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Underdog was an American animated television series that debuted on October 3, 1964, on the NBC network and continued in sydnication until 1973 for a run of approximately 120 episodes over NBC, and occasionally, CBS. File links The following pages link to this file: Underdog ...
File links The following pages link to this file: Underdog ...
An animated series or cartoon series is a television series produced by means of animation. ...
October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...
It has been suggested that NBC, NBC Radio City Studios, NBC Studios be merged into this article or section. ...
1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...
CBS (an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ...
History
In 1960, handling the General Mills account as an account executive with the Dancer Fitzgerald Sample advertising agency in New York, W. Watts Biggers teamed with Chet Stover, Tread Covington and artist Joe Harris in the creation of television cartoon shows to sell breakfast cereals for General Mills. The shows introduced such characters as King Leonardo, Tennessee Tuxedo and Underdog. Biggers contributed both scripts and songs to the series. When Underdog became a success, Biggers and his partners left Dancer Fitzgerald Sample to form their own company, Total Television, with animation produced at Gamma Studios in Mexico. At the end of the decade, Total Television folded when General Mills dropped out as the sponsor in 1969. General Mills (NYSE: GIS) is a Fortune 500 corporation, mainly concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. ...
Dancer Fitzgerald Sample was a top tier Madison Avenue advertising agency during the 20th century. ...
W. Watts Biggers is an American novelist and composer, best known as the co-creator of the animated television series Underdog. ...
Underdog was an anthropomorphic superhero parody of Superman and similar heroes with secret identities. The premise was that "humble and lovable" Shoeshine Boy, a cartoon dog, was in truth the superhero Underdog. George Irving narrated, and comedy actor Wally Cox provided the voices of both Underdog and Shoeshine Boy. When villains threatened, Shoeshine Boy ducked into a telephone booth where he transformed into the caped and costumed hero, destroying the booth in the process when his super powers were activated. Underdog almost always spoke in rhyme: Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification or prosopopeia, is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. ...
This article may contain original research or unverified claims. ...
Parody of Back to the Future In contemporary usage, a parody is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ...
Superman is a fictional character and one of the most famous and popular comic book superheroes of all time. ...
From the Greek , in mythology and folklore, a hero (male) or heroine (female) usually fulfills the definitions of what is considered good and noble in the originating culture. ...
For other uses of this term, please see Secret identity (disambiguation). ...
Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog is a mammal in the order Carnivora. ...
George Irving (b. ...
Wallace Maynard Cox (born December 6, 1924; died February 15, 1973) was a television and motion picture actor. ...
One popular concept of the villain, meant to mimic the purposely distinctive visage of villains from silent films of the early 20th century. ...
A classic UK red telephone box. ...
A rhyme is a repetition of identical or similar sounds in two or more different words and is most often used in poetry. ...
- When Polly's in trouble, I am not slow,
- So it's hip! hip! hip! and away I go.
Underdog's most frequent saying when he appeared was: - There's no need to fear, Underdog is here.
The majority of episodes used a common template when Underdog first reveals himself. A crowd of people look up in the sky would say: "Look in the sky. It's a bird! It's a plane!" After which one woman exclaims, "It's a frog!" Another onlooker responds "a frog?" To this, Underdog replies with these words: - Not bird, not plane, not even frog, it's just little old me, (at this point, Underdog crashes into something) Underdog.
Underdog usually caused a lot of collateral damage. Whenever someone complained about the damage, Underdog replied: Collateral damage is a U.S. Military term for unintended or incidental damage during a military operation. ...
- I am a hero who never fails.
- I cannot be bothered with these details.
The villains almost always managed to menace Sweet Polly Purebred (voiced by Norma McMillan), an anthropomorphic canine TV reporter as part of their nefarious schemes; she was a helpless damsel in distress most of the time, and had a habit of singing in a somewhat whining tone of voice, "Oh where, oh where has my Underdog gone?", which she sings to the tune of the song "Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone" when in jeopardy. Recurring villains included Simon Bar Sinister, a mad scientist with a voice reminiscent of Lionel Barrymore, his assistant Cad and Riff Raff, an anthropomorphic wolf gangster based on the noted actor George Raft. Other villains include The Electric (Slippery) Eel, Battyman, and Overcat. A poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ...
Simon Bar Sinister was the main villain in the Underdog cartoon show (10/3/64 to 9/1/73). ...
Caucasian, male, aging, crooked teeth, messy hair, lab coat, spectacles/goggles, dramatic posing — one popular stereotype of a mad scientist. ...
Lionel Barrymore Herbert Lionel Blyth (April 28, 1878 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 15, 1954 in Van Nuys, California) was an American actor of stage, radio and film. ...
Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification or prosopopeia, is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. ...
Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call...
Italian WWII propaganda poster presenting an Allied airman as a gangster, playing on the popular gangster icons of Al Capone and the Thompson M1928 gun. ...
Raft in They Drive by Night George Raft (September 26, 1895 - November 24, 1980) was an American film actor most closely identified with his portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. ...
Unlike Superman, Underdog's super powers are not a natural part of his physical makeup. When he is not Underdog, he is incognito as a shoeshine boy and hurriedly dresses in a phone booth like Superman when trouble calls; he must take an "Underdog Super Energy Vitamin Pill" to ignite his powers (like Mister Terrific). He keeps one of these pills inside a special ring he wears at all times. Several episodes show Underdog losing the ring and being powerless, since he must take another pill as his super powers begin to fail. When the series was syndicated in the 1980s and 1990s, the scenes of him taking his energy pill were edited out. Animation fans lambast this as a form of political correctness, as they believe the scenes were removed in order to prevent any glorification of drug use. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x875, 264 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Underdog ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x875, 264 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Underdog ...
Macys Day Parade redirects here. ...
Superman is a fictional character and one of the most famous and popular comic book superheroes of all time. ...
Mister Terrific was an American TV sitcom that aired on CBS from January to August 1967. ...
The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ...
The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...
Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ...
The show ran in two-part and four-part serial episodes. Usually two brief episodes were shown in a single show along with other cartoon shorts: Go Go Gophers, King Leonardo and his Short Subjects, Klondike Kat, Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, The Hunter, Tooter Turtle and The World of Commander McBragg. Tennessee Tuxedo was voiced by Don Adams of Get Smart (and later Inspector Gadget) fame. With the possible exception of Tennessee Tuxedo, none of these characters ever reached Underdog's plateau of popularity. Only, when it was shown on a major network like NBC, were all four episodes shown on the same half hour, without the extra cartoons. The show is also remembered for its clever and dramatic theme song. It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...
King Leonardo and his Short Subjects was an animated cartoon series released in 1960 by Total Television (which would later rename itself Leonardo Productions after the main character of this show). ...
Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales was a popular, semi-educational animated cartoon show that originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1966. ...
Tooter Turtle (sometimes spelled Tutor) was a cartoon about a rather dopey-looking, talking turtle who first appeared on TV in 1960, as a segment, along with The Hunter (a detective dog), as part of the King Leonardo program. ...
Commander McBragg was a cartoon character who appeared in short segments, first on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963), and then later on the Underdog animated television show from 1964-1973. ...
For American former professional basketball player, see Don Adams (basketball). ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...
Inspector Gadget is an animated television series about a clumsy, absent-minded, and oblivious detective, Inspector Gadget, who is a human being with various gadgets built into his anatomy. ...
The theme music of a radio or television program is a melody closely associated with the show, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits. ...
Underdog was also on ABC in Australia in February 18, 1966, and he appeared in some comic books and one Little Golden Book, Underdog and the Disappearing Ice Cream.
In 1995, Biggers, Stover, Covington and Harris negotiated a sale of their creations to Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, who later sold the rights to Golden Books. Classic Media currently owns the underlying rights to Underdog. Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late night 90-minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City which has been broadcast by NBC nearly every Saturday night since its debut on October 11, 1975. ...
Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels CM , LL.D (born November 17, 1944 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian-born American television producer and writer best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it. ...
Classic Media, L.L.C. is an independent production company/distributor of family programming. ...
The character's appeal has survived into the 21st Century. A balloon of Underdog has been an annual attraction in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Underdog also starred in a credit card commercial for the Visa Check Card in 2005. Macys Day Parade redirects here. ...
Visa is a brand of credit card and debit card operated by the Visa International Service Association of San Francisco, California, USA, an economic joint venture of 21,000 financial institutions that issue and market Visa products. ...
This article needs cleanup. ...
2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Butthole Surfers covered the theme song for the Saturday Morning Cartoon's Greatest Hits album. The cover of the album Locust Abortion Technician Butthole Surfers are an American rock band, founded by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981; the pair met while students at Trinity University. ...
Super Powers Underdog gets his powers from a special "super energy pill" concealed in a special ring. Before taking one, he would utter the words, "The secret compartment of my ring I fill with an Underdog Super Energy Pill". He appears to be a normal, powerless being without it and must take one in order to use his powers. There have been times where he has overworked himself, and must take another pill in order to sustain his powers. Underdog is shown to have powers similar to Superman, including those of flight, super strength, and invulnerability to conventional weapons. However, the number and scope of his superpowers are inconsistent from episode to episode, being subject not only to the conventions of superhero comics, but also to the conventions of humorous cartoons. In one episode he easily moved planets, safely butting against them with his rear end. In another episode his super energy pill, diluted billions of times when added to a city's water system, was capable of giving normal humans who drank the water enough strength easily to bend thick steel bars. However, these strengths are not consistent; e.g., in another episode a simple metal sword stuck down the back of his outfit gave him disabling fits of pain. Superman is a fictional character and one of the most famous and popular comic book superheroes of all time. ...
Comic books Charlton Comics produced a comic book that ran 10 issues in 1970-72. Gold Key Comics produced a comic book that ran 23 issues from 1975-79. Spotlight Comics did 3 issues in 1987, and Harvey Comics did a one-shot in 1993. Big C logo, used from Sept. ...
A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ...
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing cteated for comic books distributed to newstands. ...
Casper the Friendly Ghost in Theres Good Boos To-Night (1948). ...
Radio In 1999, Biggers created a new episode of Underdog as a half-hour radio show, narrated by veteran Boston newsman Tom Ellis with new original music composed by Biggers. Radio stations were asked to participate in Biggers' Victory Over Violence organization by airing the adventure in which the evil Simon Barsinister develops a Switchpitch baseball to turn positive people negative. His attempt to become king of Boston is foiled by Underdog (played by Biggers) and Sweet Polly Purebred (portrayed by Nancy Purbeck).
Film adaptation -
In 2005, Variety reported that a live-action Underdog motion picture was in development by Spyglass Entertainment, scripted by Joe Piscatella and Craig A. Williams. As announced, the story introduces "a diminutive hound named Shoeshine [who] gets superpowers after a lab accident. When he's adopted by a 12-year-old boy, the two form a bond around the shared knowledge that Shoeshine is really Underdog." Actor Peter Dinklage has been cast to play Simon Bar Sinister, while Alex Neuberger will play Underdog's human companion. The movie has started filming in Providence, Rhode Island in March of 2006 with plans for a 2007 release. The film will be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Shoeshine/Underdog, to be voiced by Jason Lee, is being played by a lemon beagle named Leo, sporting red tights and a blue cape. Underdog is an animated film slated for release on August 3, 2007. ...
Variety is a daily magazine for the entertainment industry. ...
Spyglass Entertainment is a film and television production company. ...
Peter Dinklage as Tito in Living in Oblivion (1994) Peter Dinklage, born in Morristown, New Jersey, USA on June 11, 1969 is an American actor and 1987 graduate of Delbarton School and 1991 graduate of Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont. ...
Neuberger in Running Scared (2006) Alex Neuberger is an American child actor. ...
Nickname: Beehive of Industry, The Renaissance City Location in Rhode Island Coordinates: Country United States State Rhode Island County Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline (D) Area - City 20. ...
Walt Disney Pictures is an American movie studio, with off-shoot studios in Japan and other sites in the United States. ...
Jason M. Lee (born April 25, 1970) is a Golden Globe Award nominated American actor and former professional skateboarder. ...
Trivia Underdog is a playable character on the M.U.G.E.N. game engine.
An episode of Robot Chicken once parodied Underdog. He came to the rescue of a woman having her purse stolen in an alleyway, only to have everyone in a state of awe over the fact that he was a talking dog.
See also This list consists of animal characters that walk, talk, act and sometimes look like humans. ...
Suzanne Muldowney is a visionary artist best known for her dance interpretation of the cartoon character Underdog in parades and on the Howard Stern show. ...
Psalm 69 egg tempera and oil on wood by Ernst Fuchs Visionary art is art that purports to transcend the physical world and portray a wider vision of awareness including spiritual or mystical themes, or is based in such experiences. ...
Howard Allen Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and TV personality, media mogul, humorist, actor, and author. ...
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