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Hassle in the Castle

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Hassle in the Castle is the third episode of the first season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!.

Premise

After getting lost in the fog, the gang arrive on Haunted Isle, where they meet an unearthly ghost haunts an old abandoned castle.

Synopsis

The gang are out on a fishing expedition but have become lost in the fog. Their boat runs around on Haunted Isle, the location of the Vasquez Castle, an old pirate fortress. On their way to the castle to find help, they find a threatening note warning them to leave. Inside the castle, they contemplate the portrait of Vasquez the pirate; Daphne falls through a trapdoor; and the rest of the gang flees in a panic when a cackling laugh breaks out. The rest of the gang tries to find Daphne, but Scooby and Shaggy become separated from Fred and Daphne and meet up with a talking skull. A panicked Shaggy idly asks for a calm-inducing ham sandwich, and the sandwich materializes out of mid-air. Fleeing again, Scooby and Shaggy find Daphne and Fred and Velma, and the full gang is then threatened by the Phantom, a billowing, sheet-wrapped figure. Fred, Shaggy and Scooby try to tackle the apparition, but they pass right through it; the Phantom then disappears through a wall. Even Velma thinks that they must have stumbled onto a genuine haunting.

Daphne discovers a giant key engraved with the message "Second Passage of The Old Bell". They deduce that this must refer to a book, and they find The Old Bell in the castle library; the second passage in the book refers to "catacombs." Beneath the castle they find a room stocked with magician's props. The Phantom appears, spreading panic; for a moment it looks as though Shaggy is being sawn in half before it is revealed as a trick. Fred, Daphne and Scooby try fleeing on a magic carpet. When they all regroup after losing the Phantom, they resolve to catch the Phantom; to that end, they send Scooby (dressed up in a hat, trenchcoat and moustache) out to lure the Phantom into a trap. He brings the Phantom in but lands in the trap himself. Fortunately, he falls out of the trap, catching the Phantom, who is unmasked as Bluestone the Great, a magician-turned-crook wanted in six states. Bluestone was searching for the Vasquez treasure and using his magic tricks to frighten snoopers away. Scooby then goes digging for the treasure, but only finds a squirrel.

Cast and characters

Actor Character
Don Messick Scooby-Doo
Police officer
Casey Kasem Shaggy Rogers
Frank Welker Fred Jones
Stefanianna Christopherson Daphne Blake
Nicole Jaffe Velma Dinkley
George A. Robertson Bluestone the Great
Hal Smith Phantom

Villains

  • Phantom/Bluestone the Great

Suspects

None

Culprits

Culprit Motive/reason
Bluestone the Great as the Phantom He wanted Vasquez's treasure.

Locations

Notes/trivia

  • Although this episode was the third to air, it was the second produced.[1] Any time Warner Home Video releases the series in order from the first episode, they always put A Clue For Scooby Doo and Hassle in the Castle in production order instead of air date order. Of course, nothing is lost because there's no continuity between episodes, but it might be a problem for those that use the play all feature since it will show those episodes in the opposite order.
  • This is the first episode in the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! series to use the standard title card sequence.
  • The first episode of the series where the gang does not meet any suspects. In fact, aside from Scooby and the gang, the only other characters are the Phantom/Bluestone and the police officer.
  • The Phantom is just referred to as "Ghost" in his model sheet.[2]
  • Scooby pretends to be John Wayne in order to catch the phantom in this episode.
  • This episode contains the first trap of the series.
  • Shaggy's sandwich, the Super Shaggy Sandwich, has a similarly sounding successor called the Shaggy Super Sandwich in A Night of Fright is No Delight.
  • Bluestone the Great is simply referred to as "Magician" on his model sheet.[3]
  • This episode was one of four Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episodes, (the other three being A Clue For Scooby Doo, Jeepers, It's The Creeper, and The Backstage Rage), that were selected for the 1998 VHS Scooby-Doo's Greatest Mysteries by being voted "Most Popular" by the fans.
  • The Phantom appears as a common villain throughout the Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights video game. It is referred to as the Ghost.
  • A profile on the Phantom is feature in DC Comics' Scooby-Doo! #74 in the story, Who's Who In Scooby-Doo. It is referred to as the Telescope Ghost, on account of what it was using at the beginning of the episode.
  • In Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion Ride, the Phantom appears as a real ghost scaring riders in the bedroom.
  • After Shaggy politely thanks the skull for telling him where the gang went the skull replys "S'awright" the tradmark reply Senor Weñces' Pedro (the head in a box) does.

Miscellaneous

Adaptations

Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches

  • Velma's skirt loses its pleats.
  • Twice Scooby loses his spots.
  • When Freddy takes the map, he's looking at the back until Scooby's close-up, when the map is suddenly turned correctly.
  • The Phantom is nearly always transparent, (he is usually a projected image), but when Scooby is about to fall on him. He ought to be solid since Scooby lands on a flesh-and-blood human being.
  • Bluestone wears gloves throughout the episode, except when Scooby falls on him.
  • Bluestone's costume has a separate mask at episode's end, although it doesn't look that way at any other time.
  • Shaggy's ear turns brown for a moment, as do the whites of Scooby's eyes, and Daphne gets a yellow cuff.
  • The page they're on says "2", despite the fact that they're half way through the book.
  • When the gang finds the door that fits the key, that room looks different in two different shots.
  • "Into the closet," says Fred, but the closet has stairs and passageways inside.
  • According to the solution to the mystery, all the flying objects are moved by wires. When Freddy and Daphne unroll the magic carpet, why don't they notice the wires?
  • The falling anvil produces white "force lines" common to cartoons to denote moving objects. Only these lines remain in the shot.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

  • It's not explicitly stated, but the Phantom would most likely be based on Vasquez.
  • Shaggy politely thanks the skull for saying "thataway," although, without a hand to point with or eye movement, there is no actual indication.
  • The key they find is novelty size.
  • In trying to give a hint in the clue, the key probably meant to find a passage in the second page of the book. Either that or there was bad communication between the writers and animators.
  • Freddy asks what happened to Daphne although he can clearly see the trapdoor closing.
  • Bluestone claims that he used wires to levitate. If that was true, who was working the wires?
  • How did the suit of armor in the trap grab Scoob by the collar? 

In other languages

Language Name Meaning
Greek Το Μαγεμένο Κάστρο The Magic Castle

Home media

Quotes

Daphne: You sure picked a spooky day to go boating, Freddy.
Fred: Well it didn't start out that way. What could've happened?
Velma: It's very simple. When the barometric pressure dropped, and the warm offshore air came in contact with an inland cold front, we ran into some unnavigable nebulation.
Fred: You're right, Velma. Whatever you said.
Velma: I said, we're lost in the fog.
Shaggy: (sticks his head out from the bottom) You buzzed?


Shaggy: I'm so scared I wish I had a ham sandwich to calm my nerves. (a ham sandwich floats down out of nowhere) Well, what do you know, a ham sandwich. (picks up the top of the sandwich) Wouldn't you know it needs some mustard? (a pot of mustard with a knife inside floats down) (swirls around knife in the pot) This has got to be my imagination. Otherwise, I'd be scared stiff.
Scooby: Yup. (slurps)
Shaggy: (sandwich is now on a table next to knight with ax) Hmm. Now maybe if my imagination could, like, cut it in half? (the knight's ax swings down as if in response and cuts the sandwich in half) Aah! (runs away) (comes back and grabs both slices of the now cut sandwich)


Shaggy: Like, he went through the wall -- nonstop!
Velma: There's a very logical explanation for all this.
Shaggy: Quick, tell me.
Velma: The place is haunted.
Shaggy: Thanks a lot.

Gallery


References

  1. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/19990427022739/cartoonnetwork.com/doc/scooby/sdsb.html
  2. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/19990831142051/http://cartoonnetwork.com/doc/scooby/45.02/ed/sded_45-02_pg003.html
  3. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/19991012044133/http://cartoonnetwork.com/doc/scooby/45.02/ed/sded_45-02_pg002.html

External links


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