''The Funky Phantom'' is a Saturday morning

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

, produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

, in association with Australian production company Air Programs International for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The show was a clone of Hanna-Barbera's popular ''

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of the network's Saturday morning cartoon schedule on Septem ...

'', with a trio of teenage detectives driving around the country and solving crimes. In this case, the "Scooby-Doo" role was taken by a Revolutionary War-era ghost, voiced by

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

in a manner almost identical to that of

Snagglepuss Snagglepuss is a fictional cartoon character who debuted in prototype form on ''The Quick Draw McGraw Show'' in 1959 and was established as a studio regular by 1961. A light pink anthropomorphic Puma (species), puma sporting an upturned collar, s ...

. Reruns of the show ran during the 1972 season and, briefly, in 1980, as part of Hanna-Barbera's ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

'' series.

Plot

Trying to find shelter from a storm while driving their "Looney Duney" dune buggy, three teenagers — brainy redhead Skip Gilroy, beautiful blonde April Stewart, and Skip's brawny dark-haired best friend, Augie Anderson — and his dog Elmo, entered an old house where a

grandfather clock A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, hall clock or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock, with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this styl ...

displayed an incorrect time. Upon setting the clock to midnight, it released two Revolutionary War-era ghosts: an American patriot named Jonathan Wellington Muddlemore, whom the kids call "Mudsy", and his cat Boo. The two explained that, during the Revolutionary War, they had stumbled upon two Redcoats so they hid inside the clock. They evaded discovery, but they were unable to get out of the clock and eventually died inside. After being freed by their new friends, Mudsy and Boo have accompanied them on many mysteries, providing invisible assistance. This set-up shows a certain similarity to the 1946 Abbott and Costello film ''

The Time of Their Lives ''The Time of Their Lives'' is a 1946 American fantasy comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedic duo Abbott and Costello alongside Marjorie Reynolds, Gale Sondergaard and Binnie Barnes. It was produced and distributed ...

'', in which two Revolutionary War-era ghosts are also held earth-bound due to a secret hidden in a clock.

Production

The character voice of Mudsy was provided by

and was identical to his voice work for

, down to the use of Snagglepuss's catchphrase, "...even". Butler's Snagglepuss voice was originally an impersonation of comedian

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American stage and screen actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Z ...

. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a studio-created laugh track, and indeed, it was one of the first such productions to do so. Syndicated versions, on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

and

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

have the track muted.

Cast

Main

as Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore, Fingers (in "Pigskin Predicament") * Tommy Cook as Augie Anderson *

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. ( ; born March 8, 1945) is an American musician and actor. He was the drummer and one of two primary vocalists for the pop rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and reunions until 2021), and a co-star of the TV series ''T ...

as Skip Gilroy * Kristina Holland as April Stewart *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

as Elmo the Dog, Boo the Cat, Farmer Higgins (in "Don't Fool with a Phantom"), Raven/Otis Carter (in "Don't Fool with a Phantom"), Chickenman/Mr. Angus (in "Who's Chicken"), Ichabod Crane (in "The Headless Horseman"), Mayor (in "We Saw a Sea Serpent"), Packy (in "We Saw a Sea Serpent"), Ghost/Bill Sands (in "Haunt in Inn"), Hotel Guest (in "Haunt in Inn"), Lifeguard (in "Haunted in Inn"), Spirit of '76/Hank Miller (in "Mudsy and Muddlemore Manor")

Additional voices

Julie Bennett Julie Bennett (January 24, 1932 – March 31, 2020) was an American actress. Early years Bennett was born in Manhattan, New York, on January 24, 1932. By the time she was 18, she had been living in Hollywood, Los Angeles for so long that she was ...

as Lori Elwood (in "The Headless Horseman") * Jerry Dexter as Richard Travers (in "The Headless Horseman") *

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

as Professor Lundgren (In "Spirit Spooked"), Winfield Wheely (in "April's Foolish Day") * Jim MacGeorge * Allan Melvin as Mayor Iversen (in "Mudsy and Muddlemore Manor") * Barney Phillips as Ghost of Montezuma (in "Spirit Spooked") * Mike Road as Henchman (in "I'll Haunt You Later"), Blackie (in "Ghost Town Ghost") * Hal Smith as Ringo (in "Ghost Town Ghost"), Houndman/Barkley (in "The Hairy Scary Houndsman") * John Stephenson as Ghost of

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate, privateer, and slave trader who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time u ...

/Malcolm Rogers (in "I'll Haunt You Later"),

Headless Horseman The Headless Horseman is an archetype of mythical figure that has appeared in folklore around Europe since the Middle Ages. The figures are traditionally depicted as riders on horseback who are missing their heads. These myths have since inspired ...

(in "The Headless Horseman"), Gas Station Attendant (in "We Saw a Sea Serpent"), Black Lake Creature (in "We Saw a Sea Serpent"), Mr. Warnock (in "We Saw a Sea Serpent"), Hugo (in "Haunt in Inn"), Ghost of Widow Wilson's Inn (in "Haunt in Inn"), Parafiend (in "The Liberty Bell Caper"), Slippery Stark (in "Ghost Grabbers") * George Tyler * Janet Waldo as Widow Wilson (in "Haunt in Inn") * Lennie Weinrib (uncredited) as Ichabod Crane (in “The Headless Horseman”)and The Headless Horseman (in “The Headless Horseman”)

Episodes

Home media

On October 26, 2010,

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

released ''The Funky Phantom: The Complete Series'' on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. The series is also available in Digital media format at iTunes Store for

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

Comics

In the 1970s, comic books of ''The Funky Phantom'' were released by

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...

and

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984. History Gold Key Comics was created in 1962, when its ...

. The comics were both original stories as well as adaptations of some of the TV episodes. The stories in the comics, however, took a different turn from the TV episodes. While on the show, the "ghost" was always a villain in a mask (like ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...

''), in some of the original comic stories, the villains would often turn out to be other ghosts from on or around the colonial era (the show never addressed why it seemed that there were no other ghosts besides Mudsy and Boo). The comics even did a twist on the series when the gang traveled back to colonial times via an erratic time machine, only to find out that the kids are now the ghosts (the machine could only transport spiritual matter) and Mudsy is once more inside his original flesh-and-blood body. Also, the comics introduced a new regular character who never appeared in the show and made a few appearances in some of the comic books. Priscilla Atwater, a ghostly matron from Mudsy's time, who lusted after Mudsy and pursued him actively, although she tended to flirt with just about any other ghost who happened to come along. In 2018, the Phantom appeared in a backup story in the DC comic ''Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special'' #1; in this story, Jason Blood conjures Muddlemore's ghost so that some reporters and citizens can ask Mudsy what he thinks about the Second Amendment.

Other appearances

* Mudsy appeared with Boo in the '' Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' episode "High Speed Buggy Chase", where he was voiced by

Chris Edgerly Chris Edgerly is an American voice actor. Life and career Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several guest voices on the TV series ''Drawn Togeth ...

. The question "What makes the Funky Phantom so funky?" is finally asked and answered. * Mudsy and his friends appear in the '' Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated'' episode "Mystery Solvers Club State Finals" with Mudsy voiced by

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

and Boo voiced by Rick D. Wasserman. He and his team appear alongside other Hanna-Barbera mystery teams (consisting of Mystery Inc., Jabberjaw, Speed Buggy, and

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' is an American animated mystery comedy series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from ...

) in a fever dream of Scooby-Doo's. When the teenage sleuths are kidnapped by a flaming skeletal spirit called Lord Infernicus (also voiced by Rick D. Wasserman), the sidekicks are left to solve the mystery. Mudsy believes Scooby cannot solve the case. It is revealed that Mudsy is the true culprit and not a real ghost, but a British down-on-his-luck actor who joined a team of teen sleuths who mistook him for a real ghost. Tired of being reduced to sidekick status, he kidnapped the teenage sleuths so he could become the hero instead of a sidekick and send the kids to Africa, which was in desperate need of teen mystery solvers in his eyes. Boo then states "You lied to me" in a deep voice and attacks Mudsy as retaliation. When Scooby wakes up, he finds that the State Finals have been moved to next week with the chairman that arrived having a strange resemblance to Mudsy. Of course, since this was just a dream and the fact that this is ''Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated'', this is not canon to the actual ''Funky Phantom'' show, let alone any other Hanna-Barbera series. * Mudsy appeared in the '' MAD'' segment "ParaMorgan", where he was shown with other popular fictional ghosts. * The second episode of ''

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? ''Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Chris Bailey and the thirteenth television series in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. The show first premiered on Boomerang's SVOD s ...

'' titled "A Mystery Solving Gang Divided" is a crossover with this series, with Mudsy once again voiced by Kenny who also voices Augie, now joined by

Billy West William Richard Werstine (born 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor, comedian, radio personality, impressionist and musician. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'', the title characte ...

as Skip and

Kate Micucci Kate Micucci ( ; born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates with Riki Lindhome. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in '' Scrubs'', Ally in '' 'Til Death' ...

as April. The group meets Mystery Inc. when it comes to a mystery involving the ghost of a Civil War sergeant. In order to get both groups to work together, Mudsy poses as the Ghost of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

(voiced by

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the ''Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...

). A running gag in this episode is that Velma keeps asking Skip, Augie, and April what holographic technology they are using to pull off Mudsy's appearance. * Mudsy and Boo both appear in the

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

original series '' Jellystone!'' with Mudsy voiced by Paul F. Tompkins. Mudsy's voice in ''Jellystone!'' is more unique sounding so that he would not sound similar to Bert Lahr. He is portrayed as an ex-world famous wrestler, forced to retire after using his ghostly powers against his opponents like he did when he possessed his opponent Mightor, now working as the spokesman for an avocado arrangement business. Mayor Huckleberry Hound arranged a wrestling event commentated by Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf where the citizens in their wrestling name went up against each other to determine who would face off against the Funky Phantom. This lasted until Yogi in his wrestler name of Dr. Pain remained. The Funky Phantom uses his ghostly abilities on Dr. Pain causing Mayor Huckleberry to recall what happened in the Funky Phantom's infamous match and join the fight as the "Avocadog". He rallied the defeated wrestlers to help defeat the Funky Phantom. While the Funky Phantom apologized to Mayor Huckleberry for his misuse of his ghostly abilities, police chief Touché Turtle prepared to arrest the Funky Phantom for misusing his ghostly abilities causing the Funky Phantom to possess him. In "Jailcation", the Funky Phantom was shown to be an inmate at Santo Relaxo.

References

External links

*
''The Funky Phantom''
at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) was an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated f ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funky Phantom, The 1970s American animated comedy television series 1971 American animated television series debuts 1972 American television series endings 1970s Australian animated television series 1971 Australian television series debuts 1972 Australian television series endings 1970s American mystery television series 1970s American children's comedy television series 1970s American horror comedy television series Australian children's animated adventure television series Australian children's animated comedy television series Australian children's animated mystery television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated horror television series American children's animated mystery television series American English-language television shows Television series by Hanna-Barbera Animated television series about monsters Animated television series about ghosts American teen animated television series American Broadcasting Company animated television series Animated characters introduced in 1971