Film

Superdad

A 1973 Disney comedy where a well-meaning divorced dad attempts to win back his teenage daughter's affection—and prove he's cool—by infiltrating her social circle and adopting increasingly ridiculous disguises. It's a time-capsule artifact of a specific comedy style: earnest, slapstick, deeply uncool in its desperation to seem relevant. For anyone curious about how studios thought comedy worked in the seventies, or who finds Bob Crane's commitment to humiliation genuinely endearing.

TMDb rating2.4

If you liked this

The Love Bug1968

Same Disney studio, same era, same goofy optimism about life's problems being solvable through sheer enthusiasm and a little magic. A Volkswagen with personality beats a dad in a disguise, but only slightly.

But The comedy is broad and relies heavily on physical slapstick and puns that have aged exactly as well as you'd expect. If you need jokes that land hard, this will test your patience.

The Love Bug poster

Herbie Rides Again1974

Proof that Disney's comedy playbook worked exactly the same whether you starred a Beetle or a divorced father. Same year, same wholesome-absurd energy, same faith that audiences want to watch adults embarrass themselves for ninety minutes.

But It's a sequel to a film about a car with feelings. If that premise doesn't immediately spark joy, nothing here will convince you.

Herbie Rides Again poster

Now You See Him, Now You Don't1972

Kurt Russell in a Disney comedy about invisibility and mischief, made just before Superdad. Same studio, same slightly desperate energy, same commitment to proving that kids still loved this stuff.

But The special effects are primitive and the plot thin. This is pure formula, and it shows every one of its seams.

Now You See Him, Now You Don't poster

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Putney Swope1969

Both use costumes and infiltration as their primary comedic engine, but to opposite moral and tonal effect. One says 'isn't trying too hard endearing?' The other says 'trying too hard reveals the rot.'

A brutal, hallucinatory comedy about power and absurdity in an industry obsessed with looking cool and staying relevant. Made the same era as Superdad but from an entirely different universe—scathing where Disney was sunny, darkly complex where Superdad is charmingly simple. Both films use disguise and infiltration as comedy, but here it's an instrument of exposure rather than endearment.

But It's avant-garde and intentionally alienating. The humor is sardonic and uncomfortable. If you're coming from Superdad looking for more gentle family entertainment, this will feel like a slap.

Putney Swope poster
More like this (8)

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes1969

Another Kurt Russell Disney vehicle from the same assembly line, with the same earnest faith that outlandish premises equal entertainment. Watching Russell's career zigzag from this to The Thing is half the fun.

But It's fundamentally silly in a way that requires you to surrender completely. There's no winking at the absurdity; it plays everything straight, and that earnestness can feel cloying.

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes poster

The Absent-Minded Professor1961

The godparent of seventies Disney comedy: a father-figure in an absurd situation, slapstick as plot engine, special effects treated as comedy. If you want to understand where Superdad came from, this is the source.

But It's older and slower, and the comedy is even broader. By 1973 standards it already felt creaky; now it feels positively archaeological.

The Absent-Minded Professor poster

Blackbeard's Ghost1968

Peter Ustinov as a ghost, broad comedy, complete sincerity about a ridiculous premise. Same DNA as Superdad, made just before it, proof that Disney's comedy factory ran on a very specific fuel.

But The pacing is sluggish and the jokes lumber. Even for seventies standards, this one feels stretched. You'll spend a lot of time waiting for a payoff that never quite lands.

Blackbeard's Ghost poster

The Million Dollar Duck1971

A duck that lays golden eggs. That's the entire premise. It's so aggressively committed to its own stupidity that it almost becomes endearing. Same studio, same era, same apparent belief that nonsense was entertainment.

But It's aggressively unfunny. The premise outlasts its welcome about six minutes in, and the film stretches for ninety. You'll understand immediately why this era of Disney comedy didn't last.

The Million Dollar Duck poster

The Apple Dumpling Gang1975

Tim Conway and Don Knotts robbing banks very badly. If broad physical comedy and desperation to seem current appeals to you, this is remarkably successful at exactly what it's attempting.

But The humor is relentless and often falls flat. It doesn't have Superdad's earnest dad-trying-too-hard charm; it's just... trying too hard.

The Apple Dumpling Gang poster

Follow Me, Boys!1966

Fred MacMurray leading Boy Scouts through a two-hour comedy about mentorship and doing the right thing. The exact spiritual ancestor of Superdad's premise, proof that Disney had one story it loved to tell.

But It's nearly two hours of earnest sentimentality about institutions and tradition. If you don't love the seventies Disney aesthetic on sight, this will feel interminable.

Follow Me, Boys! poster

Toni Erdmann2016

Same premise—a father in disguise trying to reach a distant daughter—but one treats it as the height of comedy, the other as the depth of love. Toni Erdmann is what Superdad's situation actually feels like.

A father in an ill-fitting wig and prosthetic teeth—a literal costume—crashes his daughter's life to reconnect with her. It's Superdad through a serious lens: all the awkwardness and infiltration and desperation are treated as genuine emotional stakes. Heartbreaking and funny in the same breath, German cinema's answer to the question Disney posed so innocently in 1973.

But It's a three-hour drama, not a comedy. The humor arrives in small, quiet moments and serves genuine emotion. You have to actually care about family pain for this to work, and it doesn't offer the comfort of resolution.

Toni Erdmann poster

Marty1955

Both films center on a father's fear of becoming irrelevant to his child. Superdad responds with wigs and slapstick; Marty responds with grace and resignation. They're the same anxiety in different keys.

A working-class father's attempts to live his own life while managing his adult daughter's expectations and judgment. No costumes, no disguises, no slapstick—just the real weight of a parent trying to prove he matters. Made two decades before Superdad, it's the dramatic sinew underneath the comedy premise. You'll see what's actually at stake in the story Disney played for laughs.

But It's a quiet, unglamorous 1950s drama about ordinary people. There is almost no plot. If you need action or external conflict, this will feel static and slow, even at eighty-nine minutes.

Marty poster

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The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Gus