3.5 Stars
Dastardly and Muttley meet Penelope Pitstop in the Wacky Races
Hanna-Barbera’s Wacky Races comes to high definition in this complete series blu-ray release from the Warner Archive.
Wacky Races (1968–1969)
Released: 14 Sep 1968
Rated: TV-G
Runtime: 52S min
Director: N/A
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Cast: Paul Winchell, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson
Writer(s): N/A
Plot: The participants of an unusual car race compete around America.
IMDB rating: 7.5
MetaScore: N/A
Disc Information
Studio: Warner Brothers
Distributed By: Warner Archive
Video Resolution: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HDMA
Subtitles: English SDH
Rating: Not Rated
Run Time: 6 Hrs. 48 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray
Case Type: Amaray
Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Region: ABC
Release Date: 04/29/2025
MSRP: $24.49
The Production: 3/5
The high concept premise of Wacky Races has various cartoon characters racing against each other. Wacky Races was “inspired” by Blake Edwards’ The Great Race(1965). As in The Great Race, Wacky Races has its own mustache-twirling Snidely Whiplash type in the form of Dick Dastardly(Paul Winchell). Dastardly’s henchman is a snickering hyena, or maybe a dog, named Muttley(Don Messick).
Dastardly and Muttley are thorough cheats to the core. Dastardly and Muttley spend more time cheating and interfering with the other racers than they do in actually trying to win the race. Since cheaters never prosper on Saturday morning, Dastardly and Muttley are always disqualified or always fail to place at the end of each race.
The other racers include Southern belle Penelope Pitstop(Janet Waldo), two Captain Caveman prototypes named the Slag Brothers(Don Messick and Daws Butler), two monsters named the Gruesome Twosome(Daws Butler and Don Messick), World War I aviator the Red Max(Daws Butler), the Ant Hill Mob, a gang of 1920s hoodlums modeled after the seven dwarves, and others.
Wacky Races aired during its original production on the CBS network on Saturday mornings during the 1968 through 1969 season before becoming a perennial in syndication. Wacky Races spawned 2 different spinoff series for the following season: The Perils of Penelope Pitstop had the heroine pursued by Sylvester Sneakly aka “The Hooded Claw” with the Ant Hill Mob working with Penelope to thwart the villain’s schemes; and Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines had the devilish duo take to the skies in air races in a spoof ‘inspired by” Ken Annikin’s Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines(1965). Dastardly & Muttley may be most memorable for its earworm of a theme song “Stop That Pigeon” which was based on the “Tiger Rag” of the Jazz Age. Both series aired in first run on the CBS network on Saturday mornings during the 1969 through 1970 season before both also airing frequently in syndication for many years.
Wacky Races is unique as a co-production of Hanna-Barbera and Heatter-Quigley Productions(The Hollywood Squares). You might wonder how a production company specializing in game shows got mixed up with the most prolific TV animation mill in Los Angeles. Wacky Races was conceived originally as a hybrid cartoon and game show in which viewers could win prizes by correctly guessing the winners of each race. This element was dropped during production, probably for being unwieldy in 1968. (In our modern world, viewers could probably compete in real time for such prizes via the World Wide Web. In 1968, this would not have been feasible.)
Each episode of Wacky Races is broken up into 2 segments, each with a separate race. All 17 episodes of Wacky Races are presented on 2 discs, with the first 9 episodes on disc 1 and the remaining 8 episodes, and special features, on disc 2. The episodes are as follows:
Disc 1
Episode 1 – See-Saw to Arkansas/Creepy Trip to Lemon Twist(21:43)
Episode 2 – Why Oh Why Wyoming/Beat the Clock to Yellow Rock(21:49)
Episode 3 – Mish Mash Missouri Dash/Idaho A Go Go(21:38)
Episode 4 – The Baja-Ha-Ha Race/Real Gone Ape(21:50)
Episode 5 – Scout Scatter/Free Wheeling to Wheeling(21:39)
Episode 6 – By Roller Coaster to Upsan Downs/The Speedy Arkansas Traveler(21:51)
Episode 7 – The Zippy Mississippi Race/Traffic Jambalaya(21:37)
Episode 8 – Hot Race to Chillicothe/The Wrong Lumber Race(21:43)
Episode 9 – Rhode Island Road Race/The Great Cold Rush Race(21:38)
Disc 2
Episode 10 – Wacky Race to Ripsaw/Oil’s Well That Ends Well(21:36)
Episode 11 – Whizzin’ to Washington/The Dipsy Doodle Desert Derby(21:30)
Episode 13 – The Dopey Dakota Derby/Dash to Delaware(21:31)
Episode 14 – Speeding for Smogland/Race Rally to Raleigh(21:47)
Episode 15 – Ballpoint, Penn. or Bust/Fast Track to Hackensack(21:37)
Episode 16 – The Ski Resort Road Race/Overseas Hi-Way Race(21:27)
Episode 17 – Race to Racine/The Carlsbad or Bust Bash(21:31)
The disc menu allows you to select any of the 17 episodes individually or with a “Play All” selection. Any of the 2 segments in each episode can also be selected individually via the menu. If you want to watch the complete episode with opening and closing credits, you must select the first of 2 segments; if you pick the second segment, it starts at the middle of that episode with no opening credits and only the closing credits.
Wacky Races is presented here as closely as possible to how it would have aired originally on Saturday mornings, complete with opening and closing credits, and even the Taft logo from the closing of each episode. This is a step up from the DVD release of 2004 which had the 17 episodes broken up into 34 episodes, with each segment having the opening and closing credits tacked onto it.
Wacky Races is a pleasant if unchallenging Saturday morning cartoon from the studio that created Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, and The Flintstones. Wacky Races does not skew to an older audience as much as those other shows but it has enough fun elements to make for a good time. If you can put yourself in the mindset of your younger self (assuming you are not pre-teen to start with), you can have a nice time by pouring yourself some breakfast cereal(I recommend Count Chocula, but pick your own favorite) and watching this show from a simpler time. (Looking back at everything happening in the year when this series premiered in 1968, I am not so sure it was a simpler time except in my mind.)
Video: 4.5/5
3D Rating: NA
Wacky Races appears in 1080p in its original 1.33:1 screen aspect ratio via the AVC codec. Colors are vibrant with much of the cel dust having been removed digitally. You can actually compare the dramatic difference between the presentation of Wacky Races here in high definition and the original DVD release thanks to the commentaries, which display the standard definition DVD version of the selected episodes.
Thankfully, it does not appear that any animation detail has been inadvertently removed along with the dust and debris from the original transfers. Admittedly, the detail in these cartoons is on the coarse side since Wacky Races was intended originally to air on small analog television screens in the late 1960s. Although the animation may be limited in movement, you cannot fault the quality of the video presentation of Wacky Races in this release
Audio: 4/5
Wacky Races appears on blu-ray in DTS-HD 2.0 audio on this complete series collection. The sound mix is not underpowered in any way but delivers a powerful audio track. Although television productions from the 1960s may not have had great dynamic range in audio, the aural presentation here is as good as one could hope. The only audible tinniness or static that I noticed was in the Taft Broadcasting logo at the end of each episode of Wacky Races.
Special Features: 4.5/5
Special features for Wacky Races are included solely on Disc 2. These special features were produced originally in 2004 for the DVD release of Wacky Races and are presented in 480p. The special features are as follows:
Rearview Mirror: A Look Back at Wacky Races(19:45): Production designer Iwao Takamoto, animation artist Jerry Eisenberg, and voice actress Janet Waldo appear with others in this informative featurette about Wacky Races produced for the DVD release in 2004.
Spin-out Spinoffs(10:50): Iwao Takamoto, Janet Waldo, Jerry Eisenberg and others discuss the direct spinoffs from Wacky Races, Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. As this featurette was produced in 2004, it ends with the timely announcement that both spinoffs are coming soon to DVD. [Editor’s note: both series did appear later on DVD.]
Wacky Facts Trivia Track(21:38): This is a standard definition presentation of Episode 1 of Wacky Races with trivia displayed during the episode on screen pop-ups. This presentation of Episode 1 includes the Worldvision logo at the very end following the Taft broadcasting logo; this is noteworthy only because the Worldvision logo does not appear at the end of any of the episodes presented in high definition.
Commentaries produced in 2004 appear on 4 segments of Wacky Races. These commentaries are accessible only via the special features menu on disc 2. The segments are presented as they were on the DVD release of Wacky Races, complete with emulsion lines and visible cel dirt. You can compare the video presentation on these special features to truly appreciate how much better the episodes look now in 1080p. The segments with special commentaries with contributors are as follows:
Ballpoint, Penn. or Bust(11:49): Production designer Iwao Takamoto, artist Jerry Eisenberg, animation historian and former H-B employee Earl Kress, and animation artist Scott Shaw!.
Fast Track to Hackensack(11:58): Artist Jerry Eisenberg, animation historian and former H-B employee Earl Kress, and animation artist Scott Shaw!.
The Ski Resort Road Race(11:53): Production designer Iwao Takamoto, artist Jerry Eisenberg, animation historian and former H-B employee Earl Kress, and animation artist Scott Shaw!.
Overseas Hi-Way Race(11:45): Artist Jerry Eisenberg, animation historian and former H-B employee Earl Kress, and animation artist Scott Shaw!.
In the commentaries, these show segments have both opening and closing credits, which is not how these segments aired originally, since each segment was one-half of a complete episode. The presentation in these commentaries is identical to how the segments were presented on the DVD release of Wacky Races in 2004, and how these commentaries were originally created.
Overall: 3.5/5
Wacky Races is a slapstick and reasonably entertaining Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera. The video and audio presentation of Wacky Races on blu-ray is top-notch. Although there were no special features produced in 2025 for this release, due credit is owed to Warner Archive for including the special features produced in 2004 for the DVD set on this new release. Wacky Races The Complete Series on blu-ray will be a must for all classic animation fans and children of all ages.
Timothy has worked background in theatrical features and television, just for the fun of it, in films directed by Peter Segal and Christopher Nolan. His favorite film star is Bugs Bunny, and Timothy has discovered that most of the problems in life can be solved successfully (strangely enough) by asking “What would Bugs Bunny do?” Timothy has been involved with the Home Theater Forum since 2007 and has reported from Comic Con, interviewed Bruce Campbell and Danny Trejo, and reviewed classic animation and new theatrical releases on disc.
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I am curious. On the original DVD release of WACKY RACES, there was Easter Eggs of the commercial bumpers on disc 2. Are these Easter Eggs included on this new Blu-ray release?
Saturday Morning H-B series usually only ran 2 seasons for around 24-28 episodes all together. In the mid to late 60's however, cartoon series were reduced from 20 something to first 18 and then just 17 for one season only.
Starting in 1970, all cartoon series H-B and other studios only ran for 16 episodes for the entire series.
Scooby-Doo is the only exception to this at he had many iterations throughout that decade.
I am curious. On the original DVD release of WACKY RACES, there was Easter Eggs of the commercial bumpers on disc 2. Are these Easter Eggs included on this new Blu-ray release?
Saturday Morning H-B series usually only ran 2 seasons for around 24-28 episodes all together. In the mid to late 60's however, cartoon series were reduced from 20 something to first 18 and then just 17 for one season only.
Starting in 1970, all cartoon series H-B and other studios only ran for 16 episodes for the entire series.
Scooby-Doo is the only exception to this at he had many iterations throughout that decade.
Good info. Another exception was The Smurfs that ran on NBC for 8 seasons with 256 episodes. I have never watched this H-B series but it was a huge hit in the 1980’s.
Good info. Another exception was The Smurfs that ran on NBC for 8 seasons with 256 episodes. I have never watched this H-B series but it was a huge hit in the 1980’s.
I am curious. On the original DVD release of WACKY RACES, there was Easter Eggs of the commercial bumpers on disc 2. Are these Easter Eggs included on this new Blu-ray release?
I got the set last week and I’ve just finished watching the first disc. They all look beautiful and cleaned up. On a least one episode the narrator’s voice was mixed a little low, and the music was drowning him out a bit, although I could still hear him. I put in the second disc to check out the supplements and it doesn’t seem to have any of the bumpers. Still, very happy with the upgrade though and I’m enjoying the episodes. They all look great! Still have 8 episodes left to watch, maybe they’ll be a surprise with the bumper's, we’ll see.
The Easter Egg was on the 3rd disc on the original DVD set.
It was found by going to the features section and doing the following.
Easter Egg: If you highlight and select the tire on the Special Features page on the third disc you'll be taken to an unrestored clip that was used as a lead-in for commercials. Highlighting the can behind the bear will take you to an alternate lead-in clip.
I am curious. On the original DVD release of WACKY RACES, there was Easter Eggs of the commercial bumpers on disc 2. Are these Easter Eggs included on this new Blu-ray release?
Saturday Morning H-B series usually only ran 2 seasons for around 24-28 episodes all together. In the mid to late 60's however, cartoon series were reduced from 20 something to first 18 and then just 17 for one season only.
Starting in 1970, all cartoon series H-B and other studios only ran for 16 episodes for the entire series.
Scooby-Doo is the only exception to this at he had many iterations throughout that decade.
Oh I know. I watched the original run. It just felt longer than a single season of only 17 episodes. I suppose it’s my kid brain because they would rerun them endless.
Oh I know. I watched the original run. It just felt longer than a single season of only 17 episodes. I suppose it’s my kid brain because they would rerun them endless.
The following year, they spun off both Dastardly & Muttley and Penelope Pitstop as separate shows. Later they were syndicated together as "The Fun World Of Hanna-Barbera" along with "The Funky Phantom" and "The Amazing Chan And The Chan Clan." Knowing how Fred Silverman liked to slam different shows together into one long show, I wonder why he never pulled a "Laff-A-Lympics" with the Wacky Races and made it a 90-minute show adding Pitstop and Dastardly adventures.
The Easter Egg was on the 3rd disc on the original DVD set.
It was found by going to the features section and doing the following.
Easter Egg: If you highlight and select the tire on the Special Features page on the third disc you'll be taken to an unrestored clip that was used as a lead-in for commercials. Highlighting the can behind the bear will take you to an alternate lead-in clip.
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