Out of Danger Mouse

Mark Hall, producer of brilliantly quirky British cartoons, has died of cancer at the age of 75. As half of the driving force behind Cosgrove Hall, he brought life to the James Bond/Danger Man parody Danger Mouse, the world’s greatest secret agent – so secret his code name had a code name, and his faithful if flustered assistant hamster Penfold, and spawned one of the all-time great trivia mash-up answers: Mother May I Sleep with Danger Mouse? Danger Mouse spun off Count Duckula, during the late, lamented pre-ubiquitious vampire period in popular culture. Ketchup was used instead of blood during his reincarnation ritual, and Duckula went vegetarian. He also had more interest in celebrity than traditional vampire habits like skulking and lurking, much to his manservant Igor’s consternation.