Let's Watch This: An Episode of "The Funky Phantom"

NOTE: Please do not take any of the little nitpicks in this review (or any of my other reviews, for that matter) seriously. I write these reviews in the hopes of making people laugh. Those nitpicks are really just dumb little observations that I'm attempting to make jokes out of, not complaints that add to whether or not I like something.

If you're an avid reader of my blog, you probably know that the 1970s saw the greenlighting of many, MANY cartoons that were blatant knockoffs of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?. We've already reviewed three - first I looked at Jabberjaw, which paired clones of Fred and Shaggy up with clones of characters from Josie and the Pussycats and a wacky talking shark. Then I looked at Fangface, which had the main character as an equivalent for both Shaggy AND Scooby... he was a werewolf. And earlier this year, I looked at Goober and the Ghost Chasers, which was one of the most blatant Scooby-Doo cash-grabs of all because the Scooby equivalent was ALSO a dog.

Now, at this point in the franchise, Scooby-Doo and his pals weren't encountering real ghosts and monsters yet - it wasn't until the 1980s that they started running into actual ghosts. The ghosts were always just guys in costumes. So this show actually has a pretty unique premise for a Scooby-Doo cash-grab: what if the ghost-chasing kids had a real ghost for a sidekick?

The Funky Phantom starred Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore, the ghost of an American patriot from the Revolutionary War, voiced by Daws Butler using the same voice he used for Snagglepuss (and the lion from The Roman Holidays). He and his ghost cat, Boo (voiced by Julie Bennett), were freed from the inside of a longcase clock by three teenagers who'd stumbled upon it trying to get out of the rain: Skip (Mickey Dolenz), April (Kristina Holland), and Augie (Tommy Cook), and their dog Elmo (Jerry Dexter). They drove around in a dune buggy - not Speed Buggy, this one didn't talk - and solved crimes, most of them involving ghosts.

The show premiered on September 11th, 1971. Only seventeen episodes were produced, and despite the show generally being brushed off as another lame Scooby-Doo knockoff nowadays, Mudsy himself seems well-liked enough to warrant appearances in shows like Harvey Birdman, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, and Jellystone!... not that any of those shows treated him with any dignity. Now, just because a show is a blatant Scooby-Doo cash-grab doesn't automatically mean I'm not going to like it. I liked the one episode of Speed Buggy that I've seen and found Jabberjaw okay. Who knows, maybe I'll like The Funky Phantom too?

So... since it's October, that month of the year when we celebrate Halloween and so I post reviews of cartoons starring ghosts, monsters, etcetra, we're going to watch the fourth episode of the show, "Who's Chicken?". As Mudsy would say, it's Funky Phantom time!

The episode starts off with a truck for "Chicken Delicious" driving down the road. Here's a fun fact for you: in 1968, a few years before this show premiered, they started opening Yogi Bear's Honey Fried Chicken restaurants, where you could munch on fried chicken surrounded by fiberglass statues of Yogi (you can find an article about the restaurants at cartoonresearch.com - only one still exists today). I wonder if the folks at Hanna-Barbera were at all tempted to do a little cross-promotion, but decided against it.

Maybe it was just too hard to fit "Yogi Bear's Honey Fried Chicken" on the side of the truck...

Then we see these two charming characters, who it should be pretty clear are the episode's antagonists. "That truck should be due any time now!" the one in the chicken costume snarls in the unmistakable voice of Don Messick (it's sort of a fusion of his voices for Papa Smurf and Vulture from the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon). "Hurry it up! Get that tree across the road!"

Wow, that's the worst Blue Falcon costume I've ever seen.

So these two, and this other guy, chop down a tree and push it down on the road to block the truck's path. When the truck stops, the guy in the chicken suit jumps onto the tree and starts squawking and waving his arms like... well, I wouldn't say a chicken. More like an escapee from a mental asylumn.

"BRAWK! Ignore the human mouth under my beak, please! I'm a real bird, I swear!"

The confused driver of the truck gets out and demands that this strange not-quite-bird not-quite-human-either creature get out of the road. Then one of the other guys grabs the driver and drags him off.

Then we cut to Augie's garage, where Augie and Elmo are lifting weights. He encourages Skip and Mudsy to do it as well, but Mudsy dubs this a preposterous idea - how much exercise could a two-hundred-year-old ghost need? As for Boo, he decides to sabotage Elmo. He's a cartoon cat, and Elmo is a cartoon dog. They can't help it, they're required to mess with each other.

I think it's just the lack of an outline, but that bicycle in the background looks like
it's just painted on the wall.

Just then, April runs in and shows Augie that day's newspaper, its headline about the mysterious "Chickenman" on the loose. I can't hear them say "Chickenman" without thinking of Toy Story 2 and Rex's "IT'S THE CHICKENMAN!" line. Apparently, this "Chickenman" has been robbing supply trucks for the Chicken Delicious chain of "eating houses". Maybe he's the CEO of KFC, and he's trying to eliminate the competition?

"Hey, where did my eyebrows go?"

"Don't worry, Augie, you'll get used to not having them. I sure did."

"Hey, at least you're the only human here with pupils, April."

"I just now noticed how long your neck is, Skip. It's like a giraffe's, even."

"Chickenman? You sure that isn't YOU, Skip?" Augie asks with a smirk. Jeez, way to be a jerk, Augie. Mudsy then says that this situation "sounds like FOWL play", because if you're doing a cartoon where a chicken plays a prominent role you've gotta make that pun at some point.

April spews out some exposition about the owner of Chicken Delicious being her uncle, Henry Fowler. Skip says that he'll help April stop the Chickenman, to which Augie says, "You? HAW! If HE's going, I'D better come too. 'Cause with HIM along, your helper is gonna need HELP." Y'know what, I've decided that I don't like Augie. He treats Skip with total disrespect. I want Skip to punch him in the face.

I'm just now noticing that Augie and Skip basically have the exact same face (Augie's chin
and nose are just larger).

Fortunately, while Skip doesn't pucnh Augie in the face, he dishes it back out - he says that with Augie coming along, they'll have plenty of hot air if they need it. Snap. And of course Mudsy, Boo, and Elmo are coming along too. The six of them head to Henry Fowler's office in their dune buggy. When Augie wonders what anyone would want with a truckload of frozen chicken, Mudsy declares, "A bird in the fist is worth two hydrangeas! Ha, ha, ha." I don't get the joke here. Is the punchline that he got the expression wrong? I mean, I know a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but I'm not even sure what THAT expression means either.

When they get to the office, Henry Fowler - who, natch, looks similar to Colonel Sanders - laments that he's been forced to close down all but one of his "eating houses" because of this rassafrassin' Chickenman. Then a guy named Angus barges in and frets over the Chickenman ruining their business. What makes him so sure? Easy - he's gotten a message from the Chickenman himself:

Okay, I've seen enough Scooby-Doo episodes to know that this guy is definitely the guy dressing up as the Chickenman because he has a bone to pick with Mr. Fowler. Maybe it's just because he's clearly voiced by Don Messick as well (although it's not the same voice he does for the Chickenman - he sounds more like Zilly from Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines) and that he's wearing a green suit (what color is the Chickenman again?).

"WE'RE RUINED, I TELL YOU! WIPED OUT!" Angus shrieks. "WHERE'S THE POLICE?! I PAY TAXES! I WANT PROTECTION!" When he leaves, Mr. Fowler explains that Angus isn't one of his employees, but rather the owner of a chain of roast beef restaurants. Very su-SPI-cous...

Fortunately, April has a plan to catch this Chickenman (who is totally going to be Angus. Just sayin'). By the way, for some reason Mudsy decided to turn invisible while the others were talking to Mr. Fowler. I guess it's because he thinks Mr. Fowler would be freaked-out by the presence of a g-g-g-g-GHOST, even a friendly one. Casper had the same problem.

"Hey, wait, if there's an empty seat next to Skip, why are you guys crammed in the back of the
buggy?"

"Uh... there's more legroom?"

April's plan, apparently, is to work at the one remaining Chicken Delicious eating house (did people EVER call restaurants "eating houses"?) and catch the Chickenman when he shows up. Mudsy has a better idea: "Retreat, I say! Make tracks for the hills! The foothills! Abandon all ships, even!"

Why is Mudsy so afraid? First of all, he's already a ghost, so it's not like the Chickenman could harm him even if he tried. And second, even if they don't know that this Chickenman is just a guy in a chicken suit, it's still for all intents and purposes a giant chicken. All they have to do is lure it into the deep-fat fryer and presto, one cooked Chickenman. Anyhow, even though nobody aside from April is on board with the plan (not even Augie - if it's because he's too scared like Mudsy, he really has no right to mock Skip for his cowardice).

That night, they start their first shift at Chicken Delicious, with Mudsy initially being invisible but revealing himself when the customers ask how their entrees are floating around the room by themselves.

He also dubs himself their "ghost host" - even in the 1970s, people were making references
to Disney theme park rides.

The customers, of course, freak out at the sight of a g-g-g-g-GHOST and flee the eating house. Not long after, a truck pulls up to Chicken Delicious, and in that truck are the Chickenman and his henchmen, who are disguised as normal Chicken Delicious truck drivers. When Skip sees the henchmen, he tells them to put what's in the truck in the rear, since they're swamped out front - and to make sure that Chickenman doesn't get it. Oh, the irony.

Of course, the henchmen aren't DELIVERING anything - they're STEALING chicken from the eating house. When they drive off with their stolen cargo, Mudsy and Boo emerge from the box of frozen French fries they loaded onto the truck. They're being ghost-napped! Wait, what were they doing in a box of frozen French fries?

I mean, I know WHY they were in the box - so that WHACKY SHENANIGANS could
ensue, but it's still a headscratcher...

Unaware of the ghostly presence, the henchmen meet back up with the guy who likes to dress as the Corn Flakes rooster. "Head for the hideout! We'll get rid of all of it!" the Chickenman declares. Overhearing this, Mudsy gets mad. "All right, you three! Put 'em up, put 'em up! Your goose is cooked, Chickenman! BASTED, even! I gotcha cornered!" he says, even though they still have no idea that he's in their truck. "What am I sayin'? I'm in a pickle! I gotta keep an eye on 'em, and let the others know where I am! Or I'm a cooked ghost!"

...how exactly does one cook a ghost?

Back at Chicken Delicious, Skip, Augie, April, and Elmo discover that they've been cleaned out and that clearly those two guys in the truck are behind it. Elmo figures out that Mudsy and Boo were probably taken by them too. April dubs him a smart dog, to which Augie says, "Yeah, smart like his master." "Well, if he's smart like his master, then we'd better go in the opposite direction!" Skip quips, prompting April to scold him and Augie for mocking each other. Good on ya, April.

As for Mudsy, to make sure that the others can find him and Boo, he leaves a trail of frozen French fries - M-shaped French fries, even.

Has McDonald's ever tried making M-shaped French fries? If not, they should - that
would be really cool.

"If Daniel Boone ever hears about this, I'll be guffawed out of the colonies! All thirteen of 'em!" Mudsy moans. "Or maybe I'm just stupid-stitious..." But it works, the others spot the trail of French fries and follows them to a billboard for "Rangs Fresh Eggs" - which, fortunately, lifts up and allows them entry into the dark and spooky forest that the truck drove through to get to the parked train where the bad guys are going to unload all the stuff they stole. They're putting it in refrigerated boxcars.

Well, on the bright side, if some hobo ever hitches a ride on that train, they're gonna
have quite a meal.

"Hmmm. That means they're planning to ship that stuff someplace," Skip points out. Augie tells Elmo to scout on ahead, and the dog walks right into a toolshed - and right into the Chickenman.

"Ruh-roh!"

Elmo runs back to the others, only for the Chickenman to follow him and discover Skip, Augie and April. "Stop those kids!" he tells his henchmen, who give chase on their motorcycles.

"Getcha motor runnin',
Head out on the highway..."

After some running around, Skip sends one henchman smashing into the back of a train, while Augie and Elmo do the old "paint a tunnel on a solid wall" (or in this case, a stack of crates full of eggs) to take out the other one. Then the good guys hide out in one of the boxcars, only for the Chickenman to trap them inside. Augie and Elmo start bickering again. On the bright side, the boxcar that they're trapped in turns out to be the very same one that Mudsy and Boo are hiding in. So there's THAT.

The train starts moving, which means that the good guys have failed in their mission to stop the Chickenman... or HAVE they? Skip reminds Mudsy that, since he's a ghost, he can just walk through the wall of the boxcar and pull the coupling pin. For some reason, the fact that Skip had a good idea really steams Augie up.

"U MAD, AUGIE?"

So Mudsy teleports outside of the boxcar (he can only walk through walls when he's invisible) and pulls the coupling pin. Downside, now the six of them are marooned on a runaway boxcar, and the Chickenman and his goons are right behind them! They manage to pull the boxcar's brakes, but they still have to deal with their "fine feathered fiend" as Augie puts it, who chases them into a warehouse full of theatrical costumes and props.

Despite being the Daphne equivalent, April takes a page from Fred's book and suggests that they set a trap for Foghorn Leghorn's evil twin. First, Mudsy walks up to the henchmen and scares them just by appearing in front of them and saying, "To coin an old cliche... boo!"

"AUGH! A GEORGE WASHINGTON COSPLAYER!"

They hide from Mudsy in a chest, which he traps them inside, which is April's cue to lure the Chickenman into their trap.

"Drat! How did they know that my one weakness was ropes?!"

As they hoist the Chickenman high into the air, his mask falls off and yep, it's Angus in that Chanticleer get-up. Even if I hadn't suggested it beforehand, you probably would've figured it out by yourself.

To be fair, there were mysteries in Scooby-Doo where it was equally obvious who the culprit
was.

They never specify just what Angus' goal was, but I think we can deduce that he wanted to sabotage Chicken Delicious so everyone would eat at his roast beef restaurants. Jeez, you never see the folks who run Arby's trying to sabotage Taco Bell. But anyway, the day is saved, and the episode ends with Augie making fun of Skip again. Laugh it up, Augie - joke's on you, at least Skip's voice actor is a member of the Monkees. Granted, your voice actor also voiced Biff in Jabberjaw, so that should count for something...

What's the Verdict?

I should admit first and foremost that I chose this episode to review because of how silly the premise sounded (I thought it would give me the most joke material). It's very hard to make a giant chicken scary, and I think the folks at Hanna-Barbera were aware of that. I'm guessing other episodes of the show were much spookier.

Honestly, I found The Funky Phantom pretty good, even if the Scooby-Doo cash-grab part is blatant (they even use the same music!). Much like with Jabberjaw, it's the Funky Phantom himself that carries the show on his shoulders. He's such a charming character... a friendly ghost, hailing from the Revolutionary War, with the voice of Snagglepuss? How can you not like THAT? Skip, Augie, and April themselves are pretty dull characters, but Augie and Skip at least feel less like Fred and Shaggy than, say, Mark and Tinker from Speed Buggy (which I do plan on reviewing at some point, for those wondering) do - but did they have to make Augie so argumentative? I can't help but wonder if they didn't put much effort into making the teens interesting in these shows because they knew we were just gonna watch it for the funny ghost, or the wisecracking shark, or the talking car, or whatever.

As far as the animation goes, it's basically the same as any other Hanna-Barbera 1970s show - the art style and backgrounds are nice, but errors abound. In one scene, Augie, Skip, and April briefly vanish while Elmo is telling them about the Chickenman. Unsurprisingly, the funniest lines come from Mudsy, most of the other jokes fall flat. So, yeah. While I wouldn't say The Funky Phantom is Hanna-Barbera's BEST show, it's worth watching at least one episode of. Watch it for Mudsy like I did. You can find episodes of the show on the Internet Archive.

Y'know what Warner Bros. should do? They should make a show where Mudsy, Jabberjaw, and Captain Caveman drive around in Speed Buggy, getting into hilarious hijinks and solving mysteries in their usual bumbling way. No Fred, Daphne, and Shaggy knockoffs, just the four of them. That would be fun, wouldn't it?