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Yes. The movie was inspired by an actual New York to Paris road race known as "The Great Auto Race of 1908" that began in Times Square on February 12, 1908. There were six cars entered representing 4 countries- The United States, Germany, France, and Italy. The actual race took 169 days and The United States won. As far as being historically accurate, Director Blake Edwards primarily used only the time period (1908) and a rough approximation of the race route for "The Great Race" movie. Most of the other memorable elements from the film- the zany over-the-top characters, the many fantastic vehicles and gadgets, and incidents such as crossing the ocean on an ice floe and the gigantic pie fight- were products of Edward's fertile imagination.
Yes and no. Although Blake Edwards and Warner Bros. were never involved in producing a "Great Race" cartoon series, Hanna-Barbera Productions did produce a Saturday morning cartoon series called "Wacky Races" that ran from 1968 to 1970. This cartoon series was inspired by and borrowed heavily from "The Great Race" film, and even featured characters that strongly resembled those in the movie in both appearance and personality- in particular, "Penelope Pitstop" (based on Natalie Wood's "Maggie Dubois") "Peter Perfect" (based on Tony Curtis' "Great Leslie"), and "Dick Dastardly and Muttley" (based on Jack Lemmon's "Professor Fate" and Peter Falk's "Max", respectively).
"The Leslie Special" and "The Hannibal Twin 8" cars were custom built for the movie and were fully driveable. As is often the standard procedure for movie and television productions, multiple versions of each were produced, including at least 2 "Leslie Specials" and at least 5 "Hannibal Twin 8's". As of April, 2014, one of "The Leslie Special's" can be seen in The Tupelo Auto Museum in Tupelo, Mississippi, and one of the "Hannibal Twin 8" cars (along with Professor Fate's lake torpedo) can be seen in The Hollywood Gallery of The Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles, California. In addition, both a "Leslie Special and a "Hannibal Twin 8" can also be seen at the Stahls Automotive Foundation Museum in Chesterfield, Michigan.
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- How long is The Great Race?2 hours and 40 minutes
- When was The Great Race released?December 17, 1965
- What is the IMDb rating of The Great Race?7.2 out of 10
- Who stars in The Great Race?
- Who wrote The Great Race?
- Who directed The Great Race?
- Who was the composer for The Great Race?
- Who was the producer of The Great Race?
- Who was the executive producer of The Great Race?
- Who was the cinematographer for The Great Race?
- Who was the editor of The Great Race?
- Who are the characters in The Great Race?Professor Fate, The Great Leslie, Maggie DuBois, Hezekiah Sturdy, Henry Goodbody, Hester Goodbody, Lily Olay, Texas Jack, Baron Rolfe von Stuppe, General Kuhster, and others
- What is the plot of The Great Race?In the early 20th century, heroic Leslie Gallant and his despicable rival Professor Fate engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris while enthusiastic suffragette Maggie Dubois enters the race to report on every step of it.
- What was the budget for The Great Race?$12 million
- How much did The Great Race earn at the US box office?$25.3 million
- What is The Great Race rated?Passed
- What genre is The Great Race?Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Sports, and Western
- How many awards has The Great Race won?3 awards
- How many awards has The Great Race been nominated for?17 nominations
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