Wacky Races!!

[ABlairican Pie]

Over most of the 1970's, little was heard of any of the 'Wacky Races' nor of Dastardly And Muttley. However, a version of Muttley was brought back in 1976 to 1977 in the form of Mumbly, a deliberate knock-off of the original character but with bluish fur and an indistinct mutter. Mumbly was called a cousin of Muttley, due to Hanna-Barbera having ownership disputes with Heatter-Quigley over the rights to the characters of 'Wacky Races', so Muttley was brought back as a sort of different character. He was the central figure in 'The Mumbley Cartoon Show'. The cartoon was added to a revamped version of the 'Tom And Jerry Show'.

Actor Peter Falk was supposed to be an inspiration behind Mumbly by wearing a raincoat and driving in a broken-down car.

Mumbly:

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For over a decade, not much was heard from the 'Wacky Races' camp or any spinoffs derived from it. However, a sort of spinoff occurred in 1990, 'Wake, Rattle, And Roll', where classic Hanna-Barbera characters drove in monster trucks, such as Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo driving in a truck styled after a giant picnic basket, and Winsome Witch drove around on a massive cauldron on wheels. Various other characters had their own vehicles, including Dastardly and Muttley in The Dirty Truckster, Car #00, as before.

The Dirty Truckster was essentially the Mean Machine on elevated wheels, which was made into a toy:

[ABlairican Pie]

For the next fifteen years plus, the 'Wacky Races' franchise lie dormant--until 2006 when the franchise was resurrected with 'Wacky Races Forever', where the racers were upgraded with a modern, twisted take on the cartoon. Dastardly and Muttley, of course, were there with their fiendish schemes, but with a few tweaks in their plans thrown in. They appeared to be guided by a holographic entity at the behest of an evil corporation. Professor Pat Pending was now a mad scientist, and the Gruesome Twosome were depicted as teens.

There was an interesting twist as well to the relationship between Penelope Pitstop and Peter Perfect: They had married and had two teen children who seemed pitted against each other in these new races. The couple had formed a company called Perfect Industries which was the corporate sponsor of the new Wacky Races. Dastardly and Muttley were now under the employ of Mr. Viceroy, who sought to steal Perfect Industries.

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Ten years later, in 2016, DC Comics released a comic series called 'Wacky Raceland', a dark reimagining of the races set in a post-apocalyptic world similar to 'Mad Max'.

[ABlairican Pie]

In 2017, the 'Wacky Races' animated series was given a re-boot: This time, several of the original characters of the 1968 series were featured: Dick Dastardly and Muttley, Penelope Pitstop, Peter Perfect, the Gruesome Twosome Tiny and Bella, and a new character named I.Q.

Another figure was added, the announcer named Brick Crashman.

Why were only a handful of the original racers featured on this reboot? It appears that there was more story potential with these characters than to have all eleven racers in the original series distracting from it.

[ABlairican Pie]

Two of the characters from the 1968 original series, Tiny and Bella, the Gruesome Twosome, were re-introduced with very little changes. However, their vehicle from the original series, the Creepy Coupe, was replaced by an upgraded car known as the DoomBuggy. Tiny retained his hulking Frankenstein features with a rather brain-dead, monosyllabic vocabulary. Bella, the diminutive Dracula figure, seemed to take pleasure in dreary, disturbing situations. Whatever was void of hope or pleasure, it brought him contentment.

Penelope assists Tiny is a personal improvement session in the episode
'My Fair Tiny':

[GlennL]

The narrator stated at the beginning of each 2-race episode that they were “competing for the title of ‘The World’s Wackiest Racer’.” However, none of the 34 races ever left North America, with one entirely in Canada, another entirely in Baja California, Mexico, and a third starting in Canada but ending in the US. None of the remaining 31 races left the States. For me the most memorable race was the “Overseas Hi-Way Race” which was based entirely on the REAL Overseas Highway (US 1) from Key Largo to Key West, Florida.

As for which competitor won the aforementioned title: the Mean Machine 00 never won, placed or showed. The remaining 10 won either 3 or 4 of the 34 races. So it was decided on the runner-ups. The Boulder Mobile 1 won 3 times but placed an incredible 8 times out of 34, making Rock and Gravel Slag “The World’s (or at least North America’s) Wackiest Racer” title. Congrats to them!