What-a-Mess

What-a-Mess
What-a-Mess
Created by	Frank Muir
Written by	Frank Muir; Timothy Forder (Version 1); Cliff Ruby; Elana Lesser (Version 2)
Directed by	Timothy Forder (Version 1); Kent Butterworth (Version 2)
Voices of	Frank Muir (Versions 1, & 2); Ryan O'Donohue; Jo Ann Harris; Joe Nipote; Charity James; Miriam Flynn; Michael Bell; Debi Derryberry; Adam Hendershott
Theme music composer	Andrew Lloyd Webber (Version 1); Barrie Guard (Version 1)
Country of origin	United Kingdom (Version 1); United States (Version 2)
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	45
Production
Executive producers	Claire Derry; David Hamilton (Version 1); Andy Heyward; Robby London; Mike Maliani (Version 2)
Producers	Mary Swindale (Version 1); Cliff Ruby; Elana Lesser; Kent Butterworth (Version 2)
Running time	5 minutes (Version 1); 10 minutes (Version 1, later episodes); 30 minutes (Version 2)
Production companies	Smallfilms (Version 1); Bevanfield Films (Version 1, later episodes) ; DIC Productions, L.P. (Version 2)
Distributor	Version 2; DIC Entertainment (United States); ABC Distribution Company (Internationally)
Release
Original network	BBC (Version 1); ITV (Version 1, later episodes); ABC (Version 2)
Original release	24 December 1979 –; 4 April 1996

What-a-Mess is a series of children's books written by British comedy writer Frank Muir and illustrated by Joseph Wright.^[1] The title character is a dishevelled (hence his nickname), accident-prone Afghan Hound puppy, whose real name is Prince Amir of Kinjan. The book series was later made into two animated series, both narrated by Frank Muir.^[2]

Characters[]

What-a-Mess – A scruffy Afghan puppy who is the main character of the entire franchise. His real name is Prince Amir of Kinjan, and has a yellow duck sitting on top of his head. In the US animated version, the duck was coloured blue, as his character was merged with the bluebird in the UK animated version and books, and was also given the name Baldwin by What-A-Mess. In the US animated version, What-A-Mess is voiced by Ryan O'Donohue.
What-a-Mess's Mother – Also known as The Duchess of Kinjan is a beautiful pedigree Afghan Hound, mother to What-a-Mess, and is voiced by Charity James in the US version.
Family – The owners of What-a-Mess and his mother. They consist of the father, the mother, the son, and the daughter. Like most humans, they are mostly seen from the neck down, with their faces slightly obscured. They are voiced by Michael Bell (as the father), Miriam Flynn (as the mother), Adam Hendershott (as the son), and Debi Derryberry (as the daughter), in the US version.
Poppet – Belonging to the father of the house's aunt, Poppet is a cute, clean, and yet troublemaking dog that What-a-Mess and his friends truly despise, making her first appearance in Super What-a-Mess.
Archbishop of Canterbury – A scruffy dark blue dog with brown patches who What-A-Mess met and befriended in What-A-Mess Goes to the Seaside. He's named this way because when What-A-Mess introduces himself with his breed name he sarcastically replies "Wotcher, cock, I'm the Archbishop of Canterbury!", which the naive pup takes as his actual name. His name was changed to Norton in the US Animated Version, and he was voiced by Dana Hill.
President of the United States – Ironic, that in one of the US Version episodes where What-a-Mess got lost in town, he was helped out by a dog voiced by Jim Cummings that had the same experience as the Archbishop of Canterbury in the UK Version and books, where when What-a-Mess introduces himself with his breed name, he sarcastically replies "Oh really? And I'm the President of the United States!" which the naive pup takes as his actual name.
The Cat Next Door – Also known as Felicia in the US animated version, is a brown Siamese Cat that loves to tease What-A-Mess at times. In the US animated version, she was coloured blue and she was voiced by Jo Ann Harris.
Cynthia – A Hedgehog who What-A-Mess befriended in What-A-Mess Goes to School. Her character was redesigned to become a mole named Ramona in the US animated version because Hedgehogs aren't native to America. In the US animated version, she is voiced by Candi Milo.
Ryvita – Appearing only in the books, Ryvita is a Ladybird that What-A-Mess and his friends befriended, and who first appeared in What-a-Mess Goes on Television She speaks so small that only Cynthia could understand her.
Esmeralda – A white mouse that belonged to the girl of the house, who only appeared in both the book, What-a-Mess, and the Hairy Monster, and an episode of the US version of the same name. In the US version, she was voiced by Russi Taylor.
Trash – Only in the US animated version, Trash is a Bull Terrier who is a real trouble maker for What-A-Mess. His real name is actually Francis. He is voiced by Joe Nipote.
Frank – An Old English Sheepdog that narrates the US animated version of What-A-Mess, voiced by Frank Muir himself.

Books list[]

Large Books[]

What-a-Mess
What-a-Mess The Good
What-a-Mess at the Seaside
What-a-Mess Goes to School
Prince What-a-Mess
Super What-a-Mess
What-a-Mess and the Cat Next Door
What-a-Mess Goes on Television
What-a-Mess and the Hairy Monster

Small Books[]

Four Seasons

What-a-Mess in Spring
What-a-Mess in Summer
What-a-Mess in Autumn
What-a-Mess in Winter

Four Square Meals

What-a-Mess has Breakfast
What-a-Mess has Lunch
What-a-Mess has Tea
What-a-Mess has Supper

Mini Books

What-a-Mess has a Brain Wave
What-a-Mess and Little Poppet
What-a-Mess and a trip to the Vet
What-a-Mess the Beautiful
What-a-Mess Goes to Town
What-a-Mess Goes Camping

Animated series[]

An animated series was made in the UK in 1979 by Smallfilms. More episodes were made in the UK in 1990 by Central Independent Television, Link Licensing, and Bevanfield Films. A second version, this time American, was made in 1995 by DIC Productions L.P.^[3] and aired on ABC in the United States.^[4] It aired on YTV from 1995 to 1999 in Canada, and aired on Spacetoon from 2004 to 2014 in the Arab world. Both versions were narrated by Muir.^[3] Both animated series aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia.

Episodes[]

Version 1 (Smallfilms, iTV / UK series)[]


Episode	Title	UK release date	Comment
1	A Bee?	24 December 1979
2	A Hat?	26 December 1979
3	A FIsh?	27 December 1979
4	A Mole?	28 December 1979
5	A Hound?	30 December 1979
6	Mighty Hunter	1 January 1980
7	Enough for One Day	2 January 1980
8	A Very Good Dog Indeed	3 January 1980
9	A Prince	4 January 1980
10	What-a-Mess at the Seaside	26 March 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess at the Seaside
11	What-a-Mess Goes to School	2 April 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess Goes to School
12	Prince What-a-Mess	9 April 1990	Adapted from Prince What-a-Mess and What-a-Mess in Winter
13	Super What-a-Mess	16 April 1990	Adapted from Super What-a-Mess
14	What-a-Mess Keeps Cool	30 April 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess in Spring and What-a-Mess in Summer
15	What-a-Mess and Cynthia the Hedgehog	14 May 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess has Supper and What-a-Mess in Autumn
16	What-a-Mess Has a Brain Wave!	21 May 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess has Breakfast and What-a-Mess Had a Brain Wave
17	What-a-Mess and the Cat Next Door	4 June 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess and the Cat Next Door
18	What-a-Mess and Little Poppet	18 June 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess and Little Poppet
19	What-a-Mess Goes Camping	2 July 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess Goes Camping
20	What-a-Mess The Beautiful	9 July 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess The Beautiful
21	What-a-Mess Goes to Town	16 July 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess Goes to Town
22	What-a-Mess Goes to the Vet	23 July 1990	Adapted from What-a-Mess Goes to the Vet

Version 2 (DIC Productions, L.P. / US series)[]


Episode	Title
1	Talkin' Trash/A Bone to Pick/Midnight Snack
2	Schoolin' Around/The Legend of Junkyard Jones/It's Raining Cats and Dogs
3	Home Alone...Almost/Super What-A-Mess/The Recliner
4	Afghan Holiday/The Bone Tree
5	Just Four More Left/The Ropes/What-A-Mess Has Breakfast
6	Prize Puppy/The Great Escape/The Scarecrow and Prince Amir
7	Shampooed/Show and Tail/I Spy, I Cry, I Try
8	What-A-Mess and the Hairy Monster/Trick Or Treat/My Teatime with Frank
9	Out With the Garbage/Dr. What-A-Mess
10	Ultimate What-A-Mess
11	This Hydrant Is Mine
12	Trash's Wonderful Life
13	Snowbound
14	The Thanksgiving Turkey
15	Santa What-A-Mess
16	Here Comes Santa Paws
17	All Around the Mallberry Bush
18	What-A-Mess at the Movies
19	His Royal Highness, Prince What-A-Mess
20	Party at Poppet's
21	Take Me Out to the Dog Park
22	The Watch Out Dog
23	Molenapped!
24	Pound Pals
25	Taste Test
26	Slobber on a Stick
27	Scout's Honor
28	Seein' Double
29	Luck on His Side
30	What-A-Mess Keeps the Doctor Away
31	There's No Business Like Shoe Business
32	Joy Ride
33	Baldwin's Family Reunion
34	Do the Mess Around
35	On Vacation
36	Messy Encounters
37	Dog Days of Summer
38	Fetch!
39	Real Puppies Don't Meow
40	Invasion of the Puppy Snatchers
41	The Ballad of El Pero
42	What-a-Mess Has Lunch
43	Walking the Boy
44	Messed Up What-A-Mess
45	Water Mess
46	The Big Sleep
47	High-Wire Heartthrob

Home releases[]

UK series[]

What-A-Mess: 5 Hilarious Adventures – What-a-Mess Goes to the Seaside, What-a-Mess Goes to School, Prince What-a-Mess, Super What-a-Mess, What-a-Mess Keeps Cool (Extra Episodes – What-a-Mess and Cynthia the Hedgehog, What-a-Mess Has a Brain Wave!)
What-A-Mess: Small VHS Sample – What-a-Mess and Cynthia the Hedgehog, What-a-Mess Has a Brain Wave!, What-a-Mess and the Cat Next Door
What-A-Mess: Cat & Seaside (DVD) – Consisting the entire UK series.

US series[]

In October 1996, Buena Vista Home Video under the DIC Toon-Time Video imprint released 2 VHS tapes called Monsters, Goblins, and Ghosts, Oh my! and Here Comes Santa Paws. The former contained the segments What-A-Mess and the Hairy Monster, Trick Or Treat, and My Tea Time with Frank . The latter contained the Santa What-a-Mess special.^{[citation needed]}

On 13 November 2003, Sterling Entertainment released a VHS/DVD called "Christmas Mess", containing the Santa What-a-Mess special as well as the segments "Trash's Wonderful Life", "The Thanksgiving Turkey", Snowbound", All Around the Mallberry Bush", "It's Raining Cats and Dogs" and "At the Movies", with the DVD version containing the segments "His Majesty, Prince What-a-Mess", "Ultimate What-a-Mess" and "This Hydrant is Mine" as bonus episodes. The DVD was re-issued by NCircle Entertainment in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

^ Russell Williams, Imogen (4 July 2007). "Whatever happened to What-a-mess?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 335. ISBN 9781476672939.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "IMDB What-a-mess". Retrieved 3 January 2011.
^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 899–900. ISBN 978-1476665993.

[1] Russell Williams, Imogen (4 July 2007). "Whatever happened to What-a-mess?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 January 2011.

[2] Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 335. ISBN 9781476672939.

[imdb-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b "IMDB What-a-mess". Retrieved 3 January 2011.

[4] Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 899–900. ISBN 978-1476665993.

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Rebroadcasts	The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (1985–2000) DuckTales (1997)
Related programming and topics	Disney's One Saturday Morning Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990) Modern animation in the United States