Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines

Back when "Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines" debuted, I was a fan. I'd enjoyed the two in "The Wacky Racers" and so it was natural I'd watch this spin-off. And, for a five year-old, it was enjoyable. Several decades later, the show was shown on the Boomerang Channel and I decided to give it a watch for nostalgia's sake. And, to my moderate surprise, the show was absolutely terrible. A horribly low cel count (common in the poorly animated 1960s and 70s that was dominated by Hanna-Barbera), completely one-dimensional characters and terrible writing (with very repetitive and flimsy plots involving catching a stupid pigeon...PERIOD) made it an absolute chore to watch. After a few episodes, I swore I'd never see this abomination again!

So why do I think I liked it to back in the old days? Much of it simply was because bad writing and low cel counts were the norm for 1969. Now, with the improvement in the quality of cartoons, it's obvious when you watch any of the old shows of 1969 that they simply don't stack up with the recent offerings by Nickelodeon or the old classic Looney Tunes shorts. And, I assume with kids today seeing better quality cartoons, that they, too, would be a bit bored by this Dastardly cartoon.

OK, let me see if I've got this straight...

It's World War I, and retired Wacky Racers Dick Dastardly and Muttley the dog have got together with a couple of eccentric aviators, Klunk and Zilly, to form Vulture Squadron. Zilly is a devout coward whose catchphrase is "oh-h-h de-e-ear", and who frequently tries to hide by ducking his head inside his roll-neck sweater like a human tortoise. Klunk, the team's inventive genius, speaks in a mixture of English and bizarre noises which are accompanied by the most extraordinary facial contortions. Between them this not-so-intrepid crew spend all their time manufacturing incredibly elaborate machinery and aircraft designed to block American war reports by catching...wait for it..._a single homing pigeon_. And week after week Vulture squadron are easily outwitted by the bird's superior speed and manoeuvrability, as well as the fact that it has more brains than the lot of them put together. This always results in their planes colliding or blowing up in midair, which leads to some nasty falls for Dick Dastardly. Luckily his old sidekick Muttley has learned how to fly by spinning his tail like a helicopter, and is always willing to use this talent to rescue - in return for a medal or two.

I don't know about you, but it all seems a bit silly to me. But of course that's the point: the show's wild combination of loopy ideas and corny gags combined with cheap and cheerful animation, not to mention those patented Hannah-Barbera sound fx, make these not-so magnificent men (and dog) in their flying machines a strangely compelling viewing experience in a sixties cartoon kind of a way. (And the voice cast always sound as if they're having a lot of fun even if their characters aren't.)

I still think it would have been cheaper to buy a hawk, though....

Dastardly and Muttley was downright silly but that was exactly the reason why it was compelling viewing.

It was set during the First World War. Dick Dastardly was piloting a heap of junk aided by his dog Muttley and they tried to stop the pigeon flying his messages to Uncle Sam. Of course, you can guess that they never succeeded in much the sam way as Wile E. Coyote never managed to catch Road Runner.

It was a spin-off from Wacky Races and it was highly amusing and totally watchable. Call me sad but it was compelling viewing and I just loved the sound of Muttley's laugh.

Stop The Pigeon!

As bad as Hanna-Barbera is at making spinoff shows, this "Wacky Races" spinoff is pretty good (as well as "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop"). It stars Dick Dastardly, and his dog Muttley who have traveled back in time to World War I. They along with some other pilots (Zilly, and Klunk) form the Vulture Squadron, and have one mission: To stop a carrier pigeon from crossing enemy lines. Like in "Wacky Races", Dastardly fails at his task, but still the results are humorous.

I really have to give Hanna-Barbera a lot of credit. Their spinoff shows were really bad, but their "Wacky Races" spinoff shows were great. 10/10.

I remember watching this and Wacky Races and loving them both. Personally now I do prefer Wacky Races, but this is a great show as well. The premise may be a tad narrow at first, but it is very interesting well for me it is anyway. The visual gags and dialogue may be corny at times, but they were always funny as well(ie. the ludicrous flying machines, Klunk's gibberish, Dastardly's hilariously sarcastic remarks about Klunk's inventions, "Drat and Double Drat" and the General's shouting), and the animation is cheerful. The theme tune is simple but really memorable, the lyrics are close to uproarious at times. The story lines can be somewhat repetitive, but they are still fun, and the voice acting is solid. The characters are also great fun, Zilly is hilarious and Dick Dastardly's mutterings are worth plenty of chuckles but for me Muttley steals the show, he is a bad character but he is lovable as well, with his mumbles, silly laugh and priceless facial expressions, Muttley for me has the whole package. The voice acting also from Paul Winchell and Don Messick is superb. Overall, it is corny and silly but it is hilarious as well.

Stop the Pigeon! 9/10 Bethany Cox