The Funky Phantom facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Funky Phantom |
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| Genre | Comedy Mystery Adventure |
| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices of | Daws Butler Tommy Cook Jerry Dexter Micky Dolenz Kristina Holland Don Messick |
| Composer(s) | John Sangster |
| Country of origin | United States Australia |
| No. of episodes | 17 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | William Hanna |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions
Air Programs International
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| Distributor | Taft Broadcasting |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 11, 1971 – January 1, 1972 |
The Funky Phantom is an exciting animated TV show from America and Australia. It was made by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Air Programs International for the ABC network. The show is a lot like the popular Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. It features a group of teenage friends who travel around and solve mysteries. But in this show, their helper is a ghost from the American Revolutionary War.
The show was shown again for a short time in 1980. It was part of Hanna-Barbera's Godzilla TV series.
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What is The Funky Phantom About?
One day, three teenagers named Skip Gilroy, April Stewart, and Augie Anderson were driving their cool "Looney Duney" dune buggy. Their dog, Elmo, was with them too. They were trying to find shelter from a big storm. They found an old house and went inside.
Inside the house, they saw an old grandfather clock that showed the wrong time. When they set the clock to midnight, something amazing happened! Two ghosts from the American Revolutionary War appeared. One was an American patriot named Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore. The other was his cat, Boo.
Mudsy and Boo explained that they had hidden inside the clock during the Revolutionary War. They were trying to escape from two Redcoats (British soldiers). But they got stuck inside the clock and sadly passed away there. Now, thanks to their new friends, Mudsy and Boo are free! They join the teenagers on all their adventures. They always give an invisible helping hand to solve mysteries.
Meet the Characters
Main Voice Actors
- Daws Butler – He was the voice of Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore. Mudsy is the friendly ghost who helps the kids.
- Tommy Cook – He voiced Augie Anderson. Augie is the strong and brave member of the group.
- Micky Dolenz – He was the voice of Skip Gilroy. Skip is the smart redhead who often leads the way.
- Kristina Holland – She voiced April Stewart. April is the blonde beauty of the team.
- Don Messick – He voiced Elmo the Dog and Boo the Cat. Elmo is the gang's loyal dog, and Boo is Mudsy's ghostly cat. Don Messick also voiced many other characters in different episodes.
Episodes of The Funky Phantom
The Funky Phantom first aired on ABC-TV on September 11, 1971. There were 17 episodes in total. They were shown on Saturday mornings for about two years. Later, the show was shown again in reruns from 1976 to 1982.
| Nº | Title | Air date | |
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| 1 | "Don't Fool With a Phantom" | September 11, 1971 | |
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Mudsy helps Farmer Higgens when a mysterious villain called the Raven tries to take his farm. The gang plans to win a race to save the farm, but the Raven tries to stop them.
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| 2 | "Heir Scare" | September 18, 1971 | |
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The Looney Duney gets lost in a swamp. The friends find Conway Mansion and help Michael Conway. A Marsh monster is chasing him to get the family's money.
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| 3 | "I'll Haunt You Later" | September 25, 1971 | |
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Skip, April, Augie, and Mudsy find an abandoned truck in a swamp. They discover a castle haunted by the Ghost of Jean Lafitte.
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| 4 | "Who's Chicken" | October 2, 1971 | |
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A villain called Chickenman steals a shipment of chickens meant for April's Uncle Henry's restaurant.
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| 5 | "The Headless Horseman" | October 9, 1971 | |
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The Looney Duney gets a flat tire near Sleepy Hollow. The gang meets the Headless Horseman who is after a person related to Ichabod Crane.
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| 6 | "Spirit Spooked" | October 16, 1971 | |
| 7 | "Ghost Town Ghost" | October 23, 1971 | |
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The Looney Duney arrives in Plainville for its 50 Year Frontier Celebration. Two outlaws dressed as Bob Dalton and Jesse James cause trouble.
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| 8 | "We Saw a Sea Serpent" | October 30, 1971 | |
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The friends hear about a sea serpent called the Black Lake Creature. It is scaring people away. Mr. Warnock and his helper Packy are using the creature for their own plans.
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| 9 | "Haunt in Inn" | November 6, 1971 | |
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Mudsy, Skip, Augie, and April stay at Widow Wilson's Inn. A ghost is scaring away all the guests.
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| 10 | "Mudsy Joins the Circus" | November 13, 1971 | |
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The gang visits the Barnaby Bros. Circus. They see a gorilla robbing the circus. They find out the gorilla is part of a plan to make fake money.
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| 11 | "Pigskin Predicament" | November 20, 1971 | |
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A football game is interrupted when criminals steal a valuable necklace. They hide it inside a football, which gets mixed up with the team's balls.
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| 12 | "The Liberty Bell Caper" | November 27, 1971 | |
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The Parafiend steals the original U.S.A. Flag made by Betsy Ross. He leaves a riddle, and the gang figures out he plans to steal the Liberty Bell next.
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| 13 | "April's Foolish Day" | December 4, 1971 | |
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Mudsy, Skip, Augie, and April enter the Looney Duney in the Desert Race. A famous racer, Winfield Wheely, takes April as his navigator. But the race organizer has a secret plan to win.
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| 14 | "The Forest's Prime-Evil" | December 11, 1971 | |
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While camping in the Sequoia National Forest, the group finds tracks from Bigfoot. They also discover illegal logging happening in the forest.
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| 15 | "The Hairy Scary Houndman" | December 18, 1971 | |
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Elmo is entered in a dog show. A villain called Houndman wants to steal another dog, Cromwell. But his helpers mistake Elmo for Cromwell because they look alike.
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| 16 | "Mudsy and Muddlemore Manor" | December 25, 1971 | |
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The gang visits Muddlemore Manor, a historic place. They find it haunted by a ghost called the Spirit of '76. Meanwhile, the mayor wants to tear down the manor.
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| 17 | "Ghost Grabbers" | January 1, 1972 | |
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In East Muddlemore, the friends learn more about Mudsy's past. He and Boo hid in the grandfather clock after seeing two Redcoats burying treasure. Now, others want to capture Mudsy to find that treasure.
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Funky Phantom Comics
In the 1970s, Western Publishing and Gold Key Comics released comic books about The Funky Phantom. These comics had new stories and also adapted some TV episodes.
The comic stories were a bit different from the TV show. In the show, the "ghost" was always a bad guy in a mask, just like in Scooby-Doo. But in some of the comics, the villains were actually other real ghosts from the colonial era. The comics even had a cool twist where the gang traveled back in time. The kids became ghosts, and Mudsy was back in his human body! The comics also introduced a new character named Priscilla Atwater. She was a ghostly lady from Mudsy's time who liked him a lot.
Other Appearances
- Mudsy appeared in an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law called "High Speed Buggy Chase." In this episode, the big question "What makes the Funky Phantom so funky?" finally gets an answer!
- Mudsy and his friends also showed up in the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode "Mystery Solvers Club State Finals." In this episode, Scooby-Doo has a dream where Mudsy and his team join other Hanna-Barbera mystery solvers. When the teenage detectives are kidnapped, the sidekicks (like Scooby and Mudsy) have to solve the mystery. In the dream, it turns out Mudsy is the one behind it all! He wasn't a real ghost but an actor who wanted to be the hero. This was just a dream, so it's not part of the actual Funky Phantom story.
- Mudsy was also seen in the MAD TV show segment "ParaMorgan." He appeared with other famous fictional ghosts.
- The second episode of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? featured a crossover with The Funky Phantom. The two groups meet while solving a mystery about a Civil War sergeant's ghost. To get everyone to work together, Mudsy pretends to be the Ghost of Abraham Lincoln. A funny part of the episode is Velma always asking the teens what kind of special technology they use to make Mudsy appear.
