Jeepers, It's the Jaguaro!

Jeepers, It's the Jaguaro! is the thirty-second episode of The Scooby-Doo Show and the eighth episode of the third season, which re-used the name Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Premise
The gang, along with their plane, lands in the Brazilian jungle due to an emergency. Jaguaro is a panther and half ape hybrid, which does not make a very friendly critter. It also makes for a very dangerous critter, which Scooby understands early on as the Jaguaro seems to want to eat him as his next meal.

Synopsis
While the gang is on the plane to Rio de Janeiro, they must make an emergency landing in the middle of the Brazilian jungle. The pilots, Luis and José, inform them they are in Jaguaro country. The Jaguaro is a legendary creature with the body of an ape and head of a saber-toothed tiger. The local natives, who happen to be head hunters, worship him as a god. The gang decides to search the jungle for a boat to get them out of there. Fred, Velma and Daphne head to the village while Shaggy and Scooby search along the river.

While they search the river, Shaggy and Scooby stumbled upon the Jaguaro, who has come to life and appears to want to eat them. They manage to escape him by crossing the river. Meanwhile, Fred, Velma and Daphne are searching for a village, where they find a man named Barney who is driving a motor boat. He informs them that he is making a film about the natives and says their plane landing angered the Jaguaro idol and brought it to life. They reunite with Shaggy and Scooby and head back to the plane. They discover the plane has been attacked by the Jaguaro, and the pilots missing. Fred, Velma and Daphne follow a set of tracks back into the jungle, while Shaggy and Scooby stay at the plane. Shaggy and Scooby are then chased and captured by the natives.

Fred, Velma and Daphne find a hut by the river, and decide to search it. It turns out not to be a hut, but an old fashioned sluice for mining. They meet up with Barney, along with Luis, and board his boat. He tells them the Jaguaro attacked the plane and captured José. Before they get off the boat, Barney hands Luis a roll of film to deliver in Rio. After finding the plane empty and native feathers, they decide to rescue Shaggy and Scooby. They enter a cave near the native village, where they find the statue of the Jaguaro. They find it odd because Barney told them the statue had come to life. Shaggy and Scooby escape the hut, and are chased to the bridge by the natives and the Jagauro. The bridge breaks, taking the Jaguaro down the river with them, where he trapped.

The Jaguaro turns out to be Barney dressed up in a costume. He and Luis were actually working together in a diamond mining scheme and had tied up José inside his boat. Barney used the legend of the Jaguaro to frighten off the natives. They tried to escape, but Fred had removed the spark plugs inside the plane.

Villains

 * Jaguaro

Locations

 * Brazil
 * Brazilian jungle
 * Rio de Janeiro

Notes/trivia

 * The Jaguaro appears in Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

 * There are no gorillas or any other great apes (aside from humans of course) in the Amazon Jungle or in any part of the Americas for that matter.
 * A plane could not have landed perfectly in a jungle setting the way it was done in the episode. The plane would have collided with trees and broken up injuring or even killing the passengers. Landing perfectly in a jungle or forest clearing is extremely difficult if not impossible to do.
 * If the pilots of the plane were meant to be Brazilian, then their depiction was all wrong (i.e. they spoke with a Hispanic accent - Brazil is a Portuguese speaking nation). Then again, the pilots could have been Hispanic.
 * Despite not encountering him in the course of the episode, Shaggy instantly recognizes Barney upon unmasking the Jaguaro.

Home media

 * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Third Season (DVD)
 * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series (DVD)
 * Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales Around the World (DVD)