The Funky Phantom
Original channel
ABC
Original run
September 11, 1971 – September 2, 1972
Voices of
Daws Butler
Tommy Cook
Jerry Dexter
Micky Dolenz
Kristina Holland
Don Messick
The Funky Phantom is a Saturday morning cartoon, produced for Hanna-Barbera Productions by Australian production company, Air Programs International in 1971 for ABC.
Similar to Hanna-Barbera's successful Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Funky Phantom featured three teenagers — Skip, April and Augie — and their dog Elmo. While trying to get out of a storm when driving the Looney Duney, they entered an old house where the longcase clock was wrong. Upon setting the clock to midnight, it released two ghosts: a Revolutionary War-era ghost named Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore and his cat, Boo. The two stumbled upon two Redcoats and ended up hiding inside the clock during the Revolutionary War, but then couldn't get out and eventually died inside. Ever since being freed by their new friends, Mudsy and Boo have accompanied them on many mysteries, always giving an invisible helping hand.
The voice of Mudsy was provided by Daws Butler and was identical to his voice work for the character Snagglepuss, down to the use of Snagglepuss's catchphrases, Even. (In turn, that voice was an impersonation of actor Bert Lahr.)
In the 1970s, comic books of The Funky Phantom were released by Western Publishing and Gold Key Comics. The comics were both original stories as well as adaptations of some of the TV episodes. The stories in the comics, however, took a different turn from the TV episodes. While on the show, the "ghost" was always a villain in a mask (like Scooby-Doo), in some of the original comic stories, the villains would often turn out to be other ghosts from on or around the colonial era. (The show never addressed why it seemed that there were no other ghosts besides Mudsy and Boo.) The comics even did a twist on the series when the gang traveled back to colonial times via an erratic time machine, only to find out that the kids are now the ghosts (the machine could only transport spiritual matter) and Mudsy is once more inside a flesh-and-blood body.
Also, the comics introduced a new regular character who never appeared in the show. Priscilla Atwater, a ghostly matron from Mudsy's time, who lusted after Mudsy and pursued him actively, although she tended to flirt with about any other ghost who came along.
No comments:
Post a Comment