Customer Reviews

Underdog (Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought the Underdog Chronicles despite the warnings mentioned in other postings. Considering recent world events I needed some sweet nostalgia. Yes, the cartoons look fine, if a bit soft. Actually I wasn't bothered as much by the alteration of the cliffhanger endings as I was by the utter ABSENCE of the intros to the other cartoon features. The Commander McBragg episode is MISSING the intro and song. Tennesee Tuxedo is MISSING the intro and song. Go Go Gophers is MISSING the intro and song, etc. For cryin' out loud, what gives?! I can only imagine that the original "title cards" included names and dates that were not deemed acceptable, perhaps due to copyright reasons. Maybe the current owners of Underdog don't have rights to the King and Odie theme music, etc. It's really a shame.
This reminds me of the big Disney laser set called Mickey Mouse: the Black and White Years from the mid 90's. Some great cartoons but they are ALL missing their title cards. They have fake-computer-generated-titles, much like the abomonations on this Underdog effort.
Whoever put this stuff out has NO SENSE OF HISTORY!

I give this one star because I'm way more bent out of shape than the previous poster -- the theme songs and intros WERE THE WHOLE REASON I BOUGHT THIS DVD TO BEGIN WITH! Let's face it, none of these cartoons were well-written or animated like the classic shorts of the 20s-40s, they basically serve the sole purpose of being boomer-nostalgia. Lacking the parts we all remember best, this DVD is stripped of all charm. My baby girl even hates this stuff, so the DVD is totally worthless as nostalgia or entertainment for kids. Wish I'd have read the reviews before buying this. Don't waste your money.
One last thought: I'm Jewish and that earlier post about these cartoons being anti-semitic is one of the stupidest things I've ever read in here. Hate this DVD for being a crappy rip-off, but let's not fabricate bigotry where none exists.

I grew up in the 1970s, and I have a lot of great memories of watching "Underdog" on TV.

Unfortunately, the people who made this DVD have chosen chose to deliberately ruin the cartoons. Apparently, the cliffhanger endings that were in the original require too much of an attention span for today's Ritalin addicted audience, and so these segments have been deleted. Other parts of the cartoon have also been tampered with. And what happenend to Tennessee Tuxedo and other characters that I could have sworn were part of the original show?

I love classic animation, but because of the various alterations that were made for this DVD, I cannot recommend it to anyone, in any way, for any reason.

This DVD disapponinted me on so many levels, it isn't even funny.

The episodes aren't uncut - they have new title screens superimposed over the beginning, and the ending credits aren't complete. Why couldn't they put the episodal versions on here, instead of cut-together versions? This is supposedly a "Collector's Edition" and they don't show the complete opening and closing credits for each episode. Why?

The "Underdog Show's Family of Characters" were a big disappointment - little snippets of the theme song (or in some cases, some other (?) song) combined with random scenes from the shows. What's up with this? Why not give us the complete opening sequences from shows like Go-Go Gophers and Tennesee Tuxedo? It made no sense. There was absolutely nothing archival about this.

The "Archival Underdog Introductions" are a joke too - for those of us who remember the show, it is a mystery why they would "enhance" some of these intros by adding music. I have a tape recorded off of TV from a long time ago, which shows one of these openings, and there was no music. (The one that goes "Stay tuned for another exciting Underdog Adventure - Here it comes now! (as he ducks into the phone booth)") The people who put this DVD together are knuckleheads, who have no respect for keeping things original.

Take a pass - maybe someday they'll release it again and get it right. Otherwise you'll just get mad that you bought it when you see it.

The One Law of Marketing is "Give people what they want." As should be obvious from the other reviews, this release is definitely NOT what people want. The cartoons themselves are, frankly, not very good, but the show has a certain gentle charm and strong nostalgic appeal to Boomer pocketbooks.

The archival releases of Looney Tunes, the Simpsons, Jonny Quest, Top Cat and other classic animation has certainly raised the bar, but that doesn't mean that cartoons of lesser quality can't compete and sell well. But to do so, they have to (repeat after me) "Give people what they want." And what people want is to recreate the feelings they remember: Saturday mornings, plopped in front of the TV, slurping the flavored milk from the bottom of the cereal bowl. Bits and pieces won't do any more. If Golden don't get that, then they should hire someone who does. Then they can sit back, congratulate themselves on their extreme cleverness, and count their money.

One last note: I'm all in favor of minority opinions; sometimes important things can be learned from them. But the idea that there is racist, religionist or anything-ist sentiment in Underdog is just plain wrong. Like beauty, ugliness is in the mind of the beholder.

I recall as a child watching every episode of Underdog.
my favorite episodes were the one's with Simon Barsinister and Riff Raff.

also, as a Jewish person I see nothing anti-Semitic or racist in any of the Underdog episodes.

the politically correct person who referred to Underdog as "racist/anti-semitic" is obviously the type of individual that probably sees everything as racist in society.

in my humble opinion, Underdog was nothing more then a very entertaining cartoon for kids that was basically a spoof of superman with Sweet Polly Purebred representing Lois Lane.

Golden Books for some unfathomable reason has edited the four part stories removing the cliffhangers and other elements that made this cartoon unique. United American made the same mistake and their tapes sat on shelves gathering dust. Its a shame what Golden did wrong because the audio and video are SUPERIOR to ANY previous versions. They've even restored the theme song missing from Cartoon Network airings. The DVD also has a cool interview with Underdogs creator Joe Harris,lost promos and intros,and a beautiful DVD cover by the creator. If it wasn't for the missing cliffhangers this DVD would be perfect. Maybe next time after getting feedback from Underdog fans they'll get it right.

Underdog is here in these digitally remastered episodes (the best these episodes have EVER looked) available for the first time on DVD. Tons of features from a theme song sing a long to long lost opening credits,an ad for Underdog on Thanksgiving,a trivia quiz,easy chapter access,three complete Underdog adventures,four bonus shorts,an interview with the courageous canines creator Joe Harris,and more all packaged together for the definitive collectors addition of this classic cartoon with artwork from Mr Harris. This DVD includes a CD Rom with screen savers and sound bites for use on PC's. More than worth the money.

Oh my god, what have they done?!?!? They've messed with the great Underdog and ditched the very things that made the cartoon great. No cliffhangers, no opening/ending credits, no Go Go Gophers!?!?

What were they thinking?

To top it all off, they try to pass it off as a good thing. The Golden Books website says: "For the first time ever, Underdog segments have been seamlessly edited together into full-length episodes." This is DVD, folks; you CAN have your cake and eat it too. Get with it.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS! We have to let Golden Books know how disgusted we are with this pathetic attempt. This DVD is a travesty; an insult to the memory of Jay Ward and Underdog. Will there ever be an Underdog like the one we used to know?

To quote Sweet Polly Purebred: "Where oh where has my Underdog gone?"

Like most Collector Editions, this DVD does a hack/slash job to blend 4-part stories into one piece. This makes the storylines easier to view in one setting, which is nice for anyone who's never seen it. For original fans, however, it means these are not "as broadcast" episodes. The DVD is pure UNDERDOG, with no segments (only a quick review) of the sideline stories that also ran on the show, like Tennesee Tuxedo.

The quality is mostly very sharp with clear sound, but I noticed the themesongs in the Cavalcade of Characters were not the versions used on the show---they sounded like alternative takes. It could be that no clear copies of the originals exist any more, or the sound team just didn't know which one to use.

The interview with the show's co-creator and the UNDERDOG quiz are great extras, as are the sing-along songs with bouncing ball and lyrics!!

Overall, the slip-ups are minor compared to the fantastic adventure and comedy of the shows! In many ways, UNDERDOG was similar to ROCKY and BULLWINKLE---overbearing narration, character name puns, cheesy animation done in Mexico, wacky side stories galore, multi-part storylines that ran for weeks. The UNDERDOG show was less witty and sarcastic, but more action-packed!! Show it to your kids and let them see how cartoons warped YOUR brain!!