Wacky Races (1968 TV series)
Eleven wacky cars race for the title of World's Wackiest Racer.
Wacky Races is an American animated comedy series from Hanna-Barbera Productions and Heatter-Quigley Productions. It originally ran on CBS Saturday mornings from September 14, 1968, to January 4, 1969, with reruns airing the following season. The show follows 11 distinct cars competing in road rallies across North America, each driver vying for the title of "World's Wackiest Racer." The concept was inspired by the 1965 film *The Great Race*. This was Heatter-Quigley's only non-game show; it was initially conceived as a game show where children would predict race winners for prizes, but CBS removed those elements during development.
The cartoon features 23 regular characters (people and animals) spread across the 11 vehicles. After its CBS run, it aired in syndication from 1976 to 1982. Seventeen episodes were produced, each containing two 10-minute segments. Over the years, the series inspired several spin-offs centered on Dick Dastardly, most notably *Fender Bender 500* in 1990. A reboot was released in 2017 on Boomerang's video-on-demand service, later airing on Cartoon Network in 2018.
**Plot** The show revolves around racers with distinct themes, each allowed to use strange gimmicks. The race announcer (voiced by Dave Willock) narrates and interacts with the competitors.
- The Slag Brothers, Rock and Gravel (vocal effects by Daws Butler and Don Messick), two cavemen driving the Boulder Mobile (1). Their rock car is powered by hitting it with clubs, and they can rebuild it from bare rock. They speak in gibberish with occasional intelligible words, and their bodies are covered in long hair 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), monsters in the Creepy Coupe (2). Their horror-themed car has a bell tower with a fire-breathing dragon, bats, ghosts, and other creatures. The car uses "dragon power" as a booster. - Professor Pat Pending (voiced by Don Messick), an inventor driving the Convert-a-Car (3), which can transform into almost anything that moves. - The Red Max (voiced by Daws Butler), a Manfred von Richthofen–style aviator with a German accent, driving the Crimson Haybaler (4), a car/airplane hybrid that can fly short distances in ground effect.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Comedy / Sports
- Writer
- Larz Bourne / Dalton Sandifer / Tom Dagenais / Michael Maltese
- Director
- William Hanna / Joseph Barbera
- Voices
- Daws Butler / Don Messick / John Stephenson / Janet Waldo / Paul Winchell
- Narrator
- Dave Willock
- Composer
- Hoyt Curtin
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Num Seasons
- 1
- Num Episodes
- 17 (34 segments)
- Editor
- Richard Allen / Milton Krear
- Runtime
- 21 minutes (two 10-11 min segments)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
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 include the Slag Brothers (Rock and Gravel) in the Boulder Mobile; the Gruesome Twosome (Tiny 'Big Gruesome' and Bela 'Little Gruesome') in the Creepy Coupe; Professor Pat Pending in the Convert-a-Car; the Red Max in the Crimson Haybaler; Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat; Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly in the Army Surplus Special; the Ant Hill Mob (seven dwarf gangsters) in the Bulletproof Bomb; Lazy Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chuggabug; Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific; Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth in the Buzz Wagon; and Dick Dastardly and Muttley in the Mean Machine.
The show gave the results of each race at the end of each episode (the first, second, and third placings are given by the narrator) as well as what happened with Dick Dastardly after his last scheme's failure. The show never indicated a particular scoring system or way to determine who won the Wacky Races as a whole. After its network run on CBS, Wacky Races ran in syndication from 1976 to 1982.
Reader's Guide
Wacky Races is significant as a foundational Hanna-Barbera cartoon that introduced a large ensemble of memorable characters, many of whom later starred in their own spin-off series. The show's premise—a cross-country road race with fantastical vehicles and gimmicks—influenced later animated racing series, such as the 1990 segment Fender Bender 500, which featured Dick Dastardly and Muttley alongside characters from other Hanna-Barbera shows. The series also spawned a 2017 reboot released on Boomerang's video on demand service and later aired on Cartoon Network in 2018. Its legacy includes a seven-issue comic book series from Gold Key Comics (1969–1972), a 2006 animated short for a spin-off titled Wacky Races Forever (not picked up by Cartoon Network), and a 2016 DC Comics series called Wacky Raceland, a dark reimagining set after the Apocalypse. The show remains a touchstone for classic Saturday-morning cartoon culture.
Did You Know?
- Wacky Races was the only non-game show produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions; it was originally intended as a game show where children guessed the winner, but CBS dropped those elements.
- The show was inspired by the 1965 comedy film The Great Race.
- Dick Dastardly and Muttley were spun off into their own series in 1969, titled Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines.
- In the opening title sequence, Dick Dastardly attempts to stall the racers by chaining their cars to a pole, but accidentally shifts into reverse and frees them.
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