Penelope Pitstop

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Penelope Pitstop
Wacky Races character
First appearance"See-Saw To Arkansas" (1968)
Created byIwao Takamoto
Jerry Eisenberg
Joseph Barbera
Portrayed byJanet Waldo (1968–2016)
Marilyn Schreffler (1987)
Karyra Nicole Arias (1999)
Kath Soucie (2006)
Nicole Parker (2017–2019)
In-universe information
NicknamePretty Penny
SpeciesHuman
GenderFemale

Penelope Pitstop is a fictional character who appeared in the 1968 Hanna-Barbera animated series Wacky Races and the spin-off The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, and was voiced by Janet Waldo. She also appeared in the 2017 reboot of Wacky Races.

Background[edit]

Penelope "Penny" Pitstop is an attractive southern belle, and the only female racer in the original Wacky Races lineup, driving a pink feminine car known as The Compact Pussycat which has personal grooming facilities that would sometimes backfire on other racers, such as shampoo foam hitting their faces. She always has time to relax and worry about her looks, because her car is like a beauty parlor. Penelope Pitstop also has a habit of holding her arm out in the breeze to dry newly applied nail polish, which the others mistake for a turn signal (this habit once sent the Roaring Plenty into a cactus).

Peter Perfect had a crush on her, a feeling that was returned, and always tried to help her; in "Dash to Delaware", they almost end up married. In the 2007 TV short Wacky Races Forever it is revealed that she had two children with Peter Perfect.[1]

Unlike other drivers, Penelope rarely was targeted by the other racers (except Dick Dastardly of course), as it seems they also liked and tried to help her as Peter did. Penny was always thankful for their assistance and was perhaps the most peaceful racer on the track, though she twice gave the Creepy Coupe's dragon and serpent a good bashing with her umbrella. In the 2017 version, she eventually shows martial arts skills.

Penelope also had her own cartoon series, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, which also featured her rescuers the Ant Hill Mob. Her sworn enemy is the Hooded Claw (who is the secret identity of her own guardian, Sylvester Sneekly). Although she is blind to the fact her guardian is her nemesis in disguise, she is very smart and often manages to get herself out of trouble before her true guardians the Ant Hill Mob can get to her in time.

In Wacky Races, Penelope has long blond hair in a full fringe. She wears a purple racer helmet with goggles. She also wears a dark pink rider jacket with a purple turtleneck and purple gloves, pink skirt with red pants underneath and white boots.

In The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Penelope's eyes resemble those of Daphne Blake, and she wears red lipstick. She wears a slight alteration to her Wacky Races wardrobe. Her helmet is replaced by a magenta pilot helmet with matching white goggles. She wears a hot pink long-sleeved jacket with a matching belt and long magenta scarf, which is hanging loose on the right side. Even though she still wears her red pants and white boots from Wacky Races, her gloves are now white.

In the 2017 reboot of Wacky Races she also has an evil twin sister named Pandora Pitstop.

Relatives[edit]

  • Peter Perfect: Penelope's husband from the reboot. Voiced by Diedrich Bader.
  • Pandora and Petunia Pitstop: Penelope's twin sister and mother, respectively, from the reboot. Voiced by Nicole Parker.
  • Parker and Piper Perfect: Peter and Penelope's children from Wacky Races Forever.
  • Johnny Pitstop: Penelope's younger brother from the reboot.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Iwao Takamoto (interviewee) (2004). Wacky Races (DVD). Los Angeles: Warner Home Video.

External links[edit]