DVD Corner

Dastardly And Muttley In Their Flying Machines- The Complete Series Blu-ray Review

For the Hanna-Barbera fans.  

1969’s Hanna-Barbera animated series “Dastardly And Muttley In Their Flying Machines” is a spin-off of the popular  “Wacky Races.” The 17 episode series primarily involves Vulture Squadron airplane pilots Dick Dastardly, Muttley, Klunk (who speaks in weird noises), and Zilly (a scaredy cat human) trying to stop Yankee Doodle Pigeon from delivering messages to the enemy by setting traps, creating inventions, or using weapons. Throughout the series, there are stories involving furloughs, birthdays, plane issues, performance reviews, command changes, obstacles, and Vulture Squadron disrupting others (like a climber). Each episode is comprised of 3 cartoons and 2-3 Wing Dings. 2 of the cartoons are “Dastardly And Muttley In Their Flying Machines” shorts and one of them is “Magnificent Muttley” which has Muttley daydreaming about being an actor, stuntman, astronaut, superhero, etc. The Wing Dings are very short little gags in between the cartoon shorts. 

If you can’t get enough of Dick Dastardly and Muttley, this series has you covered. While the spin-off series may not be on the same level as “Wacky Races” due to the severe lack of variety of story (they really do just follow the General’s orders and chase Yankee Doodle Pigeon and fail to catch him for the most part), you’re really just tuning in to see the mustached villain and his laughing dog sidekick (who gets quite irritated by Dastardly) anyway. The “Magnificent Muttley” shorts are a nice change of pace from the chases even though they too are quite repetitious. The Hanna-Barbera animation team livens up the show with fun aerial action and gags along with some creative design work. 

Voice actors Paul Winchell and Don Messick are the real MVPs here. Winchell (who voices Dick Dastardly) really makes the character his own while Don Messick performs triple duties as Muttley, Klunk and Zilly. You would have never known Messick voiced all three characters were it not for the credits. He’s that versatile and talented. 

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.33:1 1080p. How does it look? If you love vintage cartoons and Hanna-Barbera toons, Warner Archive has been treating you well these last few years with restorations and Blu-ray releases. These episodes have been restored as well as can be expected. There may be print defects here and there, but each short features brighter and sharper looking animation.

Audio Track: 2.0 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? Expect a nice clean audio track (and a whole lot of Muttley laughter).

Extras include 2 commentary tracks on “Stop Which Pigeon?” and “Balmy Swami” by designers Iwao Takamoto, Jerry Eisenberg, Scott Awley, and Scott Jeralds, “The Vulture’s Greatest Misses” montage and “Dastardly And Muttley’s Spin-Offs: What Wacky Racers Wrought” (a featurette that covers the spin-off series, animation, and characters).

July 2, 2026 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Cartoon, Dastardly And Muttley In Their Flying Machines- The Complete Series Blu-ray Review, Dick Dastardly, Hanna-Barbera, Muttley, Wacky Races, Warner Archive