Super Example

class Animal(object):
    def __init__(self, sound):
        self.sound = sound

    def make_sound(self):
        print "I am a", self.__class__.__name__
        print "and I go", self.sound

class Dog(Animal):
    def __init__(self, sound='bark'):
        super(Dog, self).__init__(sound)

class Duck(Animal):
    pass

# This is bad form, since Animal.make_sound is an instance method
class Monster(Animal):
    def make_sound(self):
        Animal.make_sound(self)

dog = Dog()
dog.make_sound()

duck = Duck('quack')
duck.make_sound()

monster = Monster('ARGH')
monster.make_sound()