Dennis the Menace
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50 free Dennis the Menace trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Dennis the Menace has been getting under his neighbor's skin since 1951. The single-panel newspaper strip about a well-meaning five-year-old and the trouble he leaves behind grew into a hit black-and-white sitcom, several cartoons and a 1993 feature film. This quiz covers all of it: the Mitchell family and the Wilsons next door, the kids on the block, the story of how the strip came about, the cast and behind-the-scenes history of the 1959 series, and the slapstick set pieces of the movies. It suits anyone who read the strip in the Sunday paper, caught the reruns after school or wore out a VHS copy of the film. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will pick up a few stories even on the ones you miss.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01From which European country was the all-American comic strip Dennis the Menace drawn between 1960 and 1977?
Switzerland
Switzerland was the cartoonist's home for 17 years after he moved his family to Geneva. He kept producing the strip there until he moved back to the United States.
Q 02Which child actor had his red hair bleached blond to play the lead in the 1959 sitcom Dennis the Menace?
Jay North
Jay North was eight when the series began, but was told to shave a year off his age whenever he spoke to the press.
Q 03Which Hollywood veteran played grumpy neighbor Mr. Wilson opposite Mason Gamble in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace?
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau planned to keep his distance from his young co-star to stay in character. He gave up on the first day of filming, when the boy ran straight into his arms.
Q 04Which British comic launched its own, unrelated Dennis the Menace on the very same day in March 1951?
The Beano
The Beano put its spiky-haired Dennis on sale on 12 March 1951, the exact day the American strip debuted. The two are unrelated and trade under altered names abroad.
Q 05Which restaurant chain used Dennis the Menace in its marketing for 30 years before dropping him in 2001?
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen let him go because it felt children could no longer relate to a character who was by then 50 years old.
Q 06Which future Oscar-winning director played Dennis's friend Stewart in early episodes of the sitcom Dennis the Menace?
Ron Howard
Ron Howard appeared in six episodes as a small boy. He then left to join the cast of The Andy Griffith Show.
Q 07Which Midwestern city, the setting of Dennis the Menace, made the strip's cartoonist its honorary mayor?
Wichita
Wichita is where the Mitchells live, in a two-story house at the fictional 2251 Pine Street. The Wilsons are next door at 2253.
Q 08Whose outburst, after a four-year-old wrecked his bedroom instead of napping, gave Dennis the Menace its name?
The creator's wife
The creator's wife, Alice, burst into his studio to complain about their son Dennis. Within five months the strip was in 16 newspapers, with a mother who shared her name.
Q 09What is the name of Dennis the Menace's faithful dog in the comic strip and the 1993 film?
Ruff
Ruff is Dennis's best friend and follows him everywhere, running beside him whether he is on foot, on his bike or on his skateboard.
Q 10Which Home Alone writer wrote and produced the 1993 film Dennis the Menace, starring Mason Gamble?
John Hughes
John Hughes was hired on the strength of the Home Alone films. The studio's production chief had wanted Tim Burton to direct, an idea the executive producer rejected.
Q 11Which cartoonist created Dennis the Menace in 1951 and drew the daily panel until retiring in 1994?
Hank Ketcham
Hank Ketcham took up painting full-time after 43 years on the strip. He left the daily panel to his former assistants Marcus Hamilton and Ron Ferdinand.
Q 12Which network aired the sitcom Dennis the Menace on Sunday evenings from 1959 to 1963?
CBS
CBS canceled the series in early 1963. By then its star was nearly 12 and outgrowing the antics of a small boy.
Q 13Which actor, Lucille Ball's long-time TV foil, joined Dennis the Menace as John Wilson after Joseph Kearns died?
Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon arrived for the last six episodes of the third season as George Wilson's brother. When the sitcom ended he went straight to The Lucy Show.
Q 21What is the name of Dennis the Menace's rarely seen cat, christened after the packaged food it once ate?
Hot Dog
Hot Dog earned the name by eating a whole package of them. The cat usually keeps Dennis company while he sits in the corner thinking over what he has done.
Q 22Which bespectacled, red-haired know-it-all in Dennis the Menace is sure she will marry Dennis when they grow up?
Margaret Wade
Margaret Wade is two years older than Dennis and keeps trying to improve his manners. All she manages to do is annoy him.
Q 23Which timid friend, a year younger than Dennis the Menace, tags along as his sidekick and sees him as a big brother?
Joey
Joey McDonald is loyal and not too bright. Dennis rewards him with a steady supply of naive advice and little nuggets of wisdom.
Q 14Which actor played Switchblade Sam, the drifting thief who kidnaps Dennis in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace?
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Lloyd was so frightening in the part that, by his co-star's account, one of the child actors could not work for two days afterwards.
Q 15In the 1993 film Dennis the Menace, which rare flower has Mr. Wilson spent almost 40 years waiting to see bloom?
An orchid
An orchid is the pride of his garden. It opens for only moments during his party, just as Dennis pulls every guest's attention away, and it dies soon after.
Q 16What does the thief Switchblade Sam steal from Mr. Wilson's house in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace?
Antique coins
Antique coins vanish from the safe during a garden party. Dennis later finds the collection while he is held hostage and brings it home, along with the thief.
Q 17In the 1993 film Dennis the Menace, what does Dennis fire into a dozing Mr. Wilson's mouth with a slingshot?
An aspirin
An aspirin seems like the kind thing to do. Mr. Wilson is only pretending to be asleep to avoid Dennis, who decides his neighbor must be ill.
Q 18In the 1993 film Dennis the Menace, what does Dennis use to replace two front teeth lost from Mr. Wilson's dentures?
Chiclets
Chiclets stand in for the missing incisors. The swap comes just before Mr. Wilson has his picture taken for the local newspaper.
Q 19Which drink does Dennis the Menace love in the comic strip, especially with cookies or brownies?
Root beer
Root beer heads his list of loves, along with ketchup, water pistols and mud puddles. Carrots and baths head the list of things he hates.
Q 20Which Western film hero does Dennis the Menace idolize, treasuring his deputy badge and autographed picture?
Cowboy Bob
Cowboy Bob is the strip's take on the Lone Ranger. Dennis never realizes that the Westerns he watches so eagerly are old repeats.
Q 24Which garment is Dennis the Menace's trademark in the comic strip, worn over a striped T-shirt with white sneakers?
Red overalls
Red overalls went missing from the sitcom's fourth and final season. By then its young star was nearly 12.
Q 25Where does Alice Mitchell make Dennis the Menace sit, in the corner, as a timeout for misbehaving?
A rocking chair
A rocking chair in the corner is his punishment spot. Alice, not Henry, is the disciplinarian of the Mitchell household.
Q 26What is the profession of Henry Mitchell, the bird-watching, poker-playing father of Dennis the Menace?
Aeronautical engineer
Aeronautical engineer Henry bears a striking resemblance to the cartoonist who drew him. The whole Mitchell family took their first names from the cartoonist's own.
Q 27Which National Cartoonists Society honor did the cartoonist behind Dennis the Menace win a year after the strip began?
Reuben Award
The Reuben Award, then still called the Billy DeBeck Award, named him cartoonist of the year for 1952. By May 1953 the strip ran in 193 American newspapers and 52 abroad.
Q 28Which studio did the cartoonist behind Dennis the Menace hitchhike to Los Angeles hoping to join as an animator?
Walt Disney
Walt Disney took him on in 1939 as an assistant animator. He worked on Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi and several Donald Duck shorts.
Q 29In which California city did the cartoonist behind Dennis the Menace help build a playground that opened in 1956?
Monterey
Monterey's playground had a bronze Dennis that thieves took in 2006. It turned up in a Florida scrap yard in 2015 and was brought home.
Q 30Which long-running comic strip had Dennis the Menace as a guest at its 75th anniversary party in 2005?
Blondie
Blondie and Dagwood threw the party for a strip that began in 1930, some 21 years before Dennis first appeared.