Wanted Cheddar Alive

Wanted Cheddar Alive is the third episode of the first season of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

Premise
A cheese monster has put the Scooby Snacks factory out of business and Scooby is determined to solve the case.

Synopsis
It was just another night at the Scooby Snack Factory, as two co-workers did their usual job of making sure the different flavours were up to standards. Meanwhile on the other side of the factory in the cheese lab something evil was cooking. The two workers hear the commotion and find a cheese explosion has occured. As they start to clean up a pot starts bubbling, gooey cheese in the form of an arm and leg step out. The female worker thinks she hears something and her male co-worker sees cheese dripping above them. They look around to see a huge monster made out of cheese, foaming at the mouth. The entire workforce evacuate the factory as the monster declares "No more Scooby Snacks!"...

A tired Scooby comes into the kitchen as Shaggy is making one giant pancake for breakfast. He asks Scooby if he wants half, but the puppy is fast asleep at the table. The only thing that gets his attention is the offer of a Scooby Snack which makes him fully alert; he sets the table, knife and fork in hand. Shaggy opens the pantry, stacked full of Scooby Snack boxes, and asks him what flavour he wants. Unfortunately, bacon and eggs, tomato, and even creamy garlic are all empty, in fact they all are! Scooby cracks! He races out of the house, bringing Shaggy along as well.

He dashes to the nearest supermarket, Shaggy holding onto Scooby's leash for dear life. They pass the free samples, and Shaggy takes the whole plate. They make it to the aisle of Scooby Snacks only to find they're all empty too! Scooby can only faint.

An ambulance takes them home where the rest of gang try to console Scooby, although Freddie believing "hungry aliens" took them doesn't help. Shaggy tries to calm him with some cartoons, but Scooby's already entertaining himself with shadow puppets. As Shaggy flips the channel a distressing news report from the President of the Scooby Snack Factory, Constance McSnack, says that due to a cheese monster running all her workers out, the factory has closed indefinitely. This is about all Scooby can take and faints once more. Fortunately, Larry P. Acme of Acme Dog Biscuits, has the solution. He will supply supermarkets with his own brand of dog biscuits until the Scooby Snack Factory can re-open again. Shaggy believes this is a good subsistute until then, but Scooby hates them. Scooby is now freaking out at the thought of no more Scooby Snacks. This looks like a job for the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency!

Outside the Scooby Snack Factory, a policeman informs Mrs. McSnack that they can't find any trace or clues to finding the Cheese Monster. She resides to the fact that no one will ever go into the factory again. Mr. Acme consoles her by offering her a job at his factory which she's grateful for. He's enthusiastic about the prospect of adding her flavour formula to his dog biscuits, but that's not possible as all of her secret formulas are locked away in her factory which surprises him. At this moment the gang offer their services to Mrs. McSnack, but she isn't sure a group of kids could do anything. They assure her they can do it and ask her to reveal if there's anybody who might want to do this to her. She says that there is one: Boris Roquefort, an ex-employee who was fired for making some mistakes. They probe her for any other suspects, but she still thinks they're just kids who can't do what the police wouldn't have already been able to do, and she and Mr. Acme promptly leave in a car together, making a huge smoke cloud as they drive off.

The gang aren't very satisfied with her uncooperativeness. They're quickly startled by rustling bushes and thinks it's the monster which angers Scooby. He's ready for a few rounds until he realises what or who he's up against and chickens out. If only there was a Scooby Snack to toughen him up. Fortunately for Freddie he doesn't need one, but he'd still prefer to send out Daphne instead. But she won't go because it may have "cooties". Velma casually uses her yo-yo to pull out the disturbance, revealing none other than Red Herring; Freddie's number one suspect. He asks Red why he's here and the trouble maker heard about the news of the Cheese Monster and wants to thank it for making Scooby's life miserable. He meanly teases Scooby about there not being anymore Scooby Snacks. Daphne calls him a geek. Red cruelly gets Scooby's hopes up by making him think he saw a Scooby Snack. Shaggy tells him to cut it out, but he only laughs it off. Red gets his comeuppance though when he leans on a lever pouring chocolate out of two giant taps above him, eliciting a big laugh from the gang themselves and sending him on his way. With that all done they can look inside for clues, but not Scooby. Freddie, as sensitive as ever, offers him a Scooby Snack sending him into tears. Daphne tells him not to worry because there are no such thing as monsters, but that doesn't help. Shaggy thinks there might be some Scooby Snacks inside though which is enough to send Scooby racing into the factory.

The gang make their way inside the abandoned, creepy factory. Just then the chow hound's "super sniffer" detects none other than a Scooby Snack! He makes his way for the prize only for a mouse to snatch it up instead. The gang continue on and find a trail of splotches of cheese. Jinkies! A clue! It leads to the cheese lab. They go inside to find it wrecked and full of cheese everywhere. A file cabinet has been broken into and a top secret formula document is on the floor, another clue. Freddie checks another door for more clues only to find the Cheese Monster! It chases the gang out of the lab and onto a catwalk, trapping them.

When all is lost, Velma saves them by using her yo-yo again to pull down a lever on a control panel activating mechanical hands picking each of them up and away to safety. But before putting them on the ground they were dunked into different flavoured vats. Scooby "helps" by licking them all down and covering them in dog drool. He accidently left out Velma who was covered in cajun sauce, sending him to the locker room's water cooler and emptying it. While there, Velma finds a brand new suit in the trash, covered in cheese, leading to another mystery. So it's time to split up; Freddie & Daphne go back to the lab while the others search where they are.

Without a Scooby Snack, Scooby is too afraid to use his "sniffer" so Velma uses Shaggy instead which gets a giggle from Scooby. Shaggy finds a couple of splots of cheese until he finds... the Cheese Monster! The three get into a mad dash away and run into another room. The trio play him for a fool and get him to do an interview for a job there by filling out dozens of forms. They make this their cue to leave for "lunch", infuriating the monster.

Meanwhile at the lab, Daphne & Freddie find a used chemistry set and wonder what it was used for? Freddie theorises that the monster wants to turn them all into "cheese people". The others make their way back to the lab too, and tell the two they encountered the monster. They suddenly here a shuffle and follow the noise, seeing the back of a fleeing man. They make chase, but Shaggy & Scooby run for the other direction only to caught in a wheeled chair, sending them into the direction of the mystery man. They collide into another man though, and the three speedily go into all different directions. Velma burrows some chewing gum from Daphne and after using it, places it on the floor, sticking them in place. Freddie probes the man of all the need to know questions, but Daphne already recognises him as Boris Roquefort, the ex-employee of Mrs. McSnack. He says he made the only unsuccessful snack flavour, zucchini squid, and is now working on another top secret flavour. They ask him if he owns a blue suit which he does and they also find some cheese on his shoe, but he can't help stepping it because it's everywhere. It's even on Freddie's shoe, causing him to accuse himself.

Back to the case, and the prime suspect is Mr. Roquefort for the following three reasons: #1. he has a blue suit; #2. the secret formula is missing and he wants to make a new flavour and most important of all he has brown shoes... Brown shoes? Only Freddie could think this was a clue. Mr. Roquefort has had enough and runs away, the gang following behind. As Mr. Roquefort passes a corner, the cheese monster comes from the same one and freightens the kids; and an inevitable chase scene ensues.

The monster and the kids take turns pulling one over another until he captures everyone expect Scooby. Scooby finds them being tied up by the monster, scaring him away, only to bravely return when he hears Shaggy's cries for help. The gang's only hope is for Scooby to save them now, but Shaggy thinks he is too chicken, a coward, a fraidy cat, etc.. Scooby catches him, disappointing him. Shaggy is thrilled that Scooby returned without a Scooby Snack. His cheer is cut short though, by the monster who chases Scooby around the room. Daphne's had enough and wants to leave because her skirt has been rinkled so she cuts through the rope with a nail file. Meanwhile, the monster chases Scooby into a small room, the door closing behind them.

Scooby is now trapped with the monster and the gang can't get in. They hear slurping noises from the inside and fear the worst. They're shocked when the door bursts open; a man running out in his boxers and tank-top shirt, his costume having been reduced to the mask still covering his face. The kids find their puppy greatly fed from consuming most of the monster's costume and congratulate him for his achievement. Velma uses her yo-yo one last time to catch the bad guy, tangling him by the ankles, sending him crashing into the floor head first. Shaggy says they should call the police so they can "grill" this Cheese Monster; Scooby is quick to laugh, but really doesn't understand.

The gang call in Mrs. McSnack, and a policeman now has the bad guy underneath the Cheese Monster cuffed. Now that the monster has been caught she can re-open her factory, but they still don't know who's underneath. So the gang review the clues: A document containing a secret missing formula and a blue suit which can only point to one person... Red Herring! No, not this time Freddie. There's only one person who would want to run the Scooby Snack Factory out of business and that person is: Larry P. Acme, owner of the rival dog biscuit company, Acme Dog Biscuits. Without the competition his company would take over the market and could use the formula to improve his own ingredients making them a huge success. And he would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those pesky kids and that puppy who ate his costume! But it was delicious!

Shaggy asks Mrs. McSnack what happened to Mr. Roquefort? She's put him to work on a special reward for Scooby-Doo...

A Scooby Snack delivery truck leaves the Rogers home after making a big delivery of a lifetime supply of Mr. Roquefort's new flavour, bubblegum Scooby Snacks. Only a lifetime supply can only last a day with a pup named Scooby-Doo.

Characters
Main characters:
 * Scooby-Doo Detective Agency
 * Scooby-Doo
 * Shaggy Rogers
 * Velma Dinkley
 * Daphne Blake
 * Freddie Jones

Supporting characters:
 * Constance McSnack
 * Red Herring
 * Boris Roquefort

Monsters and villains:
 * Cheese Monster /
 * Larry P. Acme

Other characters:
 * Male worker
 * Female worker
 * Miscellaneous workers
 * Newscaster
 * Mouse
 * Police officer

Locations

 * Coolsville
 * Rogers home
 * Supermarket
 * Newsroom
 * Scooby Snack Factory

Objects
Clues:
 * TBA

Food and drinks:
 * Scooby Snacks

Other objects:
 * TBA

Notes/trivia

 * The episode title is a pun on the phrase, "Wanted dead or alive."
 * Daphne has yet another pair of new shoes.
 * Roquefort is the name of a type of cheese made from sheep's milk.
 * Acme is the name of the fictional company seen in the Looney Tunes cartoons.
 * Naming the rival company and the villain, Acme, is ironic since the word, acme, is Greek meaning the peak, zenith or prime, i.e. denoting the very best of something but Larry P. Acme, and his company were anything but the best.
 * Mystery Inc. would re-visit the Scooby Snacks factory (albeit in a different location) in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode, Recipe for Disaster, which features a slightly similar plot (i.e. monster terrorizing the factory).

Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches

 * None known.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

 * The only visible workers running out of the Scooby Snack Factory are two virtually identical male workers based on the one from the beginning of the episode.
 * Despite the Scooby Snack Factory closing down after the initial attack they still managed to fix the broken door of the cheese lab.
 * Daphne recognises Mr. Roquefort without actually having met him, unless she could have seen him in Mrs. McSnack's thought bubble.
 * Mr. Acme takes off his new suit presumably to keep it from getting covered with cheese, but not only does he fail at that he puts it away in a trash can.

Home media

 * 🇺🇸 A Pup Named Scooby-Doo: Volume 1 DVD released by Warner Home Video on July 19, 2005.
 * 🇺🇸 A Pup Named Scooby-Doo: Complete 1st Season DVD set released by Warner Home Video on March 18, 2008.
 * 🇺🇸 Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: For the Love of Snack DVD set released by Warner Home Video on January 7, 2014.