Post by wileyk209 on Apr 2, 2022 21:54:52 GMT -5
Been re-watching this episode, "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde", and I've noticed how it's actually pretty similar to the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie "Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies" that aired a mere month and a half after this episode did! They both involve a crossover/guest-spot mystery on a movie lot with the villain eventually being redeemed. I know Filmation frequently copied Hanna-Barbera (but with even more limited animation than H-B's), but you do have to wonder if someone at Filmation found out about this Scooby-Doo episode and decided to kind of rip it off?
Just like the episode's villain, the Phantom of the Flickers here is a master of disguise, and often confuses the Groovie Goolies and the Looney Tunes with different disguises. His main form here even looks kind of similar to the Scooby episode's Mr. Hyde, or some other old Scooby-Doo villian. They both cause trouble with a movie production, and there's crazy hijinks and chases across the movie studio. They both turn out to actually be horror movie actors from the silent era (though the Phantom of the Flickers is a REAL phantom, Drac's uncle Claude Chaney) that wasn't really hurting anyone or doing anything illegal, and the protagonists praise Zalia Z. Fairchild/Claude Chaney's acting and disguise skills are praised and he gets redeemed and back into the movie acting business again.
I'm fairly certain this is not just some freaky coincidence. After all, animation writers and artists did tend to travel between animation companies, especially if they were freelancing.
(BTW, when I saw this episode on Cartoon Network in spring 2003, it was followed by the 1968 Looney Tunes cartoon "See Ya Later Gladiator," which does look and sound similar to "Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies," but a lot less static than Filmation's stuff.)
Just like the episode's villain, the Phantom of the Flickers here is a master of disguise, and often confuses the Groovie Goolies and the Looney Tunes with different disguises. His main form here even looks kind of similar to the Scooby episode's Mr. Hyde, or some other old Scooby-Doo villian. They both cause trouble with a movie production, and there's crazy hijinks and chases across the movie studio. They both turn out to actually be horror movie actors from the silent era (though the Phantom of the Flickers is a REAL phantom, Drac's uncle Claude Chaney) that wasn't really hurting anyone or doing anything illegal, and the protagonists praise Zalia Z. Fairchild/Claude Chaney's acting and disguise skills are praised and he gets redeemed and back into the movie acting business again.
I'm fairly certain this is not just some freaky coincidence. After all, animation writers and artists did tend to travel between animation companies, especially if they were freelancing.
(BTW, when I saw this episode on Cartoon Network in spring 2003, it was followed by the 1968 Looney Tunes cartoon "See Ya Later Gladiator," which does look and sound similar to "Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies," but a lot less static than Filmation's stuff.)