"Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines" (1969) TV series 1969-

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

13 September 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Family

Plot:

Dick Dastardly leads a fighter plane group to try ineffectualy to stop a carrier pigeon.

Plot Keywords:

Pigeon | Carrier Pigeon | Fighter Plane | Aviation | World War One

Cast

Paul Winchell	...	Dick Dastardly / ... (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Don Messick	...	Muttley / ... (13 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Directed by
Joseph Barbera		(17 episodes, 1969-1970)
William Hanna		(17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Writing credits
Larz Bourne		(17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Michael Maltese		(17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Dalton Sandifer		(17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Produced by
Joseph Barbera	....	producer (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
William Hanna	....	producer (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Alex Lovy	....	associate producer (17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Film Editing by
Richard C. Allen		(17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Pat Foley		(17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Production Design by
Iwao Takamoto		(17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Production Management
Victor O. Schipek	....	production supervisor (17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Art Department
Alex Lovy	....	story director (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Bill Perez	....	story director (17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Sound Department
Richard Olson	....	sound director (17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Dick Blundell	....	camera operator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Bill Kotler	....	camera operator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Ralph Migliori	....	camera operator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Cliff Shirpser	....	camera operator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Rex Stevens	....	camera operator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Roy Wade	....	camera operator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Animation Department
Lou Appet	....	layout artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Ed Barge	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Ed Benedict	....	layout artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
William Butler	....	background artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Emil Carle	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Jerry Eisenberg	....	character designer (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Izzy Ellis	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Jim Fletcher	....	layout artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
John Garling	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Robert Gentle	....	background artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Roberta Greutert	....	ink and paint supervisor (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Jerry Hathcock	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Don Jurwich	....	layout artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Lin Larsen	....	layout artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Jack Manning	....	layout artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Bob Maxfield	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Marija Miletic Dail	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Kenneth Muse	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Charles A. Nichols	....	animation director (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Iraj Paran	....	background artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Walt Peregoy	....	background stylist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Curt Perkins	....	background artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Morey Reden	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Vive Risto	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Carlo Vinci	....	animator (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Dave Weidman	....	background artist (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Robert 'Tiger' West	....	xerographer (17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Music Department
Ted Nichols	....	musical director (17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Series Other crew
Frank Paiker	....	technical supervisor (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Bill Perez	....	title designer (17 episodes, 1969-1970)
Robert Schaefer	....	titles (17 episodes, 1969-1970)

Production Companies

• Hanna-Barbera Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)
• Taft H-B Program Sales (1977-1979)
• Telepictures Distribution (1996-)
• Turner Program Services (TPS) (1992-1996)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Worldvision Enterprises (1979-1992)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

30 min (17 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Ireland:G | UK:U | Netherlands:AL

Company:

Hanna-Barbera Productions

Trivia:

The show was a parody of the movie Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965).

Quotes:

Dick Dastardly:[after every attempt fails] Drat! And Double Drat!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Cinema Snob: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (#5.11)" (2013)

These not-so-magnificent men (and dog) are strangely compelling viewing

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....