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Scooby-Doo/Night of the Living Doo

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Night of the Living Doo
Night of the Living Doo
Airdate October 31, 2001
Written by Casper Kelly,
Jeffrey G. Olsen
Directed by Casper Kelly,
Jeffrey G. Olsen
Network Cartoon Network
Style 30-minute animated comedy
Company Hanna-Barbera Productions


Origin USA



Night of the Living Doo (2001) is a Scooby-Doo animated special. The cartoon was a comedic parody of a typical episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, complete with unlikely guests and a retro style. The special was produced by Cartoon Network and broadcast in small segments during commercial breaks of a Halloween Scooby-Doo marathon. At the end of the marathon, the entire "new" episode was broadcast in its completed form.

Voices: Grey Delisle (Daphne), Scott Innes (Shaggy/Scooby), B.J. Ward (Velma), Frank Welker (Freddy/Jabberjaw), Gary Coleman (Himself), David Cross (Himself), Mark Hamill (Shifty/Himself), Scotty Morris (Himself), Dirk Shumaker (Himself), Glen "The Kid" Marhevka (Himself), Andy Rowley (Himself), Karl Hunter (Himself), Kurt Sondergren (Himself), Josh Levy (Himself)

Contents

Plot Overview

While on their way to a big horror movie festival, the gang picks up a hitchhiking Gary Coleman by the side of the road. Almost immediately after picking him up, Fred realizes that they're running out of gas. Daphne suggests that they check out the abandoned amusement park up ahead while they're stuck, but Coleman produces a jug of gasoline out of seemingly nowhere. He fills up the tank and the Mystery Machine goes on its way, much to the disappointment of Fred. He spots an abandoned steamboat in a nearby lake and purposefully blows out a tire so they're forced to stop. But, once again, Coleman saves the day with a spare tire of his own. Velma remarks that they may actually make it to their destination without getting sidetracked for a change, but a spooky castle causes Fred to total the van.

Now that they're trapped at the castle, the gang figures that they may as well investigate what is most certainly some kind of real estate mystery. Coleman isn't so sure about going into a place with a bunch of open graves strewn about, which Shaggy and Scooby agree with, but the others are already trying to figure out how to get through the moat infested with "ugly sharks." While they discuss, a can is hurled from a window and hits Coleman in the head. From above, David Cross greets them with a "Happy Halloween" and hits Coleman with another can. He compliments their costumes, hits Coleman with another can and decides to lower the drawbridge.

Cross tells them that they don't have a phone, but he welcomes the gang to stay at the castle for the night while they fix their van. They ask why he's selling the castle considering that it was such a fabulous vacation resort for the rich and famous during the 1970s. It seems that somebody's been pulling childish pranks like stealing towels and eating the brains of guests. He assures them that there are no zombies around and calls out Mr. Shifty to take them to their rooms. He also berates him for leaving stuff like a book on how to use monsters to drive down real estate prices around when he's supposed to be keeping the castle clean. He also reads part of Shifty's diary, which outlines a plan to get rid of Cross so he can turn the castle into condos. The gang doesn't catch on at all, but when Coleman mentions something he drops through a trap door. Nobody notices.

After a while, Scooby and Shaggy naturally gravitate towards the kitchen where they look for a late-night snack. Cross comes to see how they're doing, but is carried off by a zombie which scares the remaining two into running the other direction. They all meet up and realize that Coleman and Cross are missing, but Cross eventually shows back up looking terrible. He claims he fell down the stairs and suggests that they all go back to bed. But, they have to find Coleman first. Cross divides up the gang, something which Fred totally resents, and escapes with Daphne down a trap door to get away from him. Fred and Velma dive down the trap after them, leaving Shaggy and Scooby to find Coleman.

While searching Mr. Shifty tries to scare the duo away from the castle, claiming to be a zombie. But he forgot his mask so they're not frightened at all. When he realizes that he's not wearing the mask, he runs off screen, pulls it on and scares the two away. Elsewhere, Cross is leading the others through the hidden passages in the castle, which Fred resents because usually he like to try and find the passages. In one of the hidden rooms, a mummy pops out of a sarcophagus and grabs Cross while he's making a bad joke about zombies changing light bulbs. Velma saves him in time for Shaggy and Scooby to (literally) drop in and tell them that Shifty is the culprit.

Or, maybe not. Coleman suddenly appears looking discolored and informs the gang that he's undead now. The gang doesn't really understand and he starts chasing them after they insult him by saying the "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Gary" catchphrase. They all run for a bit before they come across Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, who came to the castle to record their next album but are now also undead. They kick into a song about running from zombies when the zombie pops up and the chase scene kicks into gear. Eventually, Mr. Shifty tackles the zombie and he's revealed to actually be Jabberjaw. The talking shark admits that he was trying to take out the gang in their sleep because they're taking attention away from other teenage sleuths and their wacky sidekick. He's clearly very angry, but still goes through the typical "foiled villain" routine. They apologize to Mr. Shifty, who turns out to be Mark Hamill. He claims that he was working undercover on the Jabberjaw case for a long time. Coleman isn't satisfied with the outcome though and starts pointing out all of the plot holes in the story. Scooby interrupts him by licking his face until the episode ends.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

  • Music: The song played by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in the episode is an original song called "Big & Bad Scooby Style." The song was written by Morris for the special. Incidentally, the opening theme song to Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? is credited, although it wasn't used in the episode.
  • Reprisal: Frank Welker is the only original member of the Scooby-Doo cast to reprise his role. He does the voice of Fred Jones, as well as the voice of Jabberjaw.

Allusions and References

  • Different Strokes: There are several jokes made about Diff'rent Strokes, a sitcom broadcast in the 1970s and 80s starring Gary Coleman as Arnold Jackson, a kid adopted (along with his brother played by Todd Bridges) by a rich white man after the death of their mother. One popular catchphrase from the series was "Wha'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" Willis was the name of Arnold's brother.
  • Jabberjaw: The cartoon shark in the moat is Jabberjaw, from the cartoon of the same name. The cartoon, also produced by Hanna-Barbera, was one of many Scooby-Doo knock offs which took the formula of a group of kids and their unlikely talking relief which included a car (Speed Buggy), a ghost (The Funky Phantom) and the aforementioned shark.
  • The Truth About Cats & Dogs: As mentioned, Cross was briefly in The Truth About Cats & Dogs as the voice of a person calling into a radio show, as well as a man in a bookstore. The movie starred Janeane Garofalo as a radio show host who has her attractive friend, Uma Thurman, impersonate her when a handsome man wants to see her in person.

Awards and Accolades

  • Annie Awards: Nominated in 2003 for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Short Subject.

Quotes

External Sites


The Scooby-Doo Franchise
Primary series

Original series (1969-1985) • A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988-1991) • Specials & Movies (1998-present) • What's New Scooby-Doo? (2002-2006) • Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006-2008) • Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013) • Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! (2015-2018) • Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2019-2021) • Velma (2023-present) • Scooby-Doo! and the Mystery Pups (2024) •

Spinnoff series and guest appearances

Dynomutt, Dog Wonder (1976-1977) • Laff-a-Lympics (1977-1978) • Johnny Bravo - Bravo Dooby-Doo (1997) • Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases! (2011)

Package shows

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976) • Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics (1977) • Scooby's All-Stars (1978) • The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show (1980-1981) • The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour (1982-1983)