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Dick Dastardly




Dick Dastardly, voiced originally by Paul Winchell and currently by Jim Cummings , is a Fictional Character and Villain who appeared in various Animated Series by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Dastardly's most famous appearances are in the series '' Wacky Races '', his initial appearance, and ''Wacky Races'' Spinoff '' Dastardly And Muttley In Their Flying Machines ''.


''WACKY RACES''

In ''Wacky Races'', Dick Dastardly was one of the racers who competed in every episode for first place in a long and hazard-filled cross-country Road Rally . As his name implies, Dastardly aimed to win solely through Cheating and trickery. His race car, named "The Mean Machine," featured all sorts of devious traps for him to use against his opponents. As ''Wacky Races'' is inspired by the film '' The Great Race '', so was Dastardly derived from the movie's chief villain, Professor Fate. Dastardly in this series wore old-fashioned racer's gear — a long violet Overcoat , long red gloves, and a large striped hat with driving Goggles attached. Dastardly also, like the cartoon villain Snidely Whiplash , sported a luxurious handlebar Mustache .

Dastardly was aided in his schemes by his Sidekick , a scruffy Dog named Muttley who had a distinctive wheezy laugh.

Despite Dastardly and Muttley's attempts, the "double-dealing do-badders", as the opening narration of ''Wacky Races'' describes them, failed to win a single race. Dastardly's plans were always foiled either by his or Muttley's incompetence, the actions of another racer, or sheer bad luck, resulting in Dastardly crossing the finish line last, if at all. One of the great ironies of the show was that, if Dastardly had not bothered to cheat, often he would have won fairly. Upon tasting defeat, Dastardly would utter his was: "Muttley, do something!" {The one time he and Muttley did cross the finish line first-they were disquailafied-not for cheating--but for racing in the wrong car!!} Except for Dastardly and Muttley, all of the other racers won at least one wacky race once.

The competitors in each race were as follows:
  • 01 - The Slag Brothers (Rock and Gravel) in the Boulder Mobile

  • 02 - The Gruesome Twosome in the Creepy Coupe

  • 03 - Professor Pat Pending in the Convert-a-Car

  • 04 - Red Max in the Crimson Haybailer

  • 05 - Penelope Pitstop in the Compact Pussycat

  • 06 - Sargent Blast And Private Meekly in the Army Surplus Special. Note. This car never came 3rd.

  • 07 - The Ant Hill Mob (Clyde, Ding-a-ling, Zippy, Pockets, Snoozy, Softy, and Yak-Yak) in the Bullet-Proof Bomb

  • 08 - Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chugg-a-Bug

  • 09 - Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific

  • 10 - Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth in the Buzz Wagon



''DASTARDLY AND MUTTLEY IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES'' AND LATER SPINOFFS

Dick Dastardly continued his villainous career in the ''Wacky Races'' spinoff ''Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines'', also informally known by some as ''Stop That Pigeon!'' (due to the theme song using this phrase repeatedly). In this series, Dastardly and Muttley, as Flying Ace s, with two other pilots, composed the "Vulture Squadron", which tried constantly to stop a Messenger Pigeon from delivering messages to an opposing army. As in ''Wacky Races'', Dastardly continued to fail miserably at his mission.

In later years Dastardly and Muttley were the for Yogi Bear and his friends in the 1980s series '' Yogi's Treasure Hunt ''. This time, Dick repeatedly failed at discovering hidden Treasure before Yogi and his team. Dastardly and Muttley also appeared as Teenagers in the short-lived series '' Yo, Yogi! ''. The final regular appearances of Dastardly and Muttley were in the "Fender Bender 500" shorts on the early 1990s short-lived series '' Wake, Rattle And Roll ''; in those segments, the duo once again appeared in the Mean Machine, but raced against such Hanna-Barbera stalwarts as Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw .

In the TV series ''. (Mumbly actually had his own series in which he was a detective.) The two later appeared in the made-for-TV movie '' Yogi Bear And The Magical Flight Of The Spruce Goose ''.


CULTURAL REFERENCES

In 1994 , British men's magazine Loaded nominated Dick Dastardly as one of the "Greatest Living Englishmen," despite the fact that the character is (from the context of the various series he appeared in and other indicators) an American . Dick, Muttley and their car returned as a boss car in the Wacky Races video game voiced by Jim Cummings and Billy West .


DICK DASTARDLY IN OTHER LANGUAGES

  • Brazilian Portuguese: ''Dick Vigarista''

  • French: ''Satanas''

  • Spanish: ''Pierre Nodoyuna''

  • Japanese: ブラック魔王 (Black Demon King)