Meet the Original Mr. Men Characters

Roger Hargreaves' Books Introduced Readers to New Friends

© Alex Sharp

Oct 17, 2008

Because the Mr. Men characters encounter each other and their feminine counterparts, The Little Miss characters, in different books, it is helpful to have a guide to know who is who in the world of Mr. Men.

Mr. Men Characters of the Early 1970s

Readers met the majority of the Mr. Men characters in the 1970s. These are the characters originally written and illustrated by Roger Hargreaves that appeared between 1970 and 1972. They are listed in order of book publication.

• Mr. Tickle -This round, long-armed character walks through town, giving members of the community an unexpected tickle.
• Mr. Greedy - This pink, pear-shaped character eats everything he can.
• Mr. Happy - This round, yellow character cheers up his Mr. Men doppleganger.
• Mr. Nosey - This green character's long nose gives him away as he watches his neighbors.
• Mr. Sneeze - This blue character's nose is always red because he suffers from colds.
• Mr. Bump - This round, blue character is wrapped in bandages from his man stumbles and falls.
• Mr. Snow - This white snowman appears in a Christmas story.
• Mr. Messy - This pink scribble of a character depends on other members of the community to help him be a bit neater.
• Mr. Topsy-Turvey -This character is shaped like an orange lump and carries an upside-down cane, which fits his nature of getting everything wrong.
• Mr. Silly - This yellow character has a top hat and creates silliness in his hometown of Nonsense Land.
• Mr. Uppity - This character is wine-red and lumpish, and wears a black top hat. He is rather snobbish.
• Mr. Small - This reddish character is sometimes orange in later Mr. Men books and cartoons. His exceptionally small size makes it difficult for him to navigate through the empire of Mr. Men.
• Mr. Daydream - This blue cloud character is actually an illusion from the human world, as he is dreamed up during a boring class.

Mr. Men Characters of the Late 1970s

Author Roger Hargreaves was still working in advertising when he published his original Mr. Men books, but once the series was a proven success, he started writing and illustrating as a day job. In the late 1970s, more Mr. Men books appeared. They are listed in order of publication.

• Mr. Forgetful - This dark blue, oval character routinely forgets his purposes and his belongings.
• Mr. Jelly - This pink, wavy oval character is afraid of every basic detail of life.
• Mr. Noisy - This bright orange character inadvertently makes as much noise as possible doing routine things.
• Mr. Mean - This long, blue character is exceptionally cheap and lonely.
• Mr. Chatterbox - This orange character is a semi-circle and wears a hat. His excessive talking makes the town search for a solution.
• Mr. Fussy - This neat, green oval character has a Chaplin-esque mustache and is the Felix Unger of the Mr. Men world.
• Mr. Bounce - This round, yellow-orange character is unexpectedly airborne in throughout his tale.
• Mr. Muddle - This green, pickle-shaped character wears an orange hat and confuses basic facts in life.
• Mr. Dizzy - This orange-yellow character is shaped much like an 8, and he causes a bit of confusion in his world.
• Mr. Impossible - This squat, blue oval character is known for making the impossible reality.
• Mr. Strong - This red, square character is strong without appearing especially muscled.
• Mr. Grumpy - This blue, rectangular character is, along with Mr. Mean, one of the few consistently unhappy characters in the world of Mr. Men.
• Mr. Clumsy - A messy doppleganger of Mr. Fussy, this green, oval character has messy hair and a mustache. Unlike Mr. Bump, Mr. Clumsy does not fall as much as he drops and ruins.
• Mr. Quiet - This character is a light orange oval, and suffers a loud world in silence.
• Mr. Rush - This character is a deep purple triange, and he hurries through life.
• Mr. Tall - This character is a blue circle atop two long blue legs, which he uses to quickly transport himself all over the empire of Mr. Men.
• Mr. Worry - This character is a blue circle with worry lines. He frets over the smallest details of daily life.
• Mr. Nonsense - This round yellow character has a clown nose, clown shoes, and a green hat. Like Mr. Silly, he sees the world with a different perspective.
• Mr. Wrong - This reddish, oval character is clearly wrong about many things. His gloves are mismatched and his hat is actually a flower-pot. Like Mr. Muddle and Mr. Topsy-Turvy, Mr. Wrong just can't get things right.
• Mr. Skinny - This thin yellow character is surrounded by gluttonous neighbors, which makes him a fish out of water.
• Mr. Mischief - This character is a yellow oval who plays unkind pranks on his friends.
• Mr. Clever - This round, red character wears glasses and a hat, and lives in the United States, as opposed to Mr. Men land.
• Mr. Busy - This blue, oval character is furiously looking for a way to stay occupied.
• Mr. Slow - This round, tan character has a mustache and is the last of the original characters in the original Mr. Men series. He moves slowly through town.

After achieving success with the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, Mr. Hargreaves and his son, Adam, created more characters for the book series and the television show. There is controversy as to whether the characters retained the original charm of Mr. Hargreaves first books.

A Happy Child Wears a Mr. Noisy Shirt

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