Dance of the Undead

Dance of the Undead is the eighteenth episode of the second season of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, and the forty-fourth episode overall in the series.

Premise
A ska group named Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics return to life to turn people into zombies and make them dance forever!

Synopsis
Krissy Kristy, a TV music news reporter, is broadcasting her show live on TV. She tells the audience where she is: at the exact spot where a music group called "Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics" died in a plane crash 30 years ago. She starts interviewing Ian Hope (the Ska-Tastics' manager) about the tragic incident, when suddenly they get attacked by mysterious beings and the signal is cut. Shaggy and Scooby, who where watching the show at their home, get terrorized because of what they just saw.

The gang decides to investigate, going to Grooves from the Grave to search for information about the band. They are greeted by Martha Quinn, owner of the place. She shows the gang the only hit of the band, "Graveyard Ska Inc.", and then she tells them, with help of a slideshow, that Rude Boy turned to voodoo magic to further his career, which led him to cast love spells on the audience, curse other bands and even cast an enchantment of never - ending pain on a synthesizer once; and that he always said that he would come back from the grave. Later, the zombified Rude Boy and the Ska Tastics attack several people in the Tiki Tub, making them to dance to their music unwittingly. Rude Boy and the Ska Tastics leave just before Sheriff Bronson Stone and other deputies arrive, but the people can't stop dancing.

All the victims of the event are transported to Crystal Cove's hospital. Once the gang gets there, Scooby decides to visit Nova again. Later on, Daphne mentions that the way the victims dance is called "Skanking", and that that is how it's meant to dance to ska music. A doctor tells the gang that if the cure is not found within 24 hours, the victims will enter a permanent cataleptic state and become zombies for the rest of their lives. The gang decide to go to the cemetery where Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics are buried to look for clues, and Shaggy accidentally falls into Rude Boy's grave, where they find Ian Hope tied up. Some moments later, the gang encounters the zombified band, and are persecuted by them across the graveyard and then the town. Once the zombies are out of sight, the gang goes to Grooves from the Grave again and talk to Ian Hope. Martha Quinn explains something about the "Dancing Plague" that happened at France in 1818.

Suddenly, they all hear ska music coming from the outside, so they get out of the store to see what's happening. They see that that Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics are playing their only hit at top of City Hall, which makes everyone but Shaggy and Scooby to start dancing unwittingly. Shaggy and Scooby aren't affected by the music because "music is just noise" to dogs and Shaggy is tone deaf. They seek help from the Hex Girls, who decide to confront the Ska-Tastics in a magical - musical battle. With help of Shaggy and Scooby, The Hex Girls win, freeing everyone from the dancing "curse".

Sheriff Stone arrests the zombies. It's revealed that Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics faked their own death in order to make a surprise comeback a year later, with a new hit - song. Unfortunately, writing the perfect song took more than expected, and when it was ready, ska wasn't popular anymore; so they decided to show up dressed as the undead version of themselves to become famous again. They used an enharmonic cord with special frequencies to make people dance.

At Shaggy's home, the Hex Girls discover musical notes in the Planispheric Disk. Velma says that those notes weren't there before, which means that the Planispheric disk has changed. The Hex Girls hum the notes, causing the disk's pieces to spin. Velma holds a lamp and redirects its light to the pieces, which reflects another set of coordinates in the floor. Fred tells the gang that they have to see where the coordinates lead them to, but Scooby decides to go to visit Nova at the hospital instead. The coordinates led the gang (except Scooby) to the Clam Cabin, where they find Skipper Shelton wearing a peculiar helmet. After talking with the gang, Skipper gives the helmet to Velma. Then, she says that the helmet is the second key. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Scooby is talking with Nova, when she flatlines. Scooby gets worried, and suddenly Nova opens her eyes. She stands up, and says: "Nibiru. Nibiru is coming", and then she lays in bed again.

Villains

 * Zombies/Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics

Locations

 * Crystal Cove
 * Crystal Cove Cemetery
 * Grooves from the Grave
 * Tiki Tub
 * Crystal Cove Hospital
 * Crystal Cove City Hall
 * Skipper Shelton's Clam Cabin

Continuity

 * This is the second appearance of the Hex Girls; they previously appeared in In Fear Of The Phantom.
 * Nova was critically injured in the previous episode.

Notes/trivia

 * This episode was aired in Latin America and Brazil on March 1, 2013.
 * Fred announces the "previously on..." recap.
 * HB News is also a news program in the regular continuity as shown in Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon.
 * Shaggy gives Scooby's name as "Scoobert Dooby-Doo" over the hospital intercom; Scooby's parents frequently addressed by his full first name on A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.
 * The Hex Girls wear the costumes their original counterparts did introduced in their first appearance, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost; they explain this to be a public demand meaning their costumes in In Fear Of The Phantom are actually their second ones. They also wear two other outfits: the second is skull-like outfits they wear to take on the zombiefied Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics and the last is more casual outfits.
 * The music notes that the Planispheric Disk play that the Hex Girls also hum to is based on the series main title music.
 * The Cass Elliot lookalike can be seen in the first dance mob scene on the right side.
 * The song, "We Do Voodoo", was originally sung by the Hex Girls in the movie, Scooby-Doo! And The Legend Of The Vampire.
 * While in the Grooves from the Grave, one can see an album looking strikingly like indie rock band Phoenix's album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches

 * Right before Velma, Daphne and Fred become dancing zombies, Scooby, as Velma tells him and Shaggy to save the town, has no spots.
 * The ring of Scooby's dog tag is fully shown over his collar as he and Shaggy smash their guitars to the ground after the band battle is over.

Inconsistences/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

 * The notes on the Planispheric Disk don't match with the main title music, the notes are: B D G B B G C A G; the actual notes are: B G F# M F# G B.
 * How could the Hex Girl hum the song, if they are not seeing the correct notes?
 * In the previous episode the Horrible Herd destroys most of Crystal Cove, yet in this episode everything looks untouched.


 * Whilst Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics are wearing their zombie outfits during their unmasking, after the flashback, they are shown wearing their original ones.

Home media

 * Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season Two, Part 2 - Spooky Stampede DVD set released June 18, 2013.
 * Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The Complete Season 2 DVD set released October 7, 2014.