Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Do you not miss old timey Hanna-Barbera cartoons? Well, I arrived a little late to the party, but gladly, thanks to the wonders of VCR and DVD, I could enjoy those pearls firsthand – and became a fan right away. However, I had never heard of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, a spin-off of the Wacky Races, until NOTYETUSEDNAME informed me it contained a…

LOUZY VILLIN WEE ADORE

And guess what? It did contain a Lousy Villain We Adore! One called the Hooded Claw!

First of all, I will let the premise of the show be explained by the intro.

Because I messed up embedding.

Sylvester Sneakly is the Hooded Claw. If you look at him, you’ll see he lacks the hood. And the claw. But all is forgiven, since he’s got that pose and that outfit that just scream, “I’M EVIL AND I’M GONNA GET YOU! And also I look like a sex offender.”

 I AM EVIL!

He creates devious contraptions to cause Penelope’s demise, but sadly for him, the Ant Hill Mob (and their car, Chugga-boom) is out to protect her, and since Penelope, despite being naïve and innocent to extreme levels, is actually pretty smart (not to mention very fit, and skilled in a lot of sports), and often saves herself before the Ant Hill Mob arrives. In some episodes, she even saves the Mob! But the Claw is aided by the two dimwits, the Bully Brothers…

Right, Claw.

…who help him greatly. However, since they’re not exactly too smart, and he once even said something along the lines of “If it weren’t for a shortage of evil henchmen, I’d fire you!”, they usually mess up. Unlike most cases, where the head villain is the one to suffer the most, in this show, the Bully Brothers have a big tendency of being caught by their boss’s traps, something that I bet they don’t enjoy. They also speak as one.

Two for the price of one, huh?

The Hooded Claw himself’s got it all (except the Pitstop fortune, sadly). He looks cool in a goofy way, and then there’s his voice. With that frail balance between suave, smooth, hammy, and deadpan, voice actor Paul Lynde hits the nail in the head. The Claw comes off as a villain who not only he’s evil and mischievous; he’s also having a great time doing it! He himself says to a trapped and almost demised Pitstop something along the lines, “Just out of respect, I promise not to laugh!”. But we know we want to hear his laugh. It's used extensively throughout the series, and it's one of the best evil laughs I ever heard!

 Milking it...

In conclusion, the Claw is the villain who makes traps to catch Penelope. It’s been done before. Tom the Cat, Wile E. Coyote, etc. What makes the Hooded Claw stand out? Well, the clever humor for one. The fitting voice. The hamminess! The fact he’s goofy and funny and at the same time, looks and sounds kind of, well… awesome. It’s hard to explain!

What I can say is this: The Hooded Claw is a wonderfully lousy and loveable villain, and I want to thank NYUN for telling me about him. Farewell, friends! And special thanks (again) to NYUN, who showed me a delightfully funny cartoon show!

THE EVIL INDEX, MWAHAHAHAHA!