The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

Last updated
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
Perils of Penelope Pitstop.jpg
Genre Comedy
Created by
Written by
Directed by
Starring
Narrated by Gary Owens
Composer Ted Nichols
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes17
Production
Producers
Running time21 minutes
Production company Hanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseSeptember 13, 1969 (1969-09-13) –
January 17, 1970 (1970-01-17)
Related

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969. [1] The show ran for one season with a total of 17 half-hour episodes, the last first-run episode airing on January 17, 1970. Repeats aired on CBS until September 4, 1971; and in syndication as Fun World of Hanna-Barbera from 1976 to 1982. [2] It is a spin-off of Wacky Races , reprising the characters of Penelope Pitstop and the Ant Hill Mob. [3]

Contents

Rebroadcasts of the show air on the Cartoon Network-owned channel Boomerang and the series can be streamed in its entirety on the Boomerang streaming service.

Production

The series was patterned on the silent movie era melodrama cliffhanger movie serial The Perils of Pauline . It originally was to also star the characters of Dick Dastardly and Muttley, though Dastardly and Muttley were later dropped in pre-production. Those characters would be later reused in their own series, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines .

Joe Ruby and Ken Spears were the head writers for the series, and Ruby, Spears, and Warner Bros. Cartoons veteran Michael Maltese wrote the stories for the individual episodes. [4] Deciding to feature the characters in a different setting, studio heads decided to set the characters into an active adventure format strongly reminiscent of the 1910s.

Plot

The series features characters from Wacky Races , Penelope Pitstop and the Ant Hill Mob, the latter of whom take on the role of heroes in contrast to their previously nefarious personalities. [5]

In each episode, Penelope's guardian, Sylvester Sneekly, attempts to claim Penelope's inheritance for himself by attacking her in the disguise of his sinister alter-ego the Hooded Claw. Aided by his twin henchmen the Bully Brothers, who always speak in unison, the Claw creates overly elaborate Rube Goldberg-style plots to do away with Penelope. Even though the Ant Hill Mob often come to Penelope's rescue, she herself often needs to save the Mob from the unintended effects of their attempts to rescue her. But just as quickly as Penelope is delivered from one quandary, she almost immediately finds herself ensnared in another one of the Claw's traps. Despite their overall bumbling, however, the Ant Hill Mob always manage to rescue Penelope and foil the Hooded Claw's plans in the end.

While Penelope is curiously helpless whenever the Hooded Claw grabs her, once he leaves her tied up for his fiendish plans to take effect she usually becomes resourceful and ingenious, sometimes coming up with spontaneous or creative methodologies to escape her own predicaments.

Characters

Cast

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Jungle Jeopardy"September 13, 1969 (1969-09-13)46-1
Penelope is about to complete the last leg of an around-the-world flight as a surprise for her guardian, Sylvester Sneekly. The Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers have sabotaged her plane and are watching her as the engines conk out. The Ant Hill Mob makes an attempt to rescue her as she jumps from the plane and into an empty eagle's nest. After that, she takes her chances in the jungle, fighting against all sorts of dangers. Will the Hooded Claw get to her first and send her to her doom or will the Ant Hill Mob get there first and rescue her?
2"The Terrible Trolley Trap"September 20, 1969 (1969-09-20)46-2
The Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers tie Penelope to some trolley tracks hoping to get rid of her once and for all. After that, she is taken into the ocean, on a ship that belongs to the Hooded Claw, where he plans to get rid of her permanently. Will the Ant Hill Mob be able to find Penelope before it is too late?
3"The Boardwalk Booby Trap"September 27, 1969 (1969-09-27)46-4
Penelope is spending a relaxing day at the beach being buried in the sand by the Ant Hill Mob. The Hooded Claw has mixed in cement with the sand so she cannot get out. Along comes a bulldozer driven by the Bully Brothers. The Ant Hill Mob cannot pull her up, so they dig a tunnel to pull her down. They save her in the nick of time. Later, Penelope is kidnapped by the Bully Brothers during a scavenger hunt and taken to an abandoned fishing village, where the Hooded Claw awaits her. Will the Ant Hill Mob come crashing in to save her in time?
4"Wild West Peril"October 4, 1969 (1969-10-04)46-5
Penelope is driving in her car when she crashes through a false front trap set by the Hooded Claw. The Ant Hill Mob races to the rescue with a mattress strapped to the top of their car to save her. Then a trap is set on the edge of a cliff, designed to lure the Mob in and fall off the edge, hitting a board that will catapult Penelope in a barrel, and the Ant Hill Mob into the near-bottomless canyon. She is then finally placed in a miner's car filled with explosives, which is set to rocket down to the bottom of a steep and deep mine shaft. Will she be saved in time?
5"Carnival Calamity"October 11, 1969 (1969-10-11)46-8
Penelope is on her way to the carnival. Unknown to her, the Hooded Claw has set a trap for her. The Bully Brothers have set a trap of their own for the Ant Hill Mob so they cannot save her. Penelope gets out of trouble on her own and continues on to the carnival, where she gets in more sticky situations.
6"The Treacherous Movie Lot Plot"October 18, 1969 (1969-10-18)46-6
Penelope has gone to Hollywood to star in a movie. The Hooded Claw adds a scene to the movie that involves Penelope being taken off by a giant King Kong-like ape, which was not written in the script. After the Ant Hill Mob saves her from certain doom, she continues to film the movie, but the Hooded Claw still has a few tricks upon his sleeve. Will the Ant Hill Mob be fast enough to save her?
7"Arabian Desert Danger"October 25, 1969 (1969-10-25)46-7
Penelope is trying to escort a rare white baby camel out of Egypt so she can donate it to the Children's Zoo. The Hooded Claw traps her in a giant tent that he and the Bully Brothers fill with hot air to make a balloon. The Ant Hill Mob see this and move in to help. After that rescue, Penelope is taken into a pyramid, where she will be mummified alive. It is up to the Ant Hill Mob to save her from this tight situation.
8"The Diabolical Department Store Danger"November 1, 1969 (1969-11-01)46-9
Penelope is at Pitstop's Department Store to help introduce the new Paris fashions. Little did she know that the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers were inside, setting a few traps for her.
9"Hair Raising Harness Race"November 8, 1969 (1969-11-08)46-3
Penelope is at the County Fair and determined to win the Pitstop Gold Cup for the main event, the harness race. The Hooded Claw attempts to sabotage Penelope's efforts of winning the race. The Ant Hill Mob sees her in danger and tries to save her. This was the only episode where Penelope gets to rescue herself with her intelligence throughout the episode whereas all attempts of the Ant Hill Mob fail, as well as the only episode where she does not get tied up by the Hooded Claw.
10"North Pole Peril"November 15, 1969 (1969-11-15)46-11
Penelope is paddling up the Nanook River in a kayak seeking to become the first woman to reach the North Pole. Unfortunately, the Hooded Claw is following her in a paddle-wheeler and attempting to chop her up in the blades. The Ant Hill Mob is on their way to save her. Will they be in time to save her, so she can finish her journey?
11"Tall Timber Treachery"November 22, 1969 (1969-11-22)46-10
Penelope is on her way to the "Pitstop Lumber Camp" where she has been elected Queen of the Indian Summer Festival. The Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers unhook her rail car and she goes sailing back down the railroad track. The Ant Hill Mob gets her out of the jam and offer her a ride to the festival. But unfortunately, the Hooded Claw does not give up that easily, and he will do everything to kill Penelope, even if he has to chop down all of the trees in the forest to do it.
12"Cross Country Double Cross"November 29, 1969 (1969-11-29)46-12
Penelope is making a daring parachute jump to publicize a statue unveiling. The Hooded Claw cuts the parachute lines in an attempt to stop her once and for all. Unfortunately for Penelope, the Bully Brothers are helping the Hooded Claw and they capture her and place her in a pit. After she is rescued, the Ant Hill Mob tell her that the unveiling is supposed to be on the other side of the country, and Penelope has to travel through the country as quickly as possible to get there. Will Penelope be able to get there on time?
13"Big Bagdad Danger"December 6, 1969 (1969-12-06)46-13
Penelope is on the way to the Shah's palace to get the secret map to Ali Baba's cave, but the Hooded Claw has a few plans of his own. Will the Ant Hill Mob be able to save her before she meets her doom, and will Penelope find the treasure so she can give it to the poor children of Baghdad?
14"Bad Fortune in a Chinese Fortune Cookie"December 13, 1969 (1969-12-13)46-14
Penelope is in Chinatown in San Francisco, California to watch the Chinese New Year Parade. The Hooded Claw captures her in the mouth of a fire-breathing dragon float from the parade. He sends her down a hill towards a warehouse full of fireworks. The Ant Hill Mob follow after Penelope to try and save her. Will they save her in time?
15"Big Top Trap"December 20, 1969 (1969-12-20)46-15
Penelope is performing in a circus. When her life is threatened, the Ant Hill Mob take jobs as clowns so they can act as her bodyguards. The Hooded Claw takes the form of Clyde and throws her from the trapeze to the awaiting Bully Brothers, who whisk her off to the jungle where she is about to be fed to a man-eating plant. Will the Ant Hill Mob be able to find her in time, and get her back to the circus on time? In the end, Sylvester Sneekly reveals to Penelope he is the Hooded Claw, but Penelope refuses to believe that they are one and the same person.
16"Game of Peril"January 10, 1970 (1970-01-10)46-17
Penelope is on a scavenger hunt, with a list of items especially made for her by Sylvester Sneekly. After finding her first item, a unicycle, she gets on and is heading towards a cliff. The Ant Hill Mob arrives just in time to save her. The Hooded Claw sees her rescue and comes up with a plan to do her in.
17"London Town Treachery"January 17, 1970 (1970-01-17)46-16
Penelope is visiting London to deliver a painting to the Earl of Crumpet. The Hooded Claw has a different plan in mind. He grabs Penelope and the painting. Will the Ant Hill Mob be in time to save her? Will they get the painting back and deliver it to the Earl?

Home media

On May 10, 2005, Warner Home Video (via Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 territories. The UK had the full series released on DVD on July 31, 2006 in Region 2 PAL format. The series is also available at the iTunes Store.

DVD nameEpisode #Release dateAdditional information
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop: The Complete Series17May 10, 2005
  • Commentary on various episodes
  • Featurette: The Players in Perils (featurette on the great escapes of Penelope and other characters)
  • Penelope Pitstop's Spin-Outs (retrospective documentary)

Cultural references

Related Research Articles

<i>Wacky Races</i> (1968 TV series) American animated television series

Wacky Races is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for CBS on Saturday mornings. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with all of the drivers hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer". The show was inspired by the 1965 comedy film The Great Race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Messick</span> American voice actor (1926–1997)

Donald Earle Messick was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penelope Pitstop</span> American animated television character

Penelope Pitstop is a fictional character who appeared in the 1968 Hanna-Barbera animated series Wacky Races and the spin-off The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, and was voiced by Janet Waldo. She also appeared in the 2017 reboot of Wacky Races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muttley</span> Fictional dog from Wacky Races cartoon

Muttley is a fictional dog created in 1968 by Hanna-Barbera Productions; he was originally voiced by Don Messick. He is the sidekick to the cartoon villain Dick Dastardly, and appeared with him in the 1968 television series Wacky Races and its 1969 spinoff, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. The character is known best for his mischievous, rasping laughter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Dastardly</span> Fictional cartoon character

Dick Dastardly is a fictional character who has appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1968 onward. Dastardly's most famous appearances are in the series Wacky Races and its spin-off, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. He is partly based on the English actor Terry-Thomas.

<i>Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines</i> American animated television series

Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and a spin-off from Wacky Races. The show was originally broadcast as a Saturday morning cartoon, airing from September 13, 1969, to January 3, 1970, on CBS. 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. The title is a reference to the film and song Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.

<i>The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show</i> American TV series or program

The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show is an hour-long Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1965 to 1967 for NBC.

<i>Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley</i> 2000 video game

Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley is a 2000 racing video game developed by Infogrames Sheffield House and published by Infogrames for the Dreamcast and later for PlayStation 2 in 2001. The game is based on the cartoon series Wacky Races, which features 11 vehicles all racing over various landscapes to win first place. The vehicles featured include the most infamous vehicle in the series, the Mean Machine, driven by Dick Dastardly and Muttley.

<i>Wacky Races</i> (1991 video game) 1991 video game for the NES

Wacky Races is a platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, developed and published by Atlus. The game is based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Wacky Races and features Muttley and Dick Dastardly as the main characters.

<i>Hanna-Barberas 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration</i> American TV series or program

Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration is a 1989 American live-action/animated television special which premiered on TNT on July 17, 1989.

<i>Laff-A-Lympics</i> American animated television series

Laff-A-Lympics is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered as part of the Saturday-morning cartoon program block Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics which consists of 24 episodes, on ABC in 1977. The show is a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC primetime series Battle of the Network Stars, which debuted one year earlier. It featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters organized into teams which competed each week for gold, silver, and bronze medals. In each episode, the Really Rottens would try in each event to cheat only to get caught by Snagglepuss each time. One season of 16 episodes was produced in 1977–78, and eight new episodes combined with reruns for the 1978–79 season as Scooby's All-Stars. Unlike most cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, Laff-A-Lympics did not contain a laugh track. Scooby’s Laff-a-Lympics was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution currently owns the series through its two in-name-only units, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Turner Entertainment.

<i>Wacky Races</i> (2000 video game) 2000 video game

Wacky Races is a racing video game developed by Appaloosa Interactive for PC and PlayStation and by Velez & Dubail for the Game Boy Color. It was published by Infogrames in 2000.

"Handicar" is the fourth episode in the eighteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 251st episode overall, it was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on October 15, 2014. The episode lampoons several trends in the automotive industry including Uber and Lyft, Matthew McConaughey's celebrity endorsement of Lincoln Motor Company, and Tesla, culminating in a Wacky Races-style marathon. It is the fourth episode not to feature any of the four main characters of South Park: Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick.

<i>Wacky Raceland</i>

Wacky Raceland is a comic book series that re-imagines the cast of Wacky Races competing in a desert wasteland, reminiscent of the Mad Max film series, full of obstacles, towards a single goal, Utopia, mankind's last safe haven. It is also one of four comic books introduced by DC Comics in 2016 as part of the comic book initiative Hanna-Barbera Beyond, along with Scooby Apocalypse, Future Quest and The Flintstones.

Wacky Races is an American animated television series developed by Rebecca Himot and Tramm Wigzell. It is a reboot/revival of the 1968–69 Hanna-Barbera animated series of the same name. The show debuted in 2017 on Boomerang's video on demand service in the United States. Wacky Races was picked up for a second season.

Wacky Races is a media franchise containing four animated series, several video games, and a comic book, with most centered on the theme of various Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters primarily engaged in auto racing, usually in odd vehicles and with absurd plot developments.

References

  1. ↑ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 217–218. ISBN   0-8108-1557-5 . Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. ↑ "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop – The Complete Series". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  3. ↑ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 607–608. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  4. ↑ Shostak, Stu (05-02-2012). "Interview with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears". Stu's Show. Retrieved 03-18-2013.
  5. ↑ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 452. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  6. ↑ "Mike disa".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.