Dennis the Menace [ESP/ENG]

Hello there, internet folks! How are you doing? Today I want to talk about an absolute classic from the 90s and 2000s: *Dennis the Menace*. Who hasn't seen this movie and laughed their head off at it? I remember it being aired on TV so often that I practically memorized the lines; however, these days I’ve had a really hard time finding it online—in fact, I can't find it on any website, let alone YouTube. (By the way, I’d really appreciate it if someone could tell me where I can find it.)

¡Hola, Hola, gente de internet! ¿Cómo están? Hoy quiero hablarles de un clásico infaltable de los años 90 y 2000, me refiero a Daniel el Travieso, ¿Quién no vio esta película y se murió de risa con ella? Yo recuerdo que llegaron a retransmitirla tanto por televisión que hasta me aprendí los diálogos, sin embargo hoy en día me ha costado muchísimo poder verla online, de hecho, no la encuentro en ningún sitio web, mucho menos en youtube (Por cierto, yo agradecería mucho si me dijeran donde puedo encontrarla)

Daniel Mitchel is a five-year-old boy who—contrary to what one might assume—isn't a troublemaker on purpose; in this regard, he differs greatly from Junior in the movie *Problem Child*. Daniel acts out of the impulsiveness and curiosity typical of his age; he is reckless and inquisitive like any other child. All this energy annoys his neighbor, Mr. Wilson, but why? A superficial answer might be that Mr. Wilson is just a grumpy old man, but a deeper explanation could be that the boy reminds him of his own—or likely his wife's—inability to have children. I say this based on a particularly moving scene (though it was followed by an anticlimactic moment that broke the emotional connection): the scene where Mrs. Wilson tells her husband she might have made a good mother, and he replies that he would have made a good firefighter. This clearly shows he uses sarcasm as a shield to hide his pain, yet he tries to apologize when he realizes his words have hurt his wife's feelings.

Daniel Mitchel es un niño de cinco años de edad, y a diferencia de lo que cualquiera podría intuir, él no es un niño problema a propósito, en eso se diferencia muchísimo de Junior de “Problem Child” o “Mi pobre diablillo” como decidieron llamarla en español, Daniel actúa por impulsos y curiosidad propios de su edad, es imprudente y preguntón como cualquier otro niño, y todo este ímpetu molesta a su vecino el señor Wilson, pero ¿por qué? La respuesta superficial podría ser: porque él es un viejo cascarrabias, pero la respuesta más profunda podría ser que el niño le recuerda al señor Wilson su incapacidad (o probablemente la de su esposa) de tener hijos, lo digo basándome en una escena que fue bastante emotiva (aunque después la sucedió otra escena anticlimática que rompió la conexión con esa sensibilidad) pero la escena en concreto es donde la la señora Wilson le dice a su esposo que ella tal hubiese sido una buena madre, y él le responde que él hubiese sido un buen bombero, lo que claramente expresa que él se escuda en una barrera de sarcasmo para ocultar su dolor, pero cuando ve que con sus palabras hirió los sentimientos de su esposa intenta disculparse.

The scenes depicting Daniel's antics might seem exaggerated, but they are very funny and worked perfectly for their time; I even think they have aged well because the humor is absurd. Most of the time, however, everything happens due to the recklessness and naivety typical of his age—children are curious and want to know everything as they discover the world, perceiving their surroundings with great simplicity because they are unaware of life's complexities. That is precisely why he never feels in danger when the prowler kidnaps him; in fact, the kidnapping scenes were among the funniest, especially when the kidnapper ends up completely tied up.

A memorable scene I always enjoyed watching as a child—because it relaxed me—is the story Mrs. Wilson tells to put Daniel to sleep; it’s more of a poem than a story, actually—the one about "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod." I really love that part.

And well, people, that's all for today's post, I hope you liked it. Thank you very much as always for supporting my work, I welcome new readers, I love you all very much, I send you a hug and I'll see you in another post.

I made the cover and farewell image in Canva