How Underdog Was Born [Paperback]

Buck Biggers (Author), Chet Stover (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2004

The creators of Total Television, the brains behind Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo and many classic cartoons, reveal the origin of one of cartoon's greatest champions - Underdog! From conception to worldwide megahit, the entire story of the birth of Total Television at last closes an important gap in animated television history. Includes * Original sketches for this biography by artist/creator Chet Stover * Unused story ideas for the 25th anniversary Underdog series * Storylines and summaries for The World of Commander McBragg, Underdog, Go Go Gophers, Tennessee Tuxedo, and King Leonardo and His Short Subjects * And more!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Written by the original creators of Underdog and Total Television cartoons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: BearManor Media (January 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593930259
• ISBN-13: 978-1593930257
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Creative Process, History Lesson and Superhero Insights, January 23, 2005

By 

D. Dombak (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Underdog Was Born (Paperback)

I picked up this book for the simple reason I am still an Underdog fan and that it promised insight to how he got his beginnings. If you're looking for a book about the Underdog cartoon character or art, this may not be your first choice. There's a lot of great stuff about Underdog, but this accessible read goes well beyond what we saw on the screen.

First, the story is an honest and real look at the creative process - how words become ideas and ideas combine with other ideas, and then in steps the guy who's writing the checks, and some new ideas... -- until at the end, in this case, you have Underdog.

I was struck by the authors' honesty - ie: meetings in a station wagon to a sea of martini's - which helps build a sense of transparency. I really felt that these men are sharing their experience without an agenda for their ego or legacy. Note the way they handle who ended up proposing the Underdog name with a mutual quote. I found the creative process element of the book energizing as I relate to it professionally.

Now, I shouldn't be surprised that Biggers and Stover, the team that conceived Underdog on the shoulders of another creation, Tennessee Tuxedo (they would have been remise not to have included a brief history) would carefully tuck away the educational element of this book. Yet I found myself so engaged in the story of how Underdog was created that it wasn't nearly until the end of the book did I realize that I was actually learning about the early days of animated television.

Having grown up with most of those shows and experienced this period of television differently, it was an interesting perspective to see it as the birth of something so common in contemporary life. I still love animated television just as much as I still love Underdog.

Which is why I was delighted with what this book had to say about his humble beginnings. I highly recommend The Underdog Bible to any fan (Afterward) - a collection of documents Biggers and Stover used to guide the creation of the series. It includes a history of Underdog - from his beginnings in West Virginia to the death of his mother - a moving and revealing look at the character and morals in which the cartoon dog was based.

The story holds plenty of other gems as well, including the inside answer of why a frog in the famous line: "Not plane. Nor bird. Nor even frog." It's not just because it rhymes with dog, as I always was content to believe. And you'll finally learn why Underdog always spoke in rhyme. And my lurking suspicion that maybe, just maybe, Sweet Polly might not be as sweet as she seems, was, at least in part, validated.

I suppose I could just as easily give you the answers... but there's a context to all of it. That's the true beauty of this story, how all of these things converged: animation, television, the evolution of the advertising industry... and the creative process of two men that led to the birth of Underdog. And the rest, as they say, is history.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but Could Have Been Great, August 15, 2006

By 

Mark Arnold "movie/tv, comic book and animati... (Saratoga, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Underdog Was Born (Paperback)

Granted with a title like "How Underdog Was Born", one shouldn't expect much about Total Television's other series like "King Leonardo" and "Tennessee Tuxedo", but it's here! That's the good thing. The bad thing is that the book ends abruptly after the creation of Underdog save for a couple of paragraphs about "Commander McBragg" and "Klondike Kat". Then there's a fast forward to the aborted attempt to make new "Underdog" episodes. What isn't here is what happened after "Underdog", but I guess that could be saved for the sequel? I am glad, however, that it is written by two of the original creators of the series, so it is a first hand view of what really happened.

UPDATE: If you like this book, you'll love my new book Created and Produced by Total TeleVision Productions

5.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't get any better than this., November 7, 2008

By 

Margaret Jaggard (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Underdog Was Born (Paperback)

The creators of Total Television, the brains behind Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo and many classic cartoon characters, reveal the origin of one of cartoon's greatest champions -- Underdog! This book is authored by the two creators of the series, and from conception to worldwide megahit, the entire story of the cartoon is told prompt and factual.

Includes original sketches for this biography by artist Chet Stover.

Features unused story ideas for the 25th anniversary Underdog series.

Storylines and summaries for all of their cartoons including King Leonardo, tennessee Tuxedo, Go Go Gophers, and Commander McBragg. (Which means whoever posted the review claiming the book did not include this apparently didn't consult pages 163 to 189.)

I e-mailed the publisher recently and asked why the lack of photos and it appears that the creators of Underdog don't own the rights to their own character and the present owners rejected their request to feature photos! The artwork on the cover is the Macy's Underdog balloon and since that was the only thing they could get away with, that's why you see limited photo use. Reminds me of when Clayton Moore was not allowed to wear the Lone Ranger mask when making public appearances for a number of years . . . sad.

The one surprise inside the book is the dedication:

For Victory Over Violence, Inc., a national non-profit organization dedicated tot he creation of a positive force in the media. All authors' net profits derived directly from the sale of this book will be donated to Victory Over Violence, Inc.

Written by the creators of the cartoon series, can you think of a better reason why this book should go in your shopping cart rigth now?