| The Adventures of Superpup | |
|---|---|
 Superpup | |
| Genre | |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Cal Howard |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Whitney Ellsworth |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Running time | 22 min. |
The Adventures of Superpup is a 1958 unaired television pilot, intended to capitalize on the success of the Adventures of Superman series. [1] [2] Superpup featured the first television portrayal of the Superman characters as anthropomorphic animals. [3]
Television producer Whitney Ellsworth created a pilot that placed the Superman mythos into a fictional universe populated by dogs instead of human beings. The live-action actors were placed in dog suits to portray the canine versions of the Superman characters. The pilot was filmed on the same set as The Adventures of Superman, and people with dwarfism portrayed the characters. Whitney Ellsworth later produced The Adventures of Superboy television pilot.
The Clark Kent character was renamed "Bark Bent". Bark Bent worked for the Daily Bugle under editor "Terry Bite". His co-worker was reporter "Pamela Poodle". Superpup/Bark Bent was played by actor Billy Curtis, who was also in Superman and the Mole Men with George Reeves.
In the pilot, Pamela Poodle is the victim of the evil Professor Sheepdip, who has tied her to a rocket that will be launched into space. Superpup must save her. [4]
A book titled Superboy and Superpup: The Lost Videos, written by Chuck Harter, was published in 1993 by Cult Movies Press. [5] Employees had seen the obscure pilots for both of the proposed replacements for the Reeves series, as well as twelve unproduced Superboy scripts. Both were released unofficially to the public domain on the VHS format. It is also available as part of Warner Home Video's fourteen-disc DVD set, Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition . Half of the episode is presented in the collection in color from a surviving print, while the other half of the pilot is presented in black & white from a video master of lesser quality. In September 2022, BearManorMedia.com republished Superboy and Superpup: The Lost Videos.
Smallville is a fictional town in American comic books published by DC Comics. The childhood hometown of Superman, Smallville was first named in Superboy #2. The town, long in an unnamed US state that was first defined as Kansas in Superman: The Movie (1978), is the setting of many Superboy comics where Superboy defends Smallville from various threats. Since the 1978 appearance in Superman: The Movie, Smallville has been a setting in other non-comic book productions featuring Superboy / Superman.
Superboy is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to Adventure Comics and other series featuring teenage superhero groups.
Krypto, also known as Krypto the Superdog, is a superhero dog appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the character Superman. In most continuities, Krypto is Superman's pet dog, usually depicted as a white dog of a generic pedigree often resembling a Labrador Retriever, a plain white Dalmatian, or a White Shepherd.
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created in 1938. The show was the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California on RKO-Pathé stages and the RKO Forty Acres back lot. Cereal manufacturer Kellogg's sponsored the show. The first and last airdates of the show, which was produced for first-run syndication rather than for a network, are disputed, but they are generally accepted as September 19, 1952, and April 28, 1958. The show's first two seasons were filmed in black-and-white; seasons three through six were filmed in color.
The Legion of Super-Pets is a fictional team of superhero pets in the DC Universe. The original membership included Krypto the Superdog, Streaky the Supercat, Beppo the Super-Monkey, and Comet the Super-Horse, with the shape-shifting alien Proty II later joining. The team first appeared in Adventure Comics #293, although all of the members except for Comet had appeared individually in earlier issues. The group was removed from mainstream DC Comics continuity in 1986 but a new version appeared in mainstream comics in 2017.
Superboy is an American television series based on the fictional DC comic book character Superman's early years as Superboy. The show ran from 1988–1992 in syndication. It was renamed The Adventures of Superboy at the start of the third season.
The American comic book character Superman, created in 1938, has appeared in many types of media since the 1940s. Superman has appeared in radio, television, movies, and video games each on multiple occasions, and his name, symbol, and image have appeared on products and merchandise.
Superman is an American fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and featured pervasively in DC Comic books. The character debuted in Action Comics issue #1 in June 1938 and has since become a paradigm for superhero characters.
Hollywoodland is a 2006 American mystery drama film directed by Allen Coulter and written by Paul Bernbaum. The story presents a fictionalized account of the circumstances surrounding the death of actor George Reeves, the star of the 1950s film Superman and the Mole Men and television series Adventures of Superman. Adrien Brody stars as a fictional character, Louis Simo, a private detective investigating Toni Mannix, who was involved in a long romantic relationship with Reeves and was the wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix. Reeves had ended the affair and had become engaged to a younger woman, aspiring actress Leonore Lemmon.
Farrah Rachael Forke was an American actress best known for her roles as Alex Lambert on the NBC sitcom Wings and Mayson Drake on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. She also voiced the character Big Barda on the animated television series Batman Beyond and Justice League Unlimited, starred as Carey on the short-lived cult sitcom Dweebs, Nikki Harkin on Mr. Rhodes, Carol Ashby in the pilot episode of the 90's remake of Fantasy Island, and appeared in several made-for-TV movies such as Nurses on the Line (1993), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993), Bionic Ever After? (1994), and theatrical movies like Disclosure (1994) and Heat (1995).
Superman and the Mole Men is a 1951 American independent black-and-white superhero film released by Lippert Pictures. Produced by Barney A. Sarecky and directed by Lee Sholem, it stars George Reeves as Superman and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. It is the first feature film based on any DC Comics character.
Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman is a 2006 documentary film from executive producers Bryan Singer and Kevin Burns which details the history of the Superman franchise, from comic book, to television, to the big screen. The story of Superman is told through archival footage, as well as interviews with many of the actors, directors, and producers involved with the Superman media over the years. The closing credits feature outtakes from the Christopher Reeve Superman films, including an outtake of Marlon Brando improvising during the recitation of a poem in a scene deleted from the original version of Superman II.
The Adventures of Superboy is a proposed TV series that was put into production in 1961. It was meant to capitalize on the success of Adventures of Superman, which went out of production in 1958. Only a pilot episode was produced, although 12 additional scripts had been prepared, had the series been picked up.
The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure is a Saturday morning Filmation animated series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1968. Premiering on September 9, 1967, this 60-minute program included a series of six-minute adventures featuring various DC Comics superheroes.
The Batman/Superman Hour is a Filmation animated series that was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1969. Premiering on September 14, 1968, this 60-minute program featured new adventures of the DC Comics superheroes Batman, Robin and Batgirl alongside shorts from The New Adventures of Superman and The Adventures of Superboy.
Billy Curtis was an American film and television actor with dwarfism, who had a 50-year career in the entertainment industry.
Superboy is a superhero that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Don Cameron and is based on the character of Superman that Siegel co-created with Joe Shuster. Superboy first appeared in the comic book More Fun Comics #101 in 1945.
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1980 to 1983 on ABC. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is based on the Justice League and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics. It was the fifth incarnation of the Super Friends series following Super Friends (1973), The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977), Challenge of the Superfriends (1978) and The World's Greatest Super Friends (1979).
Frederick Whitney Ellsworth was an American comic book editor and sometime writer and artist for DC Comics during the period known to historians and fans as the Golden Age of Comic Books. He was also DC's "movie studio contact", becoming both a producer and story editor on the TV series The Adventures of Superman.
