Captain Underpants: The First Great Adventure – Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)

Directed by: David Soren | 89 minutes | animation, action, comedy, family | Dutch voice cast: Mitchell van den Dungen Bille, Sander van Amsterdam, Fred Meijer, Huub Dikstaal | Original voice cast: Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Nick Kroll, Thomas Middleditch, Jordan Peele, Kristen Schaal, DeeDee Rescher, Brian Posehn, David Soren

Ever since Dav Pilkey managed to steal the hearts of children worldwide in 1997 with his very first ‘Captain Underpants’ book, Hollywood has wanted to work with him. Eleven sequels and three spin-offs followed, which of course only made it more interesting for the major film companies to bring in Pilkey. He was even allowed to choose how his brainchild would be commercially exploited; as a television series, computer game or an (animated) film. But for years Pilkey kept his leg stiff. He focused entirely on the book series, and the characters he created that are so dear to him. “I really wanted to make sure I had told all the stories before I let them go,” said the writer and illustrator. To indicate how far they were willing to go to get Pilkey in, when he stopped by DreamWorks Animation for an interview, all the employees wore their underwear over their regular clothes. “They didn’t flinch, it was hilarious,” Pilkey recalls. He realized that his creation at DreamWorks would get the love he wanted to give them, and he gave in anyway.

‘Captain Underpants’ – or ‘Kapitein Onderbroek’ in Dutch – sounds like a good dose of underpants fun, and in that respect the viewer of ‘Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie’ (2017) gets exactly what the title promises. The film weaves together plot lines from different parts of the book series into a story all its own. The focus is on two hyperactive primary school students, George (voiced by Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch), who make their own comic books. In addition, they like and often play pranks, preferably with the rather dictatorial head of the school, Mr. Krupp (Ed Helms). In an effort to evade criminal justice, the thugs try to hypnotize the humorless headmaster into thinking he’s Captain Underpants, the superhero from their comic books. He may not have any superpowers at all, but that doesn’t stop the Captain Underpants, dressed in tight white underpants and a red cape, from hopping around the city full of enthusiasm and confidence, to see where he can help. If someone snaps his fingers, Mr. Krupp in Captain Underpants; if he gets wet, he turns back into his old, petulant self. However, George and Harold could not have imagined that the superhero they created would clash with the deranged Professor Pee-Pee Poopypants (Nick Kroll).

Poop and piss jokes, (literally) shitty jokes and more anarchic underpants fun, that’s what you can expect from ‘Captain Underpants’. George and Harold are bad boys who play pranks that especially children between the ages of four and eight can laugh about. Kids who are in the midst of the shit and pee phase and love to be naughty and disobedient. In that respect, the film is absolutely faithful to Dav Pilkey’s book series, which also serves the target audience of four to eight year olds. The animations, like the humor, are simple but effective. Don’t expect high quality visuals at the level of Disney, Pixar or other DreamWorks work. The animations are 99 percent true to Pilkey’s original. So no spectacular CGI, but an image that is as simple as the tone and content of the film. Adults watching with their offspring have two options: either get annoyed by the childish level of ‘Captain Underpants’, or turn your mind to zero and let the little child that is hidden somewhere deep inside you reappear.