Mr Stink

Mr. Stink

Author	David Walliams
Illustrator	Quentin Blake
Language	English
Publisher	HarperCollins Children's
Publication date	29 October 2009
Media type	Print
Pages	272 pp
ISBN	978-0007279050
OCLC	ocn535490682
LC Class	PZ7.W1593357 Mr 2010

Mr Stink is a book published in 2009 and written by David Walliams and illustrated by Quentin Blake. The book has been adapted as a stage musical and has been made into a television film by the BBC.

Novel

Synopsis

The story begins with a twelve-year-old girl called Chloe talking to a tramp called Mr. Stink. Her mother has forbidden her to speak to 'soap-dodgers'. Every day, she passes him in her parents' car on the way to her private school and looks at him and wonders. Chloe doesn't know anything about Mr. Stink. It is also Chloe's least favorite time of the year: Christmas.

When Chloe gets home, after promising to bring the tramp food, her little sister Annabelle tells on her and Chloe tells her father a small lie to get out of trouble. Mr. Stink eats the food very politely, which makes him more of a mystery to Chloe.

Chloe goes home afterwards and her mean mother rips up her mathematics text, which contains a story she wrote. In chapter five, Mr. Stink and Chloe go to Starbucks and have the whole building to themselves, due to Mr. Stink. When they walk back to Mr. Stink's bench, they encounter Chloe's enemy Pippa and Mr. Stink burps loudly in her face.

Soon after, a TV crew comes to film Mrs. Crumb. In the middle of her interview, Mr. Stink bursts into the kitchen. Everyone sees it, and Mr. Stink is soon a sensation and is invited with Mrs. Crumb to be on TV. He is inappropriate and annoys Mrs. Crumb and eventually reveals that her daughter invited him in. Mrs. Crumb is disgraced and fired from her campaign. Mr. Stink goes to see the prime minister and is offended by his attitude so is rude to him. Chloe then finds out his true identity - Lord Darlington. He was heartbroken when his wife died in a fire and has been a tramp ever since. Chloe wants to run away with him, so Mr. Stink goes to Chloe's mother and soon life improves as she is much nicer to Chloe and gives her dad a guitar – which she soon regrets as he starts playing loudly. Mr. Stink then leaves Chloe's house to go wandering but not before giving her a teenage mutant ninja turtles stationery set - which the friendly local shop owner Raj was flogging for cheap. She starts writing a story about Mr. Stink - "Mr. Stink stank. He also stunk. He was the stinkiest stinker who ever lived."

Characters

• Chloe Crumb - A 12-year-old girl, who is podgy with brown hair. She loves her father dearly, but hates her sister and mother. She is very lonely. She has no friends and dislikes Christmas. She doesn't like Mince pies, tinsel, and that it never snows. The one thing Chloe loves is stories. She befriends Mr Stink one day. She loves chocolate

• Mr. Stink - Is a stinky gentleman. The only thing that smells wore than is his beard. His only companion is his dog, Duchess, who enjoys sausages. It is revealed later in the book that he is homeless because his house burnt down and his wife died. It also revealed he was very rich

• Annabelle Crumb - Annabelle is eight, and is a spiteful snob. Chloe's mother dotes on her. She is very athletic and musical. She wears her hair in bunches to bed, and in case of a fire.She also wears lipgloss.

• Mr. Crumb - father of Annabelle and Chloe. He is scared of his wife and gets fired from the car factory.

• Duchess - The smelly black dog belonging to Mr. Stink. In the book, she is described as just a dog with no breed.

• Caroline Crumb - A woman obsessed with her youngest daughter, politics and being posh.She wants to be a prime minister

• Rosamund- A spiteful and popular girl, whose main target is always Chloe. Rosamund gets burped on by Mr Stink.

• Elizabeth- Elizabeth is the plain white, boring cat belonging to the Crumb family.

• Raj- A humble, kind newsagent keeper who is always is each of David Walliams' books.

• The Prime Minister- A self-obsessed man who Caroline adores and watches every night on TV.

Publication

Mr. Stink was originally published by HarperCollins in October 2009 in hardcover format. A list of notable formats is as follows:

Release Date	Publisher	format	pages	ISBN
29 October 2009	HarperCollins	hardcover	272pp	978-0007279050
27 May 2010	HarperCollins Children's Books	paperback	224pp	978-0007279067
27 May 2010	HarperCollins	audio book	CD	978-0007333394
14 October 2010	RazorBill	paperback	265pp	978-1595143327

Reviews of the book

On Tuesdays April the 7th 2013 an (self-acclaimed vagabond) called Mr. Stink was on a popular show on TV ‘Question Time’.Mr.Stink bombarded Sir David with funny but unsuitable questions. A lady called Mrs Crumb (pronounced as Mrs Cruuummbb) wanted to be an MP however, some think bad happened. There was a problem. Generally speaking, Mrs Crumb poshly said “I was the one who found Mr Stink.....Oh yes and I told him to stay at our shed!” Mr Stink boldly said “No Mrs Crumb. You are lying.......

Key points with other David Walliams novels

• Ratburger shares a key point with Mr Stink: like Chloe Crumb, Zoe's only allies are Raj and her father

TV adaptation

Mr Stink
Directed by	Declan Lowney
Written by	David Walliams
Starring	Sheridan Smith Johnny Vegas Pudsey the Dog Hugh Bonneville Isabella Blake-Thomas Nell Tiger Free Harish Patel David Walliams Jemma Donovan Alex MacQueen Steve Pemberton Danny Lee Wynter
Distributed by	BBC One
Release date	23 December 2012
Running time	60 minutes
Country	United Kingdom

A 60-minute film of Mr Stink aired at 6:30pm on 23 December on BBC One, it was scheduled for Boxing Day but this was later changed. The film was the most watched in its slot, watched by 6.34 million viewers.

Synopsis

A 12 year-old girl named Chloe Crumb (Nell Tiger Free) is on the bus on the way to school. Her nemesis Pippa (Jemma Donovan) throws a banana skin on a tramp called Mr. Stink (Hugh Bonneville) sitting on a bench with his dog the Duchess (Pudsey). She goes to see Mr. Stink, who asks sausages for the Duchess. The following morning, she takes sausages to give them to Mr. Stink. Chloe's mother Caroline Crumb (Sheridan Smith) is a candidate to be local MP. She rips up Chloe's story that she wrote. Chloe and Mr. Stink enter Starbucks, where everyone runs away due to Mr. Stink's odor.

Pippa and her gang enter Starbucks, where Mr. Stink burps on them. Chloe asks Mr. Stink if he would like to stay in her garden shed. Mr. Stink initially refuses, but accepts for the night, and then decides to move in permanently, and Chloe discovers her father was in the Serpents Of Doom, and finds a burned guitar. Chloe finds her father hiding in the closet while getting her coat, who tells her he lost his job and that Chloe's mother burned his guitar. Chloe promises not to tell her mother about losing his job. Chloe washes Mr. Stink's coat. Annabelle (Isabella Blake-Thomas) catches Chloe and reports to Chloe's mother, though Chloe's father says no one is here, deciding he won't tell since Chloe didn't tell.

During her mother's interview, Mr. Stink bursts in in anger, becoming an Internet sensation, and leaves. Chloe's mother is invited on Politics Tonight, though Mr Stink must appear too, forcing them to search for Mr. Stink. Chloe finds Mr. Stink in Starbucks, and reconciles with him. On Politics Tonight, Chloe's mother lies, saying that she invited Mr Stink, but Mr Stink tells the truth. When a candidate from a rival party says he would invite Mr Stink in his garden shed, Chloe's mother bursts out, and is subsequently disgraced and forced by the Prime Minister (David Walliams) to withdraw her campaign.

While Chloe's father admits losing his job to Chloe's mother. Mr Stink and Chloe meet the Prime Minister, who is mean to Mr Stink. Mr Stink tells him "to stick his job offer up his fat bum". Mr Stink then tells Chloe his story, telling her that he was once a rich man named Lord Darlington. He had a wife called Agatha. She became pregnant, but at when she was eight months pregnant, Mr Stink went to a party, leaving his wife at home, and when he got back, the house was ablaze. Agatha died and Mr. Stink, who couldn't bear living in the house anymore, walked, walked, and never came back.

Mr Stink tells Chloe she can't come with him, though Chloe insists, and Mr Stink decides to talk with her mother. As Chloe packs her bags, her mother arrives crying, pleaing Chloe not to leave. Chloe eventually reconciles with her mother. Her mother gives her her story that she had ripped up and gives Chloe's father a new guitar.

While Chloe's father plays the guitar, Mr Stink leaves. Chloe runs after him, where he tells her he has decided to wander on. He gives Chloe a present, and says goodbye to Chloe. Chloe starts writing her journey with Mr Stink, which starts by "Mr. Stink stank. He also stunk. He was the stinkiest stinker who ever lived".

Cast

Mr Stink / Lord Darlington - Hugh Bonneville
Caroline Crumb - Sheridan Smith
Mr. Crumb - Johnny Vegas
Prime Minister - David Walliams
Chloe Crumb - Nell Tiger Free
The Duchess - Pudsey
Annabelle Crumb - Isabella Blake-Thomas
Raj (shopkeeper) - Harish Patel
Pippa - Jemma Donovan
Presenter - Alex MacQueen
Sir Derek Dimble - Steve Pemberton
Prime Minister's Aide - Danny Lee Wynter

Differences from the novel

Characters differences

• In the novel, the girl whose target is always Chloe is named Rosamund. She is named Pippa in the film.
• Mr Stink's wife is named Violet in the novel; in the film, she is named Agatha.
• Elizabeth the cat does not appear in the film.
• Chloe is described as podgy in the novel; in the film, she isn't.
• In the novel, Chloe always gulps when she tells a lie; she doesn't in the film
• The Duchess's odor isn't mentionned in the film. In the novel, she is said to stink, but not as bad as Mr. Stink.
• Chloe's mother's name is Janet in the novel. In the film, she is named Caroline.

Other differences

• In the novel, it never snows. In the film, it snows when Mr. Stink leaves to wander on.
• In the novel, Chloe's parents get into a heated argument about Mr. Stink.
• In the novel, Chloe's mother apologizes to Mr. Stink for saying he stank on live television, while she doesn't in the film. When she apologizes to Mr. Stink in the novel, she says her name is Janet. She is named Caroline in the film.
• In the film, the Prime Minister has only one aide, while he has multiple in the novel. Also, his nastiness to Mr. Stink is approved of by his aides in the novel. In the film, his aide bursts out laughing when he is told to "stick his job idea in his fat bum" by Mr. Stink.
• In the novel, Chloe tells the Prime Minister "to stick it up his fat bum". She tells Mr. Stink to say it in the film.
• In the film, Pippa throws a banana skin at Mr. Stink from the bus window. Rosamund doesn't do so in the novel, and Chloe goes to school in her parents' car, not on the bus.
• In the novel, the Prime Minister orders his aides for a wet wipe before being told "to stick it up his bum". He orders so in the film after Mr. Stink says it to him and after firing his aide.
• In the film, Mr Stink plays the piano while the Prime Minister is talking; he doesn't do so in the novel.
• In the film, Mr Stink is rather unfriendly to Chloe when they first meet.
• In the novel, Annabelle eats her mother's After Eight chocolates, while she doesn't in the film.
• In the novel, Chloe pulls Annabelle's hair to silence her, while she puts her hand in front of Annabelle's mouth in the film. Annabelle bites her hand.
• In the novel, Chloe eventually reveals her father's secret of being unemployed, while he admits this in the film.
• In the film, Chloe washes Mr. Stink's coat, while she doesn't do so in the novel.
• Pippa enters Starbucks with her gang while Chloe and Mr. Stink are there in the film, while Chloe and Mr. Stink encounter Rosamund with shopping in the novel.
  • Furthermore, in the novel, after Mr. Stink burps in Rosamund's face, she is not seen again, though mentionned by Chloe. In the film, the limousine driving Chloe and Mr. Stink to 10 Downing Street goes into a street where Pippa are her gang are, and Chloe and Mr. Stink shout "losers" to them.
• In the novel, Mr. Stink says that "gentlemen should walk on the side near the road and ladies should walk on the side near the houses on pavements" while he doesn't in the film.
• In the novel, Chloe's father talks about the Serpents Of Doom's success, their album selling just 12 copies and their single peaking at number 98, while he doesn't in the film.
• In the film, Raj accidentally mentions Mr. Stink when Chloe and her mother are about to leave, while he doesn't in the novel
• In the novel, Mr. Stink has his "bath" before Politics Tonight; in the film, he has his "bath" before he meets the Prime Minister
  • Furthermore, Mr. Stink has his "bath" with the Duchess in the novel; in the film, he doesn't.
  • Furthermore, in the novel, when Chloe disccovers Mr. Stink in the pond, she is with her father; in the film, she is with her mother
• In the novel, Chloe's mother's name is revealed when she apologizes to Mr. Stink. In the film, it is revealed during the leaflet distribution.
• In the novel, Mr. Stink says that Mrs. Crumb loves her daughter, only she isn't able to show it, but doesn't give an explanation. In the film, he says the reason why Mrs. Crumb can't show her daughter her love for her is that she is too distracted by the possibility of power.
• In the novel, Mr. Stink says he doesn't like to be called a tramp. He doesn't say so in the film.

External links

• Mr Stink at BBC Online