Spooky Space Kook
- This article is about the episode. For the character who took the guise of the Spooky Space Kook, see Henry Bascomb.
Spooky Space Kook | |
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Network | CBS |
Premiere date | December 20, 1969 |
Music composed by | Ted Nichols |
Director(s) | William Hanna |
Voice director(s) | Joseph Barbera |
Animation director(s) | Charles A. Nichols |
Episode navigation | |
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Title card | |
"Spooky Space Kook" is the fifteenth episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! season one. It aired on December 20, 1969 on CBS. It was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the founders of Hanna-Barbera Productions.
The gang investigates an old, abandoned airfield haunted by what appears to be an alien, with an otherworldly laugh.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Fred: I feel like a side of beef.
Shaggy: Oh, no! Here comes that cackling, creepy space ghost again!
Henry: And I'da gotten away with it, too, if you kids hadn't have come along.
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Organizations
Locations
- Earth
- United States
- California
- Farmhouse
- Airfield
- California
- United States
Objects
- Gazette newspaper
- Double Dutch Chocolate Syrup
Vehicles
Production
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.[1]
Filming
Music
The theme song, "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" was performed by Larry Marks, with lyrics and music written by David Mook, while Ben Raleigh wrote the music, respectively. The rest of the music was composed by Ted Nichols, who was credited as the musical director.
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: December 20, 1969 at 10:30 am on CBS
- United Kingdom and Ireland:
Behind the scenes
- At no point in the episode is the alien referred to as the Spooky Space Kook or Space Kook. More often than not, when referred to in other media, he is called Space Kook.
Errors
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- The farmer's sclerae are white for a change, except when he leans forward to take a closer look at the glowing footprints and again when Fred says how they weren't made by chickens.
- After Daphne asks the farmer about the "haunted flying saucer," a small part of his shotgun flashes silver.
- When Scooby wails about being got by "it", his eyebrows flicker between brown and black.
- When Daphne says the gate is locked and wonders how the gang will get in, her headband disappears briefly before returning in the next frame.
- When Scooby runs to catch the peanuts after Shaggy throws them, the two wobbles in place in sync with Scooby's running animation.
- Before Scooby releases the life raft, the bottom half of Shaggy's shirt is the color of his pants which then returns to the normal green color after a few seconds.
- When Shaggy and Scooby jump off the air tower, one frame lacks Shaggy's eyes and Scooby's head and tail. All three missing parts return in the next frame, however.
- In the scene where the gang just let Fred down after he was suspended by a machine hook, his left hand is noticeably missing in the first shot.
- Daphne says her line: "Sheriff, look, he's getting away." It's her voice, but Velma's mouth moving.
- When Shaggy and Scooby enter the mess hall, the door is broken and swaying on the side. When they leave, the door is perfectly intact.
- Shaggy calls the syrup bottle, Double Dutch Chocolate Syrup, but the label simply says "Syrup".
- Apparently all the livestock the farmer has is one chicken.
- When Fred finds the newspaper article hidden in a barrel, Daphne says to look at an article that has been circled. When the paper is in view, there is no circle.
- Perhaps the biggest oddity of this episode is the existence of all the functional equipment on the abandoned airfield. Regardless of the field being public or military, wouldn't every piece of working equipment be stripped when they shut the field down?
- The "Automatic Dish Washer" label is wrong on two accounts. One, dishwashers are automatic, to begin with, and two, the dishwasher is misspelled as "dish washer".
- It seems strange that what appears to be a WWII-era aircraft would have an automatic inflating life raft in the cockpit where accidental deployment would interfere with operating the airplane.
- Shaggy somehow magically got the key to the supply department.
- Shaggy and Scooby jump outside through the window to get the key to unlocking the door so that they can escape the room. If they had been thinking clearly, they didn't need to go back inside as they had already escaped.
- The farmer cared enough to call a sheriff, but either he took his time doing it or the sheriff was taking his own.
Legacy
The episode and characters have been referenced several other times in the Scooby-Doo media franchise:
- In the 2004 film Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, a live-action adaptation, the costume is donated to the Coolsonian Criminology Museum.
- In the 2010-2013 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated TV series, a quasi-sequel/reboot, the Space Kook costume has been taken by Velma's parents and used in an exhibit for the Crystal Cove Spook Museum.
- It was the fourth level of the 2015 app game My Friend Scooby-Doo!
- The opening sequence to the 2015-2018 Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! reboot series has a cameo of the Space Kook. Later, it had a real appearance in the 2017 episode "In Space."
- In 2019, the Space Kook skull helmet and suit are on sale separately at the gang's yard sale in the 29th direct-to-video film, Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost.
Marketing and promotion
Due to the popularity (and more likely nostalgia) of the episode, it has since been published in comic or children's book form:
- In 1970, Gold Key Comics published it with the new name "The Spooky Space Kook" in Scooby Doo... Where Are You! #4.
- In 1997, Archie Comics published an adaptation of the episode in Scooby-Doo #20.
- In 1999, Landoll's published it in book form as Spooky Space Kook!
- In 2021, Capstone published an adaptation in book form called Spooky Space Ghost.
Critical reception
In other languages
Language | Name | Meaning |
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Spanish (Latin America) | El fantasma del aeropuerto abandonado | The Ghost of the Abandoned Airport |
Greek | Ο Εξωγήινος | The Alien |
Hungarian | Fejünk felett a földönkívüli | The extraterrestrial is above us |
Polish | Kosmiczne straszydło | Space Bogeyman |
Home availability
- In the United States:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- August 13, 2019: Warner Home Video releases Best of Warner Bros. 50 Cartoon Collection: Scooby-Doo! 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 and Ireland:
- February 5, 1996: First Independent Films releases Scooby-Doo: Bumper Edition 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.
- September 23, 2019: Warner Home Video releases Best of Warner Bros. 50 Cartoon Collection: Scooby-Doo! on DVD.
- In Finland:
- June 11, 2012: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo! Mystery in Motion on DVD.
References
- ^ Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. Scooby Addicts. Retrieved April 15, 2020.