More than 30 years before the movie Cars came on the scene, there was Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch. This Saturday morning cartoon from Hanna-Barbera was different from anything produced. There were no animals or humans, just talking motor vehicles. The show centered around wheelie, a red, non speaking stunt car and his girlfriend Rota Ree who battled an evil motorcycle gang The Chopper Bunch. Chopper, the leader tried to pursue Rota with no avail and the gang's attempts to wreck Wheelie always misfired and usually landed the bad cycles in trouble.
I thought the show was one of the most original ideas at that time but like many other cartoons, it suffered from repetitive plots. To make matters worse, it was opposite Bugs Bunny and ran out of gas after one season. The voice work was outstanding, including Frank Welker as both Wheelie and Chopper, Paul Winchell as hyper Revs, Lennie Weinrib as dimwitted Hi-Riser, Judy Strangis, the only female regular as Rota and HB veteran Don Messick as Scrambles who kept telling Chopper "I told you! I told you!" Even though Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch is rarely seen on TV, it deserves to be released someday on DVD. I told you. I told you.
