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Muttley is a
fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditio ...
dog created in 1968 by
Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to ...
; he was originally voiced by Don Messick. He is the foil to the cartoon villain
Dick Dastardly Dick Dastardly is a fictional character who has appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1968 onward. Dastardly's most famous appearances are in the series '' Wacky Races'' (his initial appearance) and its spin-off, ' ...
, and appeared with him in the 1968 television series '' Wacky Races'' and its 1969 spinoff, '' Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines''. The character is known best for his mischievous, rasping laughter.


Characterization

Muttley first appeared in '' Wacky Races'' in 1968, as the
sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
of the accident-prone villain
Dick Dastardly Dick Dastardly is a fictional character who has appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1968 onward. Dastardly's most famous appearances are in the series '' Wacky Races'' (his initial appearance) and its spin-off, ' ...
. While Dick was created as the equivalent of Professor Fate from the 1960s movie ''
The Great Race ''The Great Race'' is a 1965 American Technicolor slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Arthur A. Ross (from a story by Edwards and Ross), and with music by Henry Mancin ...
'', Muttley mirrored the film's character of Max Meen. Dastardly and Muttley were paired together in various later Hanna-Barbera series as bumbling villains. As his name implies, Muttley is a snickering, mixed breed dog, identified in the ''Wacky Races'' segment "Dash to Delaware" as a mix of
bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called ...
,
pointer Pointer may refer to: Places * Pointer, Kentucky * Pointers, New Jersey * Pointers Airport, Wasco County, Oregon, United States * The Pointers, a pair of rocks off Antarctica People with the name * Pointer (surname), a surname (including a list ...
,
Airedale Airedale is a geographic area in Yorkshire, England, corresponding to the river valley or dale of the River Aire. The valley stretches from the river's origin in Aire Head Springs, Malham which is in the Yorkshire Dales, down past Skipton o ...
, and
hunting dog A hunting dog is a canine that hunts with or for hunters. There are several different types of hunting dog developed for various tasks and purposes. The major categories of hunting dog include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and ...
. During ''Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines'', in the episode ''Sappy Birthday'', Muttley shows a calendar where April 16 is marked; his birthday. In an audio commentary for ''Dastardly and Muttley'', the designers comment that they conceived of Muttley's shape as what a dog would look like if he were a tank-styled vacuum cleaner. Muttley does not really talk; his main examples of speech are his trademark "wheezy snicker" (usually at Dick's expense, who sometimes retaliates by thumping him on the head) and a mushy, '' sotto voce'' grumble against an unsympathetic or harsh Dick (usually along the lines of "Snazza frazza rashin' fashin' Rick Rastardly!"). Don Messick had previously used Muttley's distinctive laugh for a recurring antagonist for ''
Huckleberry Hound Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a fictional cartoon character, a blue anthropomorphic coonhound that speaks with a North Carolina Southern drawl. He first appeared in the series '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to ...
'' in the form of a black and white dog who enjoyed antagonising Huck the mailman, dogcatcher, barbecuer, etc. Messick also used the same laugh for the character of Griswold in an episode of ''
Top Cat ''Top Cat'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast in prime time on the ABC network. It aired in a weekly evening time slot from September 27, 1961, to April 18, 1962, for a single season ...
'', then for an embryonic version of Muttley (called 'Mugger') appearing in the 1964 movie '' Hey There, It's Yogi Bear'', as well as for another Hanna-Barbera canine, '' Precious Pupp'', in 1966. He also repurposed it for Alexandra Cabot's cat Sebastian on '' Josie and the Pussycats'' in 1970. Muttley (who turned from a "bluish hue" to a "dusty brown") wore only a collar in ''Wacky Races'', but in '' Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines'', he donned a
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
style aviator's cap and scarf, and served as a
flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
along with Dastardly and two other pilots as members of the "Vulture Squadron". In this spinoff, he also sported many medals and constantly demanded new ones from Dastardly for following his commands. Similarly, Dastardly frequently ripped medals off Muttley's chest as punishment for his incompetence. And it was upon joining ''Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines'' that Muttley gained the ability to fly in brief spurts by spinning his tail like a propeller. Muttley also enjoyed his own short segment in the series ''Magnificent Muttley'', where he would engage in Walter Mitty-style fantasies. The designers speculated that Muttley was popular that the producers wanted to give Muttley some time as a solo character.


Muttley vs. Mumbly

Muttley is sometimes confused with the crime-fighting dog Mumbly from '' The Mumbly Cartoon Show''. Mumbly looked very similar to Muttley and had the same wheezy snicker, but their ears were different and Mumbly had blue fur and wore a trenchcoat. Mumbly later showed up as the captain of the villainous Really Rottens in '' Laff-a-Lympics'' along with his accomplice, "The Dread Baron," who resembles Dick Dastardly. The Dread Baron and Mumbly later appeared in the TV movie '' Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose''. It is not certain why Mumbly was retconned as a villain, neither is it certain why he and Dread Baron were apparently used as substitutes for Dastardly and Muttley, especially in the
Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...
movie where
Paul Winchell Paul Winchell ('' né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell ...
voiced the Baron instead of Dastardly (and in the scene where the Baron's crashed plane is shown, it is Dick's plane from '' Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines'', complete with the "D" on the side). In that story, Mumbly had once utilized his tail to fly just like Muttley does in ''Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines''. The reason most suggested is that the Wacky Races characters (including Dastardly and Muttley) were not fully owned by Hanna-Barbera as the show was a co-production with
Heatter-Quigley Productions Heatter-Quigley Productions was an American television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley. After Quigley's retirement, the company became Merrill Heatter Productions. ...
. An early version of the Muttley/Mumbly character appears in the 1964 Hanna-Barbera feature film '' Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!''. This prototype Muttley ("Mugger") is a mean-spirited dog with a travelling circus who has a penchant for biting his owners on the leg. The character may also have been inspired by ''
The Atom Ant Show ''The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show'' is an hour-long Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1965 to 1967 for NBC. In fall 1965, the show aired as two independent half-hour programs. ''The Atom Ant Show'' featured th ...
s " Precious Pupp", who was known for laughing the same way. Muttley and his master returned in the Wacky Races video game with Billy West voicing the dog.


Other appearances

* Muttley and Dick Dastardly also starred as the villains in ''
Yogi's Treasure Hunt ''Yogi's Treasure Hunt'' (originally titled ''The Funtastic Treasure Hunt'') is an American animated television series and the fifth entry in the ''Yogi Bear'' franchise produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, featuring Yogi Bear and various other ...
'' in their submarine the SS. Dirty Tricks. * Muttley appeared briefly in '' The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound''. * In the "Fender Bender 500" segment of ''
Wake, Rattle, and Roll ''Wake, Rattle, and Roll'' (retitled ''Jump, Rattle, and Roll'' when it aired on The Disney Channel on weekday afternoons in 1991''The Disney Channel Magazine'', Vol. 9, no. 5, September/October 1991: pp. 20, 36, 45.) is an American live-action/an ...
'', he and Dick Dastardly are paired up as they were in the ''Wacky Races'' TV show. The car they drove looked similar to The Mean Machine, but was called "The Dirty Truckster". * Muttley appeared as a teenager in ''
Yo Yogi! ''Yo Yogi!'' is an American animated television series and the seventh entry in the ''Yogi Bear'' franchise produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired from September 14 to December 7, 1991 on NBC for 13 episodes. This would be one of the last Yogi Bear ...
'' alongside Dick Dastardly. * In the ''
Duck Dodgers Duck Dodgers is the metafictional star of a series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros., featuring Daffy Duck in the role of a science fiction hero. He first appeared in the 1953 cartoon short '' Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century'', directe ...
'' episode "MMORPD", one of the forms that Duck Dodgers turns himself into is Muttley. In this brief appearance, Muttley's vocal effects are done by
Joe Alaskey Joseph Francis Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American actor, voice actor, broadcaster, impressionist and stand-up comedian. Alaskey was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his dea ...
. * Muttley has made at least one brief appearance in '' Dynomutt''. * Muttley appears alongside Dick Dastardly as one of the main characters in the 2016 ''Wacky Raceland'' comic book. In this version, Muttley is reimagined as a mangy rabid dog with several robotic prosthetics and a taste for mutant flesh. It is revealed that he was a guinea pig in a lab experiment conducted by Professor Pat Pending and that its original codename was "SC-BB-02". ** Another version of Muttley appeared in ''Dastardly & Muttley'', also published by DC Comics under the '' Hanna-Barbera Beyond'' initiative. This version is Cpt. Dudley "Mutt" Muller, a
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...
navigator and partner of Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Atcherly, who is fused with his pet dog by the mysterious element "unstabilium". * In the 2000 ''Wacky Races'' video game, Muttley was voiced by
Billy West William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of ''Doug'' ...
. * Muttley appeared alongside Dick Dastardly in the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' film ''
Scoob! ''SCOOB!'' is a 2020 American computer-animated mystery comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is a reboot of the theatrical'' Scooby-Doo'' film series and the third theatrical film ba ...
'' (2020), where Billy West reprised his role, though the film used archival recordings of Messick for