Go Away Ghost Ship

"Go Away Ghost Ship" is the fourteenth episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! season one. It aired on December 13, 1969 on CBS. It was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the founders of Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Mystery Inc. provides its services to a shipping magnet when its cargo is repeatedly absconded by a ghost pirate captain and his crew.

Detailed summary
A freighter captain peers into his binoculars to catch the sight of a pirate ship captained by the ghost of Redbeard, who is cackling with laughter.

Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby are at the malt shop when they read in the newspaper about the ghost pirate of Redbeard that has been ruining the business of C.L. Magnus, who owns several freighters that are getting hijacked. The gang go to see Mr. Magnus at his apartment, but his butler turns them away. This causes Fred to plan how to get in; sneak in as room service. After tripping over a bear-skin rug in the apartment the gang finally gets to see Mr. Magnus and he explains to Mystery Inc. the history of Redbeard the pirate that about 300 hundred years ago, Redbeard was a terrorist of the seven seas, but Mr. Magnus's ancestors brought him to justice. Now his ghost came back for vengeance. Then, the gang goes out on the marina in a speedboat and tries to lure Redbeard to the speedboat, but instead, they ram the ghost pirate ship and clamber aboard, splitting up.

Shaggy and Scooby run into Redbeard and flee but they are attacked by a flying sword. Redbeard and his two pirate henchmen capture Shaggy and Scooby, and Velma, Daphne, and Fred find tubs of dry ice inside a storeroom. Redbeard spares them the plank and forces Shaggy and Scooby to cook him some stew. Shaggy and Scooby make him stew out of ashes, soap, cobwebs, and chains. Redbeard forces them to eat it and they do, but the soap causes them to blow bubbles so they create a bubble screen and flee. Hiding from his two henchmen, Shaggy dons a paper pirate hat and imitates Redbeard, fooling the henchman with his shadow and eerily accurate imitation.

Shaggy and Scooby accidentally fall overboard, and Velma, Daphne, and Fred see them through a porthole, but the boat takes off and Shaggy and Scooby follow the ghost ship all the way to a hidden cave where Fred, Daphne, and Velma are chained up. They escape and meet up with Shaggy and Scooby, but find a clue on Shaggy's paper pirate hat. On the hat, is a list of the cargo that was on the freighter that was hijacked and how much the cargo was worth. The gang navigates through the caves and enter a cavern full of the stolen cargo—and Redbeard and his crew! A chase ensues with the pirates and the ghost sword and eventually, with the help of Shaggy, Scooby, and a jackhammer, Redbeard is captured and he is unmasked as C.L. Magnus.

He was about to lose his business if he didn't come up with some money. So he raided his own ships and was going to sell the cargo. The ghost sword was operated by wires and the dry ice made the eerie fog. Scooby demonstrates by putting the dry ice in the bucket of water surrounding himself in a fog, then he uses a knife to cut up a circle and eats it and says victoriously, "Scooby-Doo!"

Memorable quotes
Shaggy: Well, the seawater's boiling. I wonder what ghosts like in their stew, Scoob? Scooby: Rains? Shaggy: Chains! Hey, yeah, ghosts like chains. And... oh, yeah, some ashes from the stove. You know, this could be real good?! Scooby: Reah! Reah! Shaggy: Now... what else? Scooby: Robrebs? Shaggy: Cobwebs! Uh-huh, delightful! Why didn't I think of that? Wow! Now... did we forget anything? Scooby: Roap? Shaggy: Soap?! I hardly use it myself, but why not?

Characters

 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Freighter captain
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Casey Kasem
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| C.L. Magnus
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Fred Jones
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Frank Welker
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Velma Dinkley
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Nicole Jaffe
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Shaggy Rogers
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Casey Kasem
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Scooby-Doo
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Don Messick
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Daphne Blake
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Stefanianna Christopherson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Butler
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| C.L. Magnus
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Coast Guard officer
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Stefanianna Christopherson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Butler
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| C.L. Magnus
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Coast Guard officer
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Coast Guard officer
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Stephenson

Organizations

 * Mystery Incorporated
 * Magnus Shipping Co.
 * United States Coast Guard

Locations

 * Earth
 * United States
 * California
 * Malt Shop
 * C.L. Magnus's residence
 * Skull Island

Objects

 * Scooby Snacks
 * Pirate skull (voiced by Frank Welker)

Vehicles

 * Magnus Freighters
 * Ghost of Redbeard's ship
 * The Mystery Machine
 * U.S. Coast Guard ship

Development
Joe Ruby and Ken Spears either wrote or story edited, as they were unable to remember what they specifically did past the fifth episode.

Music
The theme song's lyrics were written by David Mook, while Ben Raleigh wrote the music, which was performed by Larry Marks. The score was composed by Ted Nichols, who was credited as the musical director.

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: December 13, 1969 at 10:30 am on CBS

Errors

 * Before the gang knock on Mr. Magnus's door and after the first time the butler closes the door, Velma's eyes are missing.
 * As the butler opens the door the first time, Daphne's eyes drop to her nostrils.
 * When Fred, Daphne, and Velma first board the ship, Daphne's scarf is missing.
 * When Shaggy is walking by Redbeard's portrait, his animation is shaky, making it look choppy.
 * The pirates cast their shadows on Shag and Scooby, who themselves have no shadows.
 * Redbeard hands Shaggy and Scooby a bowl with a spoon, but there are two spoons in the very next shot.
 * When he falls, Shaggy loses his apron, but has it again in the close-up.
 * Shaggy's sclerae flash white as he brings up his paper pirate hat to his head. His sclera is also white for a few seconds when he first puts it on.
 * Daphne's lips have no lipstick when Velma and Fred comment on first seeing Skull Island. Just as Daphne turns her head to the others to question it, they return to being pink.
 * The pirate ship is about to enter the cave when the camera cuts away, then cuts back to see the ship farther away than before.
 * When Shaggy is making the paper pirate hat, his leg vanishes from behind the table.
 * When Shaggy is wearing the paper pirate hat, it covers all his hair. When he arrives at the cave, however, his hair is in front of the hat.
 * Neither Daphne nor Freddy move their lips when they say "moe".
 * When Scooby is leading the gang to the chest, it appears late.
 * There are actually no tire tracks leading to the chest.
 * In one long shot, the treasure chest has straps connected to the open lid. They aren't there in any of the other shots.
 * The first time the Gang ring Mr. Magnus's doorbell, the butler opens the door and tells them no visitors are allowed. The second time, he lets them open the door themselves and allows them to walk straight in, something he is not supposed to do considering Magnus was unwilling to see anybody.
 * Velma somehow mistakes Redbeard's laugh for Freddy's.
 * The flying sword somehow comes right through a closed door. Although the solution to the mystery states that the sword is on wires, perhaps in this scene it is really a projection. Except the scene ends with a sword stuck in the door, making a very realistic "thunk".
 * Furthermore, the door it gets lodged in was previously closed and skewered by another sword, yet when Shaggy and Scooby run back to it it's open again, with no sword.
 * One henchman has a pistol stuck in his belt, which he never uses. It may have been a dummy, for show.
 * When Scooby and Shaggy are first caught, they are accosted by three pirates, before cutting away to Fred, Daphne, and Velma. When it returns to Shaggy and Scooby, only Redbeard is present.
 * Furthermore, how could Redbeard be at two places at once? First, he is seen by Shaggy and Scooby, and then he locks Fred and the girls up, before cutting back to Shaggy and Scooby. It may be possible, however, that Fred and the girls ran into Redbeard first before Shaggy and Scooby did.
 * Fred reveals his chewing gum without even the need to remove it from a wrapper.
 * Considering that January 10 was supposed to be the next day for them, no daylight in the episode would have to mean the entire episode had taken place within an hour (since the butler mentioned it was 11 PM when the gang came), and they just happened to stop the entire operation one day before its next shipment was due to leave.
 * The password to the secret entrance is "Yum, yum, yum and a liverwurst a la mode", referring to a sandwich which appeared previously in "Scooby Doo and a Mummy, Too", and was seemingly invented by Shaggy and/or Scooby, which makes it even more strange that it was part of the password.
 * Shaggy and Scooby hide in a crate which is only half full of Scooby Snacks boxes, and the one box is opened already. Have the pirates been snacking on the loot?
 * Shaggy, Scooby, and Redbeard are almost at the stack of tires when the camera cuts to Velma, yet it takes a while for them to collide.
 * It's unclear whether Mr. Magnus's henchmen are wearing masks throughout the episode or are displaying their true faces. Apparently, they did not seem intriguing enough, as their unspecified reasoning for being there is trivialized by Daphne, simply remarking, "Hired henchmen I guess".
 * Scooby-Doo touches dry ice with his bare paws, a good way to get frostbite.

Everlasting influence
This episode has been adapted several times in the following decades:
 * Gold Key Comics' Scooby Doo... Where Are You! #6 (retitled "The Ghost of Redbeard")
 * In the film Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, a live-action adaptation, the costume is donated to the Coolsonian Criminology Museum. C.L. Magnus (who looks quite different in live-action form), has become a patron of the Faux Ghost, a Mystery Inc.-hating nightclub. Jonathan Jacobo animates a ghost ship to command, although the Ghost of Redbeard isn't brought to life, perhaps because of the similarities between Miner 49er.
 * In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, a quasi-sequel/reboot, it is mentioned as a past case in the episode "The Night the Clown Cried".
 * It is adapted into the second level of the game app, My Friend Scooby-Doo!


 * Matthew Lillard takes on the guise of the ghost in the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? episode "A Haunt of a Thousand Voices!"

Home availability

 * In the United States:
 * April 13, 1999: Warner Home Video releases Classic Scooby-Doo: That's Snow Ghost on VHS.
 * December 4, 2001: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo's Creepiest Capers on VHS.
 * December 4, 2001: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo's Creepiest Capers on DVD.
 * March 16, 2004: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete First and Second Seasons on DVD.
 * October 19, 2010: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: Volume 4: Spooked Bayou on DVD.
 * November 9, 2010: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series (limited edition) on DVD.
 * August 30, 2011: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo! and the Pirates on DVD.
 * November 13, 2012: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series on DVD.
 * May 23, 2017: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete First and Second Seasons (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection edition) on DVD.
 * July 25, 2017: Warner Home Video releases LEGO Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash on DVD.
 * July 25, 2017: Warner Home Video releases LEGO Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash on Blu-ray Disc.
 * December 12, 2017: Warner Home Video releases Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection 4-Pack on DVD.
 * February 13, 2018: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series (repackaging) on DVD.
 * June 4, 2019: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete First and Second Seasons on DVD.
 * September 9, 2020: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series (limited edition) on Blu-ray Disc.
 * March 1, 2022: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You: The Complete Series on Blu-ray Disc.
 * In the United Kingdom:
 * November 3, 1997: First Independent Films releases Scooby-Doo: Bumper Edition: The Nutcracker Scoob! on VHS.
 * March 27, 2000: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo!: Volume 1 on VHS.
 * October 16, 2000: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders on VHS.
 * 2002: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo!: A Gaggle of Gaggling Ghosts on VHS.
 * June 20, 2005: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete First and Second Seasons on DVD.
 * November 21, 2011: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series on DVD.