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{{quote| ''"I'll get you, Penelope Pitstop!"''}}
 
Headlined by one of the most fetching females in animation, ''The Perils of Penelope Pitstop'' was one of two animated series spun off from ''[[Wacky Races (Animation)|Wacky Races]]''. Implied to be set between 1911 and 1930, the series was strongly influenced by ''The Perils of Pauline'', a silent movie serial.
 
The heiress Penelope, a classic [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]], was the ward of Sylvester Sneekly. Unknown to her, [[Once an Episode]] Sneekly assumed the identity of the Hooded Claw. With the aid of his identical [[Creepy Twins|twin henchmen]], the Bully Brothers, the Hooded Claw caught Penelope in one [[Death Trap]] after another, in hope of taking over her inheritance. Invariably, the Hooded Claw would explain his trap in detail to Penelope.
 
Although she often escaped the Hooded Claw's traps on her own, Penelope had friends in the Ant Hill Mob, a group of seven little men whose car, Chugaboom, may have been a prototype for [[Speed Buggy (Animation)|Speed Buggy]]. The [[Interactive Narrator]] was also on her side, providing advice and encouragement. Frequently, after the Mob rescued Penelope, ''she'' had to rescue ''them'' from an unintended consequence of their heroics.
 
The show's voice talent included Janet Waldo as Penelope, Paul Lynde (uncredited) as the Hooded Claw and, Gary Owens as the [[Narrator]], and [[Mel Blanc]].
 
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{{tropelist}}
'''This series provides examples of:'''
* [[Action Girl]]: Penelope Pitstop might have been naïve and prone to danger, but she was actually far more capable than she looked and often saved the day.
* [[Alliteration]]
* [[Added Alliterative Appeal]]
* [[Affectionate Parody]]: Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob may have been gentle caricatures of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
** It was actually lampshaded back in the first episode of ''[[Wacky Races]]'', "See-Saw to Arkansas", where the mob dressed up as the seven dwarves to give people false directions. Penelope was the first one they misdirected.
{{quote| '''Clyde:''' If she follows my directions, she'll end up in the middle of the LaBrea Tarpits!}}
* [[Animated Series]]
* [[Anti -Sneeze Finger]]: Penelope does it to herself in episode "Tall Timber Treachery".
* [[Balloonacy]]: In "The Boardwalk Booby Trap", the Hooded Claw gets rid of the Ant Hill Mob by giving them helium balloons that cause them to float away.
* [[Bond Villain Stupidity]]: The Hood Claw manages to make at least 3 of them per episode, all of them fail.
* [[Bound and Gagged]]: It happens to Penelope [[Once an Episode]], if not more often.
* [[By the Lights of Their Eyes]]: Main titles only.
* [[By Wall That Is Holey]]: "They ''would'' forget to close the window!"
* [[Chained to Aa Railway]]: It's even in the credits.
* [[Characterization Marches On]]: May be a little odd for ''[[Wacky Races]]'' fans seeing Penelope and the Ant Hill Mob as devoted allies (especially the aforementioned instance where [[Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat|the Mob try to use dirty tactics on Penelope]]).
* [[Coat, Hat, Mask]]: The Hooded Claw
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* [[Conveyor Belt of Doom]]
* [[Cool Car]]: Chugaboom
* [[CowboyMedia BebopResearch At His ComputerFailure]]: Animation historian Jerry Beck claimed in his book ''The Hanna-Barbera Treasury'' that this series "featured the Ant Hill Mob as [Penelope's] chief rival". Probably never seen an episode before in his life (or watched [[Wacky Races]] instead).
* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Pockets seems to have a gadget for every occasion.
* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Both Penelope ''and'' the Ant Hill Mob, both examples were rather haphazardous and prone to getting into danger easily but were resilient and resourceful in saving the other when they were in peril (which happened ''a lot'').
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* [[Death Trap]]: At least one per episode.
* [[Did I Just Say That Out Loud?]]: The Hooded Claw in "Wild West Peril" after Penelope makes off with his hot air balloon.
{{quote| '''Claw:''' Help! Police!! (''covers his mouth'')...oop...what am I saying?!}}
* [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]]: Both parodied ''and'' played straight with Penelope.
** [[Badass Damsel]]: While the Anthill Mob always ''try'' to rescue her, she often manages without them...
** [[Distressed Dude]]s: ...and she tends to save ''them'' almost as much as ''they'' save ''her''.
* [[Dudley Do-Right Stops to Help]]: In one episode, Penelope returned a fallen baby eagle to its nest.
* [[Everything's Better Withwith Penguins]]: In "North Pole Peril". Only this trope excuses that.
* [[Evil Laugh]]: The Hooded Claw, in spades. His voice actor was clearly into this specific part of the character and delivered those evil laughs with great gusto.
* [[Evil Only Has to Win Once]]: If the Hooded Claw ever succeeds in killing Penelope, he gets her inheritance.
* [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]]: This show is about Penelope Pitstop. She is in peril. Many times.
* [[Falling Chandelier of Doom]]: "The Treacherous Movie Lot Plot"
* [[Genre Blindness]]
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* [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]]
* [[Improvised Parachute]]: In "Jungle Jeopardy" Penelope used her ''scarf'' as a parachute after jumping from a plane.
* [[Interactive Narrator]]: One with a clear bias in Penelope's favor.
* [[Illegal Guardian]]
* [[ItsIt's Raining Men]]: Or in this case a woman, as noted in [[Improvised Parachute]] above.
* [[Lazy Artist]]: In many episodes in certain scenes, the straps of Penelope's helmet are colored the same as her hair.
* [[Lovable Rogue]]: The Ant Hill Mob - assuming they ''are'' rogues.
* [[Karma Houdini]]: Though he was a luckless villain that fell victim to his own devices a lot of times, the Hooded Claw was naturally never caught or discovered and ended nearly every episode making a [[Villain Exit Stage Left]].
* [[MacGyvering]]
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Six members of the Ant Hill Mob. It quickly becomes clear what Dum-Dum, Pockets, Snoozy, Softy, Yak-Yak and Zippy do.
** Sylvester G. Sneekly. Makes one wonder how no one (certainly not [[Wide -Eyed Idealist|Penelope]]) connected the dots.
** Penelope's surname, she being an [[Wacky Races|auto race driver]] and all.
* [[Missing Mom]]/[[Disappeared Dad]]: We never find out what happened to Penelope's parents, or why they were crazy enough to entrust her guardianship to Sneekly.
** We can presume they're deceased, as Penelope lampshaded in the episode "The Hair-Raising Harness Race," in which she is attempting to win the Pitstop Cup in said race:
{{quote| '''Penelope:''' Dear daddy would have wanted it that way. He paid for the cup, y'know.}}
* [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything|The Mobsters Who Don't Do Anything]]: The Ant Hill Mob doesn't do very much mob-type stuff.
** Granted being the heroes of the show, there isn't a lot mob-like they can get away with anymore, they did a bit more in ''[[Wacky Races]]'' where they were more antagonistic.
* [[Mummy]]: The Hooded Claw naturally mummified Penelope for one of his schemes in the Egyptian themed episode "Arabian Desert Danger".
* [[Never Say "Die"]]
* [[No Kill Like Overkill]]: The Hooded Claw's traps always consisted of some kind of crazy Rube Goldberg-esque setup that would eventually lead to Penelope's death. More often than not, the Claw would always spend nearly a minute explaining how the trap works, and Penelope often takes advantage of the time it takes for the trap to go into action to save herself.
* [[No Name Given]]: The Bully Brothers.
* [[Non-Indicative Name]]: The Hooded Claw. No hood, no claw. I guess he just thought the name [[Rule of Cool|sounded cool]].
* [[Only Known Byby Their Nickname]]: Six of the mobsters.
* [[Only One Name]]: Clyde of the Ant Hill Mob.
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: The Hooded Claw did this a ''lot'', and sometimes would wear his purple ribbon mask with them, too.
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* [[Puny Parachute]]: Penelope's [[Improvised Parachute]] above.
* [[Rube Goldberg Hates Your Guts]]: The Hooded Claw could be the poster boy for this trope.
* [[Shout -Out]]: From the debut episode, "Jungle Jeopardy":
{{quote| '''Penelope:''' My arch enemy, the Hooded Claw!<br />
'''Claw:''' Who did you expect? [[Dastardly and Muttley Inin Their Flying Machines|Dick Dastardly?]] }}
* [[Solar -Powered Magnifying Glass]]: In "Hair-Raising Harness Race", while Penelope is trapped in a shed filled with explosives, the Hooded Claw has the Ant Hill Mob bound with a rope and hanging from a tree limb. A magnifying glass is set so that the sun's rays will burn the rope and send the mob plummeting into a deep chasm.
* [[Southern Belle]]: Penelope, natch.
* [[Speed Blitz]]: Why do you think they call him Zippy?
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* [[Statuesque Stunner]]: Penelope is tall, blond ''and'' gorgeous.
* [[Stealth Insult]]: The narrator throws in a doozy after the Claw has a fit over a plan gone wrong:
{{quote| '''Claw:''' Hey! I protest!<br />
'''Narrator:''' Why not? Everyone else is. }}
* [[Stern Chase]]
* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: Played with. The Ant Hill Mob often were successful in saving Penelope, but frequently got themselves in trouble in the process, requiring their rescued friend to help ''them'' out.
* [[Stylish Protection Gear]]: When Penelope needs protection, it will be fashionable.
* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Why do you think they call him Dum-Dum? [[What an Idiot!]]!
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* [[Walk the Plank]]: The Hooded Claw attempts to force Penelope to walk the plank in "Arabian Desert Danger". And, yes, the incongruity of forcing someone to walk the plank in the desert was [[Lampshaded]]. The cannonballs were an interesting addition, though.
* [[We Will Meet Again]]: Done at the end of almost if not every episode with the Hooded Claw vowing to get Penelope "next time".
* [[Wide -Eyed Idealist]]: Penelope would never believe that her guardian Sneekly was the Hooded Claw, even after she pointed out many times that they look just alike. In "Big Top Trap", Sneekly actually revealed to her that he was the Hooded Claw and she ''still'' didn't believe it!
** Upon seeing the episode again, one can see that Sneekly saved his butt by assuming his normal identity and volunteering his time at the circus as a quick-change artist. His getting up as the Claw was just him showing a sample to Penelope, again to cover himself. Penelope idealistically doesn't believe Sneekly would stoop to that level. Little does she know.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Hanna Barbera{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Saturday Morning Cartoon]]▼
[[Category:The Sixties]]▼
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:TheWestern PerilsAnimation Ofof Penelopethe Pitstop1960s]]
▲[[Category:Saturday Morning Cartoon]]
▲[[Category:The SixtiesHanna-Barbera]]
[[Category:The Full Name Adventures]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perils of Penelope Pitstop, The}}
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