It’s the story… of Skip and Augie…
they're too busy charming this girl, but are duds.
They are all talk… little time for friendship ... how are they all good buds?
Then the one bad rainy day, they’re out past midnight…
They’re in a bando, no plans to just go home…
They changed a clock and freed a plasmic soldier...
That’s the way they then met the Funky Phantom
The lilywhite Phantom…
The ghastly Phantom…
Now they’re friends with the campy and dead even Funky Phantom!
(Doo-doo-de-doo Doo-doo-dee-duh-doo!)
Hello, everyone and welcome to a new segment here on Maroon Mondays called Andrew’s Funshine All-Star Superstar Supercade Saturday… Show!. Simply stated, I review Saturday morning cartoons by the year they debuted. So we begin with 1971 and the first under review is The Funky Phantom. This series aired for one season on ABC from September 11, 1971 – January 1, 1972, but is still remembered as a fun mystery series with a morbid backstory turned into a great friendship and sleuthing team to solve the cases, save the day and continue a burgeoning relationship of something more (or threeway - this sent mixed messages on these three).
The Plot:
Three teenagers and one of their dog are traveling in their dune buggy, The Looney Duney, when it was raining one night. They then find a place to dry off in a large abandoned house; inside, they see a grandfather clock and (for some reason) fix it. This strange gesture would lead to the introduction of Jonathan Wellington Muddlemore - also known as Mudsy, the Funky Phantom himself, and his cat Boo. After their freedom from their unintended resting place, they repay the kids by joining them in wild, crazy adventures seemingly across the country. With his powers of invisibility, flight among others, Mudsy proves to be a brave, true and valuable (if not naive for the time) asset and friend friend friend to the team and Boo a threat threat threat to their doggy pal).
This series is pretty much like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. In each episode, the characters travel to a new place (far from where they live, which makes you wonder how their parents are okay with this -- if they’re at all aware to begin with). During their travails, they either bump into the villain of the week and then meet locals who share stories of the villain of the week or vice versa. The kids then set out to capture the villain and get into their usual exposition and/or shenanigans, and after a chase sequence and goofy slip-ups, they finally capture and expose him (yep, there’s mostly a him) for once and for all. And the characters are very similar. Just drop a girl (the smart, analytical one), and replace the talking dog with a wimpy soldier with a voice more fruity than an American soldier should have (that being Mudsy) and a skinnier, smaller version of Tom the Cat but more mischievous instead of a punching bag (that being Boo). Sure a dog (Elmo) is in the cast -- and he's a great help to the group when it counts, but he’s pretty much Jerry the mouse when it doesn’t as part of a rivalry with Boo.
Fortunately, some later episodes put their own spin on the cliche:
And a couple episodes towards the series end reveal Mudsy’s backstory before his fateful demise in the grandfather clock. The episodes are a heartbreaking tale but make a good story to tell and makes Mudsy’s new purpose in afterlife much more palpable (pardon the pun). I mean, it’s much better than the totally random plot of a dead wimp of a soldier just going along with three kids traversing across America for no reason whatsoever -- and expecting us to just go with it. What is this, Hanna-Barbera?? Oh, yeah...
The Characters:
Skip Gilroy: The brainy redhead.
Augie Anderson: The brunette brawn braggart.
April Stewart: The blue-eyed, blonde beauty.
Even though she doesn’t show it (rather when one of the two boys does something for her), she totally appreciates having two boys fighting for her affections; when they swoon over another girl (or even in one case, a woman), she gets jealous. Both boys are good guys to April
Jonathan Wellington Muddlemore aka Mudsy: A Revolutionary War-era soldier who, from what I could gather, barely saw combat. After crossing paths with two Redcoats, he ran into a clock in a house… and never got out. (For Hanna-Barbera, this is the darkest backstory they’ve ever done for their cartoons... So far) Now a ghost, he was then freed from century-long wire-and-cog prison-turned-coffin-turned-prison-again by the kids and returns the favor as their good ol’ friend and invisible hand in their adventures.
At times, he also makes up stories about the events he saw during his lifetime, only to be corrected by the kids thanks to their knowledge in history.
Boo and Elmo: the team’s pets. Boo is Mudsy’s equally-ghastly and roguish cat companion, while Elmo is Augie’s buff, bulky bulldog. Their four paws and quick-thinking helps the crew stay one step ahead of the bad guys. While
While the show follows the Scooby-Doo Monster hoax cliche to the letter for the most part (see below for variations), the kids and Mudsy do not. While there are characteristics like the Fred-like leader, the Velma-like smart girl, the Daphne-like damsel-in-distress and the Shaggy-like coward present, the kids exhibit them when the episode plot calls for it.
I actually like this aspect, as it shows that teenagers who actually go on adventures solving mysteries, the characteristic they’re written with isn’t locked down every episode. They have and emit differing behavior, feelings and emotions between episodes.
The Animation:
This series isn’t from the 50s, but it looks like it is. Instead of Hanna-Barbera’s studio in California, The Funky Phantom is animated in Australia. The result is a more wooden and stilted (than usual) product with obvious mistakes you can't miss the first time -- like floating heads and shoulders in some frames and exposed cel lines in others. One good thing about the series’ look is that the background coloring and lighting are perfect. Day scenes give off a rugged, rusted, summer-ish Americana-adjacent ambience, and night scenes strike a tone that makes the scary scenes a bit more frightening and even the least scary frames can give you chills.
The character designs look a bit warped but still normal, and it’s great that they look like normal people (yes, Mudsy too, even). Elmo and Boo look adorable for animals with faces that look monster-like (the sloppy face on Elmo and the devilish grin on Boo). And good job to the animators for making characters look like what they are just from looking at their facial features -- bad guys or good guys (even if the villain and victim looked vice versa).
The Music:
Putting aside most of the BGM lifted straight from Scooby-Doo (which works here too), Funky Phantom has some cuts in some episodes that sound new. These cuts do give scenes either a well-heightened sense of fear or humor.
The Theme Song & Titles:
As per Hanna-Barber’s usual, The Funky Phantom has a fun, catchy and super-cheerful theme song that explains the basics of the series -- characters, what they do, where they live/go, etc. In fact, the catchiness is on high as each line fits in a certain pattern that just slips into your head for you to hum and sing later on. And it works!
There are two versions of the theme -- the first by a group male singers
,
and the second that replaces the first performed by Tommy Cook, Kristina Holland and Micky Dolenz -- the VAs of Augie, April and Skip themselves .
Also, obviously… because Dolenz is the lead singer and drummer of The Monkees. I love both versions for the unique renditions from the performers involved, but I like the second version more because the kids actually sing the story and it fits the narrative 100%. Plus, you can’t go wrong with a Monkee singing the theme song of the cartoon he’s in.
Now, I wanna talk about the… relationship between Skip, April and Augie. They are friends who ride off together on many adventures across the country (sometimes out of it) with Mudsy, Boo and Elmo. Throughout the series, the boys fight for April’s heart - mostly through insults, witty banter and jokes, and she reciprocates both of their feelings. Throughout the series, it seems like April and one of the boys might go to steadyville, but nothing much comes from it. It makes you want to rip your hair out and punch the TV screen, wishing the girl would just pick one and prepare for the whines and begs from the other.
For comparison, take the most lopsided love triangle in H-B history - Josie/Alan/Alexandra from Josie and the Pussycats. Alexandra Cabot wants Alan Mayberry, but Alan loves Josie McCoy - who reciprocates his feelings. Alexandra wants Josie out of the way to have Alan for herself, but thanks to the universe routinely screwing her over (don’t feel sorry for her; she deserves it for being a bitter, jealous, vindictive gank), she never got to lus- I mean, love of her life, and is destined to screw over everyone of the band with wild cartoonish hijinks.
Fortunately, we don't have to deal with more indecision and finally a choice from April after the series ends.
Conclusion:
While pretty rudimentary in concept and characters, the changes and variations to both - and the moments from such - give it a nice seemingly original finished product that's entertaining and respectable (if not fully commendable) in its own right. While the kids and Elmo are a good bunch of sleuths, Mudsy and Boo make the whole group doubly entertaining and is a much better example of why the series is still fondly remembered by many today. The character would make appearances in more cartoons (some by Hanna-Barbera) decades after his debut's curtain call. He appeared on Harvey Birdmam, Attorney at Law, MAD, and the Scooby-Doo franchise (specifically Mystery Incorporated and ...and Guess Who?). His more recent reappearances will be sure to bring a lot more laughs (and campiness) to fans everywhere (including me). If there's a mystery adventure cartoon from Hanna-Barbera you'd love to watch during the day or even after midnight, The Funky Phantom is for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment