The Funky Phantom

One of my most treasured childhood memories is this show. I have not seen it since it left the airwaves in 1971. I remember as a child I looked forward to seeing this cartoon. I loved everything about the show. The phantom was great as was the theme music. Everything was just fantastic. I always look for a DVD or video when ever I am at my local DVD store. It is not a Scooby Doo rip off at all as I couldn't stand Scooby Doo at all as a child or now. This show had mysteries that they solved, but unlike Scooby Doo they actually did it in a logical manner. It made logical sense. Even as a child I knew Scooby Doo was totally inane. I just wish they would put this into a DVD format so I can see them again. I miss my Funky Phantom so

The short-lived animated series "The Funky Phantom" was another example of Hanna-Barbera trying to cash in on the astounding success of "Scooby Doo,Where Are You?",and not to mention a slew of rip-off copycats that were using the same exact formula that ran throughout the entire decade of the 1970's. But this one followed the exact Scooby formula,but with an unusual twist: A trio of teenagers who solve mysteries and clues with the help of a friendly ghostlike character(voiced by Daws Butler)who acts as their companion as they go from one town to another to basically solve crimes,deal with the supernatural, and fight off evildoers as they unravel the clues and bring in the usual villains.

How did they meet this ghost? A trio of teenagers,April(Tina Holland),Skip(Mickey Dolenz of "The Monkees" fame),and Augie(Tommy Cook)take refuge from a storm one night to reset the clock to the proper time of midnight. This released the still-nervous ghost of Jonathan Muddlemore known as "Muggsey",who would join the teens in their Looney Duney buggy. Muddlemore was a cowardly New Englander hiding from the British in 1776 in his mansion's grandfather clock found the spirit of himself and his cat Boo freed almost 200 years later,thanks to an accident.

Some major difficulties were caused by Muggsey and Boo,who typically became invisible whenever any sort of fear struck them. And who reappear whenever the kids got themselves in trouble with some diabolical villain or help them to escape from certain harm. The teens had their own pet to help out with the mysteries,their bulldog named Elmo. This was a copy of the Scooby Doo formula. Hanna-Barbera stockplayer Daws Butler reprises his Snagglepuss character for this short-lived series and it shows in some of the episodes. The series premiered as part of ABC's Sunshine Saturday Morning schedule from September 11, 1971 until September 1, 1973. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Out of the 17 episodes that were produced,the original episodes ran on ABC from September 11,1971 until September 2, 1972. Its second season consisted of repeated episodes that ran from September 9, 1972 until September 1, 1973. In 1980,the gang returned to Saturday Mornings as part of NBC's The Godzilla Super Power Show" in repeated episodes.

Hanna-Barbara decided to try to ply their own Scooby Doo waters yet again with this teen-aged cast mystery romp. You don't actually get to see the story of how they met "the Phantom" as an episode, only as the intro sequence to each cartoon.

The Phantom is voiced by Daws Butler, who, if you watched early 60s cartoon shows, you'll immediately recognize as the voice of Snagglepuss ... among many others, such as BooBoo the bear.

Kristina Holland, voicing the pretty blond April, is one of the few voice actors in cartoons who also had a decently active on-screen career, appearing as a guest star on many popular TV series.

Mike Road, the voice of Race Bannon on Johnny Quest, voiced some weekly bad guys, and Mickey Dolense of The Monkees even got in on the act.

Now, I'm one who tired of Scooby Doo after just a couple of years, so this show, a pale reflection of Scooby Doo, doesn't do much for me. But I do like a good ghost story. You'll find that "Mudsy" reminds you of The Canterville Ghost ... he's even drawn like Charles Laughton in the 1944 version, which is my favorite treatment of that story.

A Scooby Doo clone - teenagers and a goofball sidekick with a gimmick travel the country tackling baffling mysteries and unmasking the bad guys. The difference here is that ghosts are real... as evidenced by the title character, Sir Muddlemore, a timid ghost who's afraid of his own shadow, and his sidekick kitty, "Boo". Muddlemore was voiced by Daws Butler, and his voice characterization is virtually indistinguishable from animation's own "Master Thespian", Snagglepuss ("Heavens to Mergatroid!").

This cartoon seems highly unoriginal but since it was before my time I can't say for sure what has been ripped off from other cartoons.I do know that Mudsy has the exact same voice as Snagglepuss, a carbon copy even.I also know that voice is an impersonation of Bert Lahr(the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz).Most people will call it a Scooby-Doo rip off but that's only because they haven't seen the countless other cartoons it "borrows" from.I noticed another review on here that said "Even more amazing is a Shaggy-like character complete with goatee!".That statement not only proves that he has never seen this show because there is never one person on screen with any facial hair, it also proves he has never seen Speed Buggy, which has an actual Shaggy clone(albeit without the facial hair).Even Jabberjaw had a "Shaggy-like character", guess he never saw that either.I just watched every episode of this today and never once thought any of the characters were "Scooby-Doo- like".I did however notice that two of characters can't pronounce "helicopter" and I found that to be extremely disturbing.If you can look past all the stuff they stole, you will see a somewhat original show.A lot of the stories center around the Revolutionary War and New England.You will never see another cartoon do that.Plus the dog doesn't talk.It doesn't get more original than that.Overall I'd say if you like cartoons you should watch this.Just watch it with an open mind and you might have a good time.I just checked and Speed Buggy came after this show so they stole the dune buggy idea from this show.This show is more original than people will admit.