Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch
| Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre |
Animation Adventure Comedy |
| Written by | Larz Bourne Len Janson Chuck Menville Robert Ogle Dalton Sandifer |
| Directed by | Charles A. Nichols |
| Voices of |
Frank Welker Don Messick Lennie Weinrib Paul Winchell Judy Strangis |
| Composer(s) | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 13 (39 segments) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer(s) | Iwao Takamoto |
| Running time | 30 minutes (6 minutes per segment) |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor |
Taft Broadcasting (original) Worldvision Enterprises (former) Great American Broadcasting (former) Turner Entertainment (former) Warner Bros. Television Distribution (current) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 7, 1974 – August 30, 1975 |
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 7, 1974 to August 30, 1975. It aired from 8:30-9:00 am, opposite the popular The Bugs Bunny Show. A total of 39 six-minute installments of the show were made (3 aired per show).
In the 80s, repeats were shown on USA Cartoon Express and later resurfaced on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Since the show aired on NBC, Wheelie sometimes "imitated" the network's trademark "chimes". This was the first and only Hanna-Barbera series to feature no humans and animals in it.
The series focuses on Wheelie, a red superhero Volkswagen Beetle, and his girlfriend Rota Ree (a pun on the "rotary engine"). Wheelie made his living as a professional - and quite successful - racing and stunt car. Wheelie only speaks in body sound effects, unlike the other characters in the show, but also emoted by his honking language and displaying symbols across his windshield monitor showing his inner thoughts such as a heart for love or a lightbulb for an idea. Wheelie could also produce any form of prop needed from his hood latch the use of special mechanized hands, much like Inspector Gadget would later.
Wheelie's regular nemeses were a 4-member motorcycle agency called the Chopper Bunch which included the leader Chopper (who was jealous of Wheelie and had a spiked motorcycle helmet for a head), Revs (a sputtering three-wheeled motorcycle who often mixed up his words), Hi-Riser (a tall bike but shorter in brains), and Scrambles (a small minibike who acted more like the good kid caught up in the wrong crowd).
Two other characters were used on occasion to keep the Chopper Bunch in line. They were Captain Tough, a hulking Police 4x4 vehicle, and police officer Fishtail, who is a motorcycle.
A seven-issue comic book (based on the show) from Charlton Comics was published from July 1975 to July 1976. The first five issues featured some of the earliest published artwork of John Byrne (#2-4) and Joe Staton (#1,#5).
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