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Underdog
 February 19, 2007 12:39 am
There IS a need to fear. The UNDERDOG trailer is here. 42 comments posted in Cartoon Culture, Feature Film 
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It looks like a bad Joke
Son Of A B*TCH! like, literally.
Of all the bad adaptations of animation to live action, that HAS to be the worst. W0hy? Why does this film exist?
Which was worst? I would like to take a poll. I think that the last tag line should merit a place of dishonor in the Hall of Infamous Quotes.
Nooooooooooo! And no.
Thank you Jerry for making my Monday a little less inspiring (downright gone to the dogs so to speak)!
Oh dear.
Cute spoof of the Spiderman movie trailers but er…oh dear.
I love Underdog but, when I saw the teaser trailer on Disney’s website I went “WTF is this?”. This is NOT the Underdog we know and love, it looks like Disney SNAFU’d the whole works
“The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle” is 1,000,000 times better than this upcoming suckfest because it’s spiritually accurate to the cartoon it’s based on, whereas Disney’s “Underdog” movie isn’t!
That trailer was wrong on all sorts of levels. First, this Underdog doesn’t talk in rhyme like the cartoon figure did. (But then, who’d want to spend ninety minutes listening to a rhyming superhero?) Second, the trailer virtually steals a scene from the 1978 Superman movie, showing that this pre-destined kids flick has no originality at all. Third, it as all the earmarks of high-concept prefabrication.
I’ll take a pass on this one.
I’m pretty sure this trailer is meant to be a tongue-in-cheek parody of Superman et al, but that still doesn’t mean that it’s even remotely possible to translate a cartoon dog to live action.
It’s like someone had fond memories of the Yo Quiero Taco Bell dog and wanted to make a movie of THAT, and decided to attach an unrelated cartoon to it (like how they made “I, Robot”).
So tell me why a film studio needs the Underdog license to produce this—a film that, aside from featuring a superpowered canine character, owes nothing to its source?
From what I understand—though I might be wrong—this project started life with Hong Kong Phooey. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that someone simply wanted to do a superpowered dog flick in the style we’re seeing here; knew a studio wouldn’t take it unless it was tied to a presold property, so picked whatever he/she (or the studio) could get.
In a different decade the character might be Krypto. Or Super Goof; any dog superhero whose rights holder didn’t mind a movie spinoff with no fidelity to the original.I’m no Underdog fan, but if I was, I’d be disappointed. So why does this have to be Underdog, again?
and this from director Frederik Du Chau….if you loved Quest for Camelot, and couldn’t wait to see Racing Stripes…then this is sure to
confirm his inability for tasteful entertainment.
further proof those who greenlight crap like this need crappy people to direct said crap…
I hate what these people are doing to our business!
Is this definitely for real? I mean, are we sure? Cuz I was watching that Micheal McKean thing, Hopeless Pictures, and a lot of the episodes are about him trying to get an Underdog movie made..
Maybe this trailer is just a con? Maybe there is really an animated Underdog cartoon movie coming out, and Disney has taken a play from the “Bee Movie” playbook? Maybe. Just maybe Disney can protect the spirit of the Underdog show and put out a decent film based on it. Yeah, and maybe I’m a Chinese jet pilot.
I really hope they at least keep the theme song intact. Hearing that “Ooo, waa-ooo” over THX surround sound is the last chance they have of getting me in a seat.
I got $20 saying that they use a girl dog so kids don’t have to be emotionally damaged from staring at a dog’s weiner for an hour.
Wow, that teaser wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
But I still don’t want to see it. Kids will love it though, it’s not like they remember the original Underdog.
Knock the badguy off the side of a building and come crashing down on the hood of a car, man’s best friend …. right.
Yukk!! I think Wally Cox just rolled over in his grave!!
Well, the voice doesn’t seem that bad at least.
But yeah. This should’ve definitely been a completely CGI movie with talking animals from the start. Take the original idea and update the scenario to be in modern times.
What makes me really sad is that this will be a hit, even if it’s awful.
Tell me this isn’t happening!
Simon says: What the hell is this?!!?
…Well, I was going to say the exact same thing that Uncle Wayne said, but based on the trailer I can see several problems:
1) The implication is that there’s only one talking dog, and that’s this Disney version of Underdog. No Sweet Polly, and while Simon Bar Sinister is a probability Riff-Raff is definitely out.
2) This “Underdog’ violates the most important rule of being Underdog: you have to speak in rhyme!!! It’s bad enough he sounds like a NYC deli owner, but Underdog’s supposed to rhyme, dammit! And anyone want to take bets that the “Underdog Super Energy Pill” is out because Disney won’t want to promote drug use amongst all the kids?
3) And the poor dog they hired for this doesn’t even have the same coloration as Shoeshine Boy, much less his alter-ego.
“Oh where, Oh where has my Underdog gone?” Straight to the Disney Circle of Hell, obviously…
Besides, there’s already an Underdog live action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzlz9_0vYRw
Some time ago, the poster to this Underdog movie was posted on Ain’t It Cool News, so anyone who got a chance to see the poster knows that having high expectations for this movie will do nothing but disappoint. On the other hand, this might convince Classic Media to get off their duff and release an Underdog DVD set.
Hey – at least Suzanne Muldowney (that Underdog lady) must be jumping for joy!
Yikes. Sorry, I closed the window 15 seconds into the trailer – the banality of it all was overbearing.
I remember when I actually used to like this kind of stuff. Now I think that it’s horrible, and it has nothing to do with it being a “kids’ film” either. I have a lot of appreciation for some kids’ films – making a good kids’ film is its own specialized artform that few filmmakers have mastered. Tripe like this isn’t worth my time (or anyone else’s, I hope).
What!??..no Tennessee Tuxedo?..I though the penguins were the hot focus group property right now(wink) who dropped the ball on that one….With a steller Jack Nicholson as Mr.Whoopy…I smell an oscar already…..okay..Now who do we get for Chumley?(sp)..
Anyone?……
Good lord. I really wish my namesake would get Sherman and go back in time and put a stop this.
Man, this is just horrible! Will they ever do a live action version of a classic cartoon that doesn’t pee all over the original?
Well, it’s not as bad as I originally thought it might be. But it’s still bad.
One Nation, Underwhelmed
Am I the only one who likes to, oh I don’t know, WAIT UNTIL THE MOVIE COMES OUT AND ACTUALLY WATCH IT BEFORE SAYING IF IT SUCKS OR NOT!!!!! Really, what happened to this country that folks can’t give something a chance once in a while. The film looks pretty good to me.
It will be Pan-n-Scanned on cable by October.
The only problem with that idea Vince is that the whole point of a movie trailer is to get people interested in seeing a film. This trailer seems to do the opposite. In this day and age of the internet, blogging, YouTube and the rest, people have more opportunity to discuss a film as a group prior to the film’s release. I think movie studios need to start doing a better job of creating quality trailers. Maybe the movies themselves should improve as well.
Is it a bird? is it a frog? is it a baseball cap? Nor bird nor frog nor even a baseball cap, it’s just some more of that DISNEY crap!!!!
I know I was warned, but damn, that’s 20 meg and two minutes of my life I’ll never get back and I feel violated.
This has to be “the” example of corporate film-making at it’s worst. No one person could surely claim responsibility for this.
Let it go. “Underdog” will at least inspire parents (or grandparents) to talk about and share the original shorts with their kids/grandkids. Jason Lee wasn’t my first choice for UD’s voice, but Peter “Elf” Dinklage as Simon Bar Sinister is brilliant casting. Give it a chance.
To ALL those people who are saying “Give it a chance.”
He doesn’t speak in rhyme.
His NAME is Shoeshine but he’s NOT one.
He doesn’t LOOK like Underdog.
If Polly Purebred IS in it, she CAN’T be a newslady.
The only similarity between this abomination and the actual cartoon show is the CAPE and the NAME! To say to an old Underdog fan “Give it a chance” is just provocative. WE KNOW IT’S NOTHING LIKE THE SHOW! WHY WOULD WE GIVE IT A CHANCE? WE LIKE THE SHOW! THIS IS THE OPPOSITE TO THE SHOW. THEREFORE – THE OPPOSITE TO WHAT WE LIKE! AM I MAKING CLEAR?
I want to see this movie. It looks cool. The big positive coming from this movie is that Disney knows how to retromerchandise cartoons. I have cool Jay Ward character toys and a definitive R&B collection. That’s Rocky & Bullwinkle. I hear the original Underdog show is coming to dvd and even a new cartoon. The last cool thing is that the “actor” playing Underdog looks to be an unknown so Disney is creating a new move star. My dog Peabody would have played the role easily but that’s a matter for another time.
This movie has no resemblance to the cartoon. It’s very sad they decided to call it Underdog.
This dog won’t use the super energy pill hidden in his ring. He won’t talk in rhyme. He probably won’t say, “When Polly’s in trouble, I am not slow. It’s hip hip hip and away I go!”
It’s hard to find anything about the movie that resembles the original. I’ll bet the bad guys don’t even smoke.
I could go into another tirade about how certian cartoons should never make the transition to live action, but for the average folks, it would probably go in one ear, and out the other. So, here i go again. The problem is that something like Underdog should only stay in traditional animation, but Hollywood still thinks that animation is for kids. So in order for this movie to be successful, they decide that live action is the only way to go since they think that no adult would be caught dead watching a cartoon. No matter how ridiculous, and hideous the live action versions turn out. On that same token, if Hollywood did opt for animation, they’d go all ‘Shrek’ with the property, and just make it another CGI/Popculture crapfest because in their infinate wisdom, ‘hand drawn animation is dead, and people are more comfortable with computer animation.’
Another thing, cartoons like ‘Scooby-Doo’, ‘The Flintstones’, ‘Garfield’, ‘Underdog’, and ‘The Chipmunks’ should stay animated because they have a cartoony look that simply dosen’t translate that well into live action. Comicbook superheroes, and maybe some action cartoons like ‘Transformers’ work because they’re based on reality. Cartoony like cartoons don’t work, and only people with pecils should handle them. I would’ve prefered someone like Craig McCracken (Powerpuff Girls), or Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter, Samurai Jack) direct an animated ‘Underdog’ movie since their style is reminiscent of the original Total Television cartoons, but that isn’t the case, unfortunately.
This would be nearly as bad as taking Scooby Doo and turning that live-action, and putting the chick from Buffy…
oh wait, that was done already. Hey Hollywood, I’ve got the KY whenever you are ready.
hey in the actual movie Underdog DOES Rhyme and I thought it was good and not at all bad!