Wacky Races Online

Wacky Races is one of the best cartoons of the 60s. It contains a bunch of fairly silly racers who are all competing for being the world's wackiest racer. Each cartoon contains a lot of funny obstacles, many of which are created by the racer Dick Dastardly in car double zero. Often times Dick cheats and will create road blocks and such to slow down the other racers. In the end, he always ends up coming in dead last. This is a very inspired cartoon that is good for a laugh or two.

One of the more influential of the mid-60s Hanna-Barbara cartoons, this fondly remembered pure piece of action showed a dozen racers using tricked up racers that would make James Bond's Q drool - and if you ever want to start a discussion among middle aged cartoon freaks, ask them to name the racers and their vehicles. Number one was the Bouldermobile, driven by Rock and Gravel. It was a rock on wheels, sort of like what Fred Flintstone drove, only a little less sophisticated. As were Rock and Gravel. Number two was the Creepy Coupe, a haunted house on wheels (haunted mobile home?) The Gruesome Twosome drove, but the various supernatural inhabitants of the car did all the work, from additional speed to the occasional dirty trick. Number three was the Convertacar, driven by Professor Pat Pending. A transformer that makes Optimus Prime look like a wannabe, this rolling Swiss army knife could do just about anything but win consistently. Number four was the Crimson Haybailer, driven by the prerequisite Prussian, WWI ace The Red Max. Couldn't have a show based on The Great Race without a German, after all. His vehicle had one of the better names, but one of the poorer vehicles, lacking most of the comic accessories of the others. Number five was the Compact Pussycat, driven by Penelope Pitstop, southern belle and token female. More an automated beauty salon on wheels than a racer, it did not make the jump to the sequel show, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Number six was The Army Surplus Special, driven by Sargeant Blast and Private Meekly. It may not have been the fastest, but it carried the most firepower. Number seven is the vehicle which is sure to cause the most geeky argument. The Ant Hill Mob drives a vehicle called "their Bulletproof Bomb" in the opening credits - but which is referred to during one of the episodes as The Roaring Plenty. Whatever the name, it had no special features except for the hole in the floor which allowed the Mob to put their collective feet to good use. This team also would find a second chance at stardom in The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Number eight, The Arkansas Chugabug, was the pride and joy of hillbilly Luke and his cowardly bear, Blubber. Hard to say what needed the most explanation - how a plank on wheels with a potbellied stove could go 0-60 in 5 seconds, or how Luke managed to steer it. Number nine was the Turbo Terrific, driven by Peter Perfect. Another great name for a car with no real ability except to go to pieces on a regular basis. Number ten was The Buzzwagon, driven by Rufus Ruffcut and his beaver co-pilot, Sawtooth. The car I have always thought of as the Canadian entry, this log cabin with saw-blade wheels must have been hard on the backside, but I imagine the superhumanly strong Rufus could handle it. Certainly he had no problems with traction. Finally, car 00 was The Mean Machine, driven by Dick Dastardly and Muttley. As versatile as the Convertacar and as well armed as the Surplus Special, it also went to pieces far too often, due to its villainous driver's evil plans. Dick and Muttley would get their own show together, but it would be Muttley with his distinctive snicker who would go on to appear again and again in other cartoons.

A Hanna-Barbera classic, i would probably rate this in the top 5 H-B cartoons of all time. Its a half hour show, with about 8 wild looking cars duelling out to the end. Dick Dastardly was H-B's Wile E. Coyote, using many contraptions to try and stop his opponents. Only difference was that Dick's partner, the snikering Muttley, is there to openly laugh at Dick's foul ups. Cartoon stands the test of time, being funny today as much as it was when it first aired. My personal favorite was the Ant Hill Mob.

I love this show! It was so hilarious, and brilliant. Dick Dastardly, and Muttley (with his hilarious snickering when Dasterdly had a foul up) were HILARIOUS!! I loved it how Dastardly cheated all the time (and this was when he was winning too!!) when he was in the lead. It was too funny!! The Ant Hill Mob were cool too. This show also had 2 surprisingly good spinoff shows as well ("Dastardly, and Muttley in Their Flying Machines", and "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop). THIS SHOW RULED!!!

You had the Flintstones, which was essentially an animated version of the Honeymooners, and you had the Jetsons, which was essentially a futuristic version of the Flintstones. You had Bugs and Daffy, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker and Popeye and Bluto, but nothing comes close to the Wacky Races for originality.

For the uinitiated, each week there is a "wacky race" to determine the "world's wackiest racer." A dozen cars participate, each with a unique characteristic. There's Dick Dastardly, and his sidekick, Muttley; Penelope Pitstop and her compact-on-wheels; Peter Perfect and his turbo-charged (and "symbolic") long-nosed racing car, and a host of other "Wackos" who became like an extended family of crazy uncles to a generation of youngsters.

The Hanna-Barbera series "The Wacky Races" emerged as a slapstick antidote to the violent superhero shows which had saturated the overall landscape of Saturday Morning cartoons during the 1967-1968 season,and when it premiered as part of the brilliant CBS-TV line-up of Saturday Morning shows at the height of the 1968-1969 season,it set off some sort of precedent when a season after its debut,but spun off not one but two other cartoons while continuing its run on the network. The series ran on CBS-TV from the premiere episode of the series on September 14,1968 through the final installment of the series on September 5,1970 with repeated episodes from the first season produced by Hanna-Barbera productions. This was however one of the original Hanna-Barbera potpourri of shows that basically recycled the same formula which assembled a huge cast of characters and involved them in some kind of repetitious activity. The main antagonists in the never ending worldwide car race were the racers themselves and their situations,and to put it bluntly was repeated three times in various carbon copy format during the entire decade of the 1970's(which in turned several animation studios used the same formula for various shows...Filmation and DePatie-Freleng took the same story lines and characters to put in their own shows).

Basically,if you seen one episode of "Wacky Races",you've seen them all,since they rigidly in just about every episode follows the same plot each time:and this was a bunch of animated "theme" automobiles raced across various parts of the country and the world amid manic antics. As far as the characters were concerned they consisted of the following. There was the log-car driven by a beaver and a lumberjack; a spooky-mansion car driven by monsters;an Appalachian backporch car driven by a bunch of hillbillies and a bear;a car with a big engine driven by a handsome young stud;a dainty pink car driven by a female counterpart(Penelope Pitstop);a roadster driven a Ant Hill Mob,a gang of dwarfes in 1920's style clothing. Each episodes follows the same recipe as with one car ahead,and then the others that would used special tricks to catch up. But the straw that stirred the drink and what made the show interesting to watch was the duo of Dick Dastardly and his assistant snickering dog Muttley in their Mean Machine always trying to find ways to cheat,but at the end of each episode he would always failed miserably. The following year,Hanna-Barbera made a spin-off series of "Wacky Races" titled "Dastardly and Muttley" which featured these two characters as part of a squad of villainous World War I flying aces who flew a single four-seater plane(The other two pilots had weird speech impediments as their character shtick.). The pilots were given the job of stopping a heroic carrier pigeon and just like in about every episode was repeated with Dastardly trying any scheme he can to stop the pigeon only with mixed results. The was definitely the version of The Road Runner and the Coyote but not nearly as clever visually. This was part of the CBS-TV schedule for the 1969-1970 season. The other "Wacky Races" spin-off that came around for the 1970-1971 season,"The Perils of Penelope Pitstop",was totally different from the rest of the pack,with one exception. In fact,it was one of the weirdest shows to ever appear on Saturday Mornings. This show was a combination of Snow White,and the combination of the 1930's serial The Perils of Pauline with just about every clinche every added for grand measure. They took two of the characters of Wacky Races;Penelope Pitstop and made the Ant Hill Mob her guardian protectors. In just about every episode she was also stalked,pursued,and sometimes captured by her evil guardian The Hooded Claw(voiced to perfection by Paul Lynde). The Ant Hill Mob was always riding in just a nick of time to her rescue. There was a strange undercurrent to the show too: since Penelope spent large proportions of each episode either tied up or otherwise in bondage. Not to mention some of the kinkiest S&M ever devised for a children's show. The series remained in repeated episodes until mid-1971,where CBS finally got rid of Wacky Races once and for all.

"Wacky Races" was created in response to the rather violent adventure/superhero cartoons of the previous two seasons, and even upon its premiere, it was blackballed by the watchdog group Action For Children's Television. They claimed that since it was bankrolled by game show producers Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley ("Hollywood Squares"), it was enticing children to place monetary wagers on the outcome of each of the show's 34 races. (Hogwash. I had the over/under on how many times Dick Dastardly's contraptions backfired on him.)

For all the atypical Hanna-Barbera use of repeat animation and low-budget movement, "Wacky Races" was still an unusual and entertaining cartoon which would beget such shows as "Bailey's Comets," "Laff-A-Lympics" and "Yogi's Space Race." A lot of the humor derived from Dastardly's machinations, although many of the other racers got to shine as well. In the Gold Key comics, Penelope Pitstop would eliminate Peter Perfect and Red Max by conveniently getting them to fight over her. That wasn't used in the show, although it should have. And it's dotted with great lines. When the narrator calls Dastardly "The Dracula of the drag strip," Dastardly counters "I resent that remark!" Narrator: "But do you deny it?" Dastardly: "No, I just resent it!" It's a comedy cartoon that doesn't forget it's a comedy cartoon, something that many cartoon shows of the 70s and 80s forgot.

And a bit of trivia, Dastardly did cross the finish line twice but was disqualified both times. The first time he extended the nose of the Mean Machine ahead of the others (yet in another episode, Rufus Ruffcut physically extended his neck to reach the finish line and the judges gave him the win--go figure). The second time, a chain reaction collision caused Dastardly and Muttley to get bounced into the Arkansas Chuggabug, which was in the lead. Dastardly also set a precedent the following year--being the first (and to anyone's knowledge, only) villain to get his own show, "Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines.

When I was five years old I never missed Wacky Races. Even though I'm now a grown man I still occasionally tape it. I think Dick Dastardly must be credited with introducing the phrase "drat and double drat" into the English language. My mother used to use old Dick as a piece of moral instruction telling me that he showed that people who cheat never win. They keep on doing remakes of cartoons with real actors these days so how about one of Wacky Races with say Rowan Atkinson as Dick Dastardly.

As a fan of Hanna/Barbera, I would watch a few of their TV series like "Scooby Doo" and "The Flintstones", and also films like "Charlotte's Web" and "Heidi's Song." I remember watching Wacky Races when it was the TV channel Teletoon a long, long time ago, and the lovely Penelope Pitstop and her "Compact Pussycat" was my favorite racer. Though I don't know why her car was called the "Compact Pussycat", it didn't looked like a cat.

The series had become successful, that they had made two spin-off series called "Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines" and "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop"; my favorite spin-off series is "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop". So overall, I love the show and it has become another Hanna/Barbera favorite. R.I.P, Bill and Joe.

When I was younger, and occasionally now on Cartoon Network this is a very good Hanna-Barbera cartoon. It's basically a cartoon about car races involving bizarre characters and vehicles used to win the local race. There are at least twelve drivers competing in the race wherever set. The drivers that I can remember as Penelope Pitstop in her girlie makeup car, The General and Leuitenant in the tank, Peter Perfect (the git), Professor Pat Pending in his high-tech machine car, The Gang (whatever their called) in their 30s car, and of course, the ever popular Dick Dastardly and Muttley in car zero. Every episode Dastardly and Muttley try to win but always stop to try and stop the others from winning, they should have just kept going! They obviously never won, which is a lesson, never cheat! It was number 100 on The 100 Greatest Cartoons. Very good!

I love wacky races. It is just about the only type of racing I actually enjoy. Believe it or not, fans, I can't stand Dick Dastardly. He didn't seem to have one ounce of humanity in him, and was willing to kill the other drivers to win. Because of this, it was hilarious to see his fiendish schemes go wrong.

Wacky Races is thin on plot, character and scenario. It is in fact just all the major characters of Hanna Barbera studio racing against each other.

But the main driving,no pun intended isn't the scenario or the characters in the series, they were all known up to that point. The main show is a classical ,yet less violent, who would win in a fight or in this case a race.

And I have to say it was exciting to see each team uses its own different methods to gain a edge against the other ones. As for the tricks they were in line with the style of their teams.

Over all this one great cross-over and you can enjoy it easy with all its slap-stick and fun and to add that see a first example of cross- over of beloved characters in our culture, which seems to have become an stable and obsession of modern day entertainment.

Wacky Races is, to put it one way or another, like no other auto race in the whole wide world. Almost everything about this cartoon is wacky (hence the title): The cars, the characters, the effects, I mean pretty much everything. And that's what makes it great. My favourite characters from this wacky cartoon are none other than those "double dealing do-badders", Dick Dastardly and his wheezing canine sidekick Muttley in the Mean Machine. While we're on the subject of favourite characters, my dad's favourites from this cartoon are the Slag Brothers in their Bouldermobile. They just crack him up. My favourite car, on the other hand, is Peter Perfect's Turbo Terrific, in spite of getting destroyed throughout the series. In short, it is a great cartoon, and is on my list of my favourite cartoons ever to have existed on the face of the earth, along with Inspector Gadget, Looney Tunes, and Tex Avery. A true cartoon classic. Ought not to be missed! 15/10 for this one.

As a kid in the 80s and early 90s, I would occasionally catch this cartoon show on TV - one of several Hanna Barbera programs that I remembered fondly from my childhood.

"Wacky Races" is a series about 11 racers that compete in locations throughout North America, resulting in wacky, unending adventures and wide ranges of tactics. Lots of excitement and fun, and I loved seeing the large cast of characters and each of their characteristics (kind of reminds me of a cartoon version of the movie The Cannonball Run).

While a more obscure Hanna Barbera cartoon, it is still better than the more recent cartoons dished out for kids nowadays.

Grade B+

This is one of my favourite Hanna-Barbera shows, it is just really entertaining and funny. The concept was great, and while there are a lot of things repeated story wise the visual gags and dialogue were constantly a delight. Whether it was Dick Dastardly's asides or Muttley's priceless mumbles and facial expressions, there was always a lot to chuckle about. Coupled with the writing and visual gags are the crisp animation and delightful music. I also loved the characters, Dastardly and Muttley aren't just characters in the show, in most ways they are the show, they constantly make me laugh, and I have always loved Penelope Pitstop as she is really beautiful and sexy. Overall, a really entertaining childhood favourite. 10/10 Bethany Cox

For only one year, this classic series featured eleven drivers and they tried to win the race. Featuring an all star cast of voice over actors including Janet Waldo, Paul Winchell, Daws Butler, Don Messick, and John Stevenson. Each race Dastardly and Muttley (Winchell and Messick respectfully) would try to cheat to win the race however, no matter what they do, they (esepectly Dastardly) would always get the worst of it. Meanwhile, the others would get sidetracked Dastardly's ideas and yet eventually return to the race to run up front. Now on occasion, they would show the viewers the finishing orders for the other ten drivers but it's usually the top three finishers only. Then the camera would pull back to see the end result of Dastardly's final idea. The series would eventually spawned not one but two spin-offs for Penelope (Waldo) and Dastardly just one year later. I highly recommend this classic series.

10 out of 10.

"Wacky Races" was an integral part of my Saturday mornings. It was awesome!!! Then, POOF it was gone, and I never got to see a whif of it for years and years. Later, someone told me it was buried due to complaints about racial stereotypes amongst all those goofy characters. Who was offended by what I have no idea. Once, I remember seeing a commercial for Quisp cereal where you could send in a boxtop and a little money and get a NICE Wacky Races car! I believe I ordered Dick Dastardly's car. Mom can back me up on this, we ordered the car...sent in the boxtop with the right amount of money, and IT NEVER CAME! I'm still mad. Imagine the price I could get for it today! (If I didn't manage to break it, like all my other toys!) I'll have to check the cartoon channels and see if it's on again, so I can retreat to my cozy childhood, cuz this adult crap is making me old!

I think this show is funnier and better than NASCAR.Its a great show for kids.Muttlys laughing is funny.I rate this show with Ed,Edd,and Eddy.

This can only be described as pure mental standstill. You know that you are not going to see anything new but somehow you get into the silly premise and just go with it. However, this is a one-time pleasure and after repeated viewings you get tired of the kind of lame puns and the static characters.

Of course, the two villains, Dick Dastardly and Muttley went on to the short-lived Flying Machines series, but they aren't really developed here and in this show there are too much emphasis on the race itself which is kind of boring. Do we really care who is going to win - not bloody likely. The reason you watch is because you want to see what crazy scheme Dastardly and Muttley come up with next.

There is another thing that is a little too much of a good thing. The constant narration is very annoying and it doesn't seem to have a point like in some cases of the "Flying Machines". Dick Dastardly does converse with the narrator but it seems that it is only put in for him to explain his scheme. This is of course a show for children, but I don't think the kids today would go for this. They wouldn't understand the puns and compared to the animated shows today, this looks like still photographs shown one after another.

So what we have here is daffy characters, a narrator and two fiends. Did they get an Emmy for this - what do you think? But still, good for one laugh.

I honestly can't stands this show. I love Hanna Barbera but this is so dumb. I dislike Penelope pitstop the most though. I like the ant hill mob and the cavemen but that's it.

I have always thought that the guy with the really long car was compensating for something... Well anyway I seen so much better from them than this and I just can't get into it its so boring.

Honestly it might be complete and utter garbage. Most of the people I can't stand and its literally the same thing every episode. It has absolutely nothing going for it in my opinion. It feels good to vent how much this frustrates me to you people

When I was five, this was one of my favorite cartoons--along with the followup series involving Dick Dastardly and the flying machines. I watched most every episode and carried memories of it being a good show into my adulthood. However, as I grew, I also came to realize that the quality of the Hanna-Barbera toons of the 60s-70s were absolutely abysmal. So I was left wondering just how good were the Dick Dastardly cartoons? I loved them as a kid but now realized they couldn't have been quite as good as I thought.

Well, a few years back, I had the chance to see some of them again on the Boomerang TV cable channel and was shocked to see just how terrible they really were. Not only were they very crudely animated, they simply weren't funny. But, considering I was only five, I guess I can be forgiven for having watched them. These wretched cartoons are only good for either very young kids who don't know any better or to be used in order to interrogate members of Al Qaeda--if they are shown this @#$&!! they are sure to beg for mercy and talk!

This review is practically identical to the one I posted for the Dick Dastardly and the Flying Machines show. Both starred a lot of the same characters as well as horrendous animation and writing. To me they are practically the same awful show! Don't watch this unless you are a masochist.

I remember watching this show in reruns as it aired a few years ago on Cartoon Network around 7:00 am. I had never heard of the series before, but it's obviously a spin-off on the highly successful "Laff-A-Lympics" that Hanna-Barbera did a while back involving several of their top characters teaming up and competing against each other as "The Yogi Yahooies", "The Scooby Doobies" and "The Really Rottens". All in all, every episode of Wacky Races was a fun 30 minutes and I even recall seeing Dick Dastardly actually WINNING a race one time and one time only.