''The Adventures of Superpup'', a 1958 unaired pilot, was meant to capitalize on the success of '' Adventures of Superman''. Superpup featured the first television portrayal of the

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

characters as humanoid animals.

Overview

Television producer

Whitney Ellsworth Frederick Whitney Ellsworth (November 27, 1908 – September 7, 1980) 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 ...

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. The pilot was filmed on the same set as ''The Adventures of Superman'', and people with

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

portrayed the characters. Whitney Ellsworth later produced ''

The Adventures of Superboy ''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 (TV series), Adventures of Superman'', which went out of production in 1958. Only a ...

'' television pilot. The

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publish ...

character was renamed "Bark Bent". Bark Bent worked for the ''Daily Bugle'' (not to be confused with the ''

Daily Bugle The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most ...

'' in comics featuring

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

) under editor "Terry Bite". His co-worker was reporter "Pamela Poodle". Superpup/Bark Bent was played by actor

Billy Curtis Billy Curtis (born Luigi Curto; June 27, 1909 – November 9, 1988) was an American film and television actor with dwarfism, who had a 50-year career in the entertainment industry. Career The bulk of his work was in the western and science fict ...

, who was also in ''

Superman and the Mole Men ''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. ...

'' with

George Reeves George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series '' Adventures of Superman'' (1952–1958). His death at age 45 from a g ...

. 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.

Cast

as Bark Bent / Superpup * Ruth Delfino as Pamela Poodle *

Angelo Rossitto Angelo Salvatore Rossitto (February 18, 1908 – September 21, 1991) was an American actor and voice artist. He had dwarfism and was 2'11" (89 cm) tall, and was often billed as Little Angie or Moe. Angelo first appeared in silent films opp ...

as Terry Bite * Frank Delfino as Sergeant Beagle * Harry Monty as Professor Sheepdip * Sadie Delfino as Sheepdip's dupe

Other media

A book titled ''Superboy and Superpup: The Lost Videos'', written by Chuck Harter, was published in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

by Cult Movies Press. 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 The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

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 & Superpup The Lost Videos" by Chuck Harter, now with a full color front cover. The new edition is available in hardback, paperback and e-book editions.

References

External links

*
''Superman on TV''
''Adventures of Superpup'' trailer

Video Rarities

Superman Supersite {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures Of Superpup, The 1958 American television episodes Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Superman television series Television pilots not picked up as a series Unaired television pilots