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Is not Italian. The channel name says clearly it\'s Brazilian
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** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsyF4J_klk This Italian commercial for Peugeot]] is not only clever but deadly accurate with character depictions. Muttley is the only CGI figure.
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** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsyF4J_klk This Italian Brazilian commercial for Peugeot]] is not only clever but deadly accurate with character depictions. Muttley is the only CGI figure.
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* AbandonedMine: The Arkansas Chugabug's driver entered a subway and mistook the tunnel for an abandoned mine.
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** The Japanese dub voice of Dick Dastardly ("Black Maou" in that version) eventually went on to voice none other than [[OnePiece Gold Roger]], not to mention [[SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], and even (at least in the commercials) [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]].
** "Milk-chan" (Penelope Pitstop), would later go on to be the voices of [[CaptainHarlock Miime]], [[{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi]], and [[{{Macross}} Claudia LaSalle]].
** "Milk-chan" (Penelope Pitstop), would later go on to be the voices of [[CaptainHarlock Miime]], [[{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi]], and [[{{Macross}} Claudia LaSalle]].
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** The Japanese dub voice of Dick Dastardly ("Black Maou" in that version) version), Chikao Otsuka eventually went on to voice none other than [[OnePiece Gold Gol D. Roger]], not to mention [[SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], and even (at least in the commercials) [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]].
** Noriko Ohara, who voiced "Milk-chan" (Penelope Pitstop), would later go on to be the voices of [[CaptainHarlock Miime]], [[{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi]], and [[{{Macross}} Claudia LaSalle]].
** Noriko Ohara, who voiced "Milk-chan" (Penelope Pitstop), would later go on to be the voices of [[CaptainHarlock Miime]], [[{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi]], and [[{{Macross}} Claudia LaSalle]].
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** Well, he tries to be, anyway. Considering how often the Turbo Terrific gets wrecked.
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** Well, he tries to be, anyway. Considering how often the Turbo Terrific gets wrecked.wrecked, he could qualify as a [[ParodySue Parody Stu]].
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** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsyF4J_klk This Italian commercial for Peugeot]] is not only clever but deadly accurate with character depictions. Muttley is the only CGI figure.
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** Theres also one episode of the old Gundam OVA series.
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The six voice actors were Creator/DawsButler, Don Messick, PaulWinchell, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson and Dave Willock as the {{Narrator}}. In 1969, ''Wacky Races'' was rerun on CBS, along with its two spin-off series: ''DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''. (All three shows were widely syndicated in the 1970s and '80s.) In 1990, the cartoon was [[{{Revival}} revived]] as ''Fender Bender 500'', a part of the {{anthology}} show ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll''. In this incarnation, only Dastardly and Muttley returned (this time with a Mean Machine {{expy}} called the "Dirty Truckster") — the roster was otherwise made up of [[{{Crossover}} classic Hanna-Barbera all-star characters]] like WesternAnimation/YogiBear and Huckleberry Hound. More information: http://www.hotink.com/wacky/
to:
The six voice actors were Creator/DawsButler, Don Messick, PaulWinchell, Creator/PaulWinchell, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson and Dave Willock as the {{Narrator}}. In 1969, ''Wacky Races'' was rerun on CBS, along with its two spin-off series: ''DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''. (All three shows were widely syndicated in the 1970s and '80s.) In 1990, the cartoon was [[{{Revival}} revived]] as ''Fender Bender 500'', a part of the {{anthology}} show ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll''. In this incarnation, only Dastardly and Muttley returned (this time with a Mean Machine {{expy}} called the "Dirty Truckster") — the roster was otherwise made up of [[{{Crossover}} classic Hanna-Barbera all-star characters]] like WesternAnimation/YogiBear and Huckleberry Hound. More information: http://www.hotink.com/wacky/
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** To add insult to injury, Peter Perfect wins a race in another episode by doing exactly that, and noone complains.
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** To add insult to injury, Peter Perfect wins a race in another episode by doing exactly that, and noone complains.no-one complains. Though admittedly, Peter's rear wheels were in front of the competitor behind him when he crossed the finish line, so an extension wouldn't really matter.
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* SignatureTeamTransport: ''Every'' vehicle is one for its respective owner(s). They're all extremely representative of their pilots' personality.
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* CheatersNeverProsper: Partially Subverted. Almost ''everyone'' on the show cheats to some extent. However, Dastardly, who is outright malicious about it and deliberately tries to sabotage the other racers, does ''not'' prosper.
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-->'''Announcer:''' Hold it, hold it, Dastardly. ''I'll'' do the talking here, ''you'' do the driving!
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-->'''Announcer:''' Hold it, hold it, Dastardly. ''I'll'' do the talking here, ''you'' Dastardly. ''You'' do the driving!
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* NonHumanSidekick: Rufus Roughcut as Sawtooth (a beaver), Luke has Blubber Bear, and Dick Dastardly has Muttley (a dog).
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* NonHumanSidekick: Rufus Roughcut as Ruffcut has Sawtooth (a beaver), Luke has Blubber Bear, and Dick Dastardly has Muttley (a dog).
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* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: From this exchange at the start of "Rhode Island Road Race":
-->'''Narrator:''' Leading the pack is Dick Dastardly, the Dracula of the drag strip.
-->'''Dick:''' I resent that remark.
-->'''Narrator:''' But do you deny it?
-->'''Dick:''' No, I just resent it!
-->'''Narrator:''' Leading the pack is Dick Dastardly, the Dracula of the drag strip.
-->'''Dick:''' I resent that remark.
-->'''Narrator:''' But do you deny it?
-->'''Dick:''' No, I just resent it!
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* InsultMisfire: From this exchange at the start of "Rhode Island Road Race":
-->'''Narrator:''' Leading the pack is Dick Dastardly, the Dracula of the drag strip.
-->'''Dick:''' I resent that remark.
-->'''Narrator:''' But do you deny it?
-->'''Dick:''' No, I just resent it!
-->'''Narrator:''' Leading the pack is Dick Dastardly, the Dracula of the drag strip.
-->'''Dick:''' I resent that remark.
-->'''Narrator:''' But do you deny it?
-->'''Dick:''' No, I just resent it!
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* MadScientist: Professor Pat Pending is a relatively mild version of this.
** From what little we see of him, his {{Expy}} (son?) in the remake seems to be a more classic example.
** From what little we see of him, his {{Expy}} (son?) in the remake seems to be a more classic example.
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* InteractiveNarrator: Quite so, one of the {{Ur Example}}s in WesternAnimation.
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* HammeredIntoTheGround: In "Real Gone Ape", the circus ape does this to Peter Perfect.
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** "The Super Silly Swamp Sprint" has Dastardly saying the other racers forced him to be a bad guy. So perhaps it wasn't his idea to be a villain tp start with.
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** "The Super Silly Swamp Sprint" has Dastardly saying the other racers forced him to be a bad guy. So perhaps it wasn't his idea to be a villain tp to start with.
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** "The Super Silly Swamp Sprint" has Dastardly saying the other racers forced him to be a bad guy. So perhaps it wasn't his idea to be a villain tp start with.
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{{Hanna-Barbera}} gave co-credit for it to Heatter-Quigley (the producers of ''TheHollywoodSquares'') of {{CBS}} [[SaturdayMorningCartoon Saturday morning]] in 1968, where ''Wacky Races'' marked the end of H-B's SuperHero adventure cycle and a return to slapstick comedy. Heatter-Quigley was to have provided a live game show segment in which children won prizes for predicting the outcome of the races; CBS nixed the plan, but Hanna-Barbera kept Heatter-Quigley in the end credits (even though the end copyright still reads "© 1968 by Hanna-Barbera Productions"). Subsequently, [[MoralGuardians Peggy Charren]], head of the organization Action For Children's Television, blackballed the show, charging that it enticed kids to make monetary wagers on the races' outcomes.
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{{Hanna-Barbera}} gave co-credit for it to Heatter-Quigley (the producers of ''TheHollywoodSquares'') of {{CBS}} Creator/{{CBS}} [[SaturdayMorningCartoon Saturday morning]] in 1968, where ''Wacky Races'' marked the end of H-B's SuperHero adventure cycle and a return to slapstick comedy. Heatter-Quigley was to have provided a live game show segment in which children won prizes for predicting the outcome of the races; CBS nixed the plan, but Hanna-Barbera kept Heatter-Quigley in the end credits (even though the end copyright still reads "© 1968 by Hanna-Barbera Productions"). Subsequently, [[MoralGuardians Peggy Charren]], head of the organization Action For Children's Television, blackballed the show, charging that it enticed kids to make monetary wagers on the races' outcomes.
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** The worst part? If you go back and watch the actual footage of the racers crossing the finish line (not the replay) you can clearly see that Dick's car crossed the finish line legitimately. The replay tape is a fake! An in-universe example of ExecutiveMeddling, perhaps?
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Fix Namespace stuff
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* AffectionateParody: By ''DextersLaboratory'', in the episode "Dexter's Wacky Races". They even use Hoyt Curtin's background music from ''Wacky Races'' as well as Ted Nichols' music from ''Motormouse and Autocat'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''.
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* AffectionateParody: By ''DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', in the episode "Dexter's Wacky Races". They even use Hoyt Curtin's background music from ''Wacky Races'' as well as Ted Nichols' music from ''Motormouse and Autocat'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''.
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Many of the visual gags look suspiciously similar to those in [[LooneyTunes Road Runner]] cartoons, including the use of [[PaintedTunnelRealTrain painted scenery that people can enter, and fake railroad tracks that suddenly have trains running over them (and Dick Dastardly)]]. Michael Maltese, who wrote just about all of the ChuckJones Road Runner cartoons, was a writer for ''Wacky Races''.
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Many of the visual gags look suspiciously similar to those in [[LooneyTunes [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Road Runner]] cartoons, including the use of [[PaintedTunnelRealTrain painted scenery that people can enter, and fake railroad tracks that suddenly have trains running over them (and Dick Dastardly)]]. Michael Maltese, who wrote just about all of the ChuckJones Road Runner cartoons, was a writer for ''Wacky Races''.
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* AffectionateParody: By ''[[DextersLaboratory Dexter's Laboratory]]'', in the episode "Dexter's Wacky Races". They even use Hoyt Curtin's background music from ''Wacky Races'' as well as Ted Nichols' music from ''Motormouse and Autocat'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''.
to:
* AffectionateParody: By ''[[DextersLaboratory Dexter's Laboratory]]'', ''DextersLaboratory'', in the episode "Dexter's Wacky Races". They even use Hoyt Curtin's background music from ''Wacky Races'' as well as Ted Nichols' music from ''Motormouse and Autocat'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''.
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* ComicBookAdaptation: Seven issues by GoldKeyComics, plus an appearance in ''Golden Comics Digest'' #2 and ''Hanna-Barbera Fun-In'' #5. Also two issues by ArchieComics and a few by DCComics.
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* ComicBookAdaptation: Seven issues by GoldKeyComics, plus an appearance in ''Golden Comics Digest'' #2 and ''Hanna-Barbera Fun-In'' #5. Also two issues by ArchieComics and a few by DCComics.
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** Three years before Muttley, there was [[TheAtomAntShow Precious Pupp]] who used a wheezing snicker as a [[SignatureLaugh signature laugh]].
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** Three years before Muttley, there was [[TheAtomAntShow Precious Pupp]] who used a wheezing snicker as a [[SignatureLaugh signature laugh]].SignatureLaugh.
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** "Milk-chan" (Penelope Pitstop), would later go on to be the voices of [[CaptainHarlock Miime]], [[{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi]], and [[{{Macross}} Claudia LaSalle]].
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** "Milk-chan" (Penelope Pitstop), would later go on to be the voices of [[CaptainHarlock Miime]], [[{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi]], and [[{{Macross}} Claudia LaSalle]].
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-->'''Dick:''' That's ''exactly'' what the man meant!
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-->'''Dick:''' That's ''exactly'' what the man meant! meant!
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* GogglesDoNothing: Peter Perfect, Penelope Pitstop, Sawtooth, and Dick Dastardly all have headgear with goggles that never cover their eyes. Red Max occasionally will have his goggles over his eyes.
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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Take a good, ''hard'' look at the shape of Peter Perfect's car and then try telling me that it wasn't intentional on the part of the designers. (Though it may simply be a mashup of a vintage F1 and an old school dragster.)
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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Take a good, ''hard'' look at the shape of Peter Perfect's car and then try telling me to say that it wasn't intentional on the part of the designers. (Though it may simply be a mashup of a vintage F1 and an old school dragster.)
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Actual quote.
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** The unaired pilot for the revival ''Wacky Races Forever'' makes it a certainty. Dastardly (presumably the son of the original) is instructed by a figure in the employ of Peter Perfect (whose son Parker is racing) to just win the race, and he's a yard shy of the finish line which Muttley points out. But Dastardly firmly states "We're the villains...we're ''supposed'' to cheat!!"
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** The unaired pilot for the revival ''Wacky Races Forever'' makes it a certainty. Dastardly (presumably the son of the original) is instructed by a figure in the employ of Peter Perfect (whose son Parker is racing) to just win the race, and he's a yard shy of the finish line line, which Muttley points out. But Dastardly bonks him on the head and firmly states "We're the villains...we're ''supposed'' states, "No Muttley, we can't win fairly. We are villains... ergo we ''have'' to cheat!!"
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* NonHumanSidekick: Sawtooth, a beaver (to Rufus Roughcut); Blubber Bear (to Luke); and Muttley, a dog (to Dick Dastardly).
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* NonHumanSidekick: Sawtooth, a beaver (to Rufus Roughcut); Roughcut as Sawtooth (a beaver), Luke has Blubber Bear (to Luke); Bear, and Muttley, a dog (to Dick Dastardly).Dastardly has Muttley (a dog).
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* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Muttley
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* SpeechImpairedAnimal: MuttleyMuttley and Blubber Bear
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The six voice actors were DawsButler, Don Messick, PaulWinchell, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson and Dave Willock as the {{Narrator}}. In 1969, ''Wacky Races'' was rerun on CBS, along with its two spin-off series: ''DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''. (All three shows were widely syndicated in the 1970s and '80s.) In 1990, the cartoon was [[{{Revival}} revived]] as ''Fender Bender 500'', a part of the {{anthology}} show ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll''. In this incarnation, only Dastardly and Muttley returned (this time with a Mean Machine {{expy}} called the "Dirty Truckster") — the roster was otherwise made up of [[{{Crossover}} classic Hanna-Barbera all-star characters]] like WesternAnimation/YogiBear and Huckleberry Hound. More information: http://www.hotink.com/wacky/
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The six voice actors were DawsButler, Creator/DawsButler, Don Messick, PaulWinchell, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson and Dave Willock as the {{Narrator}}. In 1969, ''Wacky Races'' was rerun on CBS, along with its two spin-off series: ''DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''. (All three shows were widely syndicated in the 1970s and '80s.) In 1990, the cartoon was [[{{Revival}} revived]] as ''Fender Bender 500'', a part of the {{anthology}} show ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll''. In this incarnation, only Dastardly and Muttley returned (this time with a Mean Machine {{expy}} called the "Dirty Truckster") — the roster was otherwise made up of [[{{Crossover}} classic Hanna-Barbera all-star characters]] like WesternAnimation/YogiBear and Huckleberry Hound. More information: http://www.hotink.com/wacky/
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** She's also been shown cooking rotisserie chicken and popcorn under the car's hood (using heat from the engine).
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* NonHumanSidekick: Sawtooth, a beaver (to Rufus Roughcut); Blubber Bear (to Luke); and Muttley, a dog (to Dick Dastardly).
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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wackylogo.jpg
Derived from the live-action comedy film ''TheGreatRace'', ''Wacky Races'' is a HannaBarbera cartoon production where 11 outlandish vehicles compete in absurd cross-country races. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarious hijinks ensue]], partly due to whatever area they are racing through, but mostly due the absurd lengths one racer (Dick Dastardly) goes to cheat and sabotage the race, even though these attempts backfire in the end and cause him to always finish in last place (if he even finishes at all).
{{Hanna-Barbera}} gave co-credit for it to Heatter-Quigley (the producers of ''TheHollywoodSquares'') of {{CBS}} [[SaturdayMorningCartoon Saturday morning]] in 1968, where ''Wacky Races'' marked the end of H-B's SuperHero adventure cycle and a return to slapstick comedy. Heatter-Quigley was to have provided a live game show segment in which children won prizes for predicting the outcome of the races; CBS nixed the plan, but Hanna-Barbera kept Heatter-Quigley in the end credits (even though the end copyright still reads "© 1968 by Hanna-Barbera Productions"). Subsequently, [[MoralGuardians Peggy Charren]], head of the organization Action For Children's Television, blackballed the show, charging that it enticed kids to make monetary wagers on the races' outcomes.
Many of the visual gags look suspiciously similar to those in [[LooneyTunes Road Runner]] cartoons, including the use of [[PaintedTunnelRealTrain painted scenery that people can enter, and fake railroad tracks that suddenly have trains running over them (and Dick Dastardly)]]. Michael Maltese, who wrote just about all of the ChuckJones Road Runner cartoons, was a writer for ''Wacky Races''.
The six voice actors were DawsButler, Don Messick, PaulWinchell, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson and Dave Willock as the {{Narrator}}. In 1969, ''Wacky Races'' was rerun on CBS, along with its two spin-off series: ''DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''. (All three shows were widely syndicated in the 1970s and '80s.) In 1990, the cartoon was [[{{Revival}} revived]] as ''Fender Bender 500'', a part of the {{anthology}} show ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll''. In this incarnation, only Dastardly and Muttley returned (this time with a Mean Machine {{expy}} called the "Dirty Truckster") — the roster was otherwise made up of [[{{Crossover}} classic Hanna-Barbera all-star characters]] like WesternAnimation/YogiBear and Huckleberry Hound. More information: http://www.hotink.com/wacky/
The ''Wacky Races'' video game adaptation for the {{Dreamcast}} is notable for being one of the first games to use CelShading.
----
[[AC: Frequent Wacky Races Tropes:]]
* [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat Dick Dastardly setting a trap for the other racers]], and inevitably getting caught in it.
* Muttley snickering when Dastardly's plans backfire.
* The dragon in the belfry of the Creepy Coupe.
* Professor Pat Pending changing the shape of his Convert-a-Car.
* The Red Max flying over the other racers.
* Penelope Pitstop's beauty gadgets, built into her Compact Pussycat.
* The Ant Hill Mob's getaway power: six pairs of legs protruding from the underside of the Bulletproof Bomb.
* Peter Perfect's Turbo Terrific falling apart, usually after [[TemptingFate him making a remark on how good, reliable and resilient it is]].
* Radar displays during the race.
----
!!This series provides examples of:
* TheAce: Peter Perfect.
** Well, he tries to be, anyway. Considering how often the Turbo Terrific gets wrecked.
* AcePilot: The Red Max.
* AffectionateParody: By ''[[DextersLaboratory Dexter's Laboratory]]'', in the episode "Dexter's Wacky Races". They even use Hoyt Curtin's background music from ''Wacky Races'' as well as Ted Nichols' music from ''Motormouse and Autocat'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''.
** One segment of ''ThePowerpuffGirls Rule'' also counts.
* AlliterativeName: Almost everyone and everything either alliterates or rhymes. Penelope Pitstop, Peter Perfect, Dick Dastardly, the Creepy Coupe...
* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese version had [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6EbzvVNh4I this]].
* AnimatedSeries
* BadassMustache: Dick Dastardly.
* BambooTechnology: Bouldermobile, Arkansas Chugabug, and Buzzwagon.
* TheBigRace
* BerserkerTears: Dick Dastardly at the end of "Race Rally to Raleigh":
-->'''Dastardly:''' (''pissed after losing another race'') Oh, who wanted to win this old race, anyway? (''bursts into teary tantrum'') I DID!!! I WANTED TO WIN THE RACE!!! I ''NEVER'' GET TO WIN A RACE!!!
* BlindingCameraFlash: In one episode, Muttley photographs Penelope Pitstop during the race. Penelope is blinded so severely by the flash that she has to stop driving momentarily.
* BrokenAesop: Dick Dastardly just won a race! And by legitimate means, too! How could...oh, it's been recalled and the trophy taken away because...the nose-cone of his car extended on an accordion-thing and crossed the finish line first? How is that gimmick any more deserving of disqualification than ''everything else on the show''?
** To add insult to injury, Peter Perfect wins a race in another episode by doing exactly that, and noone complains.
*** Probably because StatusQuoIsGod. Dick Dastardly must always lose, no matter what the other racers do.
* CatchPhrase: "Drat and double drat!" for Dick Dastardly; "And the wacky beat goes on" for the {{Narrator}}
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Muttley, most notably in "Race to Racine", where he's supposed to sabotage the Ant Hill Mob within, but ends up sabotaging Dastardly.
* ComicBookAdaptation: Seven issues by GoldKeyComics, plus an appearance in ''Golden Comics Digest'' #2 and ''Hanna-Barbera Fun-In'' #5. Also two issues by ArchieComics and a few by DCComics.
** In the Gold Key issues, the cars are shown running from left to right as where they go right to left on the TV show. Also, a running gag on some stories loosely adapted from TV episodes has Penelope Pitstop managing to eliminate Peter Perfect and Red Max by getting them to fight over her. Peter's car in the Gold Key series was called the Varoom Roadster (its working name) and the Ant Hill Mob's car was the Roaring Plenty (identified in the show as such once).
* ContemporaryCaveman: The Slag Brothers.
** Their design was recycled for ''CaptainCaveman'' (except there was only one of him).
* CoolCar: Eleven of them, in fact.
* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Several reference books have a character in the show called The General as voiced by John Stephenson. There was a one-shot general in the episode "The Speedy Arkansas Traveler," but the only military personnel in a regular level was Sgt. Blast and Private Meekly.
* DamselInDistress: Penelope Pitstop, quite often - a woman whose {{catchphrase}} is "[[AmericanAccents Hay-elp! ''HAY-elp!'']]"
* DastardlyWhiplash: Dick Dastardly is of course one of the {{Trope Namer}}s.
* {{Defictionalization}}: The ''Goodwood Festival of Speed'' has built working replicas of all of the vehicles (minus the extraneous gadgets and hijinks, of course).
* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: The TropeNamer. In many cases, Dick Dastardly might actually ''win'' a race if he wasn't so insistent on setting traps to sabotage the other racers (which always end up backfiring on him).
** In most episodes it could be argued that he got that all-important lead not by having the fastest car or sabotaging the other racers, but by taking a short cut on the non-linear route. He'd technically still be in last place, but could place his traps ahead of all the other cars. When they were out of the race, he could return via his shortcut and drive the route properly. But there are also several races that are straight marathons, where it wouldn't work, AND HE STILL CHEATS!
** Averted by the Ant Hill Mob in "Free Wheeling to Wheeling":
--->'''Clyde:''' We'll never win at this rate unless we--
--->'''Ring-A-Ding:''' Cheat! Right, boss?
--->'''Clyde:''' Wrong!! Unless we lighten the load, you dum-dum!
--->'''Ring-A-Ding:''' (''as the Mob tosses out stolen money, machine guns, etc.'') Who says it pays to win? There goes our ill-gotten gains!
*** To be sure, they do win it.
** Lampshaded in the ''Wacky Races'' comic book story "Follow Through to Yoo-Hoo" (Gold Key #4, August 1971). All the racers use a book called "How to Win a Race by Hook or Crook," written by Dick Dastardly himself.
** The unaired pilot for the revival ''Wacky Races Forever'' makes it a certainty. Dastardly (presumably the son of the original) is instructed by a figure in the employ of Peter Perfect (whose son Parker is racing) to just win the race, and he's a yard shy of the finish line which Muttley points out. But Dastardly firmly states "We're the villains...we're ''supposed'' to cheat!!"
* DudleyDoRightStopsToHelp: Peter Perfect in almost every episode. This cost him the race at least once as he screeched to a halt just before the finish line to avoid running over a cat that had wandered onto the track. Did earn him a new cat though. Also, Professor Pat Pending frequently stops and uses his car's inventions to help others.
* DopeSlap: Dick to Muttley.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: From this exchange at the start of "Rhode Island Road Race":
-->'''Narrator:''' Leading the pack is Dick Dastardly, the Dracula of the drag strip.
-->'''Dick:''' I resent that remark.
-->'''Narrator:''' But do you deny it?
-->'''Dick:''' No, I just resent it!
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Dick Dastardly's car is much, much faster than the other racers, and would win if he followed the rules. Yet, he cheats and fails every time at it, and loses, often coming to a stop right before the finish line to watch everyone else pass it.
* TheFool: If you drove a car by reclining, sleeping and steering with your feet, you would drive about a hundred yards or so before crashing into something. Luke, however, does not need to worry about that.
* FountainOfExpies: You'd be surprised how many Muttley clones there are. If not clones, there are those who mimic his signature laugh.
** Three years before Muttley, there was [[TheAtomAntShow Precious Pupp]] who used a wheezing snicker as a [[SignatureLaugh signature laugh]].
* FryingPanOfDoom: Penelope wields one in "Idaho a Go Go".
* GadgeteerGenius: Pat Pending.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Take a good, ''hard'' look at the shape of Peter Perfect's car and then try telling me that it wasn't intentional on the part of the designers. (Though it may simply be a mashup of a vintage F1 and an old school dragster.)
* GenerationXerox: In the ''Wacky Races Forever'' pilot, Peter and Penelope's children, Parker and Piper, are racing in vehicles strongly resembling their parents'.
* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: In "Beat the Clock to Yellow Rock", a group of bear cubs do this to the Ant Hill Mob.
* GreekChorus: The race announcer acted as one of these.
* HarmlessVillain: Dick Dastardly.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Naturally, Daws Butler, who is near half the headline cast of Hanna-Barbera's cartoons. Also, [[WinnieThePooh Tigger]] is Dick Dastardly, and ScoobyDoo is Muttley.
** The Japanese dub voice of Dick Dastardly ("Black Maou" in that version) eventually went on to voice none other than [[OnePiece Gold Roger]], not to mention [[SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], and even (at least in the commercials) [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]].
** "Milk-chan" (Penelope Pitstop), would later go on to be the voices of [[CaptainHarlock Miime]], [[{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi]], and [[{{Macross}} Claudia LaSalle]].
* HonourBeforeReason: Peter Perfect tends to help out anyone who's been sabotaged. Especially Penelope.
** He even helps Dastardly in "The Super Silly Swamp Sprint," albeit after pulling him and Muttley out of the alligator-filled swamp he throws them and their car in the back of the pack (only to be catapulted from a tree into the front).
* HoppingMachine: One of the Convert-A-Car's alternate forms uses 'Pogo Power'.
* IdiotBall -- [[RuleOfFunny Everyone, whenever it would get a laugh.]]
* IWouldSayIfICouldSay
* LanternJawOfJustice: Peter Perfect.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Dick Dastardly had a very prominent theme, which played in pretty much every episode whenever he pulled a trick on the other racers. Penelope Pitstop also had a far less played motif as well.
* LimitedWardrobe
* LiteralMinded: Numerous examples (in the interest of wordplay), at least one of which cost a racer first place; in "By Rollercoaster to Upsan Downs", when Sgt. Blast told Pvt. Meekley to "head for that finish line, and step on it", Meekley hurried to the finish line ''on foot'' and planted his foot firmly on the line. He then had to watch as Red Max, the Slag Brothers, and Lazy Luke and Blubber crossed the line in their cars and took the top three spots.
** Muttley was also prone to this from time to time; when Dick Dastardly is trapped on the spray from a whale's blowhole in "Eeny Miney, Missouri Go!", he tells Muttley, "Do something! Anything!" Whereupon Muttley proceeds to do a tap dance... which does qualify as doing something, just not something relevant.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* TheMafia: The Ant Hill Mob.
** TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily
* MarketBasedTitle: In Latin America (and Spain), the show is known as "Los Autos Locos" (lit.: The Crazy Cars); in Japan it's called "Chiki Chiki Mou Race"; in France, the show's name is "Les Fous du Volant" ("The Crazy Drivers").
* MoralDissonance: Dick Dastardly set a lot of traps, yeah, but if the ''other'' contestants used their cars' special abilities (one was a tank, one had buzzsaws for wheels, one had a dragon in it, one was an airplane, one could turn into any type of vehicle its driver could imagine, etc.) to gain an advantage or even disable or destroy the other vehicles, nobody even batted an eye. Only Dick was considered to be cheating.
** Presumably it was the DickDastardlyStopsToCheat aspect that made his antics "cheating"-if he'd contented himself with taking potshots as he passed, probably no one would have batted an eye at his shenanigans either. In the Sega Dreamcast game, Dick ''can't'' stop to cheat (because the programmers didn't include that option), so he has to content himself with choosing three powers out of a selection, and racing by the rules like everyone else.
** Easier explanation: Dick Dastardly and Muttley are ObviouslyEvil, TheChewToy and AcceptableTargets, and most of the things in the universe is run on RuleOfFunny. Or, putting it another way, they are HB's equivalent of Wile E. Coyote.
** More egregious game examples, from the [=PS2=] version: Dastardly has no "bullet" or "explosive", or otherwise "lethal" weapons - his weapons are a magnet (non-lethal), a shrink ray (non-lethal), and some glue (non-lethal). The Surplus Six has one bomb and one homing missile. The Anthill Mob has a ''machine gun''. Supposedly peaceful Luke has his cousin, who fires a shotgun at the opponents. And those are only the "bullet/missile/bomb" examples. On the whole, the Mean Machine is probably the least "lethal" car of all in the game, bar Pat Pending (who is very, VERY defensive but can be used to screw with the opponents by a good player). Yet, Dastardly is the "evil" one.
* MotionlessChin
* NervousWreck: Blubber Bear.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Dick Dastardly was based on Terry-Thomas; Clyde, on Edward G. Robinson in ''Film/LittleCaesar'', and Red Max, on the World War I pilot Max Immelmann.
** "Free Wheeling to Wheeling" may indicate that Clyde was based on Clyde Barrow of Bonnie & Clyde fame:
--->'''Clyde:''' All right, you mugs...everybody out and push!
--->'''Ring-A-Ding:''' Aw, gee Clyde. Do we gotta?
--->'''Clyde:''' Maybe you'd rather I should tell Bonnie on you?
* NoFourthWall: Zig-zagged throughout the series as many of the drivers look to the camera and converse with the show's announcer. Most notably in "The Wrong Lumber Race" when Dastardly tries to take over:
-->'''Dastardly:''' And now the Double Zero takes the lead, it's gaining on one, and--
-->'''Announcer:''' Hold it, hold it, Dastardly. ''I'll'' do the talking here, ''you'' do the driving!
* TheNotableNumeral: The Gruesome Twosome.
* NonFatalExplosions
* OffscreenCrash
* OilSlick
* PaintedTunnelRealTrain: In one episode, Dick Dastardly tries this trick to waylay an approaching Peter Perfect. Not only does Peter drive into the picture without ill effect, but a ''bus'' then drives out of it and runs over the apoplectic Dastardly.
* PercussiveMaintenance: The Bouldermobile.
** At one point the car pulls out its own club and hits back just before completely falling apart.
* PantyShot: An episode has Penelope Pitstop with her laundry wind-drying from her car as she drives, and on the line we see a slip and a pair of panties.
* {{Revival}}: A made-for-TV movie, ''Around The World With The Wacky Racers'', was planned for 1988 (as part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 line of TV cartoon movies) but it was never carried out. The 1990 segment ''The Fender Bender 500'' (part of the series ''Wake, Rattle and Roll'') is considered a revival of Wacky Races merely because it has Dastardly and Muttley in it. Also, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nKKbXuilg4 Wacky Races Forever]], an unsold pilot for Cartoon Network featuring the son and daughter of Peter and Penelope (who got married), plus Pat Pending (who, it seems, went gleefully insane, and who now seems willing to use attack abilities), plus a cute vampire girl and her companion subbing for the Gruesome Twosome.
* RoadRunnerVsCoyote
* RoadSignReversal
* SergeantRock: Sergeant ''Blast''.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple
* SouthOfTheBorder: "Baja-Ha-Ha Race".
* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Muttley
* StealthInsult: This exchange from the comic book adaptation of "Mish Mash Missouri Dash": (Gold Key #2, Feb. 1971):
-->'''Narrator:''' Let's face it, Dick. You're just a born loser. You've got nothing.
-->'''Muttley:''' Snaffacrassin Frassin...(translated: "What do you mean 'nothing'? He's got ''me,'' hasn't he?")
-->'''Dick:''' That's ''exactly'' what the man meant!
* StockFootage: Some drivers' dashboards.
* TeamRocketWins: Although Dastardly and Muttley never won a race in the original series (not even on a technicality), a few episodes of the ''Fender Bender 500'' had them win for once. Even ''they'' were surprised.
** In the Dreamcast version, going through the rigamarole of tasks necessary to unlock Dastardly is worth it just to win a race as him and listen to the narrator's either disgusted or bewildered reaction.
** In the comic books, Dick won twice ("The Scavenger Scramble," Gold Key #7; "Trek to Tanzania," Archie Comics #1), but in each case there was a catch to the victory.
** Lampshaded and subverted in "Whizzin' to Washington," in which Dastardly passes everyone en route to finish first ''without'' cheating only to suddenly stop:
--->'''Announcer:''' The Double Zero has yet to cross the finish line. What happened, Dick?
--->'''Dastardly:''' I stopped to give somebody my autograph.
--->'''Announcer:''' You're kidding. Who would want ''your'' autograph?
--->'''Dastardly:''' (''pointing to Muttley, who holds a note pad with Dastardly's autograph'') Him!!!
** "See-Saw to Arkansas" had a similar lampshading/subversion; on the home stretch, Dick Dastardly is dead level with Red Max, the Gruesome Twosome, and Rufus Ruffcut, and the announcer declares that they will need a photo finish - a declaration which gets Dastardly's attention. When the photograph is taken, Red Max, the Gruesome Twosome and Rufus Ruffcut are shown to have taken first, second and third, respectively... while the Mean Machine has stopped just short of the finish line, and Dick Dastardly and Muttley are posing next to it. The announcer declares Dastardly a [[LargeHam big ham]], to which Dastardly and Muttley chuckle.
** Dick and Muttley are about to cross the finish line first in "Speeding For Smogland", but it wouldn't count--due to a multi-car collision that catapults three other drivers from the vehicles, they wind up in the Arkansas Chuggabug. The narrator tells Dick and Muttley that crossing the finish line in the wrong car constitutes a disqualification.
* {{Thememobile}}: All of the cars are themed on their drivers. The lumberjack drives a car with buzzsaw wheels, TheMafia drive a 1920's sedan, etc.
* ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines: Most noteably Red Max and his Crimson Haybailer, also Professor Pat Pending and his Convertacar and the Gruesome Twosome's Creepy Coupe. On occasion, the other cars will take flight as well.
* TransformingMecha: the Convert-a-Car.
* TricksterArchetype: Dick Dastardly. Sure, he can win the race by playing fair but he insists playing the race his way. Of course he loses, but he keeps coming back for more.
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Dick Dastardly's plans to hinder the other racers only worked out (temporarily) on the very rare occasions when he didn't explain them out loud beforehand.
* VehicularSabotage: This is a standard Dick Dastardly tactic in the ''Wacky Races'', to try to get a leg up on the competition.
* WackyRacing: the TropeNamer.
* WeaponizedCar: Most of the male racers have some kind of combat capability (a cannon, buzzsaws, ''a dragon''...)
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There was an apparent revival of the series in 2005, but it quickly went under. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nKKbXuilg4 The pilot's on YouTube, though.]]
* WiperStart: In one episode, Sergeant Blast ends up in the Compact Pussycat [Penelope Pitstop's car]. Trying to stop it, he activates the controls that apply face powder and lipstick. Granted, these are not standard controls in a car, but it does raise the question of why he thought the brakes would be activated by a button on the dashboard. Meanwhile, over in the Army Surplus Special, Penelope winds up firing the cannon.
** He doesn't drive; Meekly does. And given that all controls he deals with are by hand (firing stuff)...
----
Derived from the live-action comedy film ''TheGreatRace'', ''Wacky Races'' is a HannaBarbera cartoon production where 11 outlandish vehicles compete in absurd cross-country races. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarious hijinks ensue]], partly due to whatever area they are racing through, but mostly due the absurd lengths one racer (Dick Dastardly) goes to cheat and sabotage the race, even though these attempts backfire in the end and cause him to always finish in last place (if he even finishes at all).
{{Hanna-Barbera}} gave co-credit for it to Heatter-Quigley (the producers of ''TheHollywoodSquares'') of {{CBS}} [[SaturdayMorningCartoon Saturday morning]] in 1968, where ''Wacky Races'' marked the end of H-B's SuperHero adventure cycle and a return to slapstick comedy. Heatter-Quigley was to have provided a live game show segment in which children won prizes for predicting the outcome of the races; CBS nixed the plan, but Hanna-Barbera kept Heatter-Quigley in the end credits (even though the end copyright still reads "© 1968 by Hanna-Barbera Productions"). Subsequently, [[MoralGuardians Peggy Charren]], head of the organization Action For Children's Television, blackballed the show, charging that it enticed kids to make monetary wagers on the races' outcomes.
Many of the visual gags look suspiciously similar to those in [[LooneyTunes Road Runner]] cartoons, including the use of [[PaintedTunnelRealTrain painted scenery that people can enter, and fake railroad tracks that suddenly have trains running over them (and Dick Dastardly)]]. Michael Maltese, who wrote just about all of the ChuckJones Road Runner cartoons, was a writer for ''Wacky Races''.
The six voice actors were DawsButler, Don Messick, PaulWinchell, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson and Dave Willock as the {{Narrator}}. In 1969, ''Wacky Races'' was rerun on CBS, along with its two spin-off series: ''DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''. (All three shows were widely syndicated in the 1970s and '80s.) In 1990, the cartoon was [[{{Revival}} revived]] as ''Fender Bender 500'', a part of the {{anthology}} show ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll''. In this incarnation, only Dastardly and Muttley returned (this time with a Mean Machine {{expy}} called the "Dirty Truckster") — the roster was otherwise made up of [[{{Crossover}} classic Hanna-Barbera all-star characters]] like WesternAnimation/YogiBear and Huckleberry Hound. More information: http://www.hotink.com/wacky/
The ''Wacky Races'' video game adaptation for the {{Dreamcast}} is notable for being one of the first games to use CelShading.
----
[[AC: Frequent Wacky Races Tropes:]]
* [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat Dick Dastardly setting a trap for the other racers]], and inevitably getting caught in it.
* Muttley snickering when Dastardly's plans backfire.
* The dragon in the belfry of the Creepy Coupe.
* Professor Pat Pending changing the shape of his Convert-a-Car.
* The Red Max flying over the other racers.
* Penelope Pitstop's beauty gadgets, built into her Compact Pussycat.
* The Ant Hill Mob's getaway power: six pairs of legs protruding from the underside of the Bulletproof Bomb.
* Peter Perfect's Turbo Terrific falling apart, usually after [[TemptingFate him making a remark on how good, reliable and resilient it is]].
* Radar displays during the race.
----
!!This series provides examples of:
* TheAce: Peter Perfect.
** Well, he tries to be, anyway. Considering how often the Turbo Terrific gets wrecked.
* AcePilot: The Red Max.
* AffectionateParody: By ''[[DextersLaboratory Dexter's Laboratory]]'', in the episode "Dexter's Wacky Races". They even use Hoyt Curtin's background music from ''Wacky Races'' as well as Ted Nichols' music from ''Motormouse and Autocat'' and ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''.
** One segment of ''ThePowerpuffGirls Rule'' also counts.
* AlliterativeName: Almost everyone and everything either alliterates or rhymes. Penelope Pitstop, Peter Perfect, Dick Dastardly, the Creepy Coupe...
* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese version had [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6EbzvVNh4I this]].
* AnimatedSeries
* BadassMustache: Dick Dastardly.
* BambooTechnology: Bouldermobile, Arkansas Chugabug, and Buzzwagon.
* TheBigRace
* BerserkerTears: Dick Dastardly at the end of "Race Rally to Raleigh":
-->'''Dastardly:''' (''pissed after losing another race'') Oh, who wanted to win this old race, anyway? (''bursts into teary tantrum'') I DID!!! I WANTED TO WIN THE RACE!!! I ''NEVER'' GET TO WIN A RACE!!!
* BlindingCameraFlash: In one episode, Muttley photographs Penelope Pitstop during the race. Penelope is blinded so severely by the flash that she has to stop driving momentarily.
* BrokenAesop: Dick Dastardly just won a race! And by legitimate means, too! How could...oh, it's been recalled and the trophy taken away because...the nose-cone of his car extended on an accordion-thing and crossed the finish line first? How is that gimmick any more deserving of disqualification than ''everything else on the show''?
** To add insult to injury, Peter Perfect wins a race in another episode by doing exactly that, and noone complains.
*** Probably because StatusQuoIsGod. Dick Dastardly must always lose, no matter what the other racers do.
* CatchPhrase: "Drat and double drat!" for Dick Dastardly; "And the wacky beat goes on" for the {{Narrator}}
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Muttley, most notably in "Race to Racine", where he's supposed to sabotage the Ant Hill Mob within, but ends up sabotaging Dastardly.
* ComicBookAdaptation: Seven issues by GoldKeyComics, plus an appearance in ''Golden Comics Digest'' #2 and ''Hanna-Barbera Fun-In'' #5. Also two issues by ArchieComics and a few by DCComics.
** In the Gold Key issues, the cars are shown running from left to right as where they go right to left on the TV show. Also, a running gag on some stories loosely adapted from TV episodes has Penelope Pitstop managing to eliminate Peter Perfect and Red Max by getting them to fight over her. Peter's car in the Gold Key series was called the Varoom Roadster (its working name) and the Ant Hill Mob's car was the Roaring Plenty (identified in the show as such once).
* ContemporaryCaveman: The Slag Brothers.
** Their design was recycled for ''CaptainCaveman'' (except there was only one of him).
* CoolCar: Eleven of them, in fact.
* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Several reference books have a character in the show called The General as voiced by John Stephenson. There was a one-shot general in the episode "The Speedy Arkansas Traveler," but the only military personnel in a regular level was Sgt. Blast and Private Meekly.
* DamselInDistress: Penelope Pitstop, quite often - a woman whose {{catchphrase}} is "[[AmericanAccents Hay-elp! ''HAY-elp!'']]"
* DastardlyWhiplash: Dick Dastardly is of course one of the {{Trope Namer}}s.
* {{Defictionalization}}: The ''Goodwood Festival of Speed'' has built working replicas of all of the vehicles (minus the extraneous gadgets and hijinks, of course).
* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: The TropeNamer. In many cases, Dick Dastardly might actually ''win'' a race if he wasn't so insistent on setting traps to sabotage the other racers (which always end up backfiring on him).
** In most episodes it could be argued that he got that all-important lead not by having the fastest car or sabotaging the other racers, but by taking a short cut on the non-linear route. He'd technically still be in last place, but could place his traps ahead of all the other cars. When they were out of the race, he could return via his shortcut and drive the route properly. But there are also several races that are straight marathons, where it wouldn't work, AND HE STILL CHEATS!
** Averted by the Ant Hill Mob in "Free Wheeling to Wheeling":
--->'''Clyde:''' We'll never win at this rate unless we--
--->'''Ring-A-Ding:''' Cheat! Right, boss?
--->'''Clyde:''' Wrong!! Unless we lighten the load, you dum-dum!
--->'''Ring-A-Ding:''' (''as the Mob tosses out stolen money, machine guns, etc.'') Who says it pays to win? There goes our ill-gotten gains!
*** To be sure, they do win it.
** Lampshaded in the ''Wacky Races'' comic book story "Follow Through to Yoo-Hoo" (Gold Key #4, August 1971). All the racers use a book called "How to Win a Race by Hook or Crook," written by Dick Dastardly himself.
** The unaired pilot for the revival ''Wacky Races Forever'' makes it a certainty. Dastardly (presumably the son of the original) is instructed by a figure in the employ of Peter Perfect (whose son Parker is racing) to just win the race, and he's a yard shy of the finish line which Muttley points out. But Dastardly firmly states "We're the villains...we're ''supposed'' to cheat!!"
* DudleyDoRightStopsToHelp: Peter Perfect in almost every episode. This cost him the race at least once as he screeched to a halt just before the finish line to avoid running over a cat that had wandered onto the track. Did earn him a new cat though. Also, Professor Pat Pending frequently stops and uses his car's inventions to help others.
* DopeSlap: Dick to Muttley.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: From this exchange at the start of "Rhode Island Road Race":
-->'''Narrator:''' Leading the pack is Dick Dastardly, the Dracula of the drag strip.
-->'''Dick:''' I resent that remark.
-->'''Narrator:''' But do you deny it?
-->'''Dick:''' No, I just resent it!
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Dick Dastardly's car is much, much faster than the other racers, and would win if he followed the rules. Yet, he cheats and fails every time at it, and loses, often coming to a stop right before the finish line to watch everyone else pass it.
* TheFool: If you drove a car by reclining, sleeping and steering with your feet, you would drive about a hundred yards or so before crashing into something. Luke, however, does not need to worry about that.
* FountainOfExpies: You'd be surprised how many Muttley clones there are. If not clones, there are those who mimic his signature laugh.
** Three years before Muttley, there was [[TheAtomAntShow Precious Pupp]] who used a wheezing snicker as a [[SignatureLaugh signature laugh]].
* FryingPanOfDoom: Penelope wields one in "Idaho a Go Go".
* GadgeteerGenius: Pat Pending.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Take a good, ''hard'' look at the shape of Peter Perfect's car and then try telling me that it wasn't intentional on the part of the designers. (Though it may simply be a mashup of a vintage F1 and an old school dragster.)
* GenerationXerox: In the ''Wacky Races Forever'' pilot, Peter and Penelope's children, Parker and Piper, are racing in vehicles strongly resembling their parents'.
* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: In "Beat the Clock to Yellow Rock", a group of bear cubs do this to the Ant Hill Mob.
* GreekChorus: The race announcer acted as one of these.
* HarmlessVillain: Dick Dastardly.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Naturally, Daws Butler, who is near half the headline cast of Hanna-Barbera's cartoons. Also, [[WinnieThePooh Tigger]] is Dick Dastardly, and ScoobyDoo is Muttley.
** The Japanese dub voice of Dick Dastardly ("Black Maou" in that version) eventually went on to voice none other than [[OnePiece Gold Roger]], not to mention [[SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], and even (at least in the commercials) [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]].
** "Milk-chan" (Penelope Pitstop), would later go on to be the voices of [[CaptainHarlock Miime]], [[{{Doraemon}} Nobita Nobi]], and [[{{Macross}} Claudia LaSalle]].
* HonourBeforeReason: Peter Perfect tends to help out anyone who's been sabotaged. Especially Penelope.
** He even helps Dastardly in "The Super Silly Swamp Sprint," albeit after pulling him and Muttley out of the alligator-filled swamp he throws them and their car in the back of the pack (only to be catapulted from a tree into the front).
* HoppingMachine: One of the Convert-A-Car's alternate forms uses 'Pogo Power'.
* IdiotBall -- [[RuleOfFunny Everyone, whenever it would get a laugh.]]
* IWouldSayIfICouldSay
* LanternJawOfJustice: Peter Perfect.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Dick Dastardly had a very prominent theme, which played in pretty much every episode whenever he pulled a trick on the other racers. Penelope Pitstop also had a far less played motif as well.
* LimitedWardrobe
* LiteralMinded: Numerous examples (in the interest of wordplay), at least one of which cost a racer first place; in "By Rollercoaster to Upsan Downs", when Sgt. Blast told Pvt. Meekley to "head for that finish line, and step on it", Meekley hurried to the finish line ''on foot'' and planted his foot firmly on the line. He then had to watch as Red Max, the Slag Brothers, and Lazy Luke and Blubber crossed the line in their cars and took the top three spots.
** Muttley was also prone to this from time to time; when Dick Dastardly is trapped on the spray from a whale's blowhole in "Eeny Miney, Missouri Go!", he tells Muttley, "Do something! Anything!" Whereupon Muttley proceeds to do a tap dance... which does qualify as doing something, just not something relevant.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters
* TheMafia: The Ant Hill Mob.
** TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily
* MarketBasedTitle: In Latin America (and Spain), the show is known as "Los Autos Locos" (lit.: The Crazy Cars); in Japan it's called "Chiki Chiki Mou Race"; in France, the show's name is "Les Fous du Volant" ("The Crazy Drivers").
* MoralDissonance: Dick Dastardly set a lot of traps, yeah, but if the ''other'' contestants used their cars' special abilities (one was a tank, one had buzzsaws for wheels, one had a dragon in it, one was an airplane, one could turn into any type of vehicle its driver could imagine, etc.) to gain an advantage or even disable or destroy the other vehicles, nobody even batted an eye. Only Dick was considered to be cheating.
** Presumably it was the DickDastardlyStopsToCheat aspect that made his antics "cheating"-if he'd contented himself with taking potshots as he passed, probably no one would have batted an eye at his shenanigans either. In the Sega Dreamcast game, Dick ''can't'' stop to cheat (because the programmers didn't include that option), so he has to content himself with choosing three powers out of a selection, and racing by the rules like everyone else.
** Easier explanation: Dick Dastardly and Muttley are ObviouslyEvil, TheChewToy and AcceptableTargets, and most of the things in the universe is run on RuleOfFunny. Or, putting it another way, they are HB's equivalent of Wile E. Coyote.
** More egregious game examples, from the [=PS2=] version: Dastardly has no "bullet" or "explosive", or otherwise "lethal" weapons - his weapons are a magnet (non-lethal), a shrink ray (non-lethal), and some glue (non-lethal). The Surplus Six has one bomb and one homing missile. The Anthill Mob has a ''machine gun''. Supposedly peaceful Luke has his cousin, who fires a shotgun at the opponents. And those are only the "bullet/missile/bomb" examples. On the whole, the Mean Machine is probably the least "lethal" car of all in the game, bar Pat Pending (who is very, VERY defensive but can be used to screw with the opponents by a good player). Yet, Dastardly is the "evil" one.
* MotionlessChin
* NervousWreck: Blubber Bear.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Dick Dastardly was based on Terry-Thomas; Clyde, on Edward G. Robinson in ''Film/LittleCaesar'', and Red Max, on the World War I pilot Max Immelmann.
** "Free Wheeling to Wheeling" may indicate that Clyde was based on Clyde Barrow of Bonnie & Clyde fame:
--->'''Clyde:''' All right, you mugs...everybody out and push!
--->'''Ring-A-Ding:''' Aw, gee Clyde. Do we gotta?
--->'''Clyde:''' Maybe you'd rather I should tell Bonnie on you?
* NoFourthWall: Zig-zagged throughout the series as many of the drivers look to the camera and converse with the show's announcer. Most notably in "The Wrong Lumber Race" when Dastardly tries to take over:
-->'''Dastardly:''' And now the Double Zero takes the lead, it's gaining on one, and--
-->'''Announcer:''' Hold it, hold it, Dastardly. ''I'll'' do the talking here, ''you'' do the driving!
* TheNotableNumeral: The Gruesome Twosome.
* NonFatalExplosions
* OffscreenCrash
* OilSlick
* PaintedTunnelRealTrain: In one episode, Dick Dastardly tries this trick to waylay an approaching Peter Perfect. Not only does Peter drive into the picture without ill effect, but a ''bus'' then drives out of it and runs over the apoplectic Dastardly.
* PercussiveMaintenance: The Bouldermobile.
** At one point the car pulls out its own club and hits back just before completely falling apart.
* PantyShot: An episode has Penelope Pitstop with her laundry wind-drying from her car as she drives, and on the line we see a slip and a pair of panties.
* {{Revival}}: A made-for-TV movie, ''Around The World With The Wacky Racers'', was planned for 1988 (as part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 line of TV cartoon movies) but it was never carried out. The 1990 segment ''The Fender Bender 500'' (part of the series ''Wake, Rattle and Roll'') is considered a revival of Wacky Races merely because it has Dastardly and Muttley in it. Also, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nKKbXuilg4 Wacky Races Forever]], an unsold pilot for Cartoon Network featuring the son and daughter of Peter and Penelope (who got married), plus Pat Pending (who, it seems, went gleefully insane, and who now seems willing to use attack abilities), plus a cute vampire girl and her companion subbing for the Gruesome Twosome.
* RoadRunnerVsCoyote
* RoadSignReversal
* SergeantRock: Sergeant ''Blast''.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple
* SouthOfTheBorder: "Baja-Ha-Ha Race".
* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Muttley
* StealthInsult: This exchange from the comic book adaptation of "Mish Mash Missouri Dash": (Gold Key #2, Feb. 1971):
-->'''Narrator:''' Let's face it, Dick. You're just a born loser. You've got nothing.
-->'''Muttley:''' Snaffacrassin Frassin...(translated: "What do you mean 'nothing'? He's got ''me,'' hasn't he?")
-->'''Dick:''' That's ''exactly'' what the man meant!
* StockFootage: Some drivers' dashboards.
* TeamRocketWins: Although Dastardly and Muttley never won a race in the original series (not even on a technicality), a few episodes of the ''Fender Bender 500'' had them win for once. Even ''they'' were surprised.
** In the Dreamcast version, going through the rigamarole of tasks necessary to unlock Dastardly is worth it just to win a race as him and listen to the narrator's either disgusted or bewildered reaction.
** In the comic books, Dick won twice ("The Scavenger Scramble," Gold Key #7; "Trek to Tanzania," Archie Comics #1), but in each case there was a catch to the victory.
** Lampshaded and subverted in "Whizzin' to Washington," in which Dastardly passes everyone en route to finish first ''without'' cheating only to suddenly stop:
--->'''Announcer:''' The Double Zero has yet to cross the finish line. What happened, Dick?
--->'''Dastardly:''' I stopped to give somebody my autograph.
--->'''Announcer:''' You're kidding. Who would want ''your'' autograph?
--->'''Dastardly:''' (''pointing to Muttley, who holds a note pad with Dastardly's autograph'') Him!!!
** "See-Saw to Arkansas" had a similar lampshading/subversion; on the home stretch, Dick Dastardly is dead level with Red Max, the Gruesome Twosome, and Rufus Ruffcut, and the announcer declares that they will need a photo finish - a declaration which gets Dastardly's attention. When the photograph is taken, Red Max, the Gruesome Twosome and Rufus Ruffcut are shown to have taken first, second and third, respectively... while the Mean Machine has stopped just short of the finish line, and Dick Dastardly and Muttley are posing next to it. The announcer declares Dastardly a [[LargeHam big ham]], to which Dastardly and Muttley chuckle.
** Dick and Muttley are about to cross the finish line first in "Speeding For Smogland", but it wouldn't count--due to a multi-car collision that catapults three other drivers from the vehicles, they wind up in the Arkansas Chuggabug. The narrator tells Dick and Muttley that crossing the finish line in the wrong car constitutes a disqualification.
* {{Thememobile}}: All of the cars are themed on their drivers. The lumberjack drives a car with buzzsaw wheels, TheMafia drive a 1920's sedan, etc.
* ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines: Most noteably Red Max and his Crimson Haybailer, also Professor Pat Pending and his Convertacar and the Gruesome Twosome's Creepy Coupe. On occasion, the other cars will take flight as well.
* TransformingMecha: the Convert-a-Car.
* TricksterArchetype: Dick Dastardly. Sure, he can win the race by playing fair but he insists playing the race his way. Of course he loses, but he keeps coming back for more.
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Dick Dastardly's plans to hinder the other racers only worked out (temporarily) on the very rare occasions when he didn't explain them out loud beforehand.
* VehicularSabotage: This is a standard Dick Dastardly tactic in the ''Wacky Races'', to try to get a leg up on the competition.
* WackyRacing: the TropeNamer.
* WeaponizedCar: Most of the male racers have some kind of combat capability (a cannon, buzzsaws, ''a dragon''...)
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: There was an apparent revival of the series in 2005, but it quickly went under. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nKKbXuilg4 The pilot's on YouTube, though.]]
* WiperStart: In one episode, Sergeant Blast ends up in the Compact Pussycat [Penelope Pitstop's car]. Trying to stop it, he activates the controls that apply face powder and lipstick. Granted, these are not standard controls in a car, but it does raise the question of why he thought the brakes would be activated by a button on the dashboard. Meanwhile, over in the Army Surplus Special, Penelope winds up firing the cannon.
** He doesn't drive; Meekly does. And given that all controls he deals with are by hand (firing stuff)...
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