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Speed Buggy

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This article is about the animated series by Hanna-Barbera. For the arcade racing game by Tatsumi alternately known as Speed Buggy, see Buggy Boy.
Speed Buggy
GenreAnimation
Directed byCharles A. Nichols
Voices ofMel Blanc
Michael Bell
Arlene Golonka
Phil Luther, Jr.
Country of origin United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes16
Production
Executive producersWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Running time30 minutes
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 8, 1973 –
August 30, 1975

Speed Buggy was a Saturday Morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 8, 1973 to August 30, 1975 on CBS. Similar in style to Hanna-Barbera's successful Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Speed Buggy followed the adventures of an anthropomorphic, fiberglass Dune Buggy, Speed Buggy (voiced by Mel Blanc), his driver Tinker (voiced by Phil Luther, Jr.), and Tinker's friends, Mark (voiced by Michael Bell) and Debbie (voiced by Arlene Golonka). The three young adults and their car traveled from race to race, often encountering spy capers and mysteries along the way. Speed Buggy's trademark quotes were always "Roger-Dodger!" and "Vroom-a-zoom-zoom!"

Though Speed Buggy (nicknamed Speedy by his friends) had a mind of his own, based on Disney's Herbie the Love Bug,, he was vulnerable to commands given through a communicator/remote control device made by Tinker when he first built Speed Buggy. Speedy's friends rarely used the device to control his actions, using it mainly for its communication function, but criminals and other ne'er-do-wells would sometimes steal or duplicate the device and manipulate Speedy for their own purposes.

Sixteen 30-minute installments of Speed Buggy were produced in 1973. The show was a such a huge success that it aired on all three major networks (CBS, NBC and ABC) until 1979, then was picked up for syndication until 1983.

Most likely due to the shows inspiration, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, the character Tinker shares many visual likenesses to Scooby's beatnik best friend, Shaggy. Also, there are some similar character traits between Mark and Fred Jones, and Debbie appears to be very similar to Daphne in multiple ways.

Other appearances

File:SDGang SpeedBugs.JPG
The Scooby-Doo detectives cross paths with Speed Buggy and the gang in a 1973 The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode "The Weird Winds of Winona". Mark's skin color is noticeably darker here.
  • In 1975, Charlton Comics published a 9-issue series Speed Buggy comic book.
  • Speed Buggy appeared in a joke flashback in Stroker and Hoop, in which they think back to when they had caught a criminal named Beeffinger.
  • Speed Buggy appeared at the end of an Johnny Bravo episode, "Bravo Dooby Doo", where Johnny meet Mystery Inc.

Episodes

SB-1. "Speed Buggy Went That-A-Way" (prod. #65-1, September 8, 1973)
SB-2. "Speed Buggy's Daring Escapade" (prod. #65-2, September 15, 1973)
SB-3. "Taggert's Trophy" (prod. #65-3, September 22, 1973)
SB-4. "Speed Buggy Falls in Love" (prod. #65-4, September 29, 1973)
SB-5. "Kingzilla" (prod. #65-5, October 6, 1973)
SB-6. "Professor Snow and Madam Ice" (prod. #65-6, October 13, 1973)
SB-7. "Out of Sight" (prod. #65-7, October 20, 1973)
SB-8. "Gold Fever" (prod. #65-8, October 27, 1973)
SB-9. "Island of the Giant Plants" (prod. #65-9, November 3, 1973)
SB-10. "Soundmaster" (prod. #65-11, November 10, 1973)
SB-11. "The Ringmaster" (prod. #65-10, November 17, 1973)
SB-12. "The Incredible Changing Man" (prod. #65-12, November 24, 1973)
SB-13. "Secret Safari" (prod. #65-13, December 1, 1973)
SB-14. "Oils Well That Ends Well" (prod. #65-14, December 8, 1973)
SB-15. "The Hidden Valley of Amazonia" (prod. #65-15, December 15, 1973)
SB-16. "Captain Schemo and the Underwater City" (prod. #65-16, December 22, 1973)

Production credits

  • Executive Producers: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
  • Directed by: Charles A. Nichols
  • Creative Producer: Iwao Takamoto
  • Associate Producer: Art Scott
  • Story: Jack Mendelsohn, Len Janson, Jack Kaplan, Norman Maurer, Ray Parker, Larz Bourne, Joel Kane, Woody Kling, Chuck Menville, Larry Rhine
  • Story Direction: John Ahern, Phil Babbit, Larz Bourne, Steve Clark, Jean Franklin, George Gordon, Jan Green, Clark Haas, Herb Johnson, Dan Mills
  • Voices: Chris Allen, Michael Bell, Mel Blanc, Ron Feinberg, Arlene Golonka, Virginia Gregg, Phil Luther, Jr., Jim MacGeorge, Sid Miller, Alan Oppenheimer, Michael Road, John Stephenson, Hal Smith, Janet Waldo, Charles Martin Smith
  • Production Design: Bob Singer
  • Production Supervisor: Victor O. Schipek
  • Titles: Iraj Paran
  • Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
  • Musical Supervisor: Paul DeKorte
  • Character Design: Jerry Eisenberg
  • Layout: John Ahern, Hak Ficq, Moe Gollub, Frank Gonzales, Adam Szwejkowski
  • Animation: Bill Keil, Ed Barge, Oliver Callahan, Lars Calonius, Harry Holt, George Kreisl, Rae McSpadden, Margaret Nichols, Ed Parks, Don Patterson, Dick Thompson, Xenia
  • Background Styling: F. Montealegre, Eric Semones
  • Backgrounds: Robert Caples, Dennis Durrell, Venetia Epler
  • Technical Supervisor: Frank Paiker
  • Ink & Paint Supervisor: Billie Kerns
  • Xerography: Robert "Tiger" West
  • Sound Direction: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
  • Supervising Film Editor: Larry Cowan
  • Music Editor: Joe Sandusky
  • Effects Editors: Clifford Kohlweck, Earl Bennett
  • Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
  • Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton
  • Camera: Tom Barnes, Ron Jackson, Ralph Migliori, Roy Wade
  • A Hanna-Barbera Production
© 1973 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.
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