The Ozark Witch Switch

This needs a stretch. (Feel free to remove when satisfied of completion.) Needed: Synopsis is incomplete

The Ozark Witch Switch
Details
Episode #	206
Air date	October 15, 1977 (ABC)
Chronology
Previous episode	The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race
Next episode	Creepy Cruise

The Ozark Witch Switch is the first of four segments of Scooby's All Star Laff-a-Lympics. It was later repackaged as the sixth episode of the second season of The Scooby-Doo Show, and the twenty-second episode overall in the series.

Premise

On the night the gang chosed to spend in the Hatfields' cabin, the Ghost of Witch McCoy appears, to turn the Hatfield family into frogs.

Synopsis

On a dark and stormy night, the gang is headed to the Ozark River to camp and go rafting the following morning, when they blow all four tires on a deserted backroad in the middle of the woods. After deciding to find somewhere to stay the night, they spot an old cabin standing in the woods, and knock on the door. A man answers, and lets the gang in reluctantly, where they are welcomed by his family. They introduce themselves as the Hatfield family, explaining that they have been staying in the old McCoy cabin for about a year.

They tell the gang that they have been haunted by the ghost of Witch McCoy, who has been threatening to get vengeance by turning the family into frogs. Apparently, Witch McCoy was hung for witchcraft 100 years ago. The witch has been trying to drive the Hatfields out of the cabin because of a feud with her kinfolk. That night, as the gang get some sleep, Witch McCoy makes an appearance and warns the gang that if they don't leave the cabin, they are doomed and then disappears in a puff of smoke.

After hearing Ma Hatfield scream in terror, the gang investigate and they discover that the witch has transformed Pa Hatfield into a frog. Mystery Inc. gets to work at looking for clues. They split up and Scooby and Shaggy go into town while Fred and the girls search the woods. Scooby and Shaggy, along with the frog who is Pa Hatfield, search the nearby town of Spooky Hollow for help. They find a phone in the general store but before they can call for help, the owner of the store, Aggie Wilkins, appears and scolds them. Scooby and Shaggy explain, and Aggie lets them use their phone, but the wire is cut. Aggie warns them to stay away from Witch McCoy and tells them about her cave on Spider Mountain. The witch, who has transformed into a cat, appears, prompting Scooby and Shaggy to flee.

Meanwhile, Fred, Daphne, and Velma discover a zombie digging for something and chase him as he tries to flee. They lose him and he vanishes into the woods. The gang reunite and Shaggy and Scooby tell the gang everything that Aggie told them about the witch. The gang decides to investigate the witch's cave. They head to Spider Mountain and find strange impressions in the ground. They split up and Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby find the witch's cave. Upon entrance, they discover the witch's lair. They find several books about witchcraft, including a spellbook that has a strange spell about nails, boards, and a string, and it sounds somewhat like directions on how to do something or where to go. The witch appears and Velma, Scooby, and Shaggy hide. They try and outsmart the witch, but it fails. The witch takes Velma, Scooby, and Shaggy hostage and tries to cook them in a stew but they escape into a nearby pond.

The gang return to the Hatfield cabin and discover that the witch has turned all of the Hatfields into frogs. Also, they find a mound of sawdust and when they look at the strange impressions in the ground, Velma figures out it is Morse Code. Velma deduces the meaning of the spell in the book and they begin to look around the Hatfield's cabin. Using the directions in the spell, they discover the last piece to the mystery, something carved on a board.

They change the carving on the board and fool both the witch and the zombie, as they have been going after the same thing all along. They manage to trap both the witch and the zombie by pretending to be the ghosts of the Hatfields and scaring the witch into her own trap. The zombie then tries to escape, but they capture him as well.

The zombie is revealed to be Zeke Harkins, a bank robber who recently broke out of prison. The witch is revealed to be Aggie Wilkins, who also happens to be Zeke's ex-girlfriend. Zeke had buried the money from the bank a while back, a half of a million dollars. Aggie found directions to the carving on the board in the cabin, which was a map that told how to get to the money, in his old spellbook and planned to take the money for herself. But the Hatfields moved in and Aggie had to get rid of them by making up the witch legend. She used her pet cat to make them think that she could turn into a witch. Zeke broke out of prison when he learned that Aggie discovered the directions, and returned to the location of the money to try to retrieve it before Aggie could.

The Sheriff asks what happened to the Hatfields. The Morse code in the dirt was made by the Hatfields as a clue to their location, and the sawdust in the cabin along with the Morse Code "SM" proved the Hatfields were hidden at the sawmill.

Back at the cabin, the Hatfields have returned home and congratulate the gang for solving the mystery. Ma Hatfield tells them that the award they deserve is a big feast. Shaggy and Scooby Doo immediately run to the dinner table, but just when they are about to dig in, multiple barn animals appear and start eating the feast. The Hatfields immediately start laughing about it and so do Shaggy and Scooby Doo as Scooby Doo says his catchphrase.

Characters

Main characters:

• Mystery Inc.
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Shaggy Rogers
  • Fred Jones
  • Daphne Blake
  • Velma Dinkley

Supporting characters:

• Pa Hatfield ^{(only appearance)}
• Ma Hatfield ^{(only appearance)}
• Hatfield children ^{(only appearance)}

Villains:

• Ghost of Witch McCoy ^{(only appearance)(Aggie Wilkins' disguise)}
• Aggie Wilkins ^{(only appearance)}
• Zombie ^{(only appearance)(Zeke Harkins' disguise)}
• Zeke Harkins ^{(only appearance)}
• Ghosts of the Hatfields ^{(only appearance)(Mystery Inc.'s disguises)}

Other characters:

• Aggie Wilkins's cat ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Hatfield son ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Hatfield daughter ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Hatfield dog ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Frogs ^{(only appearance)(miscellaneous speaking)}
• Chicken ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Pig ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Horse ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Goat ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Sheriff ^{(only appearance)}

Locations

• Woods within The Ozarks (located somewhere between Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri)
  • Hatfield home
  • Spider Mountain
    • Ghost of Witch McCoy's cave
  • Sawmill
• Spooky Hollow
  • Spooky Hollow Store

Objects

• Sawdust
• Sausages

Vehicles

• The Mystery Machine

Suspects

• None

Culprits

Culprit	Reason
Aggie Wilkins as the Ghost of Witch McCoy Zeke Harkins as the zombie	To find stolen money.

Cast

Don Messick	Scooby-Doo Pa Hatfield Sheriff
Casey Kasem	Shaggy Rogers
Frank Welker	Fred Jones
Heather North	Daphne Blake
Pat Stevens	Velma Dinkley
Janet Waldo	Aggie Wilkins Ghost of Witch McCoy
Bob Holt	Zeke Harkins Zombie

Notes/trivia

• The Ozarks (also referred to as Ozarks Mountain Country, the Ozark Mountains, and the Ozark Plateau) are a physiographic, and geologic highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northwestern and north central Arkansas. The region also extends westward into northeastern Oklahoma, and extreme southeastern Kansas.
• This is the last episode of The Scooby-Doo Show without a title card.
• The case is somewhat similar to the one in the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode, Which Witch is Which?, which also had a witch and a zombie.
• Witch McCoy's laughs were later reused for the Ghost Witch of Old Salem in To Switch a Witch.
• This episode features one of the rare occasions where a villain tries to kill members of the gang. (When the zombie pushes the log that Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby were standing on into the chasm.)

Miscellaneous

• Disguises: Scooby as a witch. Mystery Inc. as the Ghosts of the Hatfields.
• "Zoinks" count: 10.
• "Jeepers" count: 1.

Cultural references

• The Hatfield-McCoy feud which lasted between 1863 and 1891 (alluded to in this episode) involved two families of the West Virginia-Kentucky area along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River. The Hatfields of West Virginia were led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield while the McCoys of Kentucky were under the leadership of Randolph "Ole Ran'l" McCoy. The cause of the feud is a matter of dispute. However, during the 20th Century the feud fizzled, and relationships had been considerably more peaceful than how they were portrayed in Hollywood. The Hatfields and McCoys often intermarried, and would host community picnics with sports festivals spoofing the feud, such as "Hatfield/McCoy tug of war". In the 1980s, descendants of the families appeared on a charity edition of the game show, Family Feud, and in 2003 a formal peace treaty was signed marking the official end of the feud.

Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches

• The photo that Daphne takes of the Morse code on the trail does not match the angle of her camera.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

• The episode takes place in the Ozarks, yet the real Hatfields and McCoys lived in the West Virginia-Kentucky country.
• When Shaggy finds the directions in the spellbook, he reads "Middle north, the board with the knot". Later, when the gang are following the directions in the cabin, Velma reads "Follow the middle nail north to a board with a knot".
• Even though Zeke originally stole the money and buried it, he was still fooled after the gang changed the carving on the board. Unless he forgot where he buried it, he should have still known at least the general area where he had hidden the money. This is especially unusual considering how young his ex-girlfriend, Aggie, appears to be. Since he is likely around her age, he couldn't have been in prison for too long.
• When the barn animals start eating the feast, it shows a donkey and a goat eating a bowl of sausages and a turkey, respectively. Normally, donkeys and goats are herbivores.
  • Although an unusual upbringing or living situation can cause animals to act against their nature.
• When explaining to Aggie what he and Scooby are doing in her store, Shaggy mentions Witch McCoy turning herself into a cat (after turning Pa Hatfield into a frog). It is never explained how he knew this as he did not see it happen, last seeing McCoy in her witch form.
• Shaggy refers to Aggie by name when telling the gang her warning and when Witch McCoy is unmasked as her. Like the cat transformation, it was never discovered how he knew this as Aggie never told them her name.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
French	La Sorcière Ozark	The Ozark Witch

Home media

• Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales Around the World DVD set released by Warner Home Video on May 15, 2012.

Quotes

Pa Hatfield: (to Mystery Inc.) We're mighty gratefuI to ya young'uns, & your hound dog, Scooby.

External links

• TBA

Previous episode:	Series:	Next episode:
The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race	The Scooby-Doo Show Season 2	Creepy Cruise