The mark of a good show is always how much the technical staff and actors enjoy doing it. The DVD commentaries for this show prove it, as Janet Waldo (Penelope), Gary Owens (narrator) and Iwao Takamoto (designer) spend the whole time regaling us with wonderful anecdotes about Paul Lynde, Mel Blanc, Joe Barbera, and just how much fun was had during the production - fun they're still having just as much of from watching the episodes again over 35 years later.
The Wacky Races / Dastardly & Muttley / Penelope Pitstop triumvirate were also supremely blessed by the scripting elegance of Micheal Maltese, who years earlier had created the Road Runner and Coyote with Chuck Jones (and it shows in this series in particular with the Hooded Claw's ridiculously over-complicated Rude Goldberg traps).
This is the real joy of 'golden age' Hanna-Barbera (1968-1969 were the very best years, IMO); where the emphasis was in appealing character designs and the quality of the writing and voice-work, rather than what would look most sophisticated on the screen (although by 1960s TV animation standards, this is actually pretty good).
Still a classic so many years later, and a show that could really teach today's more turgid cartoons about giving your animators free reign to enjoy themselves so that everyone benefits in the end.
The Wacky Races / Dastardly & Muttley / Penelope Pitstop triumvirate were also supremely blessed by the scripting elegance of Micheal Maltese, who years earlier had created the Road Runner and Coyote with Chuck Jones (and it shows in this series in particular with the Hooded Claw's ridiculously over-complicated Rude Goldberg traps).
This is the real joy of 'golden age' Hanna-Barbera (1968-1969 were the very best years, IMO); where the emphasis was in appealing character designs and the quality of the writing and voice-work, rather than what would look most sophisticated on the screen (although by 1960s TV animation standards, this is actually pretty good).
Still a classic so many years later, and a show that could really teach today's more turgid cartoons about giving your animators free reign to enjoy themselves so that everyone benefits in the end.