List of Underdog characters


Underdog, also known as The Underdog Show, is an American Saturday morning animated television series that ran from October 3, 1964, to March 4, 1967. The show went into syndication starting in 1969. Underdog, Shoeshine Boy's heroic alter ego, appears whenever Sweet Polly Purebred is being victimized by such villains as Simon Bar Sinister or Riff Raff.

Underdog

Underdog is an anthropomorphic dog, a parody of Superman and similar superheroes with secret identities. The premise is that "humble and lovable" Shoeshine Boy, a cartoon dog, is in truth the superhero Underdog. When villains threatened, Shoeshine Boy ducks into a telephone booth, where he transforms into the caped and costumed hero, destroying the booth in the process when his superpowers are activated. In the 2007 live-action film, he appears as a beagle who becomes Jack Unger's pet. In 2008, he appeared in a Super Bowl advertisement for Coca-Cola.
As Shoeshine Boy, or "Shoeshine" for short, he talks in a regular way, but as Underdog, he speaks in rhyme, such as when he delivers his catchphrase, "When Polly's in trouble, I am not slow; it's hip-hip-hip and away I go!" In his civilian identity, he wears spectacles, a red vest, and a red and yellow baseball cap. His Underdog uniform consists of a loose-fitting red jumpsuit with a white "U" on the chest, red boots, and a blue cape that is rather too long and tends to drag on the ground.
Underdog is voiced by Wally Cox in the television cartoon. In the film adaptation, he is voiced by Jason Lee and portrayed onscreen by a lemon beagle named Leo sporting a red sweater and a blue cape. In the animatronic segments for the Bullwinkle's Restaurant chain, Bill Scott lent his talent as Underdog. In a 1995 Frosted Cheerios commercial, Billy West provided his voice. In a 2005 Visa commercial, he is voiced by Jeff Bergman.

Allies

Sweet Polly Purebred

Sweet Polly Purebred is a female anthropomorphic dog TV news reporter and Underdog's love interest; she serves as the damsel in distress of most episodes. When being pursued by an antagonist, Polly is apt to start singing, "Oh where, oh where has my Underdog gone? Oh where, oh where has he gone?", in a plaintive voice, hoping for the object of her affections to come and rescue her. Polly's face is slightly similar to that of Underdog's, with a large muzzle and nose; she wears her platinum blonde hair styled in a pageboy. Her wardrobe consists of a black pencil skirt, white turtleneck top, red jacket, and black high-heeled shoes.
In a few episodes, Polly shows her love for Underdog. For example, in the episode "March of the Monsters", she is caught by a robot and calls for Underdog. He then saves Polly, but after Underdog uses his supersonic hi-fi voice and breaks all the glass, the townspeople complain about his voice. However, Polly defends the hero and tells the people that they should thank him for saving everyone from the robots. She then goes to reward Underdog with a big kiss, but the hero backs away and flies off. Also, in the episode "The Vacuum Gun", when Polly is caught by Simon Bar Sinister's vacuum gun, she calls for Underdog and her song annoys Simon. Later in the episode, she retrieves Underdog's ring.
In the live-action film, Polly is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel owned by a girl named Molly, a classmate of Underdog/Shoeshine's owner, Jack. She is based upon Superman's romantic interest Lois Lane.
In the 1976 Western Comics Underdog #7, it is revealed that Sweet Polly has a young nephew named Wilbur.
She has been voiced in animated form by Norma MacMillan, and in the live-action movie by Amy Adams.

Dan Unger

Appearances: Movie
Dan Unger is Jack's father. He was once a police officer, but quit the force after his wife died and worked as a security guard at the scientific institute where Simon Bar Sinister hid out after hours. Using Underdog's stolen collar, Simon and Cad were able to determine where he lived and captured him in order to lure Jack and Underdog to them. After Simon Bar Sinister fed an antidote pill to Underdog and left to forcefully negotiate with the Mayor, Dan learned that Shoeshine was Underdog. After Underdog freed the Mayor, Dan was reinstated and promoted by the Mayor and helped Underdog arrest Simon while Underdog buried a bomb Cad placed on the roof. Dan was later seen placing Simon into solitary confinement where Cad was also held.
In the movie, he is portrayed by James Belushi.

General Brainley

Appearances: Weathering the Storm
General Brainley is in charge of the moon launch at Cape Canaveral. When he was about to send a pair of astronauts and Sweet Polly to the moon, Simon Bar Sinister and Cad Lackey hijacked the spaceship and held Sweet Polly prisoner so they could use the Weather Machine against Earth. When anything goes awry, he deems the problem an outrage.

Jack Unger

Appearances: Movie
Jack Unger is Underdog's human companion. He is a teenager and Dan Unger's son. His mother has died some time ago. Although Dan is very understanding, Jack's relationship with him is not very smooth. When Dan brings him the dog Shoeshine which he found in the street, Jack at first does not want him. When the dog talks to him, he is understandably upset and wonders whether he is going crazy. However, soon he decides he wants to keep him.
After Shoeshine defends Molly against robbers, Jack convinces him to use his powers to fight more evil, arguing that one cannot always just do what one likes. They decide that for his superhero actions Shoeshine takes on the secret identity of "Underdog", using Dan's college sweater, which has a big U on it, as his hero attire.
Jack is played by Alex Neuberger.

O.J. Skweez

Appearances: Fearo, From Hopeless to Helpless, The Gold Bricks, The Phoney Booths, RiffRaffville, The Vacuum Gun
O.J. Skweez is the owner of the TTV building and is Sweet Polly's employer.
He is voiced by Mort Marshall.

Professor Moby Von Ahab

Appearances: The Bubbleheads
Professor Moby Von Ahab is one of the world's leading scientists who helped Sweet Polly investigate what was happening beneath the sea when [|the Bubblehead Empire] planned to conquer the surface world. His name is a take-off on both Moby-Dick and Captain Ahab.
He is voiced by Allen Swift.

Officer Flim Flanigan

Appearances: A New Villain, Batty-Man
Officer Flim Flanigan previously appeared frequently on the King Leonardo and His Short Subjects segment "The Hunter". He was included as the chief of police during later episodes.

Canine Defenders

Appeared in the cgi remake tv series.

Villains

Simon Bar Sinister

Appearances: Simon Says, Go Snow, Zot, The Big Shrink, Weathering The Storm, The Phoney Booths, The Forget-Me-Net, Simon Says "No Thanksgiving", The Tickle Feather Machine, The Big Dipper, Simon Says "Be My Valentine", The Vacuum Gun, movie
Simon Bar Sinister is a mad scientist. He is the wickedest man in the world, precedes all his commands with “Simon Says,” and has an assistant named Cad Lackey. It is Simon Bar Sinister's ambition to rule the world, but, each time, Underdog defeats him.
Simon is short, with very sparse hair except for a pair of thick black eyebrows. His skin is a sickly green with dark circles around his eyes, and his front teeth stick out of his mouth. He wears a white lab coat over a black suit with a black bow tie and a pair of purple gloves.
For the TV series, Simon Bar Sinister was voiced by Allen Swift, impersonating Lionel Barrymore. For the movie, he is portrayed by Peter Dinklage.

Cad Lackey

Appearances: Go Snow, The Big Shrink, Weathering The Storm, The Phoney Booths, The Forget-Me-Net, Simon Says "No Thanksgiving", The Tickle Feather Machine, The Big Dipper, Simon Says "Be My Valentine", The Vacuum Gun, movie
Cad Lackey was Simon's henchman, who, though generally dull-witted, was occasionally capable of pointing out flaws in his boss's plans. Contrary to the mad scientist stereotype, Simon actually paid good attention to Cad's suggestions in these episodes.
Cad is tall, with slicked-back blond hair, and originally had a pallid complexion in "Go Snow", "The Big Shrink", and "Weathering the Storm", but has a healthier complexion from "The Phoney Booths" onward. He wears a red smock and black trousers and shoes.
In the live-action film, he was portrayed as more intelligent and level-headed. He was Simon's partner and the security guard of a building where Simon hid out after hours.
He is voiced by Ben Stone impersonating Humphrey Bogart in the cartoon. In the movie, he is portrayed by Patrick Warburton.

Riff Raff

Appearances: The Great Gold Robbery, Fearo, From Hopeless to Helpless, The Gold Bricks, Pain Strikes Underdog, Whistler's Father, RiffRaffville, Just In Case, The Vacuum Gun, movie
Riff Raff is an anthropomorphic wolf gangster. He leads an unnamed gang that often carry out various crime waves until they are stopped by Underdog. In "The Vacuum Gun," Riff Raff and his gang were among the criminals that were recruited by Simon Bar Sinister.
In keeping with the classic gangster image he likes to cultivate, Riff wears a greyish purple pinstripe suit with a white flower in the left lapel, a black shirt, a yellow tie, and black shoes.
In the film, Riff Raff is portrayed as a Rottweiler. When he meets Shoeshine, he and his dog henchmen chase him around an alley in an attempt to eat him until he is found by Dan Unger, when they run away. They meet again with Polly on the sidewalk. Around the end of the film, Shoeshine barks at Riff Raff enough to remove some of his fur and he and his henchmen run away again for the last time. In contrast to his role as a major villain on the series, Riff Raff is portrayed as more of a comic relief minor villain.
Riff Raff is voiced by Allen Swift impersonating George Raft in the cartoon. In the film, Riff Raff was voiced by Brad Garrett.