What An Idiot / Dennis the Menace

The 1986 cartoon

• "Shark Treatment":
  • Dennis stumbles into a robotic shark and finds the remote control inside.
    You'd Expect: Anyone with eyes to see that the shark is obviously a fake and that Dennis is in there just by listening to his voice.
    Instead: Both PeeBee and Mr. Wilson are fooled into thinking that the shark is real and that it can talk. Neither can tell that it's Dennis' voice until he jumps out.

• "Big Baby":
  • PeeBee has invented a supergrowth formula that will cause anything that absorbs it to grow to an enormous size, and has come over to the Mitchell place to show Dennis, who is babysitting Sylvester while Alice goes out to buy more baby food. PeeBee put the formula in a baby bottle because of how strong it is.
    You'd Expect: PeeBee to put his formula away from Sylvester.
    Instead: PeeBee puts the bottle on the table within Sylvester's reach.
    As a Result: Sylvester drinks the formula, growing him to a gigantic size. He later runs away to a water treatment plant and Dennis has to lure him back.
    Thankfully: PeeBee invents a reverse formula to shrink Sylvester back to normal size.

The 1993 film

• Mr. Wilson spends forty years growing a plant that he is fully aware will bloom for maybe fifteen seconds and then die, knowing that he won't have enough life left after it blooms to grow another one if something goes wrong. He was only able to raise one of these plants, so he doesn't have a backup, and on the night of the garden party, he hosts, his house is robbed by Switchblade Sam. Dennis is the only one who witnesses the robbery, as Mr. Wilson made him stay in the house after he accidentally knocked over a table of refreshments. Dennis tells Mr. Wilson that his house has been robbed just as the plant is about to bloom.
  You'd Expect: For Mr. Wilson to keep his eye on the plant as it blooms and tell Dennis, "Not now".
  Or: For one of the guests at the garden party to film the blooming.
  Instead: Everyone turns their attention to Dennis, causing them to miss the blooming and death of the flower.
  As a Result: Mr. Wilson gives Dennis an angry speech that causes him to feel guilty and run away into the woods on his bicycle, coming face-to-face with Sam.
  Fortunately: Mr. Wilson realizes that Dennis was right about the robbery and that Dennis running away was his fault, so he searches everywhere for him. He doesn't succeed in finding him, but Dennis does return home the next morning on his bicycle with a defeated Sam in his wagon.