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

I caught this on the Saturday morning "Boomerang" show and it stirred a memory of having watched it on Saturday mornings long ago in the 70's. The bizarre thing about this (which didn't really click for me as a kid) is it's almost a carbon copy of Scooby Doo...teenage sleuths, goofy sidekicks (the phantom/his cat)...even the same music! Even more amazing is a Shaggy-like character complete with goatee! I really don't know what Hanna Barbera was thinking here....guess they were trying to capitalize on the success of Scooby...but it's nowhere near as endearing. The man who does the voice of the Phantom is, I believe the same who does Babu, Jabberjaw, ad infinitum...which really adds negative points in my book. Watch it for a slice of Hanna Barbera's "other" toons...

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!").

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.

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.