Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Review)

• Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
• Review Date: Sep 03, 2026
• Format: Blu-ray Disc

Director

William Hanna, Joseph Barbera

Release Date(s)

1969-1970 (June 30, 2026)

Studio(s)

Hanna-Barbera Productions (Warner Archive Collection)

• Film/Program Grade: B-
• Video Grade: A
• Audio Grade: A-
• Extras Grade: C

Review

Hanna-Barbera was dominating the television airwaves in the 1960s and 1970s with a number of animated shows coming and going at any given time, some in prime time, others syndicated, and even more on Saturday mornings. The popularity of their Wacky Races show was so that it too spun off into other programs, including The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Fender Bender 500, and Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. The latter ran for a single season on CBS during Saturday mornings between 1969 and 1970, cementing the inept but villainous duo as a mainstay of the revolving door of Hanna-Barbera characters.

Taking place in Germany during World War I, Dick Dastardly (Paul Winchell) leads the Vulture Squadron, made up of the snickering canine Muttley, the indecipherable mechanic and inventor Klunk, and his weak-kneed assistant and translator Zilly (the latter three all Don Messick). Under orders from their infuriated general, they fly the skies, forever attempting to intercept messages sent to the enemy via messenger pigeon, which they repeatedly fail to stop. Muttley is more concerned about the medals on his chest while Klunk’s inventions always malfunction, exasperating Dastardly to no end. The show consists of two main segments; Wing Dings, in which they briefly get themselves into hijinks; and Magnificent Muttley, in which the overworked hound daydreams about being everything from a professor to pirate to a magician to a superhero.

Dastardly and Muttley have been a Hanna-Barbera cornerstone for decades, cropping up occasionally to cause mayhem wherever they can, but this is the only time the pair had their own show. Interestingly, an early version of the idea was envisioned with two different leading characters, tentatively titled “Stop the Pigeon,” but after Wacky Races was such a hit, Hanna-Barbera chose to replace the characters with Dastardly and Muttley and give the show a new title, lifting it from the 1965 British comedy Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes. Thankfully, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines would suffice. Thankfully, the show’s memorable theme song, Stop the Pigeon, carried over as well, becoming one of Hanna-Barbera’s most beloved earworms.

What can be appreciated about the show today is just how different it is from other Hanna-Barbera productions. Their shows tended to not have much variety in their characters and structure, whereas Dastardly and Muttley isn’t like any of their other programmings. With wacky planes, the World War I setting, and an inventor who speaks mostly in sound effects it’s definitely unique. Yet at the same time, it’s probably a good thing that there was only one season of the show since there’s not much more you can do with this premise without altering it entirely. It’s a fun show with fun characters, but trying to “Stop the Pigeon!” only has so much to it, almost in a Wile E. Coyote versus Road Runner kind of way. As such, a mere seventeen episodes of Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines goes just far enough with the idea.

Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines was produced using traditional cel animation on 35mm film, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The Warner Archive Collection debuts all 17 episodes of the show on Blu-ray for the first time, restored in 4K from the original camera negatives, and encoded to two dual-layered BD-50 discs. The show looks great in high definition, with sharper and more precise presentations, as well as enhanced detail in the negatives. Bitrates range from 25 to 35Mbps most of the time with well-resolved grain. Line art is never compromised and the show features vibrant color with deep blacks and excellent contrast. It’s also stable and clean with the original flaws in the animation left intact. The softest sections of these presentations are the closing titles, which were likely sourced from interpositive elements. Otherwise, the show is complete and looks fantastic.

Audio is included in English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. Each track is consistent and evenly-balanced with ample support for dialogue, sound effects, and Ted Nichols’ score and music, but also clean and free of any major issues.

The Warner Archive Collection 2-Disc Blu-ray release of Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines: The Complete Series is housed in a blue Amaray case with artwork taken from the 2006 Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection and 2017 Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection DVD releases. Included are the following episodes and extras (note that the Wing Dings segments and the introductions for the Magnificent Muttley segments are not chapter-accessible):

DISC ONE (EPISODES 1-9)

1. Fur Out Furlough / Wing Dings: Barn Dance; Hot Soup / Magnificent Muttley: Muttley on the Bounty / Sappy Birthday (22:07)
2. Follow That Feather / Wing Dings: Barber; Empty Hangar / Magnificent Muttley: What’s New Old Bean? / Operation Anvil (22:03)
3. Sky Hi-IQ / Wing Dings: Prop Wash; Carpet / Magnificent Muttley: The Marvelous Muttdini / A Plain Shortage of Planes (22:03)
4. Barnstormers / Wing Dings: Arnold; Pineapple Sundae; The New Mascot / Magnificent Muttley: The Bad Actor / Shape Up or Ship Out (22:07)
5. Stop That Pigeon / Wing Dings: Grease Job; Robot / Magnificent Muttley: The Big Topper / Zilly’s a Dilly (22:07)
6. The Cuckoo Patrol / Wing Dings: Automatic Door; Airmail; Runway Stripe / Magnificent Muttley: The Masked Muttley / Pest Pilots (22:06)
7. The Swiss Yelps / Eagle-Beagle / Wing Dings: Deep Reading; Shell Game; Slightly Loaded / Magnificent Muttley: Movie Stuntman (22:10)
8. Fly By Knights / There’s No Fool Like a Re-Fuel / Wing Dings: Springtime; Dog’s Life; Strange Equipment / Magnificent Muttley: Coonskin Caper (22:13)
9. Movies Are Badder Than Ever / Home Sweet Homing Pigeon / Wing Dings: The Elevator; Obedience School / Magnificent Muttley: Aquanuts (22:09)

DISC TWO (EPISODES 10-17)

10. Lens a Hand / Vacation Trip Trap / Wing Dings: Parachute; Real Snapper / Magnificent Muttley: Leonardo De Muttley (22:06)
11. Stop Which Pigeon? / Ceiling Zero Zero / Wing Dings: Fast Freight; Home Run / Magnificent Muttley: Start Your Engines (22:09)
12. Who’s Who? / Operation Birdbrain / Wing Dings: Bowling Pin; Shrink Job / Magnificent Muttley: Ship Ahooey (22:06)
13. Medal Muddle / Go South Young Pigeon! / Wing Dings: The Window Washer; Beach Blast / Magnificent Muttley: Admiral Bird Dog (22:01)
14. Too Many Kooks / Ice See You / Wing Dings: Echo; Rainmaker / Magnificent Muttley: Professor Muttley (22:07)
15. Balmy Swami / Camouflage Hop-Aroo / Wing Dings: Mop Up; Big Turnover (aka Left Hanging) / Magnificent Muttley: Wild Mutt Muttley (22:04)
16. Have Plane Will Travel / Windy Windmill / Wing Dings: Tough Break; The Ice Cream Tree / Magnificent Muttley: Astromutt (22:08)
17. Plane Talk / Happy Bird Day / Wing Dings: Boxing; Runaway Rug (aka Magic Carpet) / Magnificent Muttley: Super Muttley (22:05)

• Dastardly and Muttley’s Spin-Offs: What Wacky Races Wrought (SD – 4:47)
• The Vulture Squadron’s Greatest Misses (SD – 7:37)
• Audio Commentary on Stop Which Pigeon? by Iwao Takamoto, Jerry Eisenberg, Scott Awley, and Scott Jeralds
• Audio Commentary on Balmy Swami by Iwao Takamoto, Jerry Eisenberg, Scott Awley, and Scott Jeralds

All of this material carries over from the show’s previous DVD releases. Dastardly and Muttley’s Spin-Offs briefly takes a look at the show with character designer Jerry Eisenberg, production designer Iwao Takamoto, designer Scott Awley, cartoonist and animation historian Scott Shaw, writer and producer Paul Dini, Warner Bros. Animation producer Scott Jeralds, and writer and animation historian Earl Kress. The Vulture Squadron’s Greatest Misses is a series of montages featuring funny moments from the show set to music. Last are two audio commentaries featuring Takamoto, Eisenberg, Awley, and Jeralds on the segments Stop Which Pigeon? and Balmy Swami. Absent are the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes commercials that ran during the show’s initial airing (one of which can currently be found on Youtube), and Dastardly and Muttley’s appearances in the Hanna-Barbera Fun-In comic books.

Warner Archive’s hi-def upgrades of various Hanna-Barbera projects are all must-owns for animation fans, and Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines: The Complete Series is certainly no different. Highly recommended.

- Tim Salmons

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