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Wacky Races



 
 
Wacky Races is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer." Wacky Races ran on CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 from September 14, 1968 to September 5, 1970. Seventeen episodes were produced, with each episode featuring two different races, for a total of 34 races in all.

The cartoon was unusual in the large number of regular characters, twenty-four in total: the twenty-three people spread among the 11 race cars, plus the unseen (and never identified) race announcer.






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Encyclopedia


Wacky Races is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer." Wacky Races ran on CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 from September 14, 1968 to September 5, 1970. Seventeen episodes were produced, with each episode featuring two different races, for a total of 34 races in all.

The cartoon was unusual in the large number of regular characters, twenty-four in total: the twenty-three people spread among the 11 race cars, plus the unseen (and never identified) race announcer. Another unusual feature of the series is that the stars of the show are the villains as opposed to the heroes.

Reruns of the series currently air several times a day on Cartoon Network's classic animation network Boomerang
Boomerang (TV channel)

Boomerang is a 24-hour United States cable television television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System . The network debuted April 1, 2000....
.

Background

Attempting to foil the racers' efforts were the show's resident villains Dick Dastardly
Dick Dastardly

Dick Dastardly is a fictional character and antagonist who appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Dastardly's most famous appearances are in the series Wacky Races and its spin-off Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines....
 and his canine sidekick, Muttley
Muttley

Muttley is a Hanna-Barbera animated fictional character created by Iwao Takamoto and originally voiced by Don Messick ; he is now voiced by Billy West....
. Dastardly would usually gain a large lead, then execute all sorts of elaborate schemes to trap, divert, blow up or stop the other racers, only to see them backfire spectacularly. The intended object lesson may have been that Dastardly might have easily won several races had he only kept his mind on the race and off dirty tricks. The Mean Machine was arguably the fastest car in the series, as evidenced by Dastardly's repeatedly zooming to a stunning lead from far behind. Like Wile E. Coyote, Dastardly never saw victory, although on one occasion he did cross the finish line first only to be disqualified when the judges reviewed the video replay, revealing that Dastardly had "cheated" (actually extending the tip of his car, which was actually allowed).

Wacky Races was inspired by the 1965 film The Great Race
The Great Race

The Great Race is a 1965 in film slapstick comedy movie film director by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan....
, and the main characters in the cartoon were based on those in the film. Penelope Pitstop
Penelope Pitstop

Penelope Pitstop is a fictional character who appeared in the Hanna-Barbera Productions animated series Wacky Races, and starred in the spin-off The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, voiced by Janet Waldo, 1969....
 (who would later have a spin-off
Spin-off

A spin-off is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one, such as a television series based on a pre-existing one, or a new company formed from a university research group or business incubator....
 series) took on the appearance of Maggie DuBois, played by Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood was an American actress.Following her film debut at the age of four, Wood became a successful child actor in such films as the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street ....
, including her pink outfit and her car's parasol. Dastardly has much in common with Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon

'John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III' was an United States actor known principally for his comedic roles. He starred in over 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Days of Wine and Roses , Irma La Douce, The Odd Couple , The Out-of-Towners , Glengarry Glen Ross , The China Syndrome and JFK ....
's portrayal of Professor Fate. Fate and his sidekick, Max Meen (Peter Falk
Peter Falk

Peter Falk is an United States actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running television series Columbo . He appeared in numerous films and television guest roles, and has been nominated for an Academy Award twice, and won the Emmy Award on five occasions and the Golden Globe award once....
), indulge in similar acts of sabotage and Max has Muttley's knack for making mistakes. Although Fate's car does not look much like the Mean Machine, it does bear the familiar spike on the front and is equipped with smoke screen, cannon, and other assorted gadgets.

One of the musical themes, used in the show, was used as the opening and closing segments of the spin off show "Perils of Penelope Pitstop."

One of the original plans for the series was that the races themselves would be part of a live-action quiz show with Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley Productions
Heatter-Quigley Productions

Heatter-Quigley Productions was an United States television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley....
, the team behind the television series Hollywood Squares
Hollywood Squares

The Hollywood Squares was an United States television comedy and game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes....
. Heatter-Quigley's plan was that contestants would actually bet on which Wacky Racer would cross the finish line first. Although the game show concept was eventually scrubbed, the series still retained a Hanna-Barbera Heatter-Quigley dual production credit.

In 1988, a made-for-TV movie, Around The World With The Wacky Racers, was planned as part of Hanna-Barbera's Superstars 10 series of TV movies, but it never got past the concept stage.

Drivers, characters and cars

The eleven racers and their numbers are:

Dick Dastardly and Muttley in the Mean Machine 00 (The double 'O'/ The Double Zero)

The villains of the series, in a purple, rocket-powered car with an abundance of concealed weapons and ability to fly. Dastardly
Dick Dastardly

Dick Dastardly is a fictional character and antagonist who appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Dastardly's most famous appearances are in the series Wacky Races and its spin-off Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines....
 would concoct a plan or set a trap once he got into the lead of the race to make sure no other car would catch up to him; however, every plan backfired. Ironically, many tricks Dastardly uses are not unlike the ones the other racers use, though only his are referred to as "cheating." His traps would mostly fail, with Dastardly being the one who gets hurt in the end and Muttley, his canine sidekick, snickering at his misfortune (and usually a last-place finish). This usually earned him a bonk on the head from Dastardly, who could seemingly stretch his arms considerable distances for that sole purpose. Dastardly dresses in purple and wears a red-and-purple striped puffy hat. He also has a long, black moustache and appears as the archetypal turn-of-the-century villain
Villain

A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a history narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters....
.

Slagbrothers

The Slag Brothers in the Bouldermobile 1

Rock and Gravel Slag are Cavemen driving a wheeled boulder. The Slag Brothers sometimes reconstructed their car from scratch just by using their clubs on any large boulder that was available. Like the Gruesome Twosome, the Slag Brothers can summon up appropriate creatures - such as Pteranadons - to help them. The Slags also speak by combining stereotypical caveman language with normal English, e.g. "Raga-radda, wheel gone. Get new one!" (Rock Slag). In one episode, the Boulder-Mobile had a "flat" tire, when a wheel turned cubular. In another episode, a wheel fell off, and Gravel Slag accidentally made a square wheel from a rock (To which Rock Slag responds, "Rah Dummyhead! You make square wheel!"). They can speed up by hitting the car (or at times, each other) with their clubs. The Slag Brothers design was re-used for Captain Caveman.

The Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe 2

Big Gruesome - a Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster

Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein. In the novel, the creature has no name?a symbol of his parentlessness and lack of human sense of self and identity....
 / Lurch type - and Little Gruesome - a purple skinned vampire - are monsters driving a hearse
Hearse

A hearse is a funeral vehicle, a conveyance for the casket from e.g. a Church to a cemetery, a similar burial site, or a crematorium. In the funeral trade, they are often called funeral coaches....
-like car with a belfry
Belfry

The term belfry has a variety of uses:*Bell tower, an architectural term*Belfry, a type of medieval siege tower*Belfry, Montana, a town in the United States...
 which housed a dragon
European dragon

European dragons are legendary creatures in folklore and mythology among the overlapping culture of Europe. The word for dragon in Germanic mythology and its descendants is wiktionary:worm , meaning snake or serpent....
  and various spooky characters. The Creepy Coupe was able to fly short distances through use of the dragon's wings and has bats constantly circling its belfry. Also, they can summon bats, storms, ghosts, serpents, and even a witch to help them fend off the other cars. Big Gruesome spoke like Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff was an Cinema of the United Kingdom who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s. He is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein , 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein and 1939 film Son of Frankenstein....
 and Little Gruesome like Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre

Peter Lorre , born L?szl? L?wenstein, was a Hungarian people - Austrian - United States actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner....
. "Dragon" - who appeared in every episode, and would sometimes get out of the car and walk with the Gruesome Twosome, was such an integral part of the No. 2 team that he was essentially the 25th character of the show - although he was only ever known as "Dragon," or "Dragon Power," by Big Gruesome.

Patpending

Professor Pat Pending in the Convert-a-Car 3

A scientist in a boat-shaped car equipped with a multitude of gadgets and which can change into just about anything that moves. Among the things his car has transformed into include a motorcycle, a jetpack, a flying carpet on wheels, a forklift, an arrow, a bicycle built for two, a bowling ball, a blimp, a rocket and even an exact duplicate of the Slag Brothers driving the Bouldermobile. He's sometimes seen as a rival of Dick Dastardly and Muttley, since his car is equipped with a lot of gadgets, just like the Mean Machine, although they are more defensive, or merely speed-boosting, in nature. He often uses his car's gadgets to help out the other drivers if they all get caught in the same trap, such as when he used his car's de-glue gizmo to unstick everyone from a glue trap left by Dastardly. His alliterative
Alliteration

Alliteration is the repeated occurrence of a consonant sound at the beginning of several words in the same phrase. Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant sound anywhere in a string of words, not just the initial sound as is in alliteration....
 name is a pun on the phrase "patent pending
Patent pending

The expressions "patent pending" or "patent applied for" refer to a warning that inventors are entitled to use in reference to their product or process once a patent application has been filed, but prior to the patent being issued or the application abandoned....
."

Red Max in the Crimson Haybailer 4

An air ace in a car/plane hybrid that was capable of limited flight, usually just enough to leapfrog over racers or obstacles in its path. Red Max could use his propeller as a weapon to slice other cars into pieces, which was demonstrated effectively in one race against the Ant Hill Mob's Bulletproof Bomb. The Haybailer also had a mounted machine gun, which was used sporadically. The Haybailer's transformation from plane to car/plane hybrid seems to have significantly weakened its flying ability, and Max often has to bail out when the Haybailer breaks down.

Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat 5

The only female racer, driving a pink feminine car with personal grooming
Personal grooming

File:Cygnus atratus preening.jpgPersonal grooming is the art of cleaning, grooming, and maintaining parts of the body. In animals, it is a species-typical behavior that is controlled by Biological neural network in the brain....
 facilities that would sometimes backfire on other racers, such as shampoo
Shampoo

Shampoo is a hair care product used for the removal of sebum, dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles that gradually build up in hair....
 foam hitting their faces. She always has time to relax and worry about her looks, because her car is like a beauty salon. Penelope also has a habit of holding her arm out in the breeze to dry newly applied nail polish, which the others mistake for a turn signal (this habit once sent the Roaring Plenty into a cactus). Peter Perfect had a crush on her, a feeling that was returned, and always tried to help her; in one episode, they almost end up married. Unlike other cars, the Compact Pussycat rarely was targeted by the other racers, as it seems they also liked and tried to help her as Peter did. Penelope also had her own cartoon, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an United States animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera that premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969....
, which also featured the Ant Hill Mob

Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly in the Army Surplus Special 6 (the Surplus Six)

Two soldiers, one a sergeant
Sergeant

Sergeant is a Military rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
 and the other a private, racing in an army tank
Tank

A tank is a Continuous track, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and Military tactics Offensive and defence capabilities....
/jeep
Jeep

Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler. It is the oldest off-road vehicle brand, with Land Rover coming in second. The original vehicle which first appeared as the prototype Bantam GP became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the US Army and allies during the World War II and postwar period....
 hybrid with a small steamroller‘s
Steamroller

A steamroller is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for levelling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine....
 wheel attached to the front. The Army Surplus Special, otherwise known as the Surplus Six, made use of its tank facilities while racing, including its cannon, which could spin around to face forward or back, and the hatch, where Sergeant Blast rides. In one episode, the tank fired a bubblegum
Bubblegum

Bubblegum is a type of chewing gum especially designed for blowing wiktionary:bubble.Bubblegum is available in many different colors and flavors....
 ball out of its cannon to stop Prof. Pending (the first attempt failed, but a second gum wad did prove successful). The Surplus Special was also equipped with a supply of land mines, which when driven over, would propel the car into the air, and also bazooka-like thrusters in the back, which provided speed boosts. Private Meekly is in charge of driving the vehicle while Sergeant Blast shouts orders. As their names suggest, Private Meekly is very meek and merely follows orders without question, while Sergeant Blast "blasts" orders with his stereotypical army-commander voice.

The Ant Hill Mob in the Bulletproof Bomb 7 (Chug-a-boom) (the Roaring Plenty)

Led by Clyde, with Danny, Kurby, Mac, Ring-A-Ding/Ding-A-Ling, Rug Bug Benny, and Willy. Gangsters in a 1920s sedan, the Bulletproof Bomb, aka the Roaring Plenty. Although he is sometimes rude to the rest of the gang, Clyde actually cares for them. In one episode, when the rest of the gang was stuck in the Creepy Coupe, Clyde was menacing the Gruesomes: "Alright, you Creeps, where are my boys?" The gang drove in Car Number 7 and were pint-sized characters, a reference to the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White

Snow White is the title fictional character of a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm....
; in one episode, they even disguise themselves as the Seven Dwarfs to escape from a policeman. Their usual method of improving the speed of their car was "getaway" power, which was achieved by extending their feet through the floor of the car and running, the same way Fred Flintstone
Fred Flintstone

Frederick Joseph "Fred" Flintstone is a fictional character who originated in the animated cartoon sitcom The Flintstones on American Broadcasting Company....
 accelerates his own prehistoric car.

Clyde's name probably came from car gangster Clyde Barrow. This is further reinforced in a dialog where he threatens the boys with, "Youse want I should tell Bonnie on you?", an apparent reference to Barrow accomplice Bonnie Parker. When broadcast in French, his name was changed to "Al Carbon
Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
e," a play on Al Capone
Al Capone

Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone , commonly nicknamed "Scarface", was an Italian-American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to smuggling and Rum-running of alcoholic beverage and other illegal activities during the Prohibition in the United States Era of the 1920s and 1930s....
.

Ring-A-Ding usually queries Clyde's orders or is the one who causes the plan to go wrong in some way. Clyde also mispronounces his name saying "Ding-A-Ling" instead of "Ring-A-Ding."

The Ant Hill Mob re-appeared in the spin-off series The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an United States animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera that premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969....
, with Clyde in a silver outfit and his wingmen, with new names, wearing blue outfits and riding in a new living car, Chugga-Boom. The Mob were were the protagonists in this series, along with Penelope herself, and were constantly rushing to her rescue.

Lazy Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chuggabug 8

A hillbilly
Hillbilly

Hillbilly is a term referring to people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia and the Ozarks. Due to its strongly Stereotype connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those United States of Ozarkan and Appalachian heritage....
 who sleeps during most of the races on his rocking chair
Rocking chair

A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands of wood attached to the bottom of the legs . The chair contacts with the floor at only two points, giving the occupant the ability to rocking back and forth by shifting his/her weight or pushing lightly with his/her feet....
 with his feet on the steering wheel, and a nervous bear called Blubber, in a wooden buggy driven by a coal-fired pot-bellied stove. In one episode, the car was shown to have a squirrel as its engine, with Luke feeding the squirrel peanuts to increase speed. Blubber, who often bites his nails and shakes, wakes up Luke, who always says: "Blubber, what in tarnation is goin' on here?" or "What in tarnation is that?".

Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific 9 (the Varoom Roadster)

A jock
Jock (subculture)

The term jock is a classic North American stereotype of a male sportsperson. The etymology of the term jock is derived from the word jockstrap, which is an athletic support garment worn by men who engage in physical sports....
 driving a drag racer that often falls to bits, usually immediately following him making a remark about how reliable it is. Peter had a crush on Penelope Pitstop, and so often stopped to help her; Penelope returned Peter's affections, and in one episode they almost end up married. He always stops to say hello to Penelope. Sometimes Peter Perfect demonstrated an unusual elasticity
List of comic book superpowers

Fiction traditionally features characters with superhuman, supernatural, or paranormal abilities, often referred to as "Superpower " ....
 ability, although this seemed to be just a gag. In development, the car was called the Varoom Roadster, a name used in the Gold Key
Gold Key Comics

Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands....
 comic book series.

Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth in the Buzz Wagon 10

A muscle-bound lumberjack
Lumberjack

A lumberjack or logger is a man who harvests lumber. The term lumberjack is somewhat archaic, having been mostly replaced by logger....
 and a beaver
Beaver

Beavers are two primarily nocturnal, semi-aquatic species of rodent, one native to North America and one to Eurasia. They are known for building dams, canals, and lodges ....
 in a wagon made of logs, with buzzsaw
Buzzsaw

Buzzsaw is the name of several fictional characters in the fictional Transformers ....
s for wheels, hence its name. The buzzsaws gave the car the ability to cut through almost anything, damaging or destroying the object in the process. Rufus is sometimes seen as a rival to the Slag Brothers, as they not only get their car destroyed in this way frequently, but can also reconstruct their car with ease. The vehicle also has two axe
Axe

The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for Millennium to shape, split and cut wood, harvest Lumber, as a weapon and a ceremony or Heraldry symbol....
s attached to each side which Rufus uses to turn tight corners and boost the buzzwagon's speed, and a log on the front which is occasionally used as a single wheel if the car is forced upright onto its front bumper.

The Race Commentator/Narrator
Narrator

A narrator is, within any story , the entity that tells the story to the audience. The narrator --or, the archaic female equivalent, narratress-- is one of three entities responsible for story-telling of any kind....

Every episode was introduced and ended by the Race Commentator/Narrator, and in the US two episode series he would do the 'Interlude' part as well. He would often talk to the drivers, who would answer back looking through the screen - as if talking to the viewer.

Voice cast

  • Daws Butler
    Daws Butler

    Daws Butler was a voice actor born in Toledo, Ohio, Ohio. He originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, and Huckleberry Hound....
     - Peter Perfect, Sergeant Blast, Big Gruesome, Rock Slag, Rufus Ruffcut, Red Max
  • Don Messick
    Don Messick

    Donald "Don" Messick was one of the most prolific voice actors of the second half of the 20th century.Messick, a native of Buffalo, New York, voiced several classic cartoon characters, including Scooby-Doo, Ranger Smith and Boo Boo , Muttley, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Astro , Zorak, Godzooky, Dr....
     - Muttley, Little Gruesome, Gravel Slag, Professor Pat Pending, Sawtooth, Ring-a-Ding
  • John Stephenson
    John Stephenson (actor)

    John Stephenson is an United States voice actor. He has also been credited as "John Stevenson." He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Wisconsin....
     - Luke and Blubber Bear
  • Janet Waldo
    Janet Waldo

    Janet Waldo is an American actress and voice artist with a career encompassing radio, television, animation and live-action films. Some sources say she was born on February 4, 1918 in Grandview, Washington....
     - Penelope Pitstop
  • Paul Winchell
    Paul Winchell

    Paul Winchell , born Pinkus Wilchinski , was an United States ventriloquist and voice actor from New York City whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s....
     - Dick Dastardly, Clyde, Private Meekly
  • Dave Willock
    Dave Willock

    Dave Willock was an United States character actor with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Willock appeared in 181 films and television shows from 1939-1989....
     - Narrator


Episodes

WR-1. See Saw to Arkansas (35-1)/Creepy Trip to Lemon Twist (35-2) (9/14/1968)
WR-2. Why Oh Why Wyoming (35-3)/Beat the Clock to Yellow Rock (35-4) (9/21/1968)
WR-3. Mish-Mash Missouri Dash (35-6)/Idaho a Go-Go (35-5) (9/28/1968)
WR-4. Baja-Ha-Ha Race (35-11)/Real Gone Ape (35-8) (10/5/1968)
WR-5. Scout scatter (35-7)/Free Wheeling to Wheeling (35-10) (10/12/1968)
WR-6. By Rollercoaster to Ups an' Downs (35-9)/The Speedy Arkansas Traveller (35-12) (10/19/1968)
WR-7. Zippy-Mississippi Race (35-15)/Traffic Jambalaya (35-17) (10/26/1968)
WR-8. Hot Race at Chillicothe (35-16)/The Wrong Lumber Race (35-18) (11/2/1968)
WR-9. Rhode Island Road Race (35-19)/The Great Cold Rush Race (35-13) (11/9/1968)
WR-10. Wacky Race to Rip Saw (35-20)/The Oils Well That Ends Well Race (35-21) (11/16/1968)
WR-11. Whizzing to Washington (35-22)/The Dipsy-Doodle Desert Race (35-24) (11/23/1968)
WR-12. Eeny, Miny Missouri Go! (35-14)/The Super Silly Swamp Sprint (35-23) (11/30/1968)
WR-13. Dash to Delaware (35-26)/The Dopey Dakota Derby (35-27) (12/7/1968)
WR-14. Speeding for Smogland (35-28)/Race Rally to Raleigh (35-25) (12/14/1968)
WR-15. Ballpoint, Penn, or Bust! (35-30)/Fast Track to Hackensack (35-29) (12/21/1968)
WR-16. The Ski Resort Road Race (35-33)/The Overseas Hi-Way Race (35-34) (12/28/1968)
WR-17. Racing to Racine (35-31)/The Carlsbad or Bust Bash (35-32) (1/4/1969)


Spin-offs and similar series

Penelope Pitstop
Penelope Pitstop

Penelope Pitstop is a fictional character who appeared in the Hanna-Barbera Productions animated series Wacky Races, and starred in the spin-off The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, voiced by Janet Waldo, 1969....
 and the Ant Hill Mob were spun off into another cartoon series in 1969, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an United States animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera that premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969....
. Also in 1969, Dick Dastardly and Muttley were given a spin-off, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines
Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines

Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS from September 13, 1969 to September 5, 1971....
 (sometimes mistakenly known as Stop The Pigeon, after the show's working title and theme song).

In Sydney
Sydney

Sydney is the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million . It is the List of Australian capital cities of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British Empire colony in Australia....
, Australia, Wacky Races debuted as a segment of a live afternoon program, Skeeter's Cartoon Corner on the Nine Network
Nine Network

The Nine Network, or Channel Nine, is an Australian Television broadcasting in Australia based in Willoughby, New South Wales, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney....
. The host, Skeeter the Paperboy (James Kemsley
James Kemsley

James Lawrence Kemsley Order of Australia was an Australian cartoonist who drew Jimmy Bancks' original creation, Ginger Meggs....
) would dial a child viewer's telephone number at the halfway point of an episode, and invite everyone in the household to vote for their favorite cars on a tally board. After the race, the young contestant, and the relative with the winning vehicle, would win prizes, including plastic model kits of the Wacky Races cars.

The basic idea behind Wacky Races was used again by Hanna-Barbera in later years. The late 1970s series Yogi's Space Race
Yogi's Space Race

Yogi's Space Race was a 90-minute Saturday morning cartoon program block produced by Hanna-Barbera from September 9, 1978 to September 1, 1979 for NBC....
 featured Hanna-Barbera stalwarts such as Huckleberry Hound
Huckleberry Hound

Hanna-Barbera's second series, made specifically for television, The Huckleberry Hound Show was a 1958 Syndication animated series. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound; Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo ; and Pixie and Dixie, two mice who in each short found a new way to outwit the cat Mr....
, Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear is a fictional anthropomorphic bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show....
, and others racing against each other across outer space (and fending off a villain and his canine sidekick). The new character of Mumbley was based on Muttley. In the early 1990s, the syndicated series Wake, Rattle and Roll featured a segment called "Fender Bender 500," which once again featured Dick Dastardly and Muttley (and a revamped "Mean Machine" here called the Dirty Truckster), only this time racing against Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear is a fictional anthropomorphic bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show....
, Winsome Witch, Quick Draw McGraw
Quick Draw McGraw

Quick Draw McGraw is the anthropomorphic cartoon horse starring in The Quick Draw McGraw Show, the third cartoon television production created by Hanna-Barbera following their success with The Ruff & Reddy Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show....
, and other Hanna-Barbera stars.

In the Latin American version of Laff-A-Lympics
Laff-A-Lympics

Laff-A-Lympics was the co-headlining segment, with Scooby-Doo, of the package Saturday morning cartoon series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, produced by Hanna-Barbera....
, the Dread Baron and Mumbly were Dick Dastardly and Muttley.

Video games

A Wacky Races
Wacky Races (video game)

was an Atlus platformer for the Nintendo Entertainment System. A Game Boy Color/Dreamcast/PlayStation 2 game of the same name came out in 2000 in video gaming, but was published by Infogrames and was a racing game....
 video game was produced in 1992 for the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Singapore, it was released as the ....
, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. Referred to during development as the ZX81 Colour and ZX82, the machine was launched as the ZX Spectrum by Sinclair to highlight the machine's colour display, compared with the black-and-white of its predec...
 and Commodore 64
Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer released by Commodore International in August, 1982, at a price of United States dollar595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore MAX Machine, the C64 features 64 kilobytes of Random-access memory with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible computers of tha...
 in which the player took the role of Muttley, sent on missions from Dick Dastardly to defeat the other racers. A Mega Drive/Sega Genesis game was also developed, but cancelled before release. A video game called Wacky Races Starring Dastardly and Muttley
Wacky Races Starring Dastardly and Muttley (PS2 Game)

Wacky Races Starring Dastardly and Muttley is a Playstation 2 game released in 2001. It was made by Infogrames and distributed by Warner Brothers....
 was released in 2001 for the PS2. This is one of the more notable games in the series. this game featured all the characters from the series playable with their vehicles. This game also had a variety of modes such as Arcade Mode, Adventure mode, and finally Battle Arena. this game allowed multi player for up to 4 people. Voices for the video games' renditions of the characters included Jim Cummings
Jim Cummings

James Jonah "Jim" Cummings is a two-time Annie Award-nominated United States voice acting.Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Cummings relocated to New Orleans, where he worked on the assembly of Mardi Gras floats....
 as Dick Dastardly, Clyde, Private Meekly, Big Gruesome, Rock Slag, and Gravel Slag; Billy West as Muttley and Little Gruesome, Janet Waldo
Janet Waldo

Janet Waldo is an American actress and voice artist with a career encompassing radio, television, animation and live-action films. Some sources say she was born on February 4, 1918 in Grandview, Washington....
 as Penelope Pitstop, John Stephenson
John Stephenson

John Stephenson may refer to:*John Stephenson , American voice actor*John Stephenson , American baseball catcher*John Stephenson , a 19th century Irish-American coachbuilder who created the street railway...
 as Luke, Scott Innes
Scott Innes

Scott Innes is an United States voice actor.He became known as the new voice of Scooby-Doo in the Scooby-Doo#Direct-to-video_films made between 1997 and 2001....
 as Professor Pat Pending, Gregg Berger
Gregg Berger

Gregg Berger is a St. Louis native known for his roles in both TV and video games.He is also a music teacher at Ricci Middle School.There is a strong possibility that he will be voicing Jecht in the upcoming game Dissidia: Final Fantasy....
 as the narrator, and the late Greg Burson
Greg Burson

Greg Burson was an American voice actor....
 as the Red Max, Sergeant Blast, Peter Perfect and Rufus Ruffcut.

Later in 2007, another game called Wacky Races: Mad Motors for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a History of video game consoles video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation of video game consoles....
 was released by Blast on June 12th.

A new video game for the Wii
Wii

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo. As a History of video game consoles console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3....
 and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS

The is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in 2004 in video gaming in Canada, the United States, and Japan....
 consoles titled Wacky Races: Crash and Dash was released on 27 June 2008. This latest outing was developed by Eidos.

DVD releases

A three-disc DVD release of the complete series was made available in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 on August 10, 2001 and had both English and Japanese audio. In Britain
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Warner released a three-disc set with no extra features, which was only available in Virgin Megastore
Virgin Megastore

Virgin Megastores is an international chain of record shops, founded by Sir Richard Branson on London's Oxford Street in January or February 1971 ....
s. The complete box set of Wacky Races was released on July 31, 2006 as an HMV exclusive but is essentially the standard Volumes 1-3 with no extras.

Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video

Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . It was re-named Warner Home Video in 1980....
 released the entire series, with commentaries and other extras, in a DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
 box set on October 26, 2004.

DVD NameEp #Release DateAdditional Information
Wacky Races- The Complete Series 34 October 19 2004
  • Commentary on various episodes
  • Rearview Mirror: A Look Back at Wacky Races (retrospective documentary)
  • Spin-Out Spin-Offs (featurette on the spin-off shows Dastardly and Muttley and Their Flying Machines and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop)
  • Wacky Facts Trivia Track (pop-up trivia over episodes "See-Saw to Arkansas and" "Creepy Trip to Lemon Twist")


Race results

The show gave the results of each race at the end of each episode, (the first, second, and third placings are given by the narrator, and we sometimes see the other cars go past the finish line). The show never indicated a particular scoring system or way to determine who won the Wacky Races as a whole. To win, one did not actually need to be in one's assigned vehicle; apparently all that was necessary was for the driver to cross the finish line in a conveyance of some sort (a flying carpet or a giant ice cube would do), although racers were apparently prohibited from simply walking across. Oddly, however, disqualification would result if a driver crossed the finish line "in the wrong vehicle." The cumulative totals for first, second, and third place finishes for each contestant are presented below:

ContestantCar #1st2nd3rd
The Arkansas Chugabug08414
The Army Surplus Special06310
The Boulder Mobile01383
The Bulletproof Bomb07452
The Buzzwagon10364
The Compact Pussycat05425
The Convert-A-Car03325
The Creepy Coupe02336
The Crimson Haybailer04343
The Mean Machine00000
The Turbo Terrific09422


The Anthill Mob in their Bullet Proof Bomb, Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chugabug, Peter Perfect in The Turbo Terrific, and Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat, hold a joint record for the most wins, each finishing first four times. The record for the most second places is held by the Slag Brothers in the Boulder Mobile, with eight, whilst Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth have come in second six times. The Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe, hold the record for the most third places, with six. However, the Slag Brothers score the highest overall score, with 28, followed by the Buzzwagon with 25, and the Bulletproof Bomb with 24. According to FIA's Formula One pointscoring systems for the current years of the show, the final standings would be exactly the same, scoring 9 points to 1st place, 6 to 2nd and 4 to 3rd, the Slag Brothers would finish with 87 points, followed by the Buzzwagon with 79, and the Bulletproof Bomb with 74.

Cultural references


  • Wacky Races has had an influence on Japanese animation. At least three anime
    Anime

    is animation in Japan and considered to be "Japanese animation" in the rest of the world. Anime dates from about 1917.Anime, in addition to manga , is extremely popular in Japan and well known throughout the world....
     shows have produced a Wacky Races-style special, complete with wacky cars usually based on a series prop. During the '80s, animation production house Artmic (now AIC) produced Scramble Wars, starring the super deformed
    Super deformed

    Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble small children....
     versions of characters from Bubblegum Crisis
    Bubblegum Crisis

    is a cyberpunk-style anime set in a future, post-disaster Tokyo, called "Megatokyo". The series has a manga adaptation....
    , Gall Force
    Gall Force

    is a group of science fiction anime Original Video Animation series by the studio Artmic, with production by Youmex and Anime International Company....
     and other shows that Artmic created. Bandai
    Bandai

    is a Japanese toy making company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third largest producer of toys. Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs....
     animation house Sunrise
    Sunrise (company)

    is a Japanese anime studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios....
     produced a similar special, as part of the SD Gundam
    Gundam

    is a metaseries of Japanese anime, featuring giant robots, or "mecha", created by Sunrise studios. The series started in April 1979 as a TV series called Mobile Suit Gundam, and later became a franchise name with more sequels, prequels, side stories and alternative timelines, published and aired in various media including TV anime, OVA, ma...
     OVA series of self-parodies of Sunrise's Gundam
    Gundam

    is a metaseries of Japanese anime, featuring giant robots, or "mecha", created by Sunrise studios. The series started in April 1979 as a TV series called Mobile Suit Gundam, and later became a franchise name with more sequels, prequels, side stories and alternative timelines, published and aired in various media including TV anime, OVA, ma...
     series. This is perhaps the most direct homage
    Homage

    Homage is generally used in modern English language to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom one feels indebted. In this sense, a reference within a creative work to someone who greatly influenced the artist would be an homage....
     to Wacky Races, as the episode transforms one of the characters, the mad ace Yazan Gable of Zeta Gundam, into a clear Dick Dastardly homage (including oversized chin) and another villain as his Muttley-esque sidekick, complete with a dog-like snout and a raspy, hushed laugh. In 1993, Tatsunoko Productions released a Wacky Races-styled OVA special featuring the characters from the popular and long running Time Bokan
    Time Bokan

    is a Japanese anime series first aired on Fuji TV from October 4, 1975 to December 25, 1976 throughout Japan every Saturday at 6:30pm, with a total of 61 30-minute episodes....
     franchise and its spin-offs, Yatterman, Zendaman, and Otasukeman. Dotto Koni-Chan also dedicates one episode sketch to the cartoon.
  • The animated series Dexter's Laboratory
    Dexter's Laboratory

    Dexter's Laboratory is an Annie Award-winning American list of animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky about a boy genius named Dexter, who has a secret laboratory hidden behind a bookshelf in his bedroom....
     featured a parody of Wacky Races in the episode "Dexter's Wacky Races," featuring the show's major cast members (Dexter, Mandark, Mandark's mother and father, Dexter's mother and father, Dee Dee and Koosy, Monkey and Agent Honeydew, and the Justice Friends) racing against each other in a road rally to Burbank, California
    Burbank, California

    Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 100,316 at the United States Census, 2000.Burbank is located in the eastern region of the San Fernando Valley, north of Downtown Los Angeles, California....
    . The opening credits of Wacky Races and the show's narrator are also parodied here.
  • A portion of the animated movie Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf
    Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf

    Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf is a 1988 TV film produced by Hanna-Barbera, directed by Ray Patterson and written by Jim Ryan. It stars the voices of Casey Kasem, Don Messick, and Hamilton Camp....
     is loosely based on Wacky Races.
  • In ReBoot
    ReBoot

    ReBoot is a Canada Computer-generated imagery-animated series action-adventure television series that originally aired from 1994 to 2001. It was produced by Vancouver-based production company Mainframe Entertainment, and created by Gavin Blair, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell and John Grace, with the visuals designed by Brendan McCarthy after...
    , season 3, Cyrus reboots as a parody toy of Dick Dastardly and Frisket reboots as a parody toy of Muttley. In the same episode, the user is Penelope Pitstop, who only utters her famous, high-pitched, "Help!"
  • In one episode of Duck Dodgers
    Duck Dodgers

    Duck Dodgers is the meta-fictional star of a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. He is actually the famous cartoon star Daffy Duck, cast in the role of an intergalactic future "hero"....
    , the title character
    Daffy Duck

    Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon fictional character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Daffy was the first of the new breed of "screwball comedy film" characters that emerged in the late 1930s to supplant traditional everyman characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Popeye, who were more popular ear...
     turns himself into Muttley in the virtual reality game.
  • Life-size working replicas of the vehicles have been built in the UK and appear annually at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed
    Goodwood Festival of Speed

    The Goodwood Festival of Speed, commonly abbreviated as FoS and referred within the United Kingdom as the Festival of Speed, is an annual hillclimbing featuring historic motor racing vehicles that is held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England....
    , with new additions being added each year. 2008 sees the last of the cars (the Anthill Mob in the Bulletproof Bomb 07) added to the collection thereby becoming the complete set.
  • Brazilian band Irmãos Rocha is named after the Slag Brothers. Irmãos Rocha means literally "Rock Brothers," and "Rocha" is a common surname in Brazil.
  • Underground rapper Daniel Dumile
    Daniel Dumile

    Daniel Dumile is a United Kingdom United States Hip hop music artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM , where the "MF" stood for "Metal Face"/"Metal Fingers"....
     makes a reference to "Dick Dastardly and Muttley with sick laughter" in the song "Accordion" on his collaboration album Madvillainy
    Madvillainy

    Madvillainy is the debut album by United States hip hop music duo Madvillain, a group consisting of MF DOOM and Madlib . It was released on March 24, 2004 on Stones Throw Records to overwhelmingly positive reviews....
     with producer Madlib
    Madlib

    Madlib is a California-based DJ, multi-instrumentalist, rapping, and record producer. Known under a plethora of pseudonyms, he is one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed hip hop production of the 2000s and has collaborated with a myriad of hip hop artists, including The Alkaholiks, Mos Def, De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Talib Kweli...
    .
  • Underground rapper Saafir
    Saafir

    Reggie Gibson, better known as Saafir is an emcee, producer and actor from Oakland, California. After moving from Fresno, California to Oakland, he lived with Tupac Shakur and became a dancer for Digital Underground....
     on the song "Swig of the Stew" from his debut album Boxcar Sessions, claims that "Dick Dastardly could never've mastered me."
  • British rapper Jehst
    Jehst

    William G. Shields, better known as Jehst or a slew of aliases including The High Plains Drifter and Jay Star, is an English Rapping and co-founder of hip hop label YNR Productions....
     on the song "Nouveau Riche" claims he is "The Dick Dastardly of hip hop, I've got my eye on Penelope Pitstop
    Penelope Pitstop

    Penelope Pitstop is a fictional character who appeared in the Hanna-Barbera Productions animated series Wacky Races, and starred in the spin-off The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, voiced by Janet Waldo, 1969....
    ."
  • British cabaret punk band The Bus Station Loonies
    Bus Station Loonies

    The Bus Station Loonies are a 'cabaret Punk rock' band from Plymouth, UK. They have been described as a cross between Dead Kennedys, Undertones, Alberto y lost trios Paranoias and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band....
     feature a track "Dick Dastardly" on their debut album "Mad Frank's Zonal Disco" (Ruptured Ambitions 1999), containing several references to various characters throughout.
  • German Formula One driver Michael Schumacher has been nicknamed Dick Dastardly by some journalists covering F1 races not only because of his prominent chin but also those controversial maneuvers which have thrown faster cars off the track.
  • The English adult, black humour
    Black comedy

    file:Hopscotch to oblivion.jpgBlack comedy is a sub-genre of comedy and satire in which topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo are treated in a satirical or humorous manner while retaining its seriousness....
     and satire comic Viz
    Viz (comic)

    Viz is a popular United Kingdom comic magazine which has been running since 1979.The comic's style parodies the strait-laced British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with incongruous language, crude toilet humour, black comedy and either Sexual intercourse or violence storylines....
     had a one-off parody strip called "Wacky Racists" with David Irving as Dick Dastardly and Unity Mitford as Penelope Pitstop and comedian Bernard Manning
    Bernard Manning

    Bernard John Manning was an England Stand-up comedy. He was born and brought up in Manchester in North West England.Manning courted controversy because his act often contained material involving ethnic stereotypes and minority groups....
    .
  • In the "Dabba Don" episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law
    Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law

    Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is a United States animated television series comedy created by Williams Street that aired on Cartoon Network during its Adult Swim late night programming block....
    , the Ant Hill Mob appear briefly, shooting Mighty Mightor from their Bulletproof Bomb, apparently carrying out orders from Fred Flintstone
    Fred Flintstone

    Frederick Joseph "Fred" Flintstone is a fictional character who originated in the animated cartoon sitcom The Flintstones on American Broadcasting Company....
    .
  • The second season episode of the MTV's Latin America animated series Alejo y Valentina: "La carrera loca" ("The Wacky Race") is a tribute to Wacky Races, where the main cast of the series compete in a race with vehicles resembling the ones for Wacky Races (Valentina in the Compact Pussycat, Carlitox and Colorín in the Creepy Coupe, etc.).
  • A story arc in the online game City of Heroes
    City of Heroes

    City of Heroes is a MMORPG based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft. The game was launched in North America on April 28, 2004 and in Europe on 4 February 2005 with English language, German language and French language servers....
     has villains named after Wacky Races characters (Rufus of Perez, Slag of Skywyay, etc.).
  • In an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks
    Never Mind the Buzzcocks

    Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game show with a popular music and rock music theme, currently presented by Simon Amstell, starring Phill Jupitus and a weekly guest team captain, and produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC....
    , John Barrowman mentioned a picture of the Sugababes to feature Dick Dasterly, Muttley and Penelope Pitstop.
  • The Johnny Test
    Johnny Test

    Johnny Test is an animated television series on Cartoon Network and formerly Kids' WB. It premiered on September 17, 2005. Five months later, it was introduced to Cartoon Network on January 14, 2006 and then on June 5, 2006, shown every day....
     episode, "Johnny Cart Racing", is an all-out parody of Wacky Races.


See also

  • Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines
    Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines

    Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS from September 13, 1969 to September 5, 1971....
  • Laff-A-Lympics
    Laff-A-Lympics

    Laff-A-Lympics was the co-headlining segment, with Scooby-Doo, of the package Saturday morning cartoon series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, produced by Hanna-Barbera....
  • The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
    The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

    The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an United States animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera that premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969....
  • Yogi's Treasure Hunt
    Yogi's Treasure Hunt

    Yogi's Treasure Hunt was a segment on The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera and later as a separate full series produced by Hanna-Barbera....


External links

  • - cached copy from Internet Archives