The Adventures of Captain Underpants
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Dav Pilkey |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Dav Pilkey |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Captain Underpants |
| Genre | |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
Publication date |
|
| Media type | Print (Paperback, Hardcover) |
| Pages | 125 |
| ISBN | 978-0-590-84628-8 0-590-84628-0 |
| Followed by | Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets |
The Adventures of Captain Underpants is an American children's novel by Dav Pilkey, and the inaugural novel of the Captain Underpants series. It was published in September 1997, becoming a hit with children across America. In the novel, George Beard and Harold Hutchins turn their principal, Mr. Krupp, into the "greatest superhero of all time", The Amazing Captain Underpants.
Plot summary[]
One day, fourth-grade class clowns and artists George Beard and Harold Hutchins pull a series of practical jokes at the school's football game, from putting black pepper in the cheerleaders' pom-poms to filling the ball with helium, which causes the school to forfeit. The next day, their principal Mr. Krupp reveals that he had set up security cameras that filmed George and Harold preparing their pranks and recorded them on a videotape. Mr. Krupp blackmails George and Harold: unless they obey him, he will give a copy of the tape to the football team. The boys wake up at 6 AM to wash Mr. Krupp's car and mow his lawn, not smile or be disruptive at all during school time, spend lunch and recess cleaning his office, work on Mr. Krupp's house after school, and do extra homework. In order to escape this labour, George orders a "3-D Hypno-Ring" from the Li’l Wiseguy Novelty Company which they receive after 4–6 weeks of grueling labor. Purposefully avoiding work and arriving late the next day so they would be sent to the office, the boys use the ring to hypnotize Mr. Krupp and Harold replaces the video with one of his little sister's "Boomer the Purple Dragon" sing-along videos.
After reading some of their old comics, the two begin taking turns making Mr. Krupp act in ridiculous ways, such as behaving like a chicken, a monkey, and then finally into the superhero from their comics, Captain Underpants. However, Mr. Krupp (as Captain Underpants) jumps out the window to fight crime, causing the boys to grab some supplies such as fake dog feces and follow him. "Captain Underpants" eventually confronts two bank robbers at Frank's bank, who fall in hysterics. The police arrive and arrest the robbers, and are about to arrest Captain Underpants too before the boys whisk Captain Underpants away. Before they can change their principal back, the trio witnesses two robots stealing a large crystal from a shop and Captain Underpants tries to stop them, resulting in his cape getting caught on the robot's van, dragging him (and the boys) to an old, abandoned warehouse. There, Captain Underpants is tied up while George and Harold hide and watch as Captain Underpants is introduced to the evil Dr. Diaper, who plans to use the crystal to power his Laser-Matic 2000, which will blow up the Moon in twenty minutes, causing huge chunks to destroy every major city on Earth so that he can take over the planet.
George slingshots the fake doggy doo-doo between Dr. Diaper's feet. Dr. Diaper feeling embarrassed by the situation ends up having an "accident". While Dr. Diaper departs to change his diaper, George and Harold destroy the robots and free Captain Underpants. Harold pulls the machine's self-destruct lever, thinking it's an "off" switch. Dr. Diaper returns and, enraged, aims his Diaper-Matic 2000 ray gun, but then Captain Underpants shoots underwear at Dr. Diaper's face, covering his eyes. (It's later revealed that it was his own underwear - he comes out wearing a barrel soon after.) The four manage to escape the warehouse before it explodes and they then leave the doctor tied up outside the police station with a note that says "arrest me". The three return to the school, where Captain Underpants dresses back up as Mr. Krupp, at which point George and Harold attempt to de-hypnotize him but are unable to. They consult the ring's manual but discover they've lost it. In desperation, George dumps a vase of water on Mr. Krupp's head, snapping the trance and making Mr. Krupp resolve to give the video to the football team. George finds the manual but throws it away thinking they won't need it again, but it warns about one going back into the trance and back to normal. Later, the Knuckleheads love the "Boomer the Purple Dragon" video and decide to rename themselves the Purple Dragon Sing-a-Long Friends, even though the change doesn't go very well with the fans. George and Harold resume their comic book making and prank-playing. However, they have to keep an eye on Mr. Krupp, because for an unknown reason (obviously due to the warning on the back of the manual ordering ring users not to drench a hypnotized person over the head with water, or it will turn them back and forth from reality to trance if they hear fingers snapping), Mr. Krupp turns back into Captain Underpants every time someone snaps their fingers around him.
Characters[]
Major[]
- George R. Beard: one of the main protagonists and a 4th grader at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. Harold's best friend.
- Harold M. Hutchins: one of the main protagonists and a 4th grader at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School. George's best friend.
- Mr. Benjamin Krupp: Jerome Horwitz Elementary School's rude and grumpy principal who hates George and Harold.
- The Amazing Captain Underpants: A superhero from George and Harold's comics, George and Harold accidentally hypnotize Mr. Krupp into thinking he's Captain Underpants.
- Dr. Diaper (Dr. Nappy in the UK): The short and somewhat babyish main antagonist who attempts to take over the world by destroying the moon.
Minor[]
- The Horwitz Knuckleheads: the school's football team. After watching the "Boomer the Purple Dragon Singalong Video" that Harold replaced the prank footage with, they change their name to the Purple Dragon Sing-A-Long Friends.
- Two Robots: the secondary antagonists and Dr. Diaper's henchmen.
- The Inedible Hunk (from the comics): The antagonist of the Captain Underpants comic. A monster formed from the cafeteria food.
- Cheerleaders: The school cheerleaders. George and Harold put black pepper in their pom-poms, which causes them to have a sneezing fit at the school's football game.
- The Band: The school's marching band. George and Harold fill up their instruments with bubble bath in one of their pranks.
- Mr. Meaner: The coach of the Knuckleheads.
- Ms. Ribble: George and Harold's fourth-grade teacher.
- Bank Robbers: Two bank robbers whom Captain Underpants tries to apprehend.
Mentioned[]
Harold's youngest sister. Harold replaces Mr. Krupp's footage with one of her "Boomer the Purple Dragon Sing-A-Long Videos".
Title change[]
Early printings of the book have "An Epic Novel by Dav Pilkey" instead of "The First Epic Novel by Dav Pilkey", and the "Little Apple" logo on the cover.
Development[]
On why he focused on underwear in the book, Pilkey stated "I think underwear is funny because you’re not supposed to laugh at it."[1]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby By Dav Pilkey (Blue Sky Press, 128 pages, $4.99) George and Harold decide to invent a new superhero. A SERIOUS". The Gainesville Sun. 2002-07-21. Retrieved 2021-05-15. - Also at South Coast Today. Posted on August 17, 2002 in The Standard-Times, page C7.
External links[]
- 1997 American novels
- Captain Underpants novels
- American children's novels
- 1997 children's books