thing.
And because the Mr Men takes it into individual parts,
one characteristic per character,
it breaks it down. It's really accessible.
But actually, the points of the story are,
we are all of these things all of the time.
You're bossy!
And what is wrong with being bossy?
It's quite freeing, really.
Hello. You've got a question for Little Miss Bossy?
Do you get taught a lesson at the end of your book?
I don't need to be taught a lesson.
Now, why don't you sit down and be quiet?
How about you? She's quite bossy, isn't she?
But two new characters are about to join
Little Miss Bossy and the Mr Men fold.
And they feel created very much for the modern world.
This year, the Mr Men and Little Miss characters are 50 years old.
And to celebrate it, there are going to be five new characters,
and two of them are going to be selected to be turned into books.
We have Little Miss Kind,
and Little Miss Brave,
Mr Brilliant,
we have Little Miss Energy,
and then we have Mr Calm. OK?
Can I say something? Yes.
I think a Little Miss should have the most votes
because the Misters have more...
That's true. ..and Little Miss only has 36.
I think the only Mr ones that deserve to go on the stage
would definitely be Mr Calm or Mr Brilliant,
because those two are, like, one of the, like...
..they'll bring joy.
Modern thinking indeed.
I like it.
Thank you very much. It was a pleasure to meet you.
It was very nice to meet you too.
Bye-bye. Bye.
I always thought, you know, if I don't make it as an actor
I would become a primary school teacher.
And, um...
..I definitely need to make sure I make it as an actor.
He's back. Thank you so much.
They were lovely, actually. I'm just joking.
So, the modern world of Mr Men and Little Misses
has evolved over time -
50 years, in fact.
And I'm going to find out how.
Ah!
I've made it.
I've made it onto the board.
I'm not actually gay, but don't tell them that.
I'm exploring the magical world of the Mr Men.
# 100 dumplings and a million peas
# 20 marmalade puddings and a cheddar cheese
# Bread and butter and a roll or two, three, four. #
The Mr Men animations of the '70s were beautiful.
They were married so perfectly to the books,
and I loved watching them as a kid.
I'm now going to and meet the man responsible
for some of my favourite cartoons ever.
The 1970s saw an explosion of televisions in British homes,
and the Mr Men were perfectly poised to forge their way
into the living rooms of most kids in Britain, and I was one of them.
# Sing the happy song Come on along with me... #
I'm on my way to see a long-time collaborator of Roger's
called Terry Ward. He's the artist responsible
for bringing the Mr Men and Little Misses to our screens.
# Sing
# Smile... #
There is obviously a shed theme going on here in Misterland.
Hello, there. Oh, it opens.
Terry animated the Mr Men and Little Misses for over 30 years.
So how did it start for you?
My partner and I were making television commercials
with an advertising agency,
and Roger Hargreaves was the creative director.
And in those days, it was a bit like Mad Men, you know,
he was an immaculate suit, and being six foot four,
he had a stature about him,
so he was the last person, really, you'd think would create the Mr Men.
And we did commercials for Askit Powders.
When the night before smile
becomes the morning after headache,
you need the balanced ingredients of an Askit.
And the Askit Powder characters that Roger created,
he created the Back Ache, the Sore Throat, the Headache,
were really Mr Men characters,
and that was kind of the start of it, really.
And we were recording on a Spam commercial with Arthur Lowe,
and Roger suddenly, out of his bag, produced these new books
that he'd created, and we just thought they were amazing
and we were laughing about them.
And my partner and I suddenly said,
"God, these would make a really good kids' film.
"Shall we get Arthur to record one?"
And we expected him to actually just narrate it,
just to actually read the book,
but he came up with all these amazing voices.
That was a...a delicious breakfast!
Now, I wonder what would be nice to have for lunch.
And then I went off and did the first pilot
at home on the kitchen table.
We basically subsidised it ourselves with profits from commercials.
And were the books already a success by this time?
No. No, no, no, he'd just started publishing them.
They'd just started to go into the stores,
and we went off to the BBC, and the BBC loved the pilot,
and said, "That's fantastic. We'd like 13".
And we rushed back to Roger and said,
"They want 13," and he said, "I can't write any more."
He said, "I've written six, I can't come up with any more characters!"
So we sat down and said,
"Well, look, you know, if we're going to do this,
"you've got to come up with some more characters."
And that's what he did.
What a lot of Mr Men there are.
I must say, Roger was pretty astute
and came up with some characters pretty quickly.
"Who?" spluttered Mr Fussy,
looking in horror at his garden gate, "are you?"
"Oh, I'm...I'm Mr Clumsy,"
replied the untidy person, grinning,
and he stepped forward to shake Mr Fussy's hand,
tripped over and fell on the lawn.
"My grass!" cried Mr Fussy,
"my straight grass, you...you bent it."
We had these kind of animation discs.
This would be in a special animation table.
And then we had animation paper that was punched.
I still have some. So, it's punched to keep in place?
Yeah, it's punched to keep it in place
and so it goes onto the punched...
..on to the paper bar.
You can see the animation working.
So we would trace onto paper to get the movement right,
and then from there, we would go to acetates.
And I can show you,
I mean, these are original framed pictures of the first episode.
So we would put the clear acetate
over the top of the drawing and then trace it
and then flip the acetate over
and paint on the other side.
And all of this for one frame?
All of that for one frame.
And you had 24 frames a second, did you? 24 frames a second.
Yeah. So how long does it...would it take you?
We could probably do...
..oh, a few seconds a week.
A few seconds a week? Yeah.
So, when the BBC put in an order for 13...
Well, that was the big problem.
I mean, we were staggered because we'd never done it.
We were doing this for the first time. I mean,
we'd made television commercials, and you've only got 30 seconds.
Suddenly you're doing seven and a half minutes
within a very small budget.
"Good morning," said Mr Happy.
"Good?" said Mr Grumpy.
"What's good about it?"
LAUGHTER
The response was amazing.
It took off instantly, and Roger sold so many books
once that television series was on.
For the decade that followed,
the Mr Men books and series remained hugely popular
and added new characters and stories every year.
Television would respond to competition in the publishing market
and to changing roles for women in the home and in the workplace...
You turn if you want to...
..some even in the top jobs.
..the lady's not for turning.
# Sometimes in sunshine
# Sometimes in style... #
In 1981, Roger would reflect the changing times in his creations,
canvassed opinion, apparently, and instead of Miss,
which sounded like a teacher,
or Mrs, which sounded like your mum,
he came up with the Little Misses,
starting with Little Miss Bossy.
Oh... Stop that frightful noise. Shut up.
Just a passing resemblance to the Iron Lady.
Bossy was followed by Little Miss Shy,
Little Miss Sunshine,
and Little Miss Splendid.
What a common little man.
So this is Little Miss Splendid.
I love Little Miss Splendid, she's a wonderful character.
She's my favourite Little Miss. Yeah.
Nothing was too good for Little Miss Splendid.
She bathed in a gold bath and she dined off silver plates.
Oh, she was splendid.
At least, she thought so.
She's sassy. Yes.
There's a lovely line in the book where someone says,
"You can get the bus,"
and she said, "I don't travel on buses
"cos you get people on them." Yeah.
Which I thought was wonderful.
I feel like Little Miss Splendid
is straight out of RuPaul's Drag Race, or something.
HE LAUGHS
She's fierce! I think she's a gay role model. Yeah.
I wonder if there'll ever be
a gender-fluid or nonbinary character in the mix
for the modern world? You never know.
But back in the 1980s,
there was another revolution going on:
modern merchandising,
and it would take the Mr Men and Little Misses
into the global stratosphere.
# Going to wind them up Here they go, go, go
# Mr Men, Little Miss In a row, row, row
# Send them off with a heigh and a ho, ho, ho... #
I've come to the Brand Museum to meet Richard Culley,
Roger Hargreaves' long-time friend and collaborator
on what we now know as merch.
You're sort of known as the godfather of licensing.
I was in those days. Yeah.
Andy Pandy, I was involved with Andy Pandy.
Oh, Noddy, of course. Yes, I did a lot of Noddy.
Thunderbirds was another. I did all this.
Do you think Roger had these ambitions to exploit the Mr Men?
Yes, he did. He really did? Oh, he did.
He and I would brainstorm all the time about new books and new titles,
and we'd get together,
sit for maybe two hours over lunch, a liquid lunch,
and he'd come back with all new characters, all the time.
What was the most out-there Mr Men product that you thought of?
The yoghurts were a great step upwards.
In those early days,
people regarded yoghurts as a bit of a health food fanatical product.
The mums were able to give Mr Men yoghurts to children,
who readily took to it because of the Mr Men.
They trusted the characters. They trusted the characters.
They could identify with the characters so easily.
By 1988, Roger had published 46 Mr Men books
and 33 Little Miss books,
and along with the television series with Terry
and merchandising thousands of products with Richard,
he was now hugely successful.
It was fun.
He travelled around the world with me. He enjoyed his life?
Oh, yes, yes. But his life was snuffed out too soon.
You were with him the day before he died? The day before he died.
Oh, yes, I was.
And I went away that day, drove home,
and I thought, "Mm, he's not well."
And, blimey, the next day, next evening, Adam called,
and I could hear my wife go, "Oh, no."
I knew something had happened, yeah.
Roger died of a stroke on the 11th of September 1988 at the age of 53,
leaving behind his wife Christine,
their two sons and their two daughters.
After the funeral I was talking to Adam and he said,
"I want to do what Dad did."
and I said, "Can you draw?"
He said "Yes." I said, "Can I see your portfolio? Have you got one?"
He said, "Yes," and he brought it down. I...
Was this on the day of the funeral?
The day of the funeral, at the wake afterwards, at the house. Right.
I went through his portfolio,
and in an instant,
I realised he could draw better... Sorry, Roger.
..better than his dad.
Adam, Roger's youngest son,
was just 25 when he took over the family firm.
I had never imagined I'd ever be involved with Mr Men.
I'd, up to that point in my life, pursued a career in farming,
so I had absolutely no training for Mr Men.
Had he taught you how to draw the characters?
No, sadly, I'd...I'd never drawn Mr Men.
When I first started... My dad always just drew them freehand,
but when I first started, I had to do a sketch first,
and then I'd do a proper line drawing over the top of them,
and I suddenly got to this point where I suddenly realised,
"Yeah, I can now draw Mr Men like my dad did," so it was a big moment.
Sitting in my dad's office after he died
and learning about Mr Men,
I actually found it a quite helpful way
for me to get over my dad's death,
because I was...I was with him, in a way,
through the Mr Men.
When Adam truly got his feet under the Mr Men desk in the 1990s,
the Mr Men and Little Misses were perfectly placed to evolve
and diversify into the teen and adult market,
targeted with a heady mix of nostalgia and celebrity.
It just took off, and I think Mr Men is perfectly suited for merchandise
because it's very adaptable to lots of different products.
Is there any applications for merchandise
that you had to turn down? Well, yeah. We...
..we were offered a licence for Mr Men condoms,
but I don't think that would quite fit with the...
Not quite. ..Mr Men remit.
I think that was a good call on your part. Yeah.
Well, not a difficult decision.
"Hello," he said. "Who are you?"
"Oh! I'm Mr Daydream."
# Daydreaming
# Daydreaming the days away... #
Today I am going to have a very serious acting class
and then I'm going to go out and meet the people of Great Britain
dressed as a Mr Man and a Little Miss character.
# Daydreaming
# Daydreaming... #
I never dreamed that I myself would get to be a Mr Man or Little Miss,
cos I thought I would be a really serious Shakespearian actor.
So I can't say it's my dream come true
cos I never imagined it would happen.
Vicky and Helene work for
the only company licensed to portray the Mr Men and Little Misses,
and are going to train me in the fine art of going method,
but there are some serious rules to be upheld.
And you're trained actors, are you?
Yes.
And did you ever think you'd be...?
SHE LAUGHS
No! No.
I was going to graduate and be a film star.
Well, you are now!
I am now.
Right, well, I'm all yours.
When you're in character your vision will be impaired,
your hearing will be impaired,
so you're reliant on your chaperone
to keep you safe and to keep the public safe.
You're not allowed to speak in character, is that right?
No, number one rule. Wow. Yeah, no speaking.
We don't want a random voice coming out of an iconic character.
What if the person inside the costume needs the loo?
The universal one is time out.
Yeah. So if you're about to faint or vomit or need the loo
or something's about to happen... Blimey.
OK, so we are going to talk about some of the characteristics
of the characters that we've got here.
Because when we're inside, we're going to have to physicalise
the emotion that we want to convey.
And we really have to be true to the character.
Yes, we really have to get into their head. Vital... Yeah.
..to know, who is Bump?
Yeah. Who is he? What does he like? What are his traits?
Does he have signature moves? Mm-hm.
Because they all have go-to moves.
So what are they? How would you describe Mr Bump?
Resilient. Yes, I would agree.
Hapless. Mm-hm.
Clumsy. Definitely.
So, using your body, not your face or your voice,
how would you display those emotions,
making sure that everything is over the top
and everything is really big?
So go for it. Don't be subtle.
Exactly.
That's, like, avoiding the bump.
SHE LAUGHS
So when you bump... Oh! Exactly, when you bump into things,
sometimes you're knocked off-balance. Whoa!
Oh, I can't make any noise, can I? You could even
fall back a little bit, maybe.
So that was brilliant.
Make sure you keep in the bit where she said it was brilliant.
SHE LAUGHS
He will tend to bump into things.
We have to be careful WHAT we're bumping into.
We don't want to, like, smash into children.
Yeah, it needs to be child friendly.
Yes, definitely. He's Mr Bump, not Mr Bump and Grind.
Exactly. Right, OK. Yes.
Now, how would this differ if I'm Little Miss Sunshine?
She is happy-go-lucky, isn't she?
Yeah, she's lovely, she nice.
So how would her walk be? Show me her walk.
Exactly.
A bit like, probably, the walk that Cliff Richard would do
if he was coming on to sing Congratulations.
# Da da-da da-da da da-da da-da da
Exactly! # Bom, bom, bom, bom
# Congratulations. #
It's that, isn't it?
Just have that in your head the whole time you're in her. Yeah.
Right, well, I'll, er...
Do you want to put one on? ..get changed, yeah.
# Have you met Mr Bump?
# He's a clumsy chap
# Going bump into this and into that
# So be sure that you don't bump into him today
# If you do he'll bump you out of his way
# Mr Bump
# Had a nasty bang
# Bumped into
# A big, fat man
# "Why don't you watch who you bump into?"
# Said the man and punched old Bump black and blue... #
CHILDREN LAUGH
He always bumps into things.
He always bumps into things, doesn't he?
And now the public are voting online
for two new characters to bump into.
Will it be Mr Calm or Brilliant?
Little Miss Energy, Kind or Brave?
We'll find out soon.
In my exploration of the Mr Men story,
I've gone method as a Little Miss.
Hello, Miss Sunshine! Hey!
Woo!
Hello, Miss Sunshine.
Yay!
And Little Miss Sunshine's magic melted the hearts
of the hipsters big and small.
Ooft!
There we go.
It was lovely to see the smiles on the faces of people,
children of all ages.
People really love these characters
and they've grown up with them,
so the parents recognise the characters as well as the kids.
So it was nice to see, it was nice to see.
The enduring power of the Mr Men and Little Miss magic
is nowhere better evidenced than here, Portsmouth
at the home of Michelle Martinez,
who has been collecting the Mr Men since she was a child.
KNOCKS ON DOOR
Knockety, knockety knock.
Hello! Hi! How do you do? Come in.
Nice to meet you. It's like Mr Bump's house, isn't it?
Wow!
Wow, wow, wow!
My lord, what an extraordinary collection.
What do we look at first? I mean, it's just full of wonder.
These are hot water bottles?
They are indeed.
So where did it all start for you and the Mr Men?
As a child you show an affection for something or an interest
when you're little, and it just went from there.
Everybody that is important to me
has bought me something to do with Mr Men.
And people see things and call me, "Have you got this?"
"My son's outgrown his pyjamas, do you want them?" "Yes, please."
So, do you have a favourite bit of Mr Men memorabilia?
Oh, there's too many! There are too many.
I see one thing and I think, "Yes, I love that, I love that."
My Mr Man tea set, in 1977, I was given that as a Christmas gift.
For me, it makes me feel just happy
and there are so many happy memories attached to many of these items.
What would you say to Roger Hargreaves
if you'd had a chance to meet him?
Thank you. Just thank you for making something
that I've carried with me my whole life
and has been able to be shared with so many people,
and I'm sure I'm not the only person that feels that way.
The Hargreaves family decided to sell the brand in 2003
and netted £28 million.
Not bad for an idea that began with a tickle
and would go on to become of the most successful British brands ever.
So, where's the brand today?
Here we go.
This is where the Mr Men and Little Miss live.
This is the London HQ of Sanrio,
the Japanese company that now owns the Mr Men.
Hello, everybody.
The Hargreaves still keep a creative hand in,
but Alastair, Alison and Sabrina are in charge
of the Mr Men and Little Miss heritage and growth.
And then we shall say grace.
THEY LAUGH
How big is this brand?
We are published in 17 different languages.
We've sold over 250 million books so far
and we sell a book about every four or five seconds globally.
We're the number one book brand in France
and we've been in the top ten in the UK for the past ten years.
Collaborations is a massive part of our business.
Stella McCartney was our very first collaboration
and she had her very own character,
which we'd never done before as well,
so she had a character called Little Miss Stella.
But I think that really opened up the eyes to other companies
to really see, you know, how flexible Mr Men could be as a brand.
The Mr Men and Little Misses have truly been taken
to the next level as a global enterprise.
It all feels pretty far from an artist's studio
at the bottom of a garden now, Dorothy.
But maintaining the Hargreaves' unique artistic style is key,
and the man responsible for that
and for designing the modern characters is Liam.
Hello, friend. Hello. Can I come and bother you?
Of course, you can. How are you?
I'm all right, thank you. It's nice to have a sit down, isn't it?
It's lovely. So, are you the resident artist here?
I am indeed. Who's hardest to draw?
Mr Happy, I think. And I know it might not seem like that... Because?
No, I know. It's interesting, isn't it, cos the simpler they are,
the more quickly we'll notice if something isn't quite right?
Exactly. And if you don't get him right,
he can look like a broken egg
or just an omelette or something. MATT CHUCKLES
They say I look like one of those.
Oh, yeah? Yeah, yeah.
So what's your favourite of the new characters?
Who are you hoping will win?
I would say Mr Calm, personally,
Mr Calm or Little Miss Kind.
I can show you some early concepts, if you like? Yes, please do.
So, this is some of the first designs.
This was the first design I drew of Mr Calm,
and then the developments got a little bit further
and we did get Adam's designs, so Adam did these.
So then I had another go because the feedback for this
was that it looked too similar to Mr Happy. It does, yeah.
But I said, "No, well, he's got that." He's got three hairs.
He's got the sliders as well.
That's quite nice. A bit like a sumo, isn't he?
Yeah, yeah, I was getting that vibe from that as well.
Go well in Japan. Bit of a top knot. Yeah.
Little Miss Brave, which actually hasn't changed much
to the final concept, which is great.
Little Miss Kind, we did go for this look in the end.
That's lovely. Mr Brilliant.
I like the 'tash. It's quite Village People, isn't it?
So, Little Miss Energy, I drew at the start
and she hasn't really changed.
Is she breaking wind?
There? Yeah.
Little Miss Trump.
I've not heard that in ages, trump. My nana always used to say that.
Yeah, I think we need to reclaim the word trump.
Have you ever heard "pipped?" Pipped? Oh, that might be northern.
She was like, "Oh, you've pipped."
I'm like, "What?"
Now over 70,000 people have voted on these new characters,
which feel fitting for the modern world we live in.
And watching how they have evolved over the past 50 years
from the originals has made me wonder
how they've stayed so successful and relevant.
I think I've found the perfect expert to help me
negotiate the waters of modern children's publishing.
Hello, I am delighted to introduce Melanie Ramdarshan Bold,
who is an associate professor
and who basically spends all of her days teaching, researching
and talking about children's books.
Why are these books still so popular today 50 years on?
I think nostalgia is a big driving point.
I know that certainly since I've become a mother,
I've wanted to revisit my childhood favourites.
Much of the children's publishing industry today
is driven by this nostalgia.
If we look at the bestseller list, for example,
they're populated by very familiar names and books and characters.
Because there's something reassuring about them. Exactly, yeah.
Do you have a favourite character?
Um... So, the character that has had the most impact on me
is Mr Messy and I'm still traumatised
by his Kafkaesque fate in the book.
The book starts off with Mr Messy
being sort of, like, blissfully happy
in his non-conformist, individual existence,
and then that all changes when he meets Mr Neat
and Mr Tidy, who are essentially these two authoritarian types
dressed in these very generic black and white suits.
" 'Oh, we make things nice and neat.'
" 'I don't want things neat and tidy,' said Mr Messy,
"looking downright miserable at the thought of it.
" 'Nonsense,' said Mr Tidy."
So he's just this really vibrant bright pink scribble,
so Mr Neat and Mr Tidy proceed
to thoroughly scrub
and anonymise Mr Messy.
They do this to his house and then they do it to Mr Messy himself.
It's completely Orwellian, actually.
By the end of the book, he's been so vigorously scrubbed and brushed
that he appears as this generic pink blob,
which is very different to...
He looks just like every other pink blob that you see.
But the most terrifying thing about the book is that, by the end of it,
like Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four,
he ends up loving his captors. Complete Stockholm Syndrome.
" 'I'm going to have to change my name,' said Mr Messy,
"and he chuckled."
So you wouldn't read that to your son?
Um, yeah, I probably would.
He has a messy room so, you know, teach him a lesson. There you go.
Are you OK with the fact that Mr Tickle is touching your leg?
Mr Tickle! Mr Tickle, now, come on!
Mr Tickle! It's not very consensual, is it?
It's not very consensual. No, I think you should move his hand
out of the way. Shall we? This is 2021 Mr Tickle.
These days, Mr Tickle would probably get community service,
but he's not the only character to have come under modern scrutiny.
In the past few years, Mr Greedy and Little Miss Plump,
who is now called Little Miss Greedy,
have faced the charge of fat-shaming.
"Little Miss Plump certainly was."
" 'Was what?' Plump!"
And some of the Little Misses have come under fire
for female stereotypes that might be seen as lodged in the '70s.
There have been lots of criticisms about Little Miss Bossy.
Those books have received the biggest criticism,
just in general, calling...
She's in here. She's over there.
She is over there. Just be careful. Sorry!
So, I think it's great that they've been sort of updated
for the modern environment.
There is a new generation of books and characters,
such as Little Miss Inventor,
which showcase women in very different, more empowering roles.
What future do you see for the Mr Men and the Little Miss Books?
I can see them growing and growing.
# She's Plump! He's Bump! They're Late! And Naughty!
# It's Tickle! She's Trouble! I'm Shy! We're Happy... #
And growing they are, Melanie.
In celebration of turning 50, the Mr Men and Little Misses
are about to welcome two new characters to the fold.
And I'll be announcing the winners with my very own animation.
Well, I'm very excited because I'm throwing a 50th birthday party
for the Mr Men and Little Misses.
I've invited some of the creatives and superfan Michelle
and I'm going to be announcing the two winners of the competition
for new characters as voted for by the public.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Mr Men birthday party without...
wibbly wobbly jelly!
Wobble, wobble, wobble!
Today is my Mr Men birthday party, to celebrate 50 years.
Everyone who was invited turned up.
Oh, it's the loveliest cake I've ever seen.
And I'll be announcing the winners of the competition
for two new characters.
To the Mr Men and Little Miss.
ALL: Cheers.
Happy birthday.
And, here's to my dad, to Roger. ALL: To Roger. My hero.
So, who will be joining the colourful cast of Mr Men
and Little Misses?
I've prepared a little surprise.
OK, it's time for our big announcement.
Liam, if you could press play, please?
We have now reached the end of the competition
and we can reveal the two winners.
Will it be Little Miss Kind, who believes in always helping others?
Will it be Mr Calm with his zen-like ways?
Mr Brilliant with his big ideas?
Little Miss Energy with her zest for life?
Or Little Miss Brave with her fearless inner strength?
I can reveal that the winners are...
..Mr Calm and Little Miss Brave.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
BANG! HE CHEERS
Oh, I did it into me.
It was supposed to go that way.
I got lots of confetti on the chair.
Hurray!
Mr Useless.
Mr Idiot.
So, how do you feel about that, Adam?
Excited. Overwhelmed.
My initial thought is now I've got to finish the stories.
For the last nine months, I've been trying to come up with
stories for five characters, without knowing which two of them
were going to be published, but, no, that's perfect, isn't it?
Michelle, you wanted Mr Calm, didn't you? I wanted him, yeah.
Why did you like Mr Calm?
Just because of the situation we're in at the moment, I think everyone
just needs to be calm and crack on and look after everyone else.
Well, said. Think about what you're doing. Quite right.
This brand staying alive has kept Roger alive in some way, hasn't it?
It's also made me realise what a good idea he came up with,
I think that's what really struck me,
is that prior to his death,
I hadn't really given him credit for what he had created.
Whenever I talk to people, they just assume, because of the books
having his name on, that he's still around and still doing them, really.
I could never have imagined being involved
but I've ended up with the best job in the world.
Hear, hear, I had the best job in the world too.
No, I had the best job in the world. There you go.
No, I loved every minute of it.
GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS
Well, that's it, that's the end of the documentary.
Sorry to go all meta on you.
Er... It's been a real privilege to meet some of the people
behind the Mr Men and Little Miss Characters.
I've learned so much about this brilliant phenomenon.
I love their simplicity and their directness.
I love their diversity and how they bring kids out of themselves.
I think they're really witty charming, very British,
and it all came from an ad man and a farmer.
Amazing.
I thought I'd say goodbye to Misterland with a little treat -
I caught up with the Mr Men at 50 to ask how the phenomenon had
changed their lives, socially distanced, of course.
OK, everyone unmute themselves.
Great. Well, it's an interesting question
and one I've been thinking about an awful lot.
And may I say thank you for asking me to appear in your documentary.
I think it's wonderful that you're making this documentary
because documentaries are fascinating, aren't they?
Mr Lazy, have you, er...
I do think some documentaries are a bit long though
and sometimes the contributors go on and on and on and on,
and you wonder if they are ever going to stop.
So, anyway, it's a very interesting question...
Bye. ..which is good news because...
# Daydreaming
# Daydreaming the days away
# Daydreaming
# Daydreaming the days away
# Day. #