Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines
Encyclopedia
Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines is a cartoon
produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions
for CBS
. Originally the series was broadcast as a Saturday morning cartoon
, airing from September 13, 1969 to January 3, 1970. The show focuses on the efforts of Dick Dastardly
and his canine sidekick Muttley
to catch Yankee Doodle Pigeon, a carrier pigeon
who carries secret messages (hence the name of the show’s theme song "Stop the Pigeon"). The cartoon was a combination of Red Baron-era Snoopy
, Wacky Races
(which featured Dastardly and Muttley in a series of car races), and the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
.
The show is widely known as Stop the Pigeon based on the show's original working title and the show's theme song, written by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
(and based on the jazz standard "Tiger Rag
") which repeats that phrase so often that it is frequently mistaken as the show's actual title. In the UK, the series remains best known by the shorter name Dastardly and Muttley.
The show had only two voice actors: Paul Winchell
as Dastardly and the indistinctly heard General, and Don Messick
as everybody else. Each 22-minute show was broadcast over half an hour on the network, including network breaks, and contained: two Dastardly & Muttley stories, one Magnificent Muttley story (Muttley's Walter Mitty
-style daydreams), and two or three short Wing Dings (brief gags to break up the longer stories).
s and members of the Vulture Squadron, a crew of aviators on a mission to stop a homing pigeon
named Yankee Doodle Pigeon from delivering messages to the other side.
The Magnificent Muttley segments always began with the verse (voiced by Dastardly):
Like its predecessor Wacky Races, Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines owes a great deal to the Road Runner cartoons, with Dastardly once again taking the Wile E. Coyote role. Both characters are fanatics, incapable of giving up even in the face of repeated and painful failure. Michael Maltese
, who wrote many of the original Road Runner shorts, is also credited as a writer on Wacky Races, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
and Dastardly and Muttley.
Dick Dastardly's appearance in this show was based on the English actor Terry-Thomas
, the moustache-twirling villain of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
, the film which provided the inspiration for Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines.
The setting of the series is never clearly stated, although the type of aircraft suggests the First World War (mostly biplanes, all with fixed undercarriage and some with pusher configuration). The nationality of the Vulture Squadron is also never revealed, if they come from an English-speaking country it is unclear why they are trying to stop an apparently American pigeon.
reruns on local stations throughout the 1970s and '80s. Some episodes were subsequently distributed on VHS
tape by Worldvision Enterprises.
On May 10, 2005 Warner Home Video
released the complete series on Region 1 DVD
. On July 31, 2006, the series was released on DVD R2 in the United Kingdom but only in HMV
stores and its online site as an HMV Exclusive.
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. Originally the series was broadcast as a Saturday morning cartoon
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
, airing from September 13, 1969 to January 3, 1970. The show focuses on the efforts of Dick Dastardly
Dick Dastardly
Dick Dastardly is a fictional character and antagonist who appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Dastardly's most famous appearances are main character in the series Wacky Races and its spin-off Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines...
and his canine sidekick Muttley
Muttley
Muttley is a Hanna-Barbera animated fictional character created by Iwao Takamoto and originally voiced by Don Messick. In the 2000 Wacky Races videogame he was voiced by Billy West.-Bio:...
to catch Yankee Doodle Pigeon, a carrier pigeon
Carrier pigeon
A carrier pigeon is a homing pigeon that is used to carry messages. Using pigeons to carry messages is generally called "pigeon post". Most homing or racing type varieties are used to carry messages. There is no specific breed actually called "carrier pigeon"...
who carries secret messages (hence the name of the show’s theme song "Stop the Pigeon"). The cartoon was a combination of Red Baron-era Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
, Wacky Races
Wacky Races
Wacky Races is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer." Wacky Races ran on CBS from September...
(which featured Dastardly and Muttley in a series of car races), and the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is a 1965 British comedy film starring Stuart Whitman and directed and co-written by Ken Annakin...
.
The show is widely known as Stop the Pigeon based on the show's original working title and the show's theme song, written by William Hanna
William Hanna
William Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century. When he was a young child, Hanna's family moved frequently, but they settled in Compton, California, by...
and Joseph Barbera
Joseph Barbera
Joseph Roland Barbera was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the twentieth century....
(and based on the jazz standard "Tiger Rag
Tiger Rag
"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard, originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions of all time.-Origins:...
") which repeats that phrase so often that it is frequently mistaken as the show's actual title. In the UK, the series remains best known by the shorter name Dastardly and Muttley.
The show had only two voice actors: Paul Winchell
Paul Winchell
Paul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s...
as Dastardly and the indistinctly heard General, and Don Messick
Don Messick
Donald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
as everybody else. Each 22-minute show was broadcast over half an hour on the network, including network breaks, and contained: two Dastardly & Muttley stories, one Magnificent Muttley story (Muttley's Walter Mitty
Walter Mitty
Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in the New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and in book form in My World and Welcome to It in 1942...
-style daydreams), and two or three short Wing Dings (brief gags to break up the longer stories).
Premise
Dick Dastardly and Muttley, the comic villains from Wacky Races, are flying aceFlying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
s and members of the Vulture Squadron, a crew of aviators on a mission to stop a homing pigeon
Homing pigeon
The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon derived from the Rock Pigeon selectively bred to find its way home over extremely long distances. The wild rock pigeon has an innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its own nest and its own mate...
named Yankee Doodle Pigeon from delivering messages to the other side.
Magnificent Muttley
There was one Magnificent Muttley episode in each of the 17 broadcast shows. Muttley is the main character, and imagines himself in a lot of situations. Each episode was about 3 minutes. These are the characters he pretends to be:- Sailor
- Jack of "Jack and the BeanstalkJack and the BeanstalkJack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
" - Magician
- Theatre actor
- Circus acrobat
- Masked avenger
- Movie stuntman
- Davy CrockettDavy CrockettDavid "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
- Scuba diver
- Leonardo Da VinciLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
- Car racer
- Olympic swimmer
- Arctic explorer
- Inventor
- TarzanTarzanTarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
- Astronaut
- Superhero
The Magnificent Muttley segments always began with the verse (voiced by Dastardly):
- Wake up, Muttley, you're dreaming again!
- You're not Robin Hood and you're not Gunga Din. *
- You're not a brave knight or a king who's been crowned;
- You're just plain old Muttley, the snickering hound!
- Several TV stations objected to "Gunga Din" because of the stereotype, and was replaced and re-recorded by Winchell, using the name of "Commodore", which showed Mutley in a sea captain's uniform with a captain's hat.
The Vulture Squadron
- Dick DastardlyDick DastardlyDick Dastardly is a fictional character and antagonist who appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Dastardly's most famous appearances are main character in the series Wacky Races and its spin-off Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines...
(voiced by Paul WinchellPaul WinchellPaul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s...
) is the leader of the Vulture Squadron, an ex-Wacky Racer turned aviator. He is still the accident-prone villain he had been in the Wacky RacesWacky RacesWacky Races is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer." Wacky Races ran on CBS from September...
and still owns the Mean Machine. He is referred to as "DD" or "Chief" by Zilly and Klunk, and as "Rick Rasterly" by Muttley (especially when he is muttering). Although he's sometimes mean to Muttley, Zilly and Klunk, he is a nice guy (he says that to himself often, to calm his nerves). When he gets angry, he usually uses his catchphrase "drat, drat and double drat", just before crashing hard into the ground. Although he does not show it very often, Dastardly likes Muttley very much... sometimes he treats Muttley with a lot more respect than the rest of the squadron (Zilly and Klunk). He has a catch phrase: "Drat and double drat!"
- MuttleyMuttleyMuttley is a Hanna-Barbera animated fictional character created by Iwao Takamoto and originally voiced by Don Messick. In the 2000 Wacky Races videogame he was voiced by Billy West.-Bio:...
(voiced by Don MessickDon MessickDonald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
) is Dastardly's bungling canine sidekick. He rarely speaks, and when he does it usually takes the form of either (1) just cursing to himself indistinctly, usually following some misfortune that has befallen him, or (2) an excited "yeah-yeah-yeah..." at the offer of something appealing or in response to a command/request from Dastardly. There are times when distinct single words can be discerned amid his mutterings (e.g., "Sassafrassarassa Chicken Zilly"). He does, however, have a distinctive wheezing laugh which he employs whenever something bad happens to Dick, or whenever Dick is describing his latest "foolproof" plot. Since leaving the Wacky Races, Muttley has learned to fly by spinning his tail like a helicopter rotor. This enables him to save Dastardly from falling (which frequently happens, usually accompanied by a cry from Dastardly of: "MUTTLEY!! DO SOMETHING!!"), although Muttley usually demands a medal for doing so. (He also alludes to a medal collection on his shelf.) During Wacky Races, Muttley's popularity had grown, so when Dastardly and Muttley began production, he got his own segment (Magnificent Muttley) in which he daydreams that he is a different hero each week, usually with Dastardly as the villain. Each episode ended with Mutley's snickering before or during the ending of the music that led to the conclusion of the episode.
- Zilly (voiced by Don MessickDon MessickDonald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
) is a pilot in the Vulture squadron. He is a cringing coward, forever running away and having to be fetched by Muttley. Each new plan fills him with dread, and he usually utters his catchphrase, "Oh dear! Oh my!", before retracting his head into his collar. Dastardly puts up with his cowardice because he is (1) a reasonably competent pilot who is needed to fly planes, and (especially) (2) the only squadron member able to interpret Klunk's gibberish (though on one occasion, he actually repeated Klunk's gibberish when he was asked, "Would you repeat that, Zilly?"). In one episode, he is temporarily turned into a reckless hero via hypnotherapyHypnotherapyHypnotherapy is a therapy that is undertaken with a subject in hypnosis.The word "hypnosis" is an abbreviation of James Braid's term "neuro-hypnotism", meaning "sleep of the nervous system"....
, but his new heroism turns out to be even more damaging to the squadron than his usual cowardice, leaving no choice to Dick Dastardly but to change him back to normal (causing both Dastardly and Zilly to become a duo of cowards in the process).
- Klunk (voiced by Don MessickDon MessickDonald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
) is the Vulture Squadron's stout and steady chief designer and pilot. Each episode sees him developing aircraft or weapons (often missiles which home on some bizarre trait, such as a person sneezing) with odd features and attachments designed to catch Yankee Doodle Pigeon. His attempts to explain his inventions are complicated by the fact that he apparently suffers from a speech impediment. His speech is punctuated by howls, clicks, whistles, and growls, accompanied by bizarre facial contortions. Only Zilly can understand him. His eyes are never seen because of his bangs and goggles pulled over them. Klunk often assumes command in Dastardly's absence, e.g. when he went on holiday (only to have his fun ruined by the squadron's further attempts to capture the pigeon), or when he suffered from memory lossAmnesiaAmnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
. Klunk is probably the most consistent character; he is steadfastly committed, beyond all other aspects of his life, to stopping the pigeon.
Other characters
- Yankee Doodle Pigeon (voiced by Don MessickDon MessickDonald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
) is a presumably American homing pigeon carrying a mail bag, and a bugle which he always plays (1) to announce his presence in defiance of the Vulture Squadron, and (2) to mock the Vulture Squadron's ineptitude. In the episode "Stop Which Pigeon?", he was caught but was accidentally released.
- The General (voiced by Paul WinchellPaul WinchellPaul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s...
) is Dastardly's superior, who always speaks (or rather, bellows unintelligibly) to Dastardly on the telephone. He is always able to reach Dastardly by telephone even when Dastardly is flying (or, more often than not, falling) with randomly appearing telephones. The telephones are almost always of the old-fashioned "candlestick" design, and often delivered to Dastardly by paradrop. They also occasionally explode when the General hangs up. The General is an unseen characterUnseen characterIn fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...
except for his uniformed arm, which occasionally emerges from the telephone earpiece to grab Dastardly's neck or strike him. In one episode he pays a personal visit but only his foot is seen (drop-kicking Dastardly out of the hangar). In one of the Wing Dings short cartoons, we can see a photo of an officer hanging on the wall, which is possibly the General (although this was never confirmed).
- Muttley's girlfriend (voiced by Don MessickDon MessickDonald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
) is only seen in some of the Magnificent Muttley shorts. She is usually the damsel in distressDamsel in distressThe subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
whom Muttley has to rescue from Dastardly's clutches. She looks like a female version of Muttley's breed, but unlike him she is able to speak distinctly. She may be a figment of his imagination, although in one episode we see a picture of her on a wall next to Muttley's bed.
Various plots
Each story features variations on the same plot elements: the Vulture Squadron tries to trap Yankee Doodle Pigeon using one or more planes equipped with Klunk's latest contraption(s), but one or more of the Squadron messes up and the plane(s) either crash, collide or explode. While they are falling out of the wreckage, Dastardly calls for help, which Muttley either offers or refuses depending on whether Dastardly agrees to give him a medal. Even when Muttley does agree to fly Dastardly out of trouble, Dastardly seldom has a soft landing. At some point the General calls Dastardly on the phone to demand results. Dastardly assures him that they will soon capture the pigeon, but the General does not believe him and either bellows down the phone or reaches through it and pulls Dastardly's moustache or nose. Klunk then comes up with a new invention and "explains" it in his own unique way. Dastardly says, "What'd he say? What'd he say?" and Zilly interprets, before attempting to run away. Once Muttley has "persuaded" (usually by biting/attacking him) Zilly to return, the Vulture Squadron take off in their new plane(s) to repeat the whole procedure. Eventually the Squadron is left to lick their wounds as Yankee Doodle Pigeon flies over the horizon, blowing his bugle triumphantly.Like its predecessor Wacky Races, Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines owes a great deal to the Road Runner cartoons, with Dastardly once again taking the Wile E. Coyote role. Both characters are fanatics, incapable of giving up even in the face of repeated and painful failure. Michael Maltese
Michael Maltese
Michael "Mike" Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon shorts.-Career:...
, who wrote many of the original Road Runner shorts, is also credited as a writer on Wacky Races, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969. The show lasted two full seasons, with a total of 17 half-hour episodes produced and released, the last first-run episode airing on January...
and Dastardly and Muttley.
Dick Dastardly's appearance in this show was based on the English actor Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas
Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as...
, the moustache-twirling villain of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is a 1965 British comedy film starring Stuart Whitman and directed and co-written by Ken Annakin...
, the film which provided the inspiration for Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines.
The setting of the series is never clearly stated, although the type of aircraft suggests the First World War (mostly biplanes, all with fixed undercarriage and some with pusher configuration). The nationality of the Vulture Squadron is also never revealed, if they come from an English-speaking country it is unclear why they are trying to stop an apparently American pigeon.
Original run
- DM-1. "Fur Out Furlough" (47-4) / "Barn Dance" (47-72) / "Hot Soup" (47-71) / "Muttley on the Bounty" / "Sappy Birthday" (9/13/1969)
- DM-2. "Follow That Feather" (47-2) / "Barber" (47-70) / "Empty Hangar" (47-73) / "What's New, Old Bean?" / "Operation Anvil" (9/20/1969)
- DM-3. "Sky Hi-IQ" (47-5) / "Prop Wash" (47-74) / "Carpet" (47-76) / "The Marvelous Muttdini" / "A Plain Shortage of Planes" (9/27/1969)
- DM-4. "Barnstormers" (47-8) / "Arnold" (47-78) / "Pineapple Sundae" (47-79) / "The New Mascot" / "The Bad Actor" / "Shape Up or Ship Out" (10/4/1969)
- DM-5. "Stop That Pigeon" (47-1) / "Grease Job" (47-75) / "Robot" (47-83) / "The Big Topper" / "Zilly's a Dilly" (10/11/1969)
- DM-6. "The Cuckoo Patrol" (47-11) / "Automatic Door" (47-82) / "Airmail" (47-84) / "Runway Stripe" / "The Masked Muttley" / "Pest Pilots" (10/18/1969)
- DM-7. "The Swiss Yelps" / "Eagle-Beagle" / "Deep Reading" / "Shell Game" / "Slightly Loaded" / "Movie Stuntman" (10/25/1969)
- DM-8. "Fly By Knights" (47-15) / "There's No Fool Like A Re-Fuel" (47-16) / "Springtime" (47-98) / "Dog's Life" / "Strange Equipment" / "Coonskin Caper" (11/1/1969)
- DM-9. "Movies Are Badder Than Ever" (47-18) / "Home Sweet Homing Pigeon" (47-19) The Elevator" (47-81) / "Obedience School" / "Aquanuts" (11/8/1969)
- DM-10. "Lens A Hand" (47-17) / "Vacation Trip Trap" (47-20) / "Parachute" (47-99) / "Real Snapper" / "Leonardo De Muttley" (11/15/1969)
- DM-11. "Stop Which Pigeon?" (47-21) / "Ceiling Zero Zero" (47-22) / "Fast Freight" (47-90) / "Home Run" / "Start Your Engines" (11/22/1969)
- DM-12. "Who's Who?" (47-23) / "Operation Birdbrain" (47-24) / "Bowling Pin" (47-88) / "Shrink Job" / "Ship Ahooney" (11/29/1969)
- DM-13. "Medal Muddle" (47-25) / "Go South Young Pigeon!" (47-26) / "The Window Washer" (47-128) / "Beach Blast" / "Admiral Bird Dog" (12/6/1969)
- DM-14. "Too Many Kooks" (47-27) / "Ice See You" (47-28) / "Echo" (47-89) / "Rainmaker" / "Professor Muttley" (12/13/1969)
- DM-15. "Balmy Swami" (47-29) / "Camouflage Hop-Aroo" (47-30) / "Mop Up" (47-124) / "Big Turnover" (a.k.a. Left Hanging) / "Wild Mutt Muttley" (12/20/1969)
- DM-16. "Have Plane Will Travel" (47-31) / "Windy Windmill" (47-32) / "Tough Break" (47-110) / "The Ice Cream Tree" / "Astromutt" (12/27/1969)
- DM-17. "Plane Talk" (47-33) / "Happy Bird Day" (47-34) / "Boxing" (47-85) / "Runaway Rug" (a.k.a. Magic Carpet) / "Super Muttley" (1/3/1970)
Voice cast
- Paul WinchellPaul WinchellPaul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s...
- Richard Dastardly, General, others - Don MessickDon MessickDonald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....
- Muttley, Klunk, Zilly, Yankee Doodle Pigeon, Narrator, others
Japanese version
- Chikao Otsuka - Dick Dastardly
- Takuzo Kamiyama - Kenken (Muttley)
- Keiroku Seki - Klunk
- Akira Omizumi - Zilly
- Kichijiro Ueda - General
- Eriko Masuyama - Yankee Doodle Pigeon
Production credits
- Produced and Directed by William HannaWilliam HannaWilliam Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century. When he was a young child, Hanna's family moved frequently, but they settled in Compton, California, by...
and Joseph BarberaJoseph BarberaJoseph Roland Barbera was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the twentieth century.... - Associate Producer: Alex Lovy
- Story: Larz Bourne, Dalton Sandifer, Mike Maltese
- Story Direction: Alex Lovy, Bill Perez
- Voices: Paul WinchellPaul WinchellPaul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s...
, Don MessickDon MessickDonald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest.... - Animation Director: Charles A. Nichols
- Production Design: Iwao TakamotoIwao TakamotoIwao Takamoto was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He was most famous as being a production and character designer for Hanna-Barbera Productions shows such as Scooby-Doo....
- Production Supervisor: Victor O. Schipek
- Character Design: Jerry Eisenberg
- Layout: Lou Appet, Ed Benedict, Jim Fletcher, Don Jurwich, Lin Larsen, Jack Manning.
- Animation: Ed Barge, Emil Carle, Izzy Ellis, John Garling, Maria Jursic, Carlo Vinci, Jerry Hathcock, Bob Maxfield, Ken Muse, Morey Reden, Veve Risto.
- Background Styling: Walt Peregoy
- Backgrounds: Dave Weidman, William Butler, Robert Gentle, Iraj Paran, Curtis Perkins
- Title Design: Bill Perez
- Titles: Robert Schaefer
- Music Director: Ted Nichols
- Technical Supervisor: Frank Paiker
- Ink & Paint Supervisor: Roberta Greutert
- Xerography: Robert West
- Sound Direction: Richard Olson
- Film Editing: Pat Foley, Richard Allen
- Camera: Dick Blundell, Bill Kotler, Ralph Migliori, Cliff Shipser, Rex Stevens, Roy Wade
- A Hanna-BarberaHanna-BarberaHanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
Production - This Picture Made Under the Juridiction of IATSE-IA Affiliated with A.F.L.-C.I.O.
- RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
Sound Recording
Syndication and home video
After its original CBS run, Dastardly and Muttley was shown in syndicatedTelevision syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
reruns on local stations throughout the 1970s and '80s. Some episodes were subsequently distributed on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
tape by Worldvision Enterprises.
On May 10, 2005 Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
released the complete series on Region 1 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. On July 31, 2006, the series was released on DVD R2 in the United Kingdom but only in HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
stores and its online site as an HMV Exclusive.
| Cover Art | DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines- The Complete Series | 17 | May 10, 2005 |
|
In popular culture
- Although the Wacky Races series is never mentioned (and being set in present day, would not take place for decades), the Mean Machine can be seen in all of the episodes of Magnificent Muttley.
- The "Stop The Pigeon" theme song was covered by the punk band Reverend Horton Heat in the 1995 compilation album Saturday Morning Cartoons.
- The series was sponsored by Kellogg'sKellogg CompanyKellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
breakfast cerealBreakfast cerealA breakfast cereal is a food made from processed grains that is often, but not always, eaten with the first meal of the day. It is often eaten cold, usually mixed with milk , water, or yogurt, and sometimes fruit but sometimes eaten dry. Some cereals, such as oatmeal, may be served hot as porridge...
s in its original run, and the characters appeared in several commercials for the company. - In an episode of Yogi's Treasure HuntYogi's Treasure HuntYogi's Treasure Hunt is a segment that kicked-off in 1985 as the first of the programming block, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. It also ran as a regular series in syndication from 1985 to 1988.-Plot:...
entitled "Yogi's Heroes", in which Yogi BearYogi BearYogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. Yogi Bear was the first breakout character created by Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...
and Dastardly were the leaders of warring nations, Dastardly tortured all of Yogi's friends by forcing them to watch episodes of Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines until the victims were incapable of doing anything more than stumbling around and repeatedly chanting, "Stop the pigeon."
See also
- List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera
- List of Hanna-Barbera characters
- United States Army Pigeon ServiceUnited States Army Pigeon ServiceThe United States Army Pigeon Service was a unit of the United States Army during World War I and World War II...