Wacky Races (1968 TV series)
Wacky Races is a 1968 American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with all of the drivers hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer". The show was inspired by the 1965 comedy The Great Race.
The cartoon had many regular characters, with 23 people and animals spread among the 11 race cars. Wacky Races ran on CBS from September 14, 1968, to January 4, 1969, and in syndication from 1976 to 1982. Seventeen 20-minute episodes were produced, with each of them featuring two 10-minute segments.
In 2017, the series was remade for the reboot, airing on Boomerang.
Plot
The cartoon revolves around several racers with various themes who are each allowed to use strange gimmicks to compete against other racers in many races across the United States.Racers include:
- Dick Dastardly, an archetypal mustache-twirling villain and his wheezily snickering dog, Muttley, in the Mean Machine '; their sinister vehicle is a purple, rocket-powered car with an abundance of concealed weapons and the ability to fly. Dastardly's usual race strategy revolves around using the Mean Machine's great speed to get ahead of the other racers, and then setting a trap to stop them and maintain the lead, but most of his plans backfire, causing him to fall back into last place. Dastardly is the only racer who not only never wins, but never even finishes in the top three in any race. In the opening title sequence, Dastardly attempts to stall the racers by tying their cars to a tree, but then he accidentally shifts his car into reverse, bumps into the tree, and frees the others as the race begins.
- The Slag Brothers, Rock and Gravel, in a caveman-themed race car called the Boulder Mobile '; their car is made out of rock and the brothers power it up by hitting it on both sides with their clubs and are also able to re-build it from bare rock, always using their clubs.
- The Gruesome Twosome, Tiny "Big" and Bella "Little", who are monsters, in the Creepy Coupe '; their horror-themed car includes a small bell tower inhabited by a fire-breathing dragon, bats and other creatures.
- Professor Pat Pending, an inventor, in the Convert-a-Car '; he can transform his car into pretty much anything that moves.
- The Red Max, a Manfred von Richthofen-styled aviator who speaks with a German accent, in a car/plane hybrid called the Crimson Haybailer '; his vehicle is able to fly, although only for short distances.
- Penelope Pitstop, the lone female, in a 1930s racing costume in the Compact Pussycat '; a Southern belle, Penelope is more concerned with her looks than with racing and often gets herself into trouble.
- Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly in an armored car/tank hybrid called the Army Surplus Special '; the Sergeant uses "fire power" to power up the car.
- The Ant Hill Mob, a group of dwarf gangsters led by Clyde and is composed of him, Ring-A-Ding, Rug Bug Benny, Mac, Danny, Kirby and Willy, in the Bulletproof Bomb '; they are sometimes preoccupied with getting caught by the police and are able to use "getaway power", which involves all the gangsters extending their legs through the bottom of the car and running.
- Lazy Luke, a hillbilly, and Blubber Bear, a timid, crying bear, in the Arkansas Chuggabug '; Luke maneuvers the steering wheel with his bare feet and his car is steam-powered from an old rickety boiler.
- Peter Perfect, a gentlemanly racer, in the Turbo Terrific '; Peter is extremely strong but also very vain, and he often boasts about the virtues of his high-tech race car - which regularly falls to pieces seconds after he praises it. He is fond of Penelope and often helps her out.
- Rufus Ruffcut, a lumberjack, and his companion Sawtooth, a beaver, in the Buzz Wagon ; their car, entirely made of wood, features four circular saw blades as wheels, and Sawtooth is able to cut through obstacles at super high speed.
Production
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 never got past the concept stage.
Voice cast
- Paul Winchell – Dick Dastardly, Private Meekly, Clyde
- Don Messick – Muttley, Professor Pat Pending, Gravel Slag, Bella Gruesome, Ring-a-Ding, Sawtooth
- Daws Butler – Rock Slag, Tiny Gruesome, Red Max, Sergeant Blast, Peter Perfect, Rufus Ruffcut
- John Stephenson – Luke, Blubber Bear
- Janet Waldo – Penelope Pitstop
- Dave Willock – Commentator/Narrator
Episodes
Race results
The show gave the results of each race at the end of each episode as well as what happened with Dick Dastardly after his last scheme's failure. The show never indicated a particular scoring system or way to determine who won the Wacky Races as a whole. The cumulative totals for first-, second-, and third-place finishes for each contestant are presented below:| Contestants | Car Name | Car No. | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Top 3 |
| The Slag Brothers | The Boulder Mobile | 1 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 14 |
| Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth | The Buzzwagon | 10 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| The Gruesome Twosome | The Creepy Coupe | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| The Ant Hill Mob | The Bulletproof Bomb | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
| Penelope Pitstop | The Compact Pussycat | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| The Red Max | The Crimson Haybaler | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| Professor Pat Pending | The Convert-A-Car | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Lazy Luke and Blubber Bear | The Arkansas Chuggabug | 8 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Peter Perfect | The Turbo Terrific | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly | The Army Surplus Special | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Dick Dastardly and Muttley | The Mean Machine | 00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grand Totals | 34 | 34 | 34 | 102 |
Standings
Spin-offs and similar series
Penelope Pitstop and the Ant Hill Mob were spun off into another cartoon series in 1969 titled The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. In the same year, Dick Dastardly and Muttley were given a spin-off series titled Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. The series is sometimes mistakenly known as Stop the Pigeon, after the show's working title and theme song. Both series ran for a season each.In 2006, the pilot for a spin-off series titled Wacky Races Forever was produced for Cartoon Network. The series depicted a roster of both new and returning racers competing against each other. Penelope Pitstop and Peter Perfect had married and created Perfect Industries, the corporate sponsor of the new Wacky Races, whereas their children Parker and Piper competed in the race. Other characters included the Slag Brothers, Professor Pat Pending, a teenage version of the Gruesome Twosome, and Dick Dastardly and Muttley. The series was not picked up by Cartoon Network.
In 2016, DC Comics launched a comic series called Wacky Raceland. It was a dark and gritty reimagining of the series set after the Apocalypse in a similar vein to the Mad Max franchise. The comic ran for six issues from May to December 2016.
A reboot—also produced by Hanna-Barbera—was released on Boomerang's SVOD service in 2017. It also aired on the Boomerang channel in June 2017.
Films
Dick Dastardly and Muttley made an appearance in the Scooby-Doo feature film, Scoob!, released on the May 15 2020. Rock Slag and Gravel Slag made cameo appearances during the prehistoric gladiator scene. Various drawings of the Wacky Racers cameo on Dick Dastardly's prison cell on the wall during the credits.Video games
Various video games based on the series have been produced.- Wacky Races
- Wacky Races
- Wacky Races/Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley
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- '
Home video
A three-disc DVD release of the complete series was made available in Japan on August 10, 2001, and had both English and Japanese audio. In Britain, Warner released a three-disc set with no extra features, which was only available in Virgin Megastores. 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. The Australian release of Volume 1 and 2 was made available in 2005 and Volume 3 released in 2007.Warner Home Video released the entire series, with commentaries and other extras, in a DVD box set on October 19, 2004.
A two-and-a-half-hour VHS video was made available in 1996.
All 34 episodes can be purchased on the iTunes Store.
| DVD name | Episode # | Release date | Additional information |
| Wacky Races: The Complete Series | 34 | October 19, 2004 |
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Translated language titles
- Bosnian: Uvrnute trke
- Catalan: Els cotxes esbojarrats
- Dutch: Hotse-knotse-kneuzen-rally
- French: Les Fous du volant
- Frisian: Hotse-knotse-kneuzen-rally
- Galician: Os tolos do volante
- German: Autorennen Total
- Hungarian: Flúgos futam
- Italian: Le corse pazze
- Japanese: チキチキマシン猛レース – Chikichikimashin mō rēsu
- Polish: Odlotowe wyścigi
- Portuguese:
- * Portugal: A Mais Louca Corrida do Mundo
- * Brazil: Corrida Maluca
- Romanian: Curse Trăsnite
- Spanish: Los autos locos
- Serbian: Уврнуте трке
- Swedish: Fartdårarna
The cars and characters in other media
In 2006, the car manufacturer Vauxhall launched a TV commercial for the British market, parodying Wacky Races with a similar setup featuring Corsa cars. The commercial made several references to the cartoon as well as utilizing the show's theme music and Muttley's iconic snicker.
The English adult comic Viz had a one-off parody strip called "Wacky Racists" with David Irving as Dick Dastardly, Unity Mitford as Penelope Pitstop, Eugène Terre'Blanche as Lazy Luke, Oswald Mosley as Muttley, and comedian Bernard Manning in the "Fatcuntmobile".
In 2013, the car manufacturer Peugeot launched a TV commercial for the Brazilian market, featuring the cartoon characters in a real-life universe.
Wacky Races was also seen in the South Park episode "Handicar".