"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!"
A great cartoon has been ruined.
grundle2600 | Pittsburgh, PA | 12/31/2000
(1 out of 5 stars)
"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."
RIP-OFF!
Thunderhead22 | 10/30/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Uncut? My foot. Don't waste your money.
grundle2600 | 10/03/2000
(1 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Underdog under the knife
grundle2600 | 01/02/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"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."