Dennis the Menace (released in the United Kingdom as Dennis to avoid confusion with an identically named comic strip character) is a 1993 American family comedy film based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name. It was directed by Nick Castle and written and coproduced by John Hughes, and distributed by Warner Bros. under their Family Entertainment label. It concerns the misadventures of a mischievous child (Mason Gamble) who wreaks havoc on his next door neighbor, George Wilson (Walter Matthau), usually hangs out with his friends, Joey McDonald (Kellen Hathaway) and Margaret Wade (Amy Sakasitz), and is followed everywhere by his dog, Ruff. It also features a cameo appearance by Jeannie Russell, who played Dennis's friend "Margaret" on the original 1959 TV series. Released on June 25, 1993, the film was a commercial success, grossing $117.2 million on a $35 million budget despite receiving negative reviews from critics. A direct-to-video sequel called Dennis the Menace Strikes Again was later released in 1998 without the cast from this film. A second direct-to-video sequel called A Dennis the Menace Christmas was released in 2007 with a different cast from both this film and the second one. Plot Five-year-old Dennis Mitchell is a constant source of mischief, especially to his retired next door neighbor George Wilson. George pretends to be asleep to avoid Dennis, who mistakes this for illness and shoots an aspirin into George’s mouth with a slingshot. Dennis' parents, Henry and Alice, try to discipline him as they get ready for work, and leave him with his friend, Joey McDonald, at the home of their classmate Margaret Wade, whom they dislike. As the three children fix up an abandoned treehouse in the woods, itinerant criminal Switchblade Sam arrives in town. Vacuuming up spilt paint in the garage, Dennis inadvertently shoots a glob of it onto George’s barbecue grill; tasting it, he suspects Dennis. The Mitchells leave Dennis with a teenage babysitter named Polly, who invites her boyfriend, Mickey, over. Sneaking outside, Dennis pranks them by ringing the doorbell and hiding until Mickey tapes a thumbtack to it. George investigates the vacuum in the Mitchells' garage and accidentally shoots himself in the gonads with a golf ball. Hoping to confront the Mitchells, he pricks his thumb on the tack; mistaking him for the prankster, Polly and Mickey douse him with water and flour. Switchblade Sam commits a string of