Captain Underwear Vs. The Prudish Principal
He's got a cape. A steadfast dedication to duty. Powers beyond those of normal men. He's got everything it takes to be the perfect hero--except pants.
He's Captain Underpants, the subject of a series of silly children's books, and in the southwestern Connecticut town of Naugatuck he's causing quite stir. As WFSB's Kevin Hogan reports, the principal of the city's Maple Hill elementary school has pulled the Captain Underpants books from the shelves of a school library.
"These are silly books, bathroom humor kinds of books that are very appealing to young children, but very inappropriate in school," said Dr. Alice Carolan, the school superintendent.
But the Board of Education hasn't received a complaint about the books. Instead, the principal at Maple Hill did a little reading and found that one of the hidden charms of the Underpants series is that it gives kids a special alphabet code for attaching funny names to real people. It uses peoples' initials to come up with aliases--for example, Kevin Peter Hogan is "Flunky Hamster Shorts."
And there's nothing more dangerous than a funny name.
"It's the hiney stuff, the tushy, the butt, b-u-t-t--these are the things that cause the disruption."says Carolan.
Captain Underpants is the creation of author Dav Pilkey, who's penned four books in the series, from The Adventures of Captain Underpants : An Epic Novelto Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space.
Ironically, the Captain Underpants legend holds that he is actually a mild mannered school principal, hypnotized by students into thinking he is a trouser-less superhero and sent to defeat evil types like the dastardly Dr. Diaper.
Parents were split on the decision.
"I've never seen it, never heard of it, but I don't necessarily think it's something I want my child to read," said Leann LaChapelle.
"I think it's up to parents and the school to decide that," countered Daryl Masone.
Either way, fans of old C.U. should have no fear. He's faced this threat before, in the classic Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants.