Toon Zone Talkback - "The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop": Perilous for All

[Chad Bonin]

This is the talkback thread for "The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop": Perilous for All (http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=5098).

Yeah, I hated it.

[Brainatra]

My two cents:

I have seen this show, but always liked "Dastardly and Muttley In Their Flying Machines" (the other "Wacky Races" spinoff) better (probably for it being a Road Runner knockoff).

The "Penelope" series is meant to be a take off on the silent movie serial series "The Perils of Pauline"---which often featured the type of plots seen in this cartoon (damsel-in-distress, a melodramatic villain, cliffhanger plots, etc.). Thus the "when we last saw Penelope" style narration...

"Pitstop"'s style of humor was also more oriented toward (or descended from) old-school-style cartoon slapstick and gags---hence torpedos with dials that can be set to "China" and the like. ;-)

Paul Dini's most noted work is for his efforts on 90's-era Warner Bros. cartoon series like "Tiny Toon Adventures" and "Batman: the Animated Series."

Scott Shaw! (assume he still adds an exclamation mark to his name) mostly did funny-animal-style stuff (including the hedgehog series, I guess).

[Chad Bonin]

Yes, I know who Paul Dini was. That was more a joke... like anybody who views THIS website wouldn't know who Paul Dini was.

And I totally forgot that Scott Shaw signed things "Scott Shaw!".

[Dr. Dave]

Congratulations. I hated it too.


I loathed it when it premiered on Saturday morning back in the 60's. The only good thing I could say about Penelope was that it wasn't as bad as Dastardly and Mutley (my nominee for "Worst Show Ever on Saturday Morning").

This junk should have been buried in someone's backyard, not brought out on DVD.

Oh, well, I guess there is no accounting for taste.:D

[Pathfinder1011]

I see where you're coming from. Hanna-Barbera is a too simple, 2D cartoon company that continued to make awful cartoons with a repetitve style. The same sound effects, backgrouds, artwork. All of it was soooo lame. This series is one of many that today will not hold up from HB.

[Pathfinder1011]

Today's toons like Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans and Kim Possible are so much better than the ordinary 2D world of Hanna Barbera.

[Movie-Brat]

I'm interested seeing The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.

[Duke]

Y'know, as much as the original Pitstop probably sucked (I haven't seen an episode since before Toonami), I'm surprised nobody in Japan has tried to remake this series.

And because no Talkback is good without it, it's THE SPLASH!!!!!

http://news.toonzone.net/images/2005-08/splash-pitstop-small.jpg

[Martianinvader]

Geez, Knux....ouch.

I've never seen it either, but I've always been curious ever since someone pointed out that "the show is about a nut trying to kill his niece, and on Saturday Morning in 1969." The only way it could be done would be to make it as over-the-top and satirical as possible, hence the Claw's extremely elaborate plots. I'm also told Penelope always escaped from the traps herself, because the Ant Hill Mob was no help ("haylp") at all. Plus, it had one of those fourth-wall-breaking narrators. How could it be that bad?

[Prism]

The problem is that both The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Dick Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines deviate wildly from Wacky Races. The animation quality in the sequals is better then Wacky Races but the writing is lacking.they are decent however. If they'd focus on Wacky Races more instead of making sequals it could've given Scooby Doo a run for it's money.

[muttley123]

Well, I'm in my late 20's, love Penelope and most 60's & 70's Hanna-Barbera toons...thanks to the late USA Cartoon Express and Cartoon Network! It was a different era back then, society and kids weren't the same, ressources were few, technology didn't permit state-of-the-art animation such as today and these guys were working on a tight budget for massive tv production. I think what they did was great for their time; hard to judge something of a different period by today's standards.

In Penelope's case, as an adult, I get a lot of dialogue-based jokes which passed right through me before. Penelope's and the Hooded Claw's remarks are sometimes hilarious (Paul Lynde was great!)...but I guess it depends what kind of humour grabs you!

Two more things I like about HB are their original backgorund music and character designs: Penelope Pitstop & Sylvester Sneekley, Dick Dastardly & the Wacky Racers, Scooby and his gang, teenage Pebbles Flintstone & her friends, Capt.Caveman & the Teen Angels, Funky Phantom, Josie and the Pussycats...love the way they were drawn. Perhaps simplistic for some, I prefer those designs over today's anytime, not the animation though.

If I stand as proof that some younger people (below 30) can get into these older shows, hope it means there are a lot more of us out there. I do want to get most of what HB ever made on DVD!

[Steve Carras]

That was a great series.. I assume that Paul Lynde didn't want to be credited (BTW he was on the live aciton ongoing comic celeb game show HOLLYWOOD SQUARES by Heatter-Quigley., which co-produced this show and the show that it came from WACKY RACES and the other WACKY RACES title DASTARDLY & MUTTELEY IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES. There may have been a contract conflict here).

It was avery eggarted show..

[Wanted]

I watched one episode of both Wacky Races spinoffs back when Boomerang still aired on Cartoon Network last summer, and I saw nothing special about them. Then again, Top Cat and Jonny Quest made up for it.

I would have rather seen better Hanna-Barbera classics come out before these did. Jabberjaw, or even Hong Kong Phooey. I'm not disappointed, but I am confused.

Toonmaster wonders if Knux still has that set... and if he'd be willing to give it away...

[hobbyfan]

I think people are missing the whole point behind "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop".

A large chunk of Hanna-Barbera's material in the 60's, starting with the Flintstones, was inspired/derived from other TV shows or movies. Penelope's solo series was inspired by the movie serials dating all the way back to the silent era.

I have privately questioned why another Wacky Racer, Peter Perfect, wasn't used in place of the Ant Hill Mob. As memory serves, Peter was a total gentleman to Penelope on "Wacky", often to his own detriment in competition, but perhaps to the point where there was an unspoken, unrequited love for Penelope.

As a result, the Ant Hill Mob, while they rescued Penelope in almost every episode (Pen sometimes made her own save), were more comedy relief than anything else, Bully Bros. included.

I think the reason Paul Lynde declined screen credit for his work as the Hooded Claw/Syl Sneakly was at the time he felt he might possibly be embarassed to have such work on his resume. We may never know the real answer to this one, though.

[Nftnat]

So don't hold back, what do y'all really think?

I'm surprised at the venom that has been spewed at the H-B/H-Q shows. Maybe it was just nostalgia brought on by childhood - in fact I'm strongly suspecting it - but I have always loved these shows and continue to watch them with rapt attention every time I come across an episode on CN or Boomerang.

I remember them coming on KTVT, Channel 11 Dallas Ft. Worth, on Cartoon Capers. From the moment I laid eyes on those toons I couldn't get enough of them. I'd be singing Stop That Pigeon (I also thought that was the name of the show), imitating Penelope's "Hayulp!", keeping track of which racer was what number, my favorite changing with each birthday, from Penny when I was 5 to the Army Surplus Special at 6 to the Ant Hill Mob at 7 to the Arkansas Chug-a-Bug at 8 to Peter Perfect at 9 to the Buzz Wagon at 10.

Now I'm much older and wiser, but like I said I still can't get enough of these toons. And I mean these particular toons; others like Inch High or Space Kidettes have lost a bit of their luster, but not these three. I still love Perils of Penelope, and Dastardly & Muttley, and especially Wacky Races; and I will buy all three DVD sets. Maybe after I complete my classic '80's Transformers and GI Joe collections, maybe sooner.