Foul Play in Funland

Foul Play in Funland is the eighth episode of the first season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!.

Premise
The gang anticipate the opening of a theme park while clam collecting on a nearby beach. But when the theme parks lights come on and the rides start running, even though the park is supposed to be closed, they try to find out who is doing it and find the shenanigans are being caused by a fast-moving robot.

Synopsis
Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby are clam-hunting on the beach when the nearby amusement park mysteriously starts running, lights, rides and all. Velma states that the carnival was not supposed to open for another week. The gang checks it out and split up. Surprisingly, the gang is able to order food and play games, but there is nobody around. Everything is running with no operators or cashiers.

Scooby and Shaggy then catch sight of a fleeting figure dash across the aisle. They chase it into the Hall of Mirrors, but flee from it. Fred, Daphne and Velma catch sight of the robotic man on the Ferris Wheel, but when the ride comes back down, the man is nowhere to be seen. As they wonder at this, the lights and rides shut down all around the park. Mystery Inc. heads to the caretaker's house, Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins and explain their story, but the caretakers dismiss it and send the kids off.

The teens decide to stake out the carnival. Soon enough, the lights and rides come back on, but this time, everything is going haywire, like the stalls spitting out huge amounts of food and the rides running backwards. The gang chases the robot into the Tunnel of Love, but the gang's boat crashes. Then, the Robot gives chase to Shaggy and Scooby on the roller coaster, and the two narrowly escape. Then, the Robot dives off the roller coaster and crashes through the roof of a tent. When the gang enter the tent, the robot is gone.

They decide to try to capture the robot with an electric kart. But Shaggy accidentally sets it on, and Velma and Scooby go riding off, causing Velma to lose her glasses. Runaway kart causes chaos for a few minutes and finally, Scooby and Velma collide into a huge pile of cotton candy. The gang devise a trap. Scooby lures the robot into a crate, Scooby is lifted up out of a trapdoor by a basket and the robot is captured. Scooby goes off, and the robot finds him, chases him through the Wax Museum and finally they lead him into the crate but the robot breaks out and slams through a brick wall and is gone. Then, Mr. Jenkins appears and explains he created Charlie the robot to help run the amusement park when Mr. Jenkins was busy. But somehow, the robot got out of control.

Setting up a Jeep rigged with a powerful magnet, the gang with Jenkins sets out to find Charlie. The magnet begins to work, but all of a sudden, the magnet stops working and then the robot short-circuits and it is evident now that the cable has been cut. Scooby discovers a person lurking by a fence, and Mrs. Jenkins steps out with wire cutters. She confesses that she was the one who caused Charlie to go out of control. She didn't think that robots should operate in a place where children dwell and wanted the robot to be ended. It ends with Scooby getting his ears scratched by the robot.

Villains

 * Charlie the Funland Robot
 * Sarah Jenkins (redeemed)

Locations

 * Funland
 * Caretakers place and workshop

Notes/trivia

 * First episode in the whole series/franchise where the villain was not someone in disguise, and when the villain was something non-human (though there was a human behind the whole scheme).
 * The scene with Scooby-Doo licking all the cotton candy off of himself is used in the end credits of the first season of the show.
 * The scene with Scooby-Doo running with a barrel and crashing into a robot is used in the opening theme song and closing credits for the first season of the show.
 * Charlie appears in Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights.
 * Charlie also appears in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated at the Crystal Cove Spook Museum as a display item.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

 * When a stuffed bear lands on Scooby's back and Scooby runs yelling "It's got me! It's got me!", his mouth never moves.
 * The reflection of Scooby's dog tag should be reversed in the funhouse mirror, but it isn't.
 * The steam locomotive was running without an engineer and fireman.

Home media

 * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons DVD set released March 16, 2004.
 * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: Volume 2 - Bump in the Night DVD set released January 27, 2009.
 * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series DVD set released November 9, 2010.
 * Scooby-Doo! and the Robots DVD compilation set released August 30, 2011.