Ant Hill Mob
| Wacky Races | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre |
Racing Comedy Fantasy |
| Written by |
Larz Bourne Dalton Sandifer Tom Dagenais Michael Maltese |
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices of |
Paul Winchell Don Messick Janet Waldo Daws Butler John Stephenson Dave Willock |
| Narrated by | Dave Willock |
| Composer(s) | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 17 (34 segments) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Editor(s) |
Richard Allen Milton Krear |
| Running time | 20 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Hanna-Barbera Heatter-Quigley Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | September 14, 1968 – January 4, 1969 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by |
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (1969–1970) Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (1969–1970) |
Wacky Races is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series, inspired by the 1965 slapstick comedy film The Great Race, features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer."
The cartoon had a large number of 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. 17 episodes were produced, with each episode featuring two different races.
The villain of the series drives a purple, rocket-powered car with an abundance of concealed weapons and the ability to fly. Dick Dastardly is an archetypal mustache-twirling villain; Muttley is his wheezily snickering dog henchman. 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 never sees victory.
The other racers include
One of the unused plans for the series was that the races would be part of a live-action quiz show made by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley Productions in which contestants would bet on which Wacky Racer would cross the finish line first. Although the game show concept was eventually scrapped, 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.
Creepy Trip to Lemon Twist (35–2)
Beat the Clock to Yellow Rock (35–4)
Real Gone Ape (35–8)
Free Wheeling to Wheeling (35–10)
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Wikipedia