#freako

Booo!

Halloween’s a-coming, so in celebration to that, I thought I would review and analyze one of my favorite ghost movies. That movie is, SCOOBY-DOO MEETS THE BOO BROTHERS.

(WARNING! SPOILERS!)

This made-for-TV movie was first released on October 17, 1987. It was the second in a series of ten specials produced by Hanna-Barbera called the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10. Two more Scooby specials were released afterwards, Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School and Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf in 1988. These three films are unofficially called the “Red Shirt Trilogy” due to Shaggy wearing a red shirt instead of the green one he normally wore in the TV shows (Except for 13 Ghosts, wear Shaggy also wore a red shirt.) Also unique to these three movies is that of the primary Scooby cast, only Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and Scrappy-Doo are featured. Don’t worry, Scrappy is a lot more tolerable in these films, having clearly outgrown his “Puppy power!” phase.

The plot of Boo Brothers, which in cartoons is always just an excused to line up as many jokes and sight gags in short order, is relatively simple. Shaggy has been willed a mansion by an unmentioned-until-now dead uncle (As per the norm in cartoons) all the way in the Deep South, so he and the dogs go down to check it out. Of course, the catch is that like all big stately buildings in the middle of nowhere, it’s haunted. You’d think Shaggy and Scooby would want to turn right around and vamoose, but they can’t- their car ends up stuck in the mud and sinks clear out of sight. Since the movie is taking place in the middle of the night, this leaves the trio stuck until help can come in the morning. This is a pretty clever and mundane way of keeping our heroes on location for the plot. In most Scooby shows, the reason the gang are dealing with the monsters is that most of them, bar our favorite cowards, want to solve mystery. But since Shaggy and Scooby aren’t the kind of people who actively seek danger, this method forces them to get involved without overly changing their characterization.

“But, why is this called meets the Boo Brothers?” Well, in order to deal with the ghosts, Scrappy gets the idea of calling in some ghost exterminators to do it. How’s that for character development? In the first series, Scrappy would be itching to fight some ghosts himself. And who you gonna call? These guys.

They ain’t the Real Ghostbusters, but they do in a pinch…kinda. Anyway, you’d think that with these “pros” on the case, Shag and Scoob could hide in their bedroom while it all blows over. No such luck. Turns out that Beauregard Manor is the site of a hidden treasure trove of jewels, explicitly called a king’s ransom. After finding a clue in the fridge’s icebox (Shaggy’s uncle definitely knew his nephew), the Scoobies decide to brave the great unknown and search all over the mansion and the grounds looking for it. 

At first, it starts out like a straightforward treasure hunt, with the Scoobies having to solve the riddles in each clue, all the while dealing with the colorful personalities of the local residents and dodging the ghosts haunting the grounds. Of course, as the movie goes on, we get indications that not everything is as it seems. In classic Scooby-Doo fashion, we start to see signs that the “ghosts” may not be so ghostly. Hidden passageways, trapdoors, mechanisms…there’s something funny going on around here!

And speaking of funny, remember those colorful personalities? Well, instead of going over the plot with a fine-tooth comb, let’s overanalyze these jokers instead. The cast of side-characters the Scoobies is what makes the movie interesting to watch. You could argue that the treasure hunt the movie revolves around to be just a staging for all these whacked out figures to interact in.

First, let’s look at the boys with the star billing, the Boo Brothers.

These guys, Freako (on the right) Shrieko (In the middle) and Meeko (On the left), are probably the ones the Scoobies deal with the most, given that they were hired to take care of the ghosts haunting Beauregard Mansion. No real answer is given as to why the Brothers choose ghost hunting as a profession, aside from “It takes one to catch one”, but regardless, the Boo Brothers are what we’ve got. Many fans have labeled them as a ghost version of the Three Stooges (With Shrieko going “Nyuk nyuk” to seal the deal), but unlike other expies of the Stooges, the Boo Brothers aren’t so blatant an imitation, having a sense of identity beyond their Stoogely inspirations. For the most part, the Boo Brothers are involved in a lot of visual humor, their intangible, ghostly bodies being squashed in ways you can’t do in the mostly realistic setting of Scooby-Doo.

In terms of plot relevancy, I’m afraid that the Boo Brothers…don’t have that. They were hired to fight the other ghosts, and they do help out the Scoobies time to time, but that’s about it. They have no connection to the treasure, the mansion, or any of its residents. If anything, the only real thing they do is give someone Shaggy to get annoyed with, which reaches its peak as the movie approaches the climax. Nonetheless, they still manage to do their part, which is more than I can say of…

…this guy. Meet Farquard, the mansion’s caretaker, having served Shaggy’s uncle as butler for sixty years. He looks good for his age, doesn’t he?

Never mind.

In every mystery there usually is a red herring-

-Not this guy, but a character who is the most like culprit, but actually isn’t. Farquard is shifty as heck, he makes it clear that he doesn’t like Shaggy or want him around, and that he’s after the treasure. Throughout the movie there are times when he tries to get the jewels or clues from the Scoobies, and one sequence strongly hints that he’s the one posing as the ghosts. However, the ending of the film proves this to be the wrong conclusion.

And then we have our neighbors…

These two! Meet Sadie Mae (Left) and Billy Bob (Right) Scroggins, the local hillbilly stereotypes. Sadie Mae acts as the overly-eager “man-hunter”, who quickly takes a powerful liking to Shaggy. She expresses this affection by ambushing him and pulling him into kissing session. she doesn’t seem to ‘get’ that Shaggy may not like her back, writing off his immediate retreats as playing hard to get. Ironically, it’s a good thing she likes Shaggy so much as he brother Billy Bob does not. Due to some briefly-mentioned family feud between the Beauregards and the Scroggins’, Billy Bob takes it upon himself to shoot at Shaggy at every opportunity. Thankfully, he’s also the stereotypical slack-jawed yokel, with bad aim and easy to trick into hurting himself. We don’t learn much about this feud, but we don’t need to, as it’s just an excuse for Billy Bob to antagonize the Scoobies. Billy Bob’s attacks look like a cross between Elmer Fudd and Yosamite Sam, with all the explosions and pratfalls such a comparison bring. Luckily, there are times when Sadie Mae protects Shaggy from her brother, and there’s a delightful sequence where both Scroggins’ are sneaking up on Shaggy, ambushing each other, all while Shaggy remains ignorant. Unfortunately, this plotline doesn’t get any real closure, as both Sadie Mae and Billy Bob cease showing up after the Scoobies get chased down a well.

But I guess the screentime had to be saved for this guy.

Early in the movie, we get word that a circus train derailed, causing its animals to get loose. One of those animals was this ape, who just shows up without any preamble. He’s not antagonistic, but the guys are still scared of him because, you know, giant animal on the loose. At one point, Scrappy realizes that the ape isn’t a bad guy, just lost and confused. However, his presence does give the Sheriff an excuse to stick around, and the ape even indirectly provides a hint as to who is behind all of the haunting hijinks.

Who’s the sheriff? This guy.

Well, never let it be said Hanna-Barbera would hold back on stereotypes. This gruff, pot-bellied lawman is Sheriff Rufus Buzby, and in fact he’s the first supporter our main trio of protags bump into. And his car crash from Scooby’s shenanigans shows us his main role in the feature. There are characters who either cause slapstick or suffer it, and Buzby without a doubt falls into a second category. Whether it’s having his hat shot off by Billy Bob, being scared out of his clothes by the ape, or being knocked into the drink by Scooby, Buzby’s whole lot in the movie is to be this useless authority figure who might as well have a bulls-eye put on his back. Of course, there’s a good reason why he suffers so much…

He’s the ghost! And he’s not even the real sheriff! (That’s the guy with the mustache, his twin brother) We often take for granted the incompetence of police force in a series, because if the cops were any good, why would the protags need to do anything? By having the useless policeman be an impersonator, it makes his inability to enforce the law more realistic. Buzby being the culprit is hinted at once or twice, most glaringly when he knows that the Headless Horseman’s horse is mechanical. And, on a visual note, I think it’s hilarious that the good twin is the one with facial hair.