I missed out on the Speed Racer phenomenon somehow. I got the cartoons on dvd some years ago, but have only ever watched about a third of them. I just never get back around to it.
Wacky Races was a fun goofy cartoon, with some utterly mad designs. I loved the wide range of personalities and the outlandish cars.
One car-toon I don't see at the top is Speed Buggy, a Scooby-Doo knockoff that I mostly remember because of the Charlton comics which came out. I bought all of them off the stands save one which I still don't have during my Charlton completist phase.
Also a Charlton comic and an early place for some dynamic John Byrne artwork is Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch. This was a wacky cartoon, but maybe an even more wacky comic. After Byrne left, Joe Staton took over to good effect. Dandy little comics if you can find them.
Ah, Saturday morning. Even now, it lends itself to cartoon viewing and consideration...
Never really got into Speed Racer, but never missed the Wacky Races! Unlike some previous Hanna Barbera offerings, the theme doesn't really stick to memory: basically background music. Still, it worked for the show. Stylistically, the Wacky Races seemed like a transitional show from the cleaner animated forms of Space Ghost, etc. and the upcoming shows such as Hair Bear Bunch. The designs were a bit looser, the music less dynamic. The plot was pretty repetitive, but as Rip noted, the cast was great!
Each week I rooted for the Arkansas Chug-a-Bug; don't ask me why (maybe it was the bear). I also wanted to see Dick Dastardly win one, just for a change (sign of early rebellious youth emerging?). Anyone know if he ever did win a race?
Wacky Races was broadcast weekdays on the BBC in the kids TV period,4 pm to 6 pm. I suppose Dick Dasterdly and Mutley were the real stars of it as well as Penelope Pitstop as they went on to spin-off shows - "Stop The Pigeon" for DD and Mutley and for PP the show where her guardian, Sylvester Sneakley was really her nemesis the Hooded Claw.
I was pretty big Speed Racer fan back in the day. I thought it was a really original idea for a show, and the theme song is one of the all time greats. Plus the dude's name was "Speed", one of the coolest names since Johnny Quest.
The only one of those pictured I remember is Speed Racer - which was not shown on Saturday mornings where I lived, but rather on weekday afternoons right around the time I got home from school. And from about grades 1 to 3, all the kids in my class loved it. My favorite character was the only occasionally seen Racer X, or the Masked Racer (who was actually Speed's older brother, Rex). Back then, I just thought he was too cool for words, and I liked the way he acted as Speed's guardian angel on the racetrack.
I loved Wacky Races as a kid, I'll probably get around to netflixing it eventually. I liked Speed Racer okay, but the theme song was better than the actual content.
2 parts fun to 1 part 'its all we had', stir slowwwwwly.., let simmer for 30yrs.
I remember my parents bought me the Wacky Races game, which was cool. My dad always loved the Army tank characters, and who DIDN'T love Dick Dastardly and Mutley. I didn't like the spinoffs that much, but the original show was pretty cool.
THANKS to no decent cartoons, many an afternoon was whittled away watching Speed Racer.. It was.. ok, but it had 'all we had' written ALL OVER IT, you could kinda tell it at the time as well.
Years later, I did enjoy Bill Murray's shout-out during his monologue on SNL in the late '80s about the internationals finally outperforming the USA in entertainment ("Didn't.. Speed Racer give you all a clue..?"). That stuck in my mind ever since as SR being an early introduction to mainstream anime. I didn't really like it much, but again, it's all we had to watch on TV, LONG before any concept of video tapes.
Even a bad 'Lost In Space' episode would have been much preferred.
Gosh, my computer jammed for quite awhile as it started to load this, and my initial thought was that this post was going to be about that really freaky, auto-fetish, nearly incomprehensible (but still quite amusing) CARtoons pulp magazine publication that was kind of popular from the late 60's or so through the 70's (maybe?).
Is that possibly a topic for another time. . . or is it simply too niche a subject? (I mean, I'm certainly no authority on it myself-- I just remember kind of marveling at it every now and then)
HB- Regarding "Car toons", I thought the same thing, initially! My mind gravitated to these crazy "Odd Rods" trading cards and stickers we used to cover our school notebooks with. I'd forgotten all about them...
Put me down for a third guy who at first though we were going to talk CARtoons magazine. I got a few and soaked them up, despite not being a car guy much at all.
With the WACKY RACES cartoon (which I did also enjoy. . . I think it was a regular choice for us. Remember-- most households had one television at that time, and all three networks were competing to get those kid-eyeballs on Saturday morning. If you were watching one show, it meant that you had made a conscious decision to NOT watch two others. . . ), I remember that there had been a mini-boom of quaint "Big Race" films at about the same time-- THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES; THE GREAT RACE (delightfully silly film w/ Jack Lemmon & Tony Curtis, among many others); THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES-- and I imagine this was an effort to latch onto that mini-craze.
Y'know, it really could be effectively adapted into a MarioKart-like video game for probably minimal production investment-- with some love for the source material and clever in-game writing, it could even be kind of a retro-cool little gem. . .
I missed out on the Speed Racer phenomenon somehow. I got the cartoons on dvd some years ago, but have only ever watched about a third of them. I just never get back around to it.
ReplyDeleteWacky Races was a fun goofy cartoon, with some utterly mad designs. I loved the wide range of personalities and the outlandish cars.
One car-toon I don't see at the top is Speed Buggy, a Scooby-Doo knockoff that I mostly remember because of the Charlton comics which came out. I bought all of them off the stands save one which I still don't have during my Charlton completist phase.
Also a Charlton comic and an early place for some dynamic John Byrne artwork is Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch. This was a wacky cartoon, but maybe an even more wacky comic. After Byrne left, Joe Staton took over to good effect. Dandy little comics if you can find them.
Rip Off
Ah, Saturday morning. Even now, it lends itself to cartoon viewing and consideration...
ReplyDeleteNever really got into Speed Racer, but never missed the Wacky Races! Unlike some previous Hanna Barbera offerings, the theme doesn't really stick to memory: basically background
music. Still, it worked for the show. Stylistically, the Wacky Races seemed like a transitional show from the cleaner animated forms of Space Ghost, etc. and the upcoming shows such as Hair Bear Bunch. The designs were a bit looser, the music less dynamic. The plot was pretty repetitive, but as Rip noted, the cast was great!
Each week I rooted for the Arkansas Chug-a-Bug; don't ask me why (maybe it was the bear). I also wanted to see Dick Dastardly win one, just for a change (sign of early rebellious youth emerging?). Anyone know if he ever did win a race?
Wacky Races was broadcast weekdays on the BBC in the kids TV period,4 pm to 6 pm. I suppose Dick Dasterdly and Mutley were the real stars of it as well as Penelope Pitstop as they went on to spin-off shows - "Stop The Pigeon" for DD and Mutley and for PP the show where her guardian, Sylvester Sneakley was really her nemesis the Hooded Claw.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty big Speed Racer fan back in the day. I thought it was a really original idea for a show, and the theme song is one of the all time greats. Plus the dude's name was "Speed", one of the coolest names since Johnny Quest.
ReplyDeleteThe only one of those pictured I remember is Speed Racer - which was not shown on Saturday mornings where I lived, but rather on weekday afternoons right around the time I got home from school. And from about grades 1 to 3, all the kids in my class loved it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite character was the only occasionally seen Racer X, or the Masked Racer (who was actually Speed's older brother, Rex). Back then, I just thought he was too cool for words, and I liked the way he acted as Speed's guardian angel on the racetrack.
I loved Wacky Races as a kid, I'll probably get around to netflixing it eventually. I liked Speed Racer okay, but the theme song was better than the actual content.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'll mix my opinion here...
ReplyDelete2 parts fun to 1 part 'its all we had', stir slowwwwwly.., let simmer for 30yrs.
I remember my parents bought me the Wacky Races game, which was cool. My dad always loved the Army tank characters, and who DIDN'T love Dick Dastardly and Mutley. I didn't like the spinoffs that much, but the original show was pretty cool.
THANKS to no decent cartoons, many an afternoon was whittled away watching Speed Racer.. It was.. ok, but it had 'all we had' written ALL OVER IT, you could kinda tell it at the time as well.
Years later, I did enjoy Bill Murray's shout-out during his monologue on SNL in the late '80s about the internationals finally outperforming the USA in entertainment ("Didn't.. Speed Racer give you all a clue..?"). That stuck in my mind ever since as SR being an early introduction to mainstream anime. I didn't really like it much, but again, it's all we had to watch on TV, LONG before any concept of video tapes.
Even a bad 'Lost In Space' episode would have been much preferred.
I hav a soft spot for Speed Buggy. Wasn't it basically Scooby-Doo with a dune buggy in place of a dog?
ReplyDeleteGosh, my computer jammed for quite awhile as it started to load this, and my initial thought was that this post was going to be about that really freaky, auto-fetish, nearly incomprehensible (but still quite amusing) CARtoons pulp magazine publication that was kind of popular from the late 60's or so through the 70's (maybe?).
ReplyDeleteIs that possibly a topic for another time. . . or is it simply too niche a subject? (I mean, I'm certainly no authority on it myself-- I just remember kind of marveling at it every now and then)
HB
HB- Regarding "Car toons", I thought the same thing, initially! My mind gravitated to these crazy "Odd Rods" trading cards and stickers we used to cover our school notebooks with. I'd forgotten all about them...
ReplyDeletePut me down for a third guy who at first though we were going to talk CARtoons magazine. I got a few and soaked them up, despite not being a car guy much at all.
ReplyDeleteRip Off
With the WACKY RACES cartoon (which I did also enjoy. . . I think it was a regular choice for us. Remember-- most households had one television at that time, and all three networks were competing to get those kid-eyeballs on Saturday morning. If you were watching one show, it meant that you had made a conscious decision to NOT watch two others. . . ), I remember that there had been a mini-boom of quaint "Big Race" films at about the same time-- THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES; THE GREAT RACE (delightfully silly film w/ Jack Lemmon & Tony Curtis, among many others); THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES-- and I imagine this was an effort to latch onto that mini-craze.
ReplyDeleteY'know, it really could be effectively adapted into a MarioKart-like video game for probably minimal production investment-- with some love for the source material and clever in-game writing, it could even be kind of a retro-cool little gem. . .
HB
I had a little Penelope Pitstop car. I think it came from a box of cereal.
ReplyDeleteI had a few of them as well.
DeleteGeez, those parts were dinky-small..!!