Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

People are voting emotionally.

not horrible nor great

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

(Frequently uttered "Underdog" quote) - "There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!" Now, I wouldn't exactly say that I hated these Underdog cartoons. But, then again, I really couldn't say that I liked them all that much, either.If you ask me - I think that a much more appropriate name for this particular animated, canine superhero would have been "Blunderdog" (even though through all of his many blunders he certainly did, indeed, manage to save the day in every episode) - So, I guess, in the long run, the name Underdog was a suitable enough name, as well.Anyway - Along with the animation-style of these cartoons being very limited, flat and uninspired, I also found the situations Underdog got himself involved in to be far too repetitive and predictable in nature. And, as far a humor goes, most of the time, the laughs were all real hit & miss stuff, which got pretty stale, real fast.All-in-all - I thought that these cartoons from the mid-1960s to be best suited for the entertainment of very young kids and nostalgic adults.

The cartoon was not only a favorite of mine as a child, but of my late father's as an adult. There were the gimmicks of where every phone booth he heads into to change from Shoe Shine Boy to Underdog explodes, as well as how he always crashes through roofs and walls even when there are door or window openings nearby, as well as his talking in rhyme. But what makes the comic work is the witty writing.Examples include how he makes Simon Bar Sinister dizzy by flying in circles around him, thus preventing him from using his snow gun, or the clever ways he defeats a flotilla of alien flying saucers, or how he makes the Wicked Witch of Pickayoon wealthy by compressing lumps of coal into diamonds, or how he sends villains directly into confinement or jail. Too bad the DC Superman didn't have that level of cleverness...but then he didn't have Underdog's computer brain.

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!"

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.