Editing Muttley

{{Short description|Fictional dog from Wacky Races cartoon}}
{{Infobox character
| series = [[Wacky Races]]
| image = Muttley-picture.gif
| caption = Muttley as seen in ''[[Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines]]''
| voice = [[Don Messick]] (1968–1991, 2020; ''[[Scoob!]]'', archival laugh recordings)<br>[[Billy West]] (1997–present)<ref name="Cartoon Network 1">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzCbIF14HEI&t=12s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/dzCbIF14HEI |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Cartoon Network Toy Blowout commercial|date=7 May 2016 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=June 2, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Cartoon Network 2">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm05h63NXM8&t=66s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/Zm05h63NXM8 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Wonder Woman's "Lasso of Truth" segments (1998)|date=October 2012 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=June 2, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><br>[[Scott Innes]] (The Summer of Goodwill Passport)<ref name="Summer Goodwill">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwCC-M8WAOg&t=11s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/NwCC-M8WAOg |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=The Summer of Goodwill Passport Commercial (1998) with Cartoon Characters|date=5 May 2020 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=June 2, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><br>Daren Tillinger (''[[Cartoon Network|Web Premiere Toons]]'')<ref name="Web Premiere">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc_9wEwsye4&t=120s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/Jc_9wEwsye4 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=The Pitch|date=21 February 2020 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=2 June 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><br>[[Jeff Bergman]] ([[Boomerang (British and Irish TV channel)|Boomerang]] UK bumper)<ref name="Boomerang">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWoCoYp4ucI&t=27s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/CWoCoYp4ucI |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Brief Boomerang UK Continuity and Adverts (April 2005)|date=12 May 2017 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=March 22, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><br>[[Joe Alaskey]] (''[[Duck Dodgers (TV series)|Duck Dodgers]]'')<br>[[Lewis MacLeod (actor)|Lewis MacLeod]] ([[Müller (company)|Müller]] commercial)<ref name="Müller">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRBvaxb_HRU&t=62s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/QRBvaxb_HRU |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Müller - Wünderful Stuff (2011, UK)|date=21 July 2016 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=April 5, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="Müller voice">{{cite web|title=Muller, Wonderful Stuff. TBWA|url=https://vimeo.com/36830641|publisher=Vimeo|access-date=5 April 2021}}</ref><br>[[Terry Mynott]] (''Dastardly and Muttley'')<ref name="Dastardly Muttley">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-qFtw4siU&t=62s|title=Dastardly and Muttley|date=22 October 2023 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=22 October 2023}}</ref><br>[[Dana Snyder]] (''[[Jellystone!]]'')
| first = "[[Wacky Races (1968 TV series)#ep1|See-Saw To Arkansas]]" (1968)
| creator = [[Iwao Takamoto]]
| species = [[Dog]]
| gender = Male
| nationality = American
}}
'''Muttley''' is a [[fictional]] dog created in 1968 by [[Hanna-Barbera Productions]]; he was originally voiced by [[Don Messick]].<ref name=Schmidt>{{cite web|url=http://www.hotink.com/wacky/mfiles/|title=About Muttley|first= John V. |last= Schmidt|website= hotink.com|access-date=2009-09-14|publisher= John V. Schmidt}}</ref> He is the sidekick (and often [[foil (narrative)|foil]]) to the cartoon villain [[Dick Dastardly]], and appeared with him in the 1968 television series ''[[Wacky Races (1968 TV series)|Wacky Races]]''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series |date=1983 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1557-5  |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/304/mode/2up |access-date=22 March 2020 |pages=305–306}}</ref> and its 1969 spinoff, ''[[Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 |date=1983 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1557-5  |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/78/mode/2up |access-date=14 March 2020 |pages=78–79}}</ref> The character is known best for his mischievous, rasping laugh.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rovin |first1=Jeff |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals |date=1991 |publisher=Prentice Hall Press |isbn=0-13-275561-0 |access-date=8 April 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc00rovi/page/186/mode/2up/ |pages=186–187}}</ref>

==Characterization==
Muttley first appeared in ''[[Wacky Races (1968 TV series)|Wacky Races]]'' in 1968,<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.hotink.com/wacky/
|title=Wacky Races
|first= John V. |last= Schmidt
|access-date=2009-09-14
|website= hotink.com
|publisher=John V. Schmidt}}</ref> as the [[sidekick]] of the accident-prone villain [[Dick Dastardly]]. While Dick was created as the equivalent of Professor Fate from the 1965 movie ''[[The Great Race]]'', 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 [[mixed breed dog]], identified in the ''Wacky Races'' segment "Dash to Delaware" as a mix of [[bloodhound]], [[Pointer (dog)|pointer]], [[Airedale Terrier|Airedale]], and [[hunting dog]]. 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.<ref name="commentary">{{cite AV media | title=Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines audio commentary by Designers Iwao Takamoto and Jerry Eisenberg, and Warner Bros. Animation Scott Axley and Scott Jeralds | medium=DVD | volume=3 | at=Special Features}}</ref>

Muttley does not really talk; his main examples of speech are his trademark "wheezy snicker"<ref name=iwao>{{cite book| last1= Takamoto |first1= Iwao|last2=Mallory|first2=Michael|last3=Ito|first3=Willie|title=Iwao Takamoto: my life with a thousand characters| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=00B68sB1-CkC&pg=PA121|year=2009|publisher=UP of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-60473-194-1|page=104 }}</ref> (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 in other Hanna-Barbara productions. In the [[Huckleberry Hound]] cartoons, Messick voiced a black-and-white dog who enjoyed antagonizing Huck the mailman, dog catcher, barbecuer, etc. Messick also used the same snickering chortle for "Snuggles," a mischievous dog who tormented [[Quick Draw McGraw]]; then for "Griswold" in an episode of ''[[Top Cat]]''; then for "Mugger" appearing in the 1964 movie ''[[Hey There, It's Yogi Bear]]'';<ref name=iwao/> and again for ''[[Precious Pupp]]'' in 1966. He also repurposed the characterization for Alexandra Cabot's cat Sebastian on ''[[Josie and the Pussycats (TV series)|Josie and the Pussycats]]'' in 1970.

Muttley (who turned from a "bluish hue" to a "dusty brown")<ref name=iwao/> wore only a collar in ''Wacky Races'', but in ''[[Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines]]'', he donned a [[World War I]] style aviator's cap and scarf, and served as a [[flying ace]] along with Dastardly and two other pilots as members of the "Vulture Squadron".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hofstede|first=David|title=5000 Episodes and No Commercials: The Ultimate Guide to TV Shows on DVD|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNnM_pZVBkwC&pg=PA74| year= 2006 |publisher= Random House|isbn=978-0-8230-8456-2|pages=74–75}}</ref> 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 helicopter rotor blade.

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.<ref name="commentary"/>

==Muttley vs. Mumbly==
Muttley is sometimes confused with the crime-fighting dog Mumbly from ''[[The Mumbly Cartoon Show]]''.<ref name=Schmidt/> 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]] movie where [[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]].

An early version of the Muttley/Mumbly character appears in the 1964 Hanna-Barbera feature film ''[[Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!]]''.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-characters/20497-Hey_There,_It%27s_Yogi_Bear.html
|title=Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
|access-date=2009-09-14
|publisher=The Big Cartoon Database}}{{dead link|date=January 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> 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/Secret Squirrel Show|The Atom Ant Show]]'''s "[[The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show|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]]'' 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]]'', 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!]]'' alongside Dick Dastardly.
* In the ''[[Duck Dodgers (TV series)|Duck Dodgers]]'' 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]].
* Muttley has made at least one brief appearance in ''[[Dynomutt, Dog Wonder|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]] 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 (2000 video game)|''Wacky Races'' video game]], Muttley was voiced by [[Billy West]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253921/
|title=Wacky Races video game
|access-date=2009-09-14
|website=IMDb.com
|publisher=Internet Movie Database}}</ref>
* Muttley appeared alongside Dick Dastardly in the animated ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' film ''[[Scoob!]]'' (2020), where Billy West reprised his role, though the film used archival recordings of Messick for Muttley's laugh. In the film, Muttley was trapped in the underworld after an attempt by Dastardly to steal [[Alexander the Great]]'s treasure from the Underworld through a dimensional portal serving as a back door. The plan backfired when the portal turns out to be one-way. Dastardly spent most of the film trying to save Muttley by going after the Skulls of Cerberus, and managed to do so in the film's climax. They were both captured by Dastardly's reformed robot henchmen the Rottens and taken away by [[Blue Falcon]], [[Dynomutt, Dog Wonder|Dynomutt]], and [[Dee Dee Skyes]] to be handed over to the police. During the end credits, Muttley is shown breaking Dick Dastardly out of prison.
* Muttley makes a brief cameo appearance in the 2021 film ''[[Space Jam: A New Legacy]]''. When the Warner Bros. Serververse inhabitants were making their way to the site of the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad, Muttley is seen trying to lunge at [[The Great Gazoo]] only to miss as the latter teleports away. Muttley's design is the same as the design seen in ''Scoob!''
* Muttley is mentioned in the ''[[Jellystone!]]'' season 2 episode "Lady Danjjer: Is It Wrong to Long for Kabong?" He is mentioned to be [[Loopy de Loop]]'s ex-boyfriend. Muttley appears in season 3, voiced by [[Dana Snyder]].

==See also==
* [[List of Hanna-Barbera characters]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Wacky Races}}
{{Hanna-Barbera}}

[[Category:Villains in animated television series]]
[[Category:Animated characters introduced in 1968]]
[[Category:Television characters introduced in 1968]]
[[Category:Hanna-Barbera characters]]
[[Category:Television sidekicks]]
[[Category:Film sidekicks]]
[[Category:Fictional henchmen]]
[[Category:Fictional dogs]]
[[Category:Male characters in animation]]
[[Category:Male characters in television]]
[[Category:Male film villains]]
[[Category:Wacky Races characters]]
[[Category:Scooby-Doo characters]]
[[Category:Yogi Bear characters]]
[[Category:Fictional racing drivers]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. animal characters]]
[[Category:Male characters in animated films]]
[[Category:Male characters in animated television series]]
[[Category:Comedy film characters]]