Captain Underpants

“It’s just that George and Harold each had a “silly streak” a mile long. Usually that silly streak was hard to control. Sometimes, it got them into trouble.”

Pilkey celebrates George and Harold’s silliness. He pairs mischief with individuality and creativity, and associates sensible behavior with disciplinarian and cruel characters such as Mr. Krupp. The above lines allude to George and Harold’s getting into trouble when Krupp films their pranks.

“The two boys spend hours and hours writing and drawing their very own comic books.”

Harold and George’s creativity is also paired with entrepreneurship and the ability to sell The Adventures of Captain Underpants. Pilkey uses illustration styles, characters, and tropes typical of the comic book genre.

“I am the Inedible Hunk!”

Pilkey draws on tropes from the comic book world to add legitimacy and humor to George and Harold’s creation. In this case, the Inedible Hunk is a satirical take on the Marvel Comics character: The Incredible Hulk.

“And so, the Inedible Hunk got flushed away and was never heard from again.”

Pilkey, appealing to his elementary-school-aged audience, relies frequently on toilet humor. Accordingly, Captain Underpants vanquishes the Inedible Hunk by flushing him down the toilet.

“He hated laughter and singing. He hated the sounds of children playing at recess. In fact, he hated children altogether!”

Krupp exemplifies the stereotype of the cruel and adversarial adult who stands against all that bring children joy. To create a sense of emphasis and drama, Pilkey uses repetition—“He hated.” The three quoted lines also use escalation. In each line, what Krupp hates becomes more profound and tactile, from abstract laughter to the sounds of actual children to children themselves.

“He especially hated those awful Captain Underpants comic books.”

As Captain Underpants embodies all that the book celebrates—creativity, individuality, silliness, and mischief—it is fitting that Krupp loathes him.

“‘I’m going to get those boys one day,’ Mr. Krupp vowed.”

This line foreshadows how Krupp will extort George and Harold. His desire to bring the boys to justice triggers the rest of the book’s action. George and Harold’s indentured servitude inspires them to hypnotize Krupp, which turns him into Captain Underpants.

“‘Hey!’ shouted a fan in the bleachers. ‘Someone filled the game ball with helium!’”

George and Harold are further characterized as mischievous through their pranks at the school football game. Pilkey uses short sentences fitting the reading ability of his elementary school aged audience. The dialogue emulates the casual way people speak in real life: “‘Hey!’”

“The big game had been forfeited, and everyone in the entire school was miserable.”

Through the majority of the story, Pilkey suggests that pranks have positive outcomes; they bring unexpected hilarity. However, in this instance, Pilkey highlights how George and Harold’s fun has come at the expense of the entire school’s happiness. He implies that prankers should be responsible for their jokes, and consider how they are impacting others. Harold and George’s character growth is clear when they later worry for Krupp’s safety, and follow him to protect and help him.

“‘Anything?’ asked Principal Krupp with delight. He reached into his desk, pulled out a list of demands, and tossed it at the boys.”

Krupp’s role as the villainous antagonist of the story is reaffirmed when he exploits George and Harold. His delight at proving them guilty reveals his cruelty; he uses the boys as his personal servants rather than disciplining them in a fair way.

“Do you really think we can ‘amaze our friends, control our enemies, and take over the world’ just like the ad says?”

The Hypno-Ring, which cost George and Harold four dollars, is not a sham, but has incredible hypnosis powers. Krupp’s hypnosis turns him into his alter ego, Captain Underpants—who embodies everything he supposedly hates, but may truly love, deep down.

“The file cabinet was filled with everything Mr. Krupp had taken away from the boys over the years. There were sling-shots, whoopee cushions, skateboards, fake doggy doo-doo—you name it, it was in there.”

Krupp continues to adhere to his stereotypical role as the children’s antagonist, represented by his stored contraband. He has confiscated things associated with silliness or fun, such as the sling-shots and whoopee cushions. This illustrates how Krupp maintains the status quo by repressing individuality and creativity.

“Harold stuffed Mr. Krupp’s clothes, shoes, and toupee in his backpack. Then together the two boys leaped out the window, slid down the flagpole, and took off on their skateboards after the Amazing Captain Underpants.”

Fearing the repercussions of what they have done, George and Harold pursue Captain Underpants into town. This is an important shift: The boys are taking responsibility for their pranks and are concerned with consequences. This shows character development. The first sentence in the above quote is a catalog, or list of items: “clothes, shoes, and toupee.” Often in a catalog, the last item is the most unique, funny, or memorable, as is the case here. Clothes and shoes are mundane, but a toupee stands out.

“‘Surrender!’ said Captain Underpants. ‘Or I will have to resort to Wedgie Power!’

Nobody moved for about ten seconds.

Finally, the robbers looked at each other and burst out laughing. They dropped their loot and fell to the sidewalk screaming in hysterics.

Almost immediately, the cops showed up and arrested the crooks.”

Captain Underpants’s interventions have positive results, as numerous criminals are arrested. Pilkey suggests that Good Will Triumph Over Evil, albeit in often funny and unexpected ways. Pilkey uses his characteristic short sentences. He integrates gestures and body language with dialogue—“nobody moved,” “the robbers looked at each other and burst out laughing”—to create a visual.

“The two boys skateboarded with all their might towards the speeding van and grabbed Captain Underpants by the ankles.”

Pilkey evokes humor through outlandish and ridiculous situations. The image of Captain Underpants being dragged along by the van, with the two boys holding his ankles, is designed to amuse readers. In spite of the dangerous situations the characters get up to, everyone survives, no one is harmed, and nothing bad happens, allowing young readers to relax.

“Captain Underpants was all tied up, the two robots were standing guard, and a strange little man wearing a diaper was laughing maniacally.”

Pilkey conjures a well-known trope in comic-book climaxes: The superhero is imprisoned by a dastardly and scheming evil villain, and must beat the odds to escape. Both the hero, Captain Underpants, and the villain, Doctor Diaper, are ridiculous. The above line is a catalogue. There are three items—a tied-up Captain Underpants, robots, and Doctor Diaper. Each item escalates in absurdity, ending on the most memorable—“a strange little man wearing a diaper was laughing maniacally.”

“Dr. Diaper looked down at the doo-doo between his feet and turned bright red. ‘Oh dear me! he cried. ‘I’m dreadfully embarrassed! Please excuse me.’”

Pilkey uses toilet humor to appeal to his elementary-school-aged readership: George, Harold, and Captain Underpants’s escape is enabled by the fake rubber dog poop. Pilkey evokes humor. Doctor Diaper—a supposed supervillain—uses the kind of polite language seen in a drawing room.

“And so, for the first time in the history of great literature, we proudly bring you the latest in cheesy animation technology: The art of Flip-O-Rama.”

Pilkey uses animation, which is not typical of illustrated novels, but feature in comic books. This mimics the sense of reading one of George and Harold’s comics.

“Mixed nuts (...and bolts!)”

The robots are reduced to mixed nuts and bolts under the force of Harold and George’s attack. This is a play on words and alludes to how mixed nuts are a well-known snack. This joke is typical of Pilkey’s humorous wordplay.

“Captain Underpants quickly stretched a pair of underwear and shot it at Dr. Diaper.”

Captain Underpants, like other superheroes in comic books, defeats the villain. However, unlike other superheroes, he does not do so with a show of strength or power, but by flicking his underwear at Doctor Diaper.

“Warning!! Whatever you do, don’t pour water on anybody’s head when they are in a trance! This will cause the hypnotized person to slip back and forth from trance to reality whenever they hear the sound of fingers snapping.”

The boys throw the hypo-ring instruction manual out. The reader sees the warning, implying Captain Underpants’s continued occupation of Krupp. This mistake allows for the continuation of the Captain Underpants series, as Krupp continues to become Captain Underpants whenever he hears the snapping of fingers.

“The football team enjoyed Mr. Krupp’s video so much that they changed their name from the Knuckleheads to the Purple Dragon Sing-A-Long friends.”

The football team’s previous name—the Knuckleheads—alludes to the macho ferocity of this group of boys. It is humorous and unexpected that they rename their team to that of a musical children’s group.

“George and Harold went back to their old ways, pulling pranks, cracking jokes, and making new comic books.”

In spite of Krupp’s best efforts to extort the boys, mischief and silliness triumph. This alludes to two of the book’s key themes: Mischief and Silliness Are Essential to Childhood and Good Will Triumph Over Evil.