Last week, there was plenty of online outrage — when isn’t there? — about Krypto in the new Superman trailer.

There’s another super powered dog who no one gets mad about because, well, no one knows about it.

Television producer Whitney Ellsworth planned to continue The Adventures of Superman in 1959 with at least two more years’ worth of episodes that would begin airing in the 1960 season. The death of the actor playing Daily Planet editor Perry white, John Hamilton, stalled that, but Pierre Watkin, who played the role in two Superman movie serials, was hired to play Perry’s brother. However, a bigger problem was the death of George Reeves, but Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen, was approached with the idea for a Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen series in which he would play the lead and when Superman showed up, it would be stock footage of Reeves and stunt doubles shot from behind. Larson turned that down, but that wasn’t the end of Super-ideas.

In addition to The Adventures of Superboy pilot starring Johnny Rockwell, Ellsworth also had the idea for a show where Superman took place in another universe with dogs instead of humans. Shot on the same sets as The Adventures of Superman, this would have live-action dwarf actors with large masks playing all the roles.

Yes, it’s as crazy as it sounds.

The Daily Planet became the Daily Bugle, years before Peter Parker would freelance for that publication. Clark Kent is now Bark Bent, Lois Lane is Pamela Poodle and Perry White is Terry Bite.

Bark Bent and Superpup are played by Billy Curtis, whose career encompassed roles from Mayor McCheese to the lead in The Terror of Tiny Town, a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, multiple roles on the Superman and Batman TV shows, the AIP little people crime film Little Cigars, Eating Raoul and so many more movies and TV shows.

Terry Bite was played by Angelo Rossitto, whose career is just as impressive. He debuted in 1927’s The Beloved Rogue and would appear in Freaks, The Wizard of Oz, Mesa of Lost Women, Brain of Blood, Dracula vs. Frankenstein and as the Master half of Master Blaster in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Pamela Poodle has been tied to a rocket about to be launched by Professor Sheepdip (Harry Monty, who was also in The Wizard of Oz as a Munchkin and a winged monkey, as well as playing a mutant in This Island Earth and a child ape in Planet of the Apes) and Superpup has to save her.

The dog masks were constructed of fiberglass and weighed two to three pounds. The plan, if the show was bought, was to make puppets of the characters that could articulate dialogue in close-ups. What we get here is just strange, as blank faced dogs just go through the motions as the actors say the lines off-screen. Beyond the wolves and dogs, there’s also Montmorency Mouse, seemingly the only other species in a canine world. He’s the Jimmy Olsen in this story and is played by a puppet.

Director Cal Howard mainly worked in animation as a writer. Most of the crew on this were from the Superman show as well, trying to get new jobs. Obviously, this wasn’t bought, but it remains an incredible artifact.

You can download this from the Internet Archive.