Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch
Title card
Genre	Animation
Directed by	Charles A. Nichols
Voices of	Frank Welker Judy Strangis Paul Winchell Lennie Weinrib Don Messick
Theme music composer	Hoyt Curtin
Composer(s)	Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (39 segments)
Production
Executive producer(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Producer(s)	Iwao Takamoto
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Color
Audio format	Mono
Original release	September 7 (1974-09-07) – November 30, 1974 (1974-11-30)

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch is an American animated TV show. It was made by Hanna-Barbera and first shown on NBC. The show ran for one season from September to November 1974. There were 13 episodes, each lasting half an hour.

The series is about a cool car named Wheelie. He lives in a world where vehicles act like people. Wheelie often has to deal with a group of motorcycles called the "Chopper Bunch." These motorcycles are always trying to cause trouble.

Famous voice actors like Frank Welker and Judy Strangis brought the characters to life. The show was produced by Iwao Takamoto. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were the executive producers. Charles A. Nichols directed the series.

After the TV show, a comic book series came out in 1975. Artist John Byrne worked on it for a short time. Other artists finished the series, which had seven comic books in total. Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch is often compared to other shows like Speed Buggy and Wonder Wheels. This is because they all feature talking vehicles and similar stories.

What the Show Is About

The show takes place in a world where cars and motorcycles are like people. They can talk, think, and have feelings. The main character is Wheelie, a heroic car. His girlfriend is Rota Ree. The bad guys are the Chopper Bunch, a gang of motorcycles.

A writer once said that Wheelie is the hero. The Chopper Bunch are the villains. They try to trick Wheelie, but they usually fail. Most episodes show the Chopper Bunch trying to outsmart Wheelie. However, their plans always go wrong. The show often showed the Chopper Bunch getting into trouble. Sometimes, the police would even get involved.

Meet the Characters

Here are some of the main characters you'll meet in the show:

• Wheelie (Frank Welker): He is a red racing car. He looks a lot like a Volkswagen Beetle. Wheelie is the hero of the show. He is very smart and brave. Wheelie can't speak words, but he uses car horn beeps and honks. Other characters understand what he means. Words and symbols also flash on his windshield. For example, "Charge!" appears when he gets excited or angry.
• Rota Ree (Judy Strangis): She is Wheelie's loyal girlfriend. Chopper, the leader of the Chopper Bunch, often tries to get her attention. But Rota Ree is only interested in Wheelie.

The Chopper Bunch: This is a group of motorcycles who love to cause trouble.

• Chopper (Frank Welker): He is the leader of the gang. Chopper is very jealous of Wheelie. He always wants to get rid of Wheelie. He also tries to win Rota Ree's affection.
  • Revs (Paul Winchell): Revs always mixes up his words. He talks in "spoonerisms." This means he swaps the first sounds of two words.
  • Hi-Riser (Lennie Weinrib): Hi-Riser is not very smart. He often misunderstands things.
  • Scrambles (Don Messick): Scrambles is the smallest member of the Chopper Bunch. He is a minibike. He is also the slowest. Scrambles often warns the others that their plans won't work. But Chopper never listens to him. After a plan fails, Scrambles always shouts, "I told ya! I told ya! I told ya!"
• Captain Tuff (Paul Winchell): He is a tough police car. He takes his job very seriously.
• Deputy Fishtail (Don Messick): He is a police motorcycle. Fishtail is a new police officer. He really wants to catch the Chopper Bunch. But his attempts often end up causing trouble for Captain Tuff instead.

Don Messick and Lennie Weinrib also voiced many other smaller characters in the show.

Episodes

The show had 13 episodes. Each episode was divided into three shorter stories. Here are some of them:

See also

In Spanish: Astuto Wheelie para niños