"The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair" & "The Caped Crusader Caper" discussion

[SF4Ever]

It's September 8, 2009. 36 years ago today, The Superfriends debuts on ABC-TV, produced by Hanna-Barbera, and runs for a total of 13 years. The supergroup consisted of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman & Robin. A year earlier, on CBS' The New Scooby-Doo Movies, there were that program's two highest-rated episodes, "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair" and "The Caped Crusader Caper", both teamed Scooby and the gang with Batman and Robin, and they tangled with the Dynamic Duo's archenemies, the Joker and the Penguin. Today is the 36th anniversary of The Superfriends debut on TV, and since this thread coincides with Scooby-Doo's 40th birthday, this Sunday, this discussion is about those two episodes I've mentioned. Insteringly, Olan Soule and Casey Kasem reprised their roles as Batman and Robin for Hanna-Barbera(Casey Kasem was still playing Shaggy at the same time), having played those same roles for Filmation's late 60's Batman & Robin program on CBS-TV. First, Joker and Penguin attempted to pass off counterfeit money by using, ironically a punch clown, with help from a felonious widow woman, who conspired with the two archvillians. Seeond, the terrible twosome attempt to steal Prof. Flakey's flying suit for felonious purposes. On both occasions, Joker and Penguin's diabolical plans are thwarted by Scooby and the gang with help from the Dynamic Duo. Who would've guessed, back then, that Batman & Robin's two appearances on Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies on CBS, along with Superman and Wonder Woman's respective appearances on Filmation's The Brady Kids on ABC, also in 1972, would culminate with the premiere of The Superfriends, the following season, and that very program would run for a total of 13 years? I don't believe many would've guess that would happen, at first, but it did happen. Scooby-Doo initially ran four years longer, on two different networks, for 17 years. After their appearance on The New Scooby-Doo Movies, it would be 13 years before Hanna-Barbera could use Joker and Penguin, again(in the SF episodes "The Cast of the Stolen Super Powers" and "The Wild Cards", respectively[as The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians]). Getting back to the two episodes, we've seen the Batmobile, the Batcopter and the Batcave. BTW, Scooby and the gang had to wear blindfolds when Batman and Robin drove the Mystery Machine to the Batcave. Other memorable parts from the Dynamic Duo's two Scooby-Doo appearances include Scooby flying with Prof. Flakey's invention, Shaggy climbing up the Batman balloon, the Dynamic Duo and Scooby and the gang deal with the rotating house, Batman and Robin have Scooby and Shaggy sliding down the Batline, just as an old car is about to go into the car crusher, Scooby chasing skeleton suit-wearing Joker and Penguin into the pit of punch clowns after allegedly developing a sudden appetite for bones, Batman and Robin chase out Joker and Penguin from operating a turn bridge while frightening Scooby and Shaggy in the disguises of a troll and a tree dryad, the Dynamic Duo rescues Scooby and Shaggy, just as the Batman balloon runs out of helium and falls on Joker and Penguin as they try to escape from the property of Gotham Rubber Factory or our Caped Heroes saving Freddy, Velma and Daphne from an attacking mechanical bat, released by the terrible twosome. Now, what are your favorite scenes from either "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair" and/or "The Caped Crusader Caper"? Remember, your favorite scenes from either of the two episodes I've just mentioned. Start chiming.

[Eric B]

I've always said, Dynamic Affair was the best story in the entire series! The most intriguing idea, with the rotating house (something not even unrealistic, and basically possible in real life), as well as the double-plot.

"Furniture nailed to the floor!"
(when Joker and Penguin are taken away):
"Fellow crimefighters, the brains of this operation are still on the loose, and we haven't one single clue as to his identity!"

One of the most interesting pieces of dialogue, between Batman and Velma was actually edited out, both on the currently playing version, and the DVD! Something about counterfeiting "undermin[ing] the national economy", and that "for the same of world stability, we must capture this criminal here and now".
It is hard to determine where exactly this sequence was. The editing was very good. It was when they first followed the hooded man into the toy warehouse. IIRC, Batman opens the hatch, and then goes up alone, and then brings the others. I try to listen to the background music to tell where something was cut out. It was probably during the next blackout (or "batout") after which they begin following him in the warehouse.

I noticed this and other clips of the Movies gone when they began playing Cartoon Cartoon shorts at the end of the Movies, and I had assumed they were there before, but now I'm not sure. It seems Turner/WB does not have the whole prints at all, for the edits to end up on the DVD. (I had hoped they were on there, unlockable as Easter eggs perhaps, but I have seen no sign of that). So perhaps the last view of these scenes was on USA, which IIRC, used the same prints from syndication. But those left out other scenes!
Would be nice if people's old video tapes of the uncut episodes from CBS would ever turn up.

Anyway, Caped Crusader Caper is a shadow of the first episode, with a revolving bridge in the vein of the revolving house. (Basically, a play upon a familiar old Tex Avery gag). It has less of the "mystery" aspect, as the only villains are Joker and Penguin (though they are the ones who disguise as spooky characters, briefly). The scene cut out of this episode is apparently, how Scooby got into the log he rolled away in, in the first place.

Scooby and Batman worked together quite well. They would have been excellent sidkicks, hence, Marvin, Wendy and Wonderdog's roles on the Superfriends series the next season. People question their purpose, since they are not superpowered like their later Exxorian successors, but as I have always said, they were basically more like Batman/Robin type heroes in training. My favorite episode from that show, which captured a lot of the "mystery" essense of Scooby, and had similar suspense as Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair; The Fantastic Frerps. (With King Plasto and the plastic eggs).

Here are my detailed synopses of both episodes, with several frames from Dynamic Affair:

http://www.erictb.info/synopses1.html#dynamicaffair
http://www.erictb.info/synopses1.html#capedcaper

[RonDrakenfan17]

These were one of my favorite Scooby movies. Not only do I like Batman and Scooby-Doo but to combined them together was just awesome

[SF4Ever]

While we're still speaking of "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair" and "The Caped Crusader Caper" I've already mentioned the legendary Casey Kasem voicing the two characters that would become roles of a lifetime for him, namely as Robin the Boy Wonder and Shaggy, but let's also talk about Joker and Penguin. It was easy to recognize Ted Knight as the Penguin, and though some of us initially thought he also voiced the Joker, he was really voiced by Larry Storch. When Joker and Penguin appeared in the 13th season of The Superfriends(as Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians), Frank Welker voiced the Joker in "The Wild Cards" episode and I believe it was Eugene Williams, who voiced the Penguin in "The Case of the Stolen Powers", opposite Peter Cullen as Felix Faust. Getting back to Joker and Penguin, Leonard Weinrib voiced both villians in the same manner as Ted Knight and Larry Storch(on The New Scooby-Doo Movies) on Filmation's 1977 CBS effort, The New Adventures of Batman. The actions of supervillians in animation was very restricted in the early 1970's, due to both the Action for Children's Television and Standards and Practices- they couldn't do anything, back then, similar to what we would see in later years. Keep in mind, backlash over the excessive violence in the late 1960's animated superhero programs, still existed, so animators had to be both caucious and conservative with their programs in the early 1970's. And we complain about why heroes and villians couldn't do more, back then, well, that's part of the explanation why.

[Nickle98499]

Originally Posted by Eric B

I've always said, Dynamic Affair was the best story in the entire series! The most intriguing idea, with the rotating house (something not even unrealistic, and basically possible in real life), as well as the double-plot.

"Furniture nailed to the floor!"
(when Joker and Penguin are taken away):
"Fellow crimefighters, the brains of this operation are still on the loose, and we haven't one single clue as to his identity!"

One of the most interesting pieces of dialogue, between Batman and Velma was actually edited out, both on the currently playing version, and the DVD! Something about counterfeiting "undermin[ing] the national economy", and that "for the same of world stability, we must capture this criminal here and now".
It is hard to determine where exactly this sequence was. The editing was very good. It was when they first followed the hooded man into the toy warehouse. IIRC, Batman opens the hatch, and then goes up alone, and then brings the others. I try to listen to the background music to tell where something was cut out. It was probably during the next blackout (or "batout") after which they begin following him in the warehouse.

I noticed this and other clips of the Movies gone when they began playing Cartoon Cartoon shorts at the end of the Movies, and I had assumed they were there before, but now I'm not sure. It seems Turner/WB does not have the whole prints at all, for the edits to end up on the DVD. (I had hoped they were on there, unlockable as Easter eggs perhaps, but I have seen no sign of that). So perhaps the last view of these scenes was on USA, which IIRC, used the same prints from syndication. But those left out other scenes!
Would be nice if people's old video tapes of the uncut episodes from CBS would ever turn up.

Anyway, Caped Crusader Caper is a shadow of the first episode, with a revolving bridge in the vein of the revolving house. (Basically, a play upon a familiar old Tex Avery gag). It has less of the "mystery" aspect, as the only villains are Joker and Penguin (though they are the ones who disguise as spooky characters, briefly). The scene cut out of this episode is apparently, how Scooby got into the log he rolled away in, in the first place.

Scooby and Batman worked together quite well. They would have been excellent sidkicks, hence, Marvin, Wendy and Wonderdog's roles on the Superfriends series the next season. People question their purpose, since they are not superpowered like their later Exxorian successors, but as I have always said, they were basically more like Batman/Robin type heroes in training. My favorite episode from that show, which captured a lot of the "mystery" essense of Scooby, and had similar suspense as Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair; The Fantastic Frerps. (With King Plasto and the plastic eggs).

Here are my detailed synopses of both episodes, with several frames from Dynamic Affair:

http://www.erictb.info/synopses1.html#dynamicaffair
http://www.erictb.info/synopses1.html#capedcaper

I never thought about it before but that would have been pretty cool: its' kind of neat to imagine what would have happened if Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby had worked with Batman and Robin more often heck maybe they could have worked with the other Super Friends too. I think the gang in addition to solving regular fake ghost and monster mysteries could have solved a lot of Super Friends type mysteries as well, that is to say have them trying to stop Mad Scientists/Real Villains attempting to take over the world similar to the ones from the Josie and the Pussycats and Jabberjaw series. Of course in later years the gang did try and stop real villains plans(I can think of several of the New Scooby Doo Mysteries episodes for example; but those only had Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy in the cast so it was kind of a moot point without the whole gang there).

[Eric B]

Ghosts of the Ancient Astronauts had the whole gang (with real villains and real space aliens!) and Halloween Hassle in Dracula's Castle had all real monsters, with one of them engaging in a typical "fake ghost" plot. Now how about that for the best of both worlds?

[Nickle98499]

Originally Posted by Eric B

Ghosts of the Ancient Astronauts had the whole gang (with real villains and real space aliens!) and Halloween Hassle in Dracula's Castle had all real monsters, with one of them engaging in a typical "fake ghost" plot. Now how about that for the best of both worlds?

Those were pretty good too and they were exactly what I was talking about in my previous post.

[SF4Ever]

Getting back to "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair" and "The Caped Crusader Caper", there was the batcookie scenes in which Scooby and Shaggy were treated to batmilk and cookies, while at the Batcave, but Scooby eats the batcookies, just as he did when Batman had one spare for Shaggy. When Shaggy said "Man, those mosquitos will eat anything", I wonder if he knew that Scooby ate the batcookie? Speaking of batcookies, my guess is Alfred Pennyworth prepared the bat-shaped cookies, and my guess is if there's ever a cartoon treats cookbook, then there should be a recipe for batcookies(that's a codename for bat-shaped cookies, people).

[greg!]

I really enjoyed the Joker & Penguin in these episodes.