Wacky Races is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with Heatter-Quigley Productions. It aired on CBS as part of its Saturday-morning schedule from September 14, 1968, to January 4, 1969, and then reruns the next season. 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 film The Great Race. This was the only non-game show produced by Heatter-Quigley; the show was intended as a game show in which children would guess the winner of each race, and those who answered correctly would win prizes, but CBS dropped these elements during development. The cartoon had many regular characters, with 23 people and animals on the 11 race cars. After its network run on CBS, Wacky Races ran in syndication from 1976 to 1982. Seventeen 20-minute episodes were produced, with each of them featuring two 10-minute segments. The series spawned numerous spin-offs featuring Dick Dastardly through the years, the most similar in theme being Fender Bender 500 in 1990. In 2017, the series was remade as a reboot first released on Boomerang's video on demand service. It subsequently aired on Cartoon Network in 2018.
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 North America as the race announcer (voiced by Dave Willock) talks about the race while interacting with the racers. The racers consist of:
The Slag Brothers, Rock and Gravel (vocal effects provided by Daws Butler and Don Messick), two cavemen that drive the Boulder Mobile (1); their car is made out of rock and the brothers (who talk in caveman-like gibberish but with occasional intelligible words) 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. Rock and Gravel have long body hair that covers their body except for their noses, arms, and legs. The Gruesome Twosome, Tiny "Big Gruesome" (voiced by Daws Butler) and Bela "Little Gruesome" (voiced by Don Messick), who are monsters that drive the Creepy Coupe (2); their horror-themed car includes a small bell tower inhabited by a fire-breathing dragon, bats, ghosts, and other creatures. The Creepy Coupe's special booster is "dragon power", with the dragon acting as a RATO unit. Professor Pat Pending (voiced by Don Messick), an inventor who drives the Convert-a-Car (3); he can transform his car into pretty much anything that moves. The Red Max (voiced by Daws Butler), a Manfred von Richthofen–styled aviator who speaks with a German accent that drives car/airplane hybrid called the Crimson Haybaler (4); his vehicle is able to fly, although only for short distances in ground effect. His name is a portmanteau of Red Baron and Blue Max. Penelope Pitstop (voiced by Janet Waldo), the lone female driver, in a 1930s racing costume that drives the Compact Pussycat (5); a Southern belle, Penelope seems more concerned with her looks than with racing and often gets herself into trouble. Nevertheless, she is a skilled racer. Sergeant Blast (voiced by Daws Butler) and Private Meekly (voiced by Paul Winchell), two soldiers in an armored car/tank hybrid called the Army Surplus Special (6); the Sergeant uses "fire power" (i.e. shooting cannonballs from his turret) to temporarily boost power in the car. The Ant Hill Mob, a group of seven dwarf gangsters that is composed of Clyde (the gang leader who is voiced by Paul Winchell), Ring-A-Ding (voiced by Don Messick), Rug Bug Benny, Mac, Danny, Kirby and Willy, in the Bulletproof Bomb (7); they are sometimes preoccupied with getting caught by the police and are able to use "getaway power", which involves all the gangsters (except for Clyde) extending their legs through the bottom of the car and running. Lazy Luke (voiced by John Stephenson), a barefoot hillbilly, and Blubber Bear (vocal effects provided by John Stephenson), a timid, cry-baby brown bear, in the Arkansas Chuggabug (8); Luke maneuvers the steering wheel with his feet and his car is steam-powered from an old rickety boiler. Blubber has been known to blow up a balloon and use it as an air jet for briefly increased speed. Peter Perfect (voiced by Daws Butler), a gentlemanly racer in the phallic-shaped Turbo Terrific (9); Peter is strong, handsome and hyper-masculine, 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 (voiced by Daws Butler), a lumberjack and his beaver companion Sawtooth (vocal effects provided by Don Messick) in the Buzz Wagon (10); their car, entirely made of wood, features four circular saw blades as wheels and Sawtooth is able to cut through obstacles (such as trees and other objects) at super-high speed. Dick Dastardly (voiced by Paul Winchell), an archetypal mustache-twirling villain and his wheezily snickering dog Muttley (voiced by Don Messick) in the Mean Machine (00); 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. In the opening title sequence, Dastardly attempts to stall the racers by chaining their cars to a pole, but then he accidentally shifts his car into reverse, bumps into and breaks the pole and frees the others as the race begins.
Voice cast Daws Butler as Rock Slag, Big Gruesome, Red Max, Sergeant Blast, Peter Perfect, Rufus Ruffcut, Various Don Messick as Muttley, Professor Pat Pending, Gravel Slag, Little Gruesome, Ring-a-Ding, Sawtooth, Various John Stephenson as Lazy Luke, Blubber Bear, Various Janet Waldo as Penelope Pitstop, Various Dave Willock as the Narrator Paul Winchell as Dick Dastardly, Clyde, Private Meekly, Various
Episodes
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