[.ca] Underdog: Chronicles

From Amazon.com:
A spoof of Superman that ran from 1964 through 1973, Underdog featured Wally Cox as the voice of the title character and his mild-mannered alter-ego Shoeshine Boy. Decades later, the show plays like an odd mixture of Jay Ward and Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The animation is little more than storyboards with cycles added for walks and runs, with the humor in the voice track and narration--a technique Ward pioneered in Crusader Rabbit. The villains are celebrity sound-alikes, as many Hanna-Barbera characters were: The King of Zot is Jimmy Durante; Simon Bar Sinister, Lionel Barrymore, etc. Included on the disc are various cartoons that were shown on Underdog, but without their familiar theme songs. Some viewers may be offended by the Indians in "Go Go Gophers," Ruffled Feather and Running Board. A disc for nostalgic baby boomers and animation history buffs. (Unrated, suitable for ages 7 and older: cartoon violence, ethnic stereotypes) --Charles Solomon

Underdone:
I picked up the Underdog Chronicles to add to my Underdog Collector's Edition DVD. Alas, this new DVD suffers from the same lack of completeness as the Collector's Edition. The cartoon episodes themselves are entertaining and remastered well (except for the audio sometimes, whose volume tends to fade out ever so slightly in places), but every one of the cartoons is missing the original title card and ending credits. All of the title cards have inexplicably been replaced by hokey _ad hoc_ opening titles that make no effort to match the look and feel of the original period. Why these glaring deletions to the body of work were made is unclear; the old title cards and credits contribute much to the nostalgic value of a collection like this, and to omit them detracts from the enjoyment of the experience. (A least the Underdog theme song is present in its several forms.) Even worse, the auxiliary cartoons that accompanied the Underdog show (this DVD calls them "Cliffhanger Episodes") -- namely Tennessee Tuxedo, Go Go Gophers, Commander McBragg, etc. -- are missing their theme songs, title cards and credits. As a result, each cartoon ends abruptly (no outro music or The End card) and you're never quite sure if that's really the end of the cartoon, or if it has been truncated. I'd sure like to know who made these ... production decisions. They obviously know nothing about continuity or the difference between a great product and a mediocre one. Still, I love Underdog so much, I've rated this product a 4. If you're not a fan of the series, the deficiencies I've noted probably won't annoy you as much as they did me. If you _are_ a fan of the series, you'll enjoy the cartoons despite the bad decisions made in transcribing them onto DVD. But it could have been so much better.

Underdog Remade:
This classic cartoon was my absolute favorite as a kid. I thoroughly enjoyed it in my pajamas eating cereal and glued to the TV set early in the AM. While this digitally remastered version is well done, it lacks the true originality of the show. For instance, it is missing the intro 'Don't touch that dial! Watch this exciting seen from today's 4 part story of Underdog! Here it comes now!' It is also missing the segment clip of scenes from other shows that was in the middle of the original show 'You'll see all of this Underdog adventure, complete on today's show. And in weeks to come, you'll see exciting scenes like this:' Since it was in 4-part episodes originally, parts of the scenes are cut in order to remake it uninterrupted which tends to destroy the great suspense music as a part ends. Also, the credits are missing the part where the guy was pasting a poster on the wall and the cop points out the sign that says 'Post No Bills' The segments with the lyrics are complete and in original form, which is a great plus. It is sad that the lyrics and intro themes to the other cartoons affiliated with Underdog are not included. Wow, I am amazing myself how much I remember of this show which is 30+yrs old. Also, absent is the clip where the guy pulls the switch and the marqui says 'Scenes from Next Week's Show' And, eventhough a lot has been taken away from the original, I love this cartoon sooo much, I have to give you 4 stars for remaking it!

Another great package from Golden Entertainment BUT....:
The sound on ZOT is not very clear.... It might just be the film. The rest of the episodes are simply wonderful though... I even liked the mini story of Underdog that Joe Harris had made for his kids... I am not into Go Go Gophers and such, so I skipped them, but those are for people who are fans of those... SORRY... The Ticklefeather Machine was OK.... Not the best one of the bunch, but I did like the one about the famous painting and Shoeshine's true self is almost discovered... In future volumes... I would like to see more photos of the people behind the photos, or old interviews on their opinions of Underdog... All in all another welcome addition to my Underdog collection....

Another great package from Golden Entertainment BUT....:
The sound on ZOT is not very clear.... It might just be the film. The rest of the episodes are simply wonderful though... I even liked the mini story of Underdog that Joe Harris had made for his kids... I am not into Go Go Gophers and such, so I skipped them, but those are for people who are fans of those... SORRY... The Ticklefeather Machine was OK.... Not the best one of the bunch, but I did like the one about the famous painting and Shoeshine's true self is almost discovered... In future volumes... I would like to see more photos of the people behind the photos, or old interviews on their opinions of Underdog... All in all another welcome addition to my Underdog collection....

"The Underdog Chronicles":
Once again, this is an excellent "Underdog" DVD. "Underdog" is a great cartoon and is one oof the best. "Underdog" RULES!