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Wacky Races Spinoffs Get Complete DVD Treatment

The Hanna-Barbera DVD collection continues this week with the May 10 release of two spinoffs from WACKY RACES: DASTARDLY & MUTTLEY IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES and THE PERILS OF PENELOPE PITSTOP (Warner Home Video, $34.98). The three-disc sets each contain all 17 episodes from 69.

DASTARDLY & MUTTLEY IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES: THE COMPLETE SERIES follows the schemes of the Vulture Squadron to stop a carrier pigeon named Yankee Doodle Pigeon. As leader of the Vulture Squadron, Dick Dastardly would try to follow orders from the General to "stop that pigeon." With the aid of his snickering canine sidekick, Muttley, who always muttered his signature "rassuh-frazza-pazza," and fellow dimwitted pilots Zilly and Klunk, the Vulture Squadron would use their WWI aircrafts to carry out their missions.

DASTARDLY & MUTTLEY IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES features the vocal talents of Paul Winchell (Dick Dastardly) and Don Messick (Muttley, Zilly, and Klunk).

Bonus features include:

* "The Vulture Squadron's Greatest Misses" (Watch the Pigeon Thwart the Vulture Squadron)* Commentary on various episodes by designers Iwao Takamoto, Jerry Eisenberg, Scott Awley and Scott Jeralds* "Dastardly & Muttley's Spin-Off's" * Animation cel reproduction

THE PERILS OF PENELOPE PITSTOP: THE COMPLETE SERIES puts beautiful Penelope (Janet Waldo), a Southern Belle and heiress to a vast fortune, in peril at every pit stop. In each episode, she was pursued by her guardian, Sylvester Sneekly (Paul Lynde), who disguised himself as "The Hooded Claw" in an attempt to bump her off. The Ant Hill Mob, a group of seven diminutive men, would often come to her rescue in their car, Chugga-boom.

Bonus features include:

* Commentary on "Jungle Jeopardy" and "The Treacherous Movie Lot Plot" by Waldo, Takamoto, narrator Gary Owens, Awley and Jeralds.* "The Player in Perils" featurette* "Penelope Pitstop's Spin Outs" retrospective * Animation cel reproduction

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Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.