The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

Title card from The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo
Genre Adventure
Comedy
Mystery
Horror
Created by
Directed by
Voices of
Theme music composer Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s) Mitch Schauer
Running time 22 minutes
Production company(s) Hanna-Barbera Productions (Warner Bros. Television)
Distributor Warner Bros. Television (current)
Release
Original network ABC
Original release September 7 (1985-09-07) – December 7, 1985 (1985-12-07)
Chronology
Preceded by The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show / The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1983-1984)
Followed by A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988–1991)
Related shows Scooby-Doo

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo is the seventh incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo, and the final first-run version of the original 1969–86 broadcast run of the series. It premiered on September 7, 1985 and ran for one season on ABC as a half-hour program. Thirteen episodes of the show were made in 1985. It replaced Scary Scooby Funnies, a repackaging of earlier shows; another repackaged series, Scooby's Mystery Funhouse, followed. The series also aired in reruns on USA Network in the 1990s, on Cartoon Network, and from time to time on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang until 2014.

Plot

In the initial episode, the gang are thrown off course on a trip to Honolulu in Daphne's plane, landing instead in the Himalayas. While inside a temple, Scooby and Shaggy are tricked by two bumbling ghosts named Weerd and Bogel into opening the Chest of Demons, a magical artifact which houses the 13 most terrifying and powerful ghosts and demons ever to walk the face of the Earth. As the ghosts can only be returned to the chest by those who originally set them free, Scooby and Shaggy, accompanied by Daphne, Scrappy-Doo, and a young juvenile Latino con artist named Flim-Flam, embark on a worldwide quest to recapture them before they wreak irreversible havoc upon the world.

Assisting them is Flim-Flam's friend, a warlock named Vincent Van Ghoul (based upon and voiced by Vincent Price), who contacts the gang using his crystal ball and often employs magic and witchcraft to assist them. The 13 escaped ghosts, meanwhile, each attempt to do away with the gang lest they be returned to the chest, often employing Weerd and Bogel as lackeys.

Production

Story editor and associate producer Tom Ruegger led the overhaul of the property, and the irreverent, fourth wall breaking humor found in each episode would resurface in his later works, among them A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Animaniacs.[1] Of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Ruegger recalls not being fond of the Flim-Flam character ("Definitely the product of network focus groups")[1] or the other added characters in the cast.[1] As with most of the other early-1980s Scooby-Doo entries, original characters Fred Jones and Velma Dinkley do not appear. 13 Ghosts was canceled and replaced by reruns of Laff-a-Lympics in March 1986, before the end of the season.

It is currently the latest Scooby series to feature Scrappy-Doo, as it was decided by Ruegger and ABC that they would overhaul the series entirely, developing A Pup Named Scooby-Doo in 1988.[1] At the time of the cancellation, eleven of the 13 ghosts were recaptured, although it is unknown if some of the ghosts captured in the two episodes "Ship of Ghouls" & "A Spooky Little Ghoul Like You" where more than one of the 13 ghosts were captured, are part of the originals. Flim Flam makes a cameo as a wax museum figure in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. Daphne asks Fred if he remembers him, but Fred reminds her that he wasn't with them at that time.

Series overview

Season Episodes Originally aired
Season premiere Season finale
1 13 September 7, 1985 December 7, 1985

Episodes

No. Title Directed by Story by Original air date
1"To All the Ghouls I've Loved Before"Ray PattersonTom Ruegger & Chuck CouchSeptember 7, 1985 (1985-09-07)
After crash-landing in a town where its cursed inhabitants become werewolves at night, Scooby and Shaggy unwittingly release the 13 Ghosts from the Chest (as Bogel and Weerd put it, "these living ones are among the stupidest on Earth").
2"Scoobra Kadoobra"Ray PattersonGordon Bressack & Mark SeidenbergSeptember 14, 1985 (1985-09-14)
The gang pursues a ghost warlock from the Dark Ages in the depths of a haunted castle, and there find a powerful artifact that may prove the ghost's undoing.
3"Me and My Shadow Demon"Ray PattersonCynthia Friedlob & John SemperSeptember 21, 1985 (1985-09-21)
Lured to the enigmatic Befuddled Manor, the gang must contend with a ghoulish convention of ghosts and the mysterious Shadow Demon.
4"Reflections in a Ghoulish Eye"Ray PattersonCharles M. Howell, IV & Rich FogelSeptember 28, 1985 (1985-09-28)
While at a Ghost Chaser convention in Marrakesh, Morocco, the gang encounter the mirror demon: a frightful apparition who has the power to trap mortals in his eerie mirror dimension.
5"That's Monstertainment"Ray PattersonChuck CouchOctober 5, 1985 (1985-10-05)
The gang is trapped in the classic horror film "The Son of the Bride of the Ghost of Frankenstein" by Zomba, a ghoul who attempts to nab the Chest of Demons from Scooby's heavily guarded room.
6"Ship of Ghouls"Ray PattersonMisty Stewart-TaggartOctober 12, 1985 (1985-10-12)
Too much of a nervous wreck to continue, the gang takes a tense Scooby on a vacation cruise, where Bogel and Weerd plan to scare Scooby to death.
7"A Spooky Little Ghoul Like You"Ray PattersonJohn LudinOctober 19, 1985 (1985-10-19)
While attending a warlock convention, Vincent Van Ghoul is placed under an amorous enchantment by Nicara, a demon with the power to drain warlocks of their powers by kissing them.
8"When You Witch Upon a Star"Ray PattersonJeff Holder & Tom RueggerOctober 26, 1985 (1985-10-26)
Three bumbling witches named Ernestine, Wanda, and Hilda Brewski (similar to female versions of The Three Stooges) are tasked by the powerful witch Marcella to perform a spell which will free her from the dimension in which she is trapped.
9"It's a Wonderful Scoob"Ray PattersonJohn Ludin & Tom RueggerNovember 2, 1985 (1985-11-02)
After one fright too many, Scooby quits the gang and is replaced by a lazy sheepdog named Bernie Gumsher. Vincent Van Ghoul takes Scooby to the future to show him what the world will be like if he doesn't return to stop Time Slime from releasing the demons that were previously reimprisoned.
10"Scooby in Kwackyland"Ray PattersonTom Ruegger & Misty Stewart-TaggartNovember 9, 1985 (1985-11-09)
The gang and Demondo are trapped in the newspaper comics section and must rely on the help of comic characters—including Scooby's favorite, Platypus Duck—to escape.
11"Coast-to-Ghost"Ray PattersonCynthia Friedlob & John SemperNovember 16, 1985 (1985-11-16)
The vampire demon Rankor tricks Vincent Van Ghoul into looking into the Eye of Eternity, which slowly turns him into stone. In order to cure him, the gang—accompanied by two-faced Bogel and Weerd—must travel from California to Massachusetts to acquire the Mask of Moomma.
12"The Ghouliest Show on Earth"Ray PattersonEvelyn Gabai & Glenn LeopoldNovember 23, 1985 (1985-11-23)
A circus comes to Dooville and enchants the residents, including Scooby's parents and Flim-Flam. Shaggy and Scooby discover that the circus is staffed by demons, and its evil leader Fantazmo who wants the Chest of Demons.
13"Horror-Scope Scoob"Ray PattersonCharles M. Howell, IVDecember 7, 1985 (1985-12-07) (December 7, 1985 (1985-12-07))
When the gang appears on the TV show You Won't Believe It...or Else!, the demon Simbulu attempts to steal the Chest of Demons, but it was stolen by someone else unbeknownst to the gang. Accompanied by Vincent Van Ghoul and a medium named Telula, the gang attempts to find the chest.

Cast

Home media releases

On June 29, 2010, Warner Home Video released The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[2]

DVD name No. of episodes Release date Bonus Episode
The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo: The Complete Series 13 June 29, 2010 Don't Feed the Animals

Reception

The series was heavily profiled in the Christian fundamentalist documentary Deception of a Generation as an example of occult influences on children's entertainment.[3] Despite this, the show had a mixed to positive reception from most viewers.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Tom Ruegger is back!". Platypuscomix.net. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
  2. Lambert, David (March 22, 2010). "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo DVD news: Announcement for The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo – The Complete Series". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  3. "Deception of a Generation". Youtube.com. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
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