Wacky Races' Legacy in Japan: Games, Books, and More!

 Today marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of Wacky Races, one of my personal favorite Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and one I haven't gotten to talk about to this point. But I'm not going to be discussing the show itself. Instead, I'll be looking at the show's legacy in Japan. You never know how a cartoon will be received in other territories, and there have been several Hanna-Barbera shows that have reached greater heights abroad. For example, Top Cat has quite the following over in Mexico, so much so that two animated theatrical films were released for the show. But it was the hijinks of those daffy drivers that captivated Japanese audiences. In the country, Wacky Races  (known better in the region as Chikichiki Machine Mo-Race) is among one of the more popular Hanna-Barbera franchises, and both Dick Dastardly and Muttley are extremely beloved and prone to merchandising. So fasten your seatbelts as we take a tour threw some of the more interesting Wacky Races products to come from the rising sun.

Starting us off is one of the more unique pieces exclusive to the country, a Wacky Races video game! There have been a couple of games based on the series throughout the years, but this one never made it outside of Japan. Released on the relatively overlooked 3DO, this game was a racing title featuring computer-animated cutscenes, something that was still a novelty at the time. Check out the box art below, showcasing all the racers in their old-school 3D glory!

Maybe video games aren't quite your thing. Perhaps you are more of a board game person. Fret not, for Japan has you covered with this Wacky Races-themed board game, made by Takara! From what I could decipher, this came out sometime in the early 1990s.

Another interesting find I came across was these notebooks, both featuring Muttley and Dastardly adorning them. The first one is a lot closer to the art used in most promotional pieces, while the second takes a more stylized and unique approach. Your mileage may vary, but I think the art on the latter notebook looks great!

I've got only one product left to show you all, and I saved the strangest for last. Released in 2015, it's a set of Wacky Races...paper towels? As usual, Muttley and Dick Dastardly are the characters featured, although I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other racers also appeared during this promotion. It's definitely an odd find, for both Wacky Races products and Hanna-Barbera merchandise in general. After all, when was the last time you saw a cartoon character advertising paper towels? You also have to love how the packaging displays Dastardly's colors. A nice touch if I do say so myself!

Before I wrap up this short look at Wacky Races' enduring fame in Japan, I'll leave you with this commercial that aired in the country around the late nineties, showing the racers making a stop at a Mobil gas station! I hope you enjoy, and I also recommend you check out this fascinating article on Cartoon Research, which shows how some of Hanna-Barbera's cartoons made the jump to the East. This is one of my favorite articles on the site, and it also served as a great starting point for this piece. Happy fifty-five years of Wacky Races, and let's hope the next fifty-five are just as wacky as the first!