The Ultimate Underdog Collection Volume 2 (1964) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have mixed feelings about these new Underdog DVDs (this one, The Ultimate Underdog Collection Volume 1 and The Ultimate Underdog Collection Volume 3). On one hand, I think the cartoons here are great for kids. Originally airing on 1960s television, the Underdog serials have just enough sarcasm ("Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a frog!) to engage even the most jaded child, and the show's additional cartoons include not just Tennessee Tuxedo, but the great Tooter Turtle and World of Commander McBragg. (Others include the King and Odie, Klondike Kat, Go Go Gophers and The Hunter.)
That said, whoever put together this set apparently has no appreciation for its contents. The shows on this disk are edited! Not for anything racy or racist (this was '60s television, after all) but just because someone is apparently too greedy, or too lazy, to deliver what they promise. Despite the fact that these were 30-minute television shows, on this disk each Underdog show -- which has two 'dog episodes and two additional cartoons -- runs only 19 minutes.
Worse, the cuts are done with the subtlety of a meat clever. For example, in the Tooter Turtle shorts, after Mr. Wizard says "Drizzle, drazzle, druzzle, drome, time for this one to come home"... the cartoon ends! As another reviewer points out, that's NOT the end!
As for the Underdog stories on this particular "Volume 2" DVD, when Riff-Raff plans to steal the gold out of Fort Knox in 1964's "The Great Gold Robbery," he also captures Sweet Polly Purebred. Underdog and Polly battle vicious rats when they get shrunk by bad guy Simon Bar Sinister in 1964's "The Big Shrink." Finally, when aliens invade Earth and turn everyone into their slaves in the 1966 serial "The Marbleheads," Shoeshine Boy eventually finds a way to turn himself into Underdog and save the day.
I gave this set four stars because of my fondness for Underdog, Tooter and Commander McBragg. But if you buy it, be prepared to be at least a little frustrated.

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THERE’S NO NEED TO FEAR…UNDERDOG IS HERE! Now you can enjoy the 1960’s classic cartoon superhero in a whole New way!These three volumes of THE ULTIMATE UNDERDOG include SIX COMPLETE shows each. All digitally re-mastered! Each features Underdog’s greatest adventures with added fun from Go Go Gophers, Tennessee Tuxedo and many more!

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