Don't Fool with a Phantom is the eighth and final episode of the second season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, and the twenty-fifth and final episode overall in the series.
Premise
Johnny Sands' dance contest TV show, on which Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo are contestants, is interrupted by a figure identified as the Wax Phantom. The gang trails the Phantom to the local wax museum, hoping to find clues and solve the mystery of the Wax Phantom before he causes more trouble.
Synopsis
During the Johnny Sands dance contest at TV station KLMN, the lights go out and a giant, shapeless figure briefly appears. When the lights come back on, the station manager, Mr. Stevens, has vanished, and Johnny Sands is found tied up in the back. Johnny blames the escapade on the "Wax Phantom," a figure created by a crank wax sculptor with a grudge against the station. Even though the station safe has been robbed and Mr. Stevens apparently taken as a hostage, Johnny begs the kids not to call the police because of the station has been in financial trouble and couldn't take the publicity.
The gang then split up, with Scooby, Shaggy, and Velma setting off to visit the sculptor, Grisby, while Freddy and Daphne go off to investigate the local wax museum. The creepy Grisby tells Velma that he knows what happened at the TV station thanks to his crystal ball, and cheerfully admits to dabbling in black magic. He believes that he has indeed brought the Wax Phantom to life. Velma and the others race over to the museum to warn Freddy and Daphne.
At the museum, Freddy and Daphne have entered through the open front door but are then locked in and chased by the Wax Phantom. Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby enter through a window and find themselves in the monster display room. Fleeing a ghostly hand and ghostly laugh, they run into Freddy and Daphne and come across an airline ticket on the floor.
The gang splits up again, with Freddy and the girls falling through a trap door while Scooby and Shaggy try snacking on some wax fruit. They are interrupted by the Wax Phantom, who catches them after they take a detour through the Topsy Turvey Room. He threatens to turn them into wax creatures.
Freddy and the girls find a satchel full of money down in the secret room; they also find a secret panel that lets them out, and they follow the groans of Shaggy and Scooby. The Wax Phantom places the hapless pair on a conveyor belt that will drop them into a vat of molten wax, but Daphne accidentally reverses the belt, and Scooby and Shaggy escape. A chase ensues.
After they escape from the Phantom, Freddy decides to turn the tables on the Phantom by luring him under a wax shower. Shaggy and Scooby unwittingly act as bait and get trapped in the wax shower along with the Phantom. When the police arrive, Scooby and Shaggy are broken out of their wax prison, and the Wax Phantom is unmasked as Mr. Stevens. He had embezzled a lot of money from the TV station and was planning to flee to South America, leaving the mad Grisby to take the blame for both the theft and the disappearance.
The gang are free to go back on the road, and Shaggy and Scooby have taken a couple of souviners: Wax sculptures they mad of themselves. Daphne asks them what they're going to with their creations, with Shaggy telling her that next time there's a mystery, the dummies will take their place instead. Fred then makes a joke that they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between either, which doesn't amuse the duo at all.
Characters
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Johnny Sands (only appearance)
- Mr. Grisby (only appearance)
- Sheriff (only appearance)
Monsters and other villains:
- Wax Phantom (only appearance)(disguise)/
- Roger Stevens (only appearance)
Other characters:
- Studio audience (only appearance)(no lines)
- Owl (only appearance)(no lines)
- Shaggy's mom (first mentioned)
- Bird (only appearance)(no lines)
Locations
- KLMN
- Mr. Grisby's home
- Wax museum
- Waxworks
- Speedy Airlines (mentioned)
- South America (mentioned)
Objects
Clues:
- Airline ticket
- Bag of money
Food and drinks:
- Toffee
- Scooby Snacks
- Wax roast chicken
- Wax ham
- Wax fruit
- Wax apple
Other objects:
- Dance contest trophy
- Safe
- Mr. Grisby's crystal ball
- Cooking pot
- Spoon
- Wax Phantom statuette
- Skeleton
- Electric chair
- Frankenstien's monster wax figure
- Scooby Snacks box
- Light switch
- Monster display sign
- Prosthetic bat
- Floating hand
- Wax Phantom display sign
- Animatronic spider-lady
- Sofa
- Parisol
- Special wax mold
- Paint brushes and pots
- Wax-sprayer
- Crate
- Hammer
- Handcuffs
- Wax replicas of Shaggy and Scooby
Vehicles
- The Mystery Machine
- Mystery Inc.'s scooter
- Sheriff's police car
Suspects
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Johnny Sands | He is known for his publicity stunts. |
| Mr. Grisby | He holds a grudge against the TV station for his show being cancelled. He acts very strange. |
Culprits
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Roger Stevens as the Wax Phantom | To embezzle money from the TV station and frame Mr. Grisby for it and his disappearance. |
Cast
| Don Messick | Scooby-Doo Roger Stevens Mr. Grisby Sheriff |
|---|---|
| Casey Kasem | Shaggy Rogers Johnny Sands |
| Frank Welker | Fred Jones |
| Heather North | Daphne Blake |
| Nicole Jaffe | Velma Dinkley |
| Michael Stull | Wax Phantom |
Songs
| Song | Credits | Performed by |
|---|---|---|
| "Pretty Mary Sunlight" | Written by Danny Janssen and George A. Robertson, Jr. | George A. Robertson, Jr. |
Full credits
The following credits are how they are seen on-screen (or as close as possible).
- Produced and Directed by: Joseph Barbera and William Hanna
- Co-Producer: Alex Lovy
- Story Editors: Ken Spears, Joe Ruby
- Story: Larz Bourne, Tom Dagenais, Bill Lutz
- Story Direction: Bob Singer, Paul Sommer, Howard Swift
- Voices: Nicole Jaffe, George A. Robertson, Jr., Casey Kasem, Hal Smith, Don Messick, John Stephenson, Heather North, Susan Steward, Vic Perrin, Michael Stull, Barry Richards, Jean Vander Pyl, Frank Welker
- Animation Director: Charles A. Nichols
- Production Design: Iwao Takamoto
- Production Supervisor: Victor O. Schipek
- Layout: Bob Singer, Dick Bickenbach, Mike Arens, Gary Hoffman, Rick Gonzalez, Terry Slade, Jack Huber, Mo Gollub, Alex Ignatiev, Jim Fletcher, Mario Uribe
- Animation: George Rowley, Bill Keil, Ray Abrams, Isadore Ellis, Volus Jones, Carlos Alfonso, George Goepper, Dick Lundy
- Background Styling: F. Montealegre
- Backgrounds: Rene Garcia, Curtis Perkins, Richard Khim, Gino Giudice, Bob Gentle, Gary Niblett, Peter Van Elk, Eric Semones
- Titles: Robert Schaefer
- Music Supervision: La La Productions
- Musical Director: Ted Nichols
- Technical Supervisor: Frank Paiker
- Ink and Paint Supervisor: Roberta Greutert
- Xerography: Robert "Tiger" West
- Sound Direction: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
- Editorial Supervisor: Larry Cowan
- Music Editor: Joe Sandusky
- Effects Editors: Earl Bennett
- Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
- Post Production: Joed Eaton
- Camera: George Epperson, Roy Wade, Ralph Migliori, Bill Kotler
- © 1970 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.
- A Hanna-Barbera Production
- © 1970 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.
- RCA Sound Recording
- a hanna-barbera production
- a division of taft broadcasting company
Notes/trivia
- This is the last episode of both season 2 and the original series.
- This is the last regular use of a chase song until A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.
- This time Velma says they have another mystery to solve, instead of Fred.
- The Mystery Machine carries a scooter in the back, for at least this episode.
- Of course, it's supposed to be ambiguous whether or not Mr. Grisby's house is haunted or just full of tricks and illusions, including a laughing skeleton, which has happened before (sometimes just with a talking skull).
- This is the first mention of one of the gang's parents; in this case Shaggy's mother.
- This is the first time Shaggy is directly offered a Scooby Snack, which seems to be a build on Decoy for a Dognapper and A Tiki Scare is No Fair, where he would just take it as a kind of compensation for what he would have to do.
- Black Widow, a villain from Hanna-Barbera's Space Ghost, cameos as the animatronic figure who passes Scooby the fruit bowl.
Miscellaneous
- Disguises: Scooby and Shaggy as waxworks.
- Scooby Snacks bribe: 2 handfuls for Scooby and Shaggy each.
- "Zoinks" count:
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches
- When the inside of the TV station is first seen at the beginning of the episode, Velma is not present next to Shaggy and Scooby as they watch Fred and Daphne dance.
- Daphne's eyebrows are missing as Mr. Stevens comments on how Shaggy and Scooby look like they could win the contest. At the same time, Velma's lips are pronounced right up until the close-up of her talking.
- When Johnny says the studio has been receiving threatening letters, the inside of his shirt is flesh-coloured. Also, when the camera gets to Fred listening to him continue to talk, the visible part of the inside of his collar is also flesh-coloured.
- Around this time, when Johnny is recuperating from the Wax Phantom's attack, he rubs his head. However, it appears that he loses and regains bits of his head as he does so, because his hand intersects with parts of his head and hair.
- When Johnny says the bad publicity could close the studio, the inside of his ascot at the back of his neck is flesh-coloured.
- When Velma says they've got another mystery on their hands, a bit in the left corner of her forehead where her hair is, is flesh-coloured.
- At the entrance of KLMN, the Mystery Machine is missing its orange license plate.
- When Velma turns her head to Shaggy and asks him when he would like to go to Mr. Grisby's house, the visible part of her neck is orange.
- The right backdoor of the Mystery Machine (the one that doesn't open), is missing the blue strip along the middle where the handle would be, which is also missing.
- The arm of Velma's glasses is missing when Scooby and Shaggy jump into her arms after being frightened by the owl's hoots.
- After Mr. Grisby shuts the door after the trio have entered his house, his face appears blurred for a fraction of a second.
- Throughout the trio's meeting with Mr. Grisby, the gap at the top of his jacket is either black or brown like his jacket, if there's even a gap at all.
- As Velma's head bops up as she says they've got to get back to the others, her neck right underneath her chin is orange.
- As Daphne and Fred wait for the other three to drive out the back of the van on the scooter, Daphne doesn't have lipstick or lips period.
- At the time Daphne says someone forgot to lock the museum, the Mystery Machine matches the look of the museum and the rest of city -- dark blue with no little to no details.
- After Fred says, "Hey, they did!" and the camera pans from Fred and Daphne's backs to the their front, a small orange spot can be seen on the right side of Fred's face.
- When Shaggy, Scooby, Scooby, and Velma arrive at the museum, the Mystery Machine retains the look it gained when Daphne noted that someone forgot to lock the museum -- dark blue with no little to no details, like the museum, and the rest of the city.
- When Fred says to Daphne to go into the museum, the right bottom corner of his orange ascot seeps in to his collar.
- Fred's ascot is missing on the right side of his neck when he sits on the floor after the two groups collide while in the museum.
- While in the Egyptian coffin, the bottom half of Scooby's neck is missing and the top half which is visible is skin coloured.
- Down in the pit, Fred either has blue socks or the colour has just continued from his pants.
- The Scooby Snacks box in the topsy-turvy room has a different design to the one Velma held.
- The moment Fred says, "Off hand, I'd say over there at that ventilator", Daphne's scarf turns light purple.
- When Fred tells the girls they should take a peek through the ventilator, the gap between his collar and ascot flashes from blue to flesh-colour to orange.
- Daphne's eyebrows are missing when Fred says it's nice to see Scooby and Shaggy after he pulled them into a room, when they were running away from the at the end of the song.
- When Fred points out down to the waxworks to plan their trap, Daphne's lower lip looks like it's covering more of her opened mouth than it should be because it's slightly darker as if the bottom was drawn too high.
- Shaggy's whiskers are missing when Fred says about Daphne locking the in the room.
- When Shaggy says they thought the Wax Phantom was either a real ghost or Mr. Grisby, his neck covers the gaps in his hair (instead of having the background drawn in), but when he moves his body doesn't adjust well and an additional piece has been added beside his neck.
- At the end of the episode, when Fred makes the joke about the dummies, Daphne's neck is briefly invisible.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities
- Despite it being called The Johnny Sands Dance Game Show, the banner says "Johnny Sands Dance Game Show".
- Both Shaggy and Scooby were at the left of the screen, but when they go on stage Scooby enters from the right. He could've quickly got to the right behind the curtain. Fred and Daphne are also seated quickly.
- When the Wax Phantom first appears onstage, Stevens, the culprit behind the Wax Phantom, is seen on the far right of the stage even though he should be in the Wax Phantom costume.
- Time seems to have been a thought on the writers mind in this one particular episode if they needed a scooter for Shaggy, Velma and Scooby to use get to Mr. Grisby's house.
- Protective headgear didn't seem to be an issue though.
- When they leave on the scooter only the left backdoor opens, but surely both doors would've opened?
- Mr. Grisby mentions a cemetery nearby, but that just seems to be a foil to make him more spooky.
- After Velma presents a box of Scooby Snacks in order to goad Shaggy and Scooby into entering the wax museum via window, Shaggy says "Let's find a window, Scoob.", whilst waiting for the Scooby Snacks. After receiving and gobbling down the Scooby Snacks, Shaggy repeats the line, almost word for word, when he says "Let's go find the window, Scoob."
- When the gang walk through the museum, after finding their first clue, Fred's mouth is open slightly (with the gap filled in with his teeth), giving him a goofy smile.
- Scooby and Shaggy defy gravity in the topsy-turvy room, but the Scooby Snacks still fall to the ground. What are Scooby Snacks doing in there anyway?
- The hole in the ventilator looks a lot smaller before it's opened.
- Before she falls out the ventilator hole, Daphne is waving, when it would've made more sense to point Scooby and Shaggy out.
- As Daphne begins to fall, Fred's warning to her doesn't match his movements as he still looks like he's looking at Scooby and Shaggy.
- The ventilator is covered back up when the gang return to the ventilator room. When Fred points out what they'll do down below, it's gone.
- When the Wax Phantom has Scooby and Shaggy tied and plans to dump them in wax vat it's threatening to them, but later when for comedic purposes they survive being poured down with wax anyway. They're not only able to survive unharmed, but (along with Mr. Stevens who was also wearing his costume) can breathe within their wax prison.
- When Fred chips away at Mr. Stevens's wax, Scooby and Shaggy are completely free of their wax coatings (when only their heads had been freed) and behind Fred.
- The sheriff is wincing the entire time. Perhaps that's less of a mistake, and more of a medical condition.
- Due to the interruption, the winning couple is never announced. It's unknown if it was outright canceled or postponed. Due to time never being issue in the series (the gang spend what seems an entire night solving a case, only to go back to do what the were doing before in the same night), it was likely they were driving back to KLMN at the end of the episode.
- At the end of the episode, as the Mystery Machine drives through town, Shaggy is shown at the front, but a close-up to the inside reveals that he is actually in the back with Scooby.
- Making wax sculptures is incredibly easy for Shaggy and Scooby to do, and takes them what seems minutes to do. No reasonable thought was put into the pair having them, they just have it and that's that.
In other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| French | Un fantôme à la télé | A Ghost on TV A Ghost in the Television |
Home media
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons DVD set released by Warner Home Video on March 16, 2004.- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons DVD set released by Warner Home Video on June 20, 2005.
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series (limited edition) DVD set released by Warner Home Video on November 9, 2010.
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series DVD set released by Warner Home Video on November 21, 2011.
- Happy Spook-Day Scooby-Doo! DVD released on April 9, 2012.
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series DVD set released by Warner Home Video on November 13, 2012.
- Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright DVD released by Warner Home Video on August 20, 2013.
- Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright Blu-ray Disc released by Warner Home Video on August 20, 2013.
Quotes
Fred: Now, Mister Wax Phantom, time to find out who you really are. |
Daphne: Just what are you two fellas going to do with those wax dummies you made? |
External links
- Scooby Doo Case File at Toonzone.net
- Buy from iTunes (US)
- Buy from iTunes (CA)
- Buy from iTunes (UK)
- Buy from VUDU
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