The Adventures of Superpup
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This 1958 pilot, which never aired on TV, was meant to capitalize on the success of Adventures of Superman, which was cancelled the previous year. Superpup featured the first television portrayal of the Superman characters as non-humans.
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 characters of Superman. The pilot was filmed on the same set as The Adventures of Superman, and the characters were portrayed by people of short stature.
Superpup's secret identity was reporter "Bark Bent" who as a mild mannered reporter, wrote for the Daily Bugle under its editor "Terry Bite." The character of Lois Lane was replaced by the investigative reporter "Pamela Poodle".
Whitney Ellsworth later produced The Adventures of Superboy television pilot.
[edit] Video release
The Adventures of Superpup was released unofficially on public domain VHS alongside the pilot for The Adventures of Superboy. It is now officially available by Warner Home Video on the fourteen disc DVD set Superman: Ultimate Collector's Edition. Unfortunately, half of the episode is presented in the collection in full color from a surviving print, while the other half of the pilot is presented in black and white from a poor quality video master.
[edit] Trivia
- The Daily Bugle was later used as the Daily Planet-type office for Marvel Comics' answer to Superman, Spider-Man who worked there as freelance photographer Peter Parker.