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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Kids TV
    Kids TV TV Shows - 1960s 2 Mins Read

    Wacky Races

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    1 9 6 8 – 1 9 6 9
    52 x 25 minute episodes

    One of the most popular cartoon series to come from the prolific studio of Hanna-Barbera, Wacky Races was loosely based on the Jack Lemmon/Tony Cutis movie The Great Race (1966).

    Eleven daredevil racers lined up each week to claim the title of ‘World’s Wackiest Racer’ and each week produced a different winner.

    This caused quite a stir in Great Britain when one school headmaster revealed that he had discovered his 12-14-year-old pupils ‘running a book’ on the weekly result.

    Nevertheless, the drivers drew up to the starting line each week regardless, and they were:

    01 – The Slag Brothers (Rock and Gravel) in the Bouldermobile
    02 – The Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe
    03 – Professor Pat Pending in the Ring-A-Ding Convert-a-Car
    04 – Red Max in the Crimson Haybailer
    05 – Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat
    06 – Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly in the Army Surplus Special
    07 – The Ant Hill Mob (Clyde, Ring-a-Ding, Danny, Mac, Rug Rug Benny, Willy and Kirby) in the Bullet-Proof Bomb
    08 – Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chug-a-Bug
    09 – Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific
    10 – Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth in the Buzz Wagon
    00 – Dick Dastardly and his sniggering canine sidekick, Muttley, in The Mean Machine

    Dick Dastardly and Muttley were the villains of the piece, whose sole aim was to win every race by hook or by crook. Drat and Double drat!

    As the first “gang” cartoon, Wacky Races established what would become a Hanna-Barbera tradition. With such a multitude of characters, the show could bounce from scene to scene with enough speed to please kids with even the shortest attention spans.

    Two spin-off serials followed – The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Dastardly and Muttley In Their Flying Machines.

    Dick Dastardly
    Paul Winchell
    Muttley

    Don Messick
    Penelope Pitstop

    Janet Waldo
    Peter Perfect

    Daws Butler
    The Boulder Brothers

    Don Messick
    Big Gruesome

    Daws Butler
    Little Gruesome

    Don Messick
    Professor Pat Pending

    Don Messick
    The Red Max

    Paul Winchell
    The Ant Hill Mob

    Mel Blanc
    Rufus Ruffcut

    Daws Butler
    Sarge

    Daws Butler
    Luke 

    John Stephenson
    Blubber Bear

    John Stephenson
    Narrator

    Dave Willock

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