"Speed Buggy" (1973) TV series 1973-1983

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Charles A. Nichols

Writers:

Larz Bourne (story) (1973)
Len Janson (story) (1973)

Genre:

Animation | Family

Plot:

Animated 'Saturday-morning' television cartoon about a race car.

Plot Keywords:

Kids And Family | Character Name In Title

Cast

Michael Bell	...	Mark (voice)
Mel Blanc	...	Speed Buggy (voice)
Arlene Golonka	...	Debbie (voice)
Phil Luther Jr.	...	Tinker (voice)
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Additional Voices (1973-1974) (voice)
John Stephenson	...	Additional Voices (1973- ) (voice)

Runtime:

30 min | USA:30 min (16 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-G

Company:

Hanna-Barbera Productions

Quotes:

[title sequence]
Tinker: Wrench.
Debbie: Wrench!
Tinker: Socket.
Mark: Socket!
Tinker: Plugs.
Debbie: Motor.
Tinker: Tires.
Mark: Chassis.
All: Speed Buggy!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)

Enjoyable Saturday Morning Fare

This was a very good enjoyable Saturday Morning cartoon show,with the expection of one flaw. For one,this was a clone from two of the most successful Hanna-Barbera cartoons of their day. First off,they took the mystery format from "Scooby Doo,Where Are You?",and secondly,bring on egotistical villains bent on destroying or conquering the world,and that came from "Josie And The Pussycats",and what do you put into the mix? Add three kids who love solving mysteries and a lovable talking car who can do anything! And what do you get? SPEED BUGGY!

Anyway,the storyline of SPEED BUGGY consists of a race-team of a group of teenage kids and their amazing talking car,who in almost every episode get into some kind of predicament or another and from there ends up being on the wrong end of the stick with some mad scientist or diabolical villain bent on taking over the world. From there the kids solve the mystery behind the problem and from there they fall into the villain's own trap with nothing but there faithful and reliable car SPEED BUGGY to get them outta a tight situation,rescue the kids and saved the day,just in time to get back into whatever race that they were in and win the championship. Neat huh? But what makes this show standout and what made this interesting to watch is none other than the voice-over of actress Arlene Golonka as Debbie,the female counterpart to the show and the one woman who was in fact ran the show keeping her male counterparts,Mark,the leader of the group,and Tinker,the mechanic in check! Debbie in fact was a woman who was in a position of authority and the only character that kept things really under control. In other words,she was the boss! Another reason that made this show interesting too is none other than the master of thousand voices,Mel Blanc as the voice of Speedy. Also to point out was that the character of Mark was the only Asian-American character that was not be type-casted as a stereotypical role.

For those who may not recognize this actress,Arlene Golonka,she was fondly-remembered for her role as Millie,the girlfriend to the Sheriff of Mayberry,Sam Jones in the series,"Mayberry RFD",which was a spin off to the successful "Andy Griffith Show",which ran for three seasons on television(1968-1971).

But getting back to the animated series,SPEED BUGGY,this was in fact a long list of "Scooby" clones that Hanna-Barbera did a lot of during the 1970's,and these were the worst that came from the studio that was in fact "Scooby and Josie" clones that ran throughout the entire decade. There were a lot of them too. From "The Funky Phantom","Jabberjaw", "Clue Club","Goober and the Ghost Chasers","Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels","Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kids","The Amazing Chan-Clan",and to an lesser extent,"The Flintstones Mysteries". This was a series that produced 17 episodes,that's right 17 episodes!!! And to make it frank,it was shown on all three major television networks(Was first shown on CBS,then NBC,and later during the end of the 70's over at ABC)throughout the entire decade in repeats from its debut in 1973 until its run in 1979,and was in fact picked up for syndication(in repeats)until 1983. It this was mostly seen on Saturday Mornings as well as Sunday Mornings until the end of the decade.