John T. Ryan What with this latest "Feature-Film-Adapted-from a Sitcom or a Cartoon Series from the Good Old Days of the Age of Baby-Boomers"(there outa be such an Oscar category!), UNDERDOG(2007) just having been released for general distribution/exhibition, we were curious about the old (1964)NBC Saturday Morning Kiddiefest.So, naturally we took a little peek and we found .......The Boomers of varying age were among those viewing this UNDERDOG Show when it debuted back in A.D. 1964. I myself got out of high school that year (6 long years!!*), but had 3 younger siblings and a whole sh*t house full of younger cousins, so naturally this gave me a good excuse to watch, or at least 'observe'! After all, wouldn't want any young relatives corrupted by any inferior, low class, mind destroying trash with any low moral tone! Luckily, for me and them, it wasn't any of those things.Much like many of the other Kiddie Crowd-Targeted Made for Television, limited action Animated Series, Underdog's producers went for the multi-leveled* story construction. Hence, we were witnessed to serialized stories which contained humor, incidents and even names of characters that would amuse the Parents and other Adults(like yours truly)who happened to be watching. The choice of theme/background/incidental music for the series was that of original score, consisting of rather non-complex melody.(Please bear with me here,as I have zero musical training, obviously!). Even the lyrics to the opening are short, clippy but mood setting, with an ominous, even spooky "ooh-ooh-ohh!" provided by a choral back ground group.We had already witnessed the running of many of Pioneer Animator Paul Terry's TERRYTOONS' features by its new parent company, the CBS Television Network. By way of this method, we had all become familiar with MIGHTY MOUSE. Dating back to the early 1940's, Mighty Mouse was a long standing, and possibly first Paradoy of the whole Comic Book Super Hero in general and of Superman, in particular.So, there was a precedent out there. That meant that somethings would have to be a little different, so as to avoid any obvious charges of "copy catism" by the kiddies.Now, the Mighty Mouse animated shorts were not done up in prose, but rather sung as an Operetta. This was perhaps somewhat lost on the kids, but seems very amusing and even 'delightful' to all of us 'big kids'!So, what to do? What to do? Well then, the folks at Leonardo Television and Total TV Produvtions settled on the idea of going not for song, but rhyme, ala Will Shakespeare!** The idea was a good one, as it became one feature of the whole series to be its one true identifier, its electronic DNA, if you please. We would listen closely in order to get the lines and the words spoken by voice artists, led by Wally Cox.As for the 'Female Lead', we see the Name of Norma MacMillan as Polly Purebred. We read that 'Polly' was patterned on Marilyn Monroe. But I must beg to disagree, respectfully of course. My contention is that Miss Polly Purebred is a vocal and visual caricature of the lovely,late Actress/Commedienne Mary Jane Croft.(just my opinion.) That brings us to the cast of voice artists.Wally Cox as the Lead,with Norma MacMillain(Polly), Alan Swift(Simon Bar-Sinister***) and George S. Irving as the Golden Voiced Narrator.* Just kidding! But I did have one trip to Summer School for Physics! St. Rita High School, Chicago, Summer(the whole, damn season!), A.D. 1963!** I get all his books, soon as they come out.*** Just for the Record, "Bar-Sinister" is a term used in Heraldry. When the bar-sinister appears on a Family Coat of Arms, it indicates Illegitimacy. Ergo, it would appear that "Simon Bar-Sinister" would translate, "Simon the Bastard!"

domino1003 I grew up on "Underdog" and, as a kid, I thought it was very cool. Of course, being an adult, you look at some of your childhood choices and shake your head. Recently watching it on Boomerang, I couldn't help but smile.Underdog is like Superman (Although you never do find out where he came from). Under the guise of Shoe Shine Boy, Underdog helps his city from the evils of such characters of Simon Bar-Sinister (Whenever he does evil, he says "Simon Says...")and Riff-Raff (A gangster dog). Sometimes he becomes weakened and can only get back on track with a pill in his ring (What is the pill? Again you don't know, but it IS a children's show). And he is almost ALWAYS saving Sweet Polly Purebred (Who calls him by saying "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Underdog Gone? Oh Where, Oh Where Can He Be?"), reporter of the local news station.But there were other cartoons on this show as well, such as "Tennesse Tuxedo, a penguin with a walrus for a pal (And voiced by Don "Get Smart" Adams), Klondike Cat (Always chasing a mouse called Savoir Faire).It is still cute to watch, and younger kids would love it.

sfrush-tx In heraldry, a coat-of-arms with the "bar sinister" or "bend sinister" indicates a bastard. This isn't the only case of cartoons sliding in somewhat "adult" references.Dudley Do-Right once chased a villain to a place called "Colderinell" (say is fast). I might not have spelled it right, but the concept is the same.I'm certain there are many others like it that I didn't catch but hey, I was a kid at the time.I have to agree with several other reviewers that the cartoons of those days beat the heck out of those seen today. I think cartoons started going downhill when "...and it would have worked if it weren't for those meddling kids" became the tagline.

matlock-6 I grew up watching Underdog. Although the series ended in 1973, it continued in reruns for many years after (at least through 1979-1980, when I remember watching it.)Underdog always spoke in rhymes. Normally, he spent his time as "Shoe Shine Boy", and was just that. But when he took one of his super power pills, he transformed into Underdog and saved his love interest, news reporter Sweet Polly Purebred. His nemesis was usually Simon Bar Sinister (voiced by Allen Swift, who is a true living legend of animation voiceovers).The storylines were always pretty much the same, but there was usually a lesson to be learned at some point in the show.It didn't end there, however.After Underdog had beat up Simon Bar Sinister for the 300th time, the show often segued into "Tennessee Tuxedo", a silly cartoon (also involving lessons learned) starring a penguin as the title character (voiced by Don Adams of "Get Smart" fame), his dimwitted walrus pal Chumley, and Mr. Whoopee, who would give them science lessons with his magic expanding chalkboard.There were a number of other cartoons that ran along with Underdog, including one about 2 American soldiers in the old west tangling with two Native Americans (who would probably be seen as racially offensive today). I can't recall the others.It was a great, fun kids show back in its day.