Rimmi's Cartoon Intro Challenge #15

The long, long, long overdue finale to this little challenge is the intro to The Funky Phantom. I haven't started it yet and already I think I can see everything wrong with the seventies in it.

We start with three teens in a dune buggy. And not a van. Since it's not a van, you can't help but noticed that the kids are dumb because it's raining heavily. The theme starts. My patience ends. Yikes, that's terrible.

Since I've taken way too long to write this, I can't just shut the intro off. Dammit. The theme is sung from the teens poin of view and tells us that because they're morons, they had to duck inside a spooooky castle to avoid the rain. So they ditch Speedy and ... unbelievable. They have a dog. Even when your "scooby" isn't your mascot, you always include a mascot anyway! It's got to be a rule.

Anyway, our hippies or beatniks or whatever notice that a clock is set wrong. WHICH IS TOTALLY WHAT TEENAGERS WOULD DO IF THEY WERE WET AND TRESPASSING IN AN ABANDONED CASTLE! They set it too midnight and the clock goes haywire. Haywire is a word you need to learn if you make cartoons. Out pops the ghost of the title. He gets his name from the teens. Gotta love such a dumb decade that has instantly dated itself so badly.

Look, I slipped and fell on some steps today. Plus the word "funky" bugs me, ok?

The phantom is dressed like he comes from the Revolutionary period. Aww, crap, he also has a cat. I refuse to watch an episode of this show. He opens his mouth and it turns out that he's voiced by the actor who does Snagglepus. In fact, it's the same character, really. I'm sure he exits stage left even if he's a ghost and he shouldn't have to run. Even.

More singing. Rimmi, are you trying to tell me something? The teens insist that he's a friend. He's a friend. A FRIEND, YOU HEAR?!?! We watch the teens run. I bet Hanna Barbara just swapped heads of the Mystery, Inc. Gang with the ... what do you even call these guys? The funky foursome, if you count the dog? Jeez, this thing only lasts for a minute and I'm skipping the lyrics. Anyway, instead of cowering, the phantom actually helps to defeat a monster. I guess that's a different take on Scooby, but if he's not a coward, that means the gang has an invincible partner that can swoop in and save the day at any poin. Don't bother with the mystery you fools. Just capture the monster as fast as you can.

For some reason the funky phantom and (did I mention he has a) cat disappear before they do something that interacts with people or objects. I'm not sure why. I guess it's a cartoon rule that makes kids understand that something ghostly is happening. "Remember dumbkid, he's a ghost and he does, like, ghost things." At the end of the intro the ghost declares that it's Funky Phantom Time. The teens immediately raise their arms and make "Whoooooooooo" sounds. Anybody who claims that the seventies were cool are invited to explain this scene to me. Charts are recommended.


Good old too much information about useless things wiki gives the date of this show as being aired in 1971. So we can blame the sixties as well. Fine by me. The teens are Skip, April, and Augie. The dog is Elmo and the friggen cat (THEY ALREADY HAVE A DOG!) is Boo. Our title character is Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore. He hid in a clock from the British and stayed their until his ghost escaped. Which means the clock was wrong for about 200 years or the place has been abandoned for as long.

The villains of the shows are people dressed as monsters, just like Scooby. Their was a comic of this show released about the same time where the villains were actually ghosts and they added a female character that lusted after Mudsy. I'm sure that addition has nothing to do with the fact that the teens are interchangeable Mystery, Inc gang wannabes. Nope, they're all such great characters that they got equal time.

I've seen a lot of silly Hanna Barbara shows, either of the Yogi Bear or Scooby Doo variety. I haven't seen this particular show, though. Good for me.

(I apologize for the lack of pictures. I'll add more later.)

Now, did someone say something about a party?