Wednesday is Missing

Wednesday is Missing, also known as Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family, is the third episode of the first season of The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

Premise
When Gomez and Morticia want to go away, the group gets tricked into being house sitters in the Addams Family house. But when Wednesday turns up missing, there is another mystery to solve

Synopsis
After the Mystery Machine gets stuck in the mud, they are greeted by a strange man who offers them residence in the Addams Family house. Inside, Gomez Addams is upset over the fact that they cannot vacation at the Okeefenokee Swamp due to the housekeepers abandoning, and are welcomed upon the Mystery, Inc. gang arriving. After Gomez and Matricia leave, the gang has dinner, when, all of a sudden, they hear the Giant Vulture and suddenly Wednesday disappears. A note is near her chair, telling the Addams Family to leave the residence. The gang decides to investigate, while Shaggy is reluctant to do so. After they excavate the residence they start to lose hope, while at the Okeefenokee, Gomez gets caught by an octopus. Meanwhile, they discover a door locked with a padlock. Using Velma's hairpin, they discover Wednesday sitting down. After finding a note in Wednesday's voodoo doll as well as one in an egg the vulture laid, they eventually discover that the vulture is a giant helicopter operated by the disgruntled housekeepers, who planned the event to scare away the Addams Family. However, the children are happy with the result, and Lurch pulls the Mystery Machine up, therefore continuing the adventure further. Shaggy accidentally uses one of Uncle Fester's roman candles, and the Mystery Machine is covered with fireworks.

Characters
Main characters:
 * Mystery Inc.
 * Scooby-Doo
 * Fred Jones
 * Daphne Blake
 * Velma Dinkley
 * The Addams Family
 * Gomez Addams
 * Morticia Addams
 * Grandmama
 * Lurch
 * Pugsley Addams
 * Uncle Fester
 * Wednesday Addams
 * Cousin Itt
 * Thing

Villains

 * Giant Vulture/Housekeeping couple (redeemed)

Suspects

 * None

Locations

 * Addams Family mansion

Notes/trivia

 * This episode marked the first animated appearance of the Addams Family; it is also considered the pilot for the Addams Family animated series that premiered on September 8, 1973. Previously, a live-action sitcom aired on CBS from 1964 to 1966. Four of the sitcom's cast members: John Astin (Gomez), Carolyn Jones (Morticia), Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester), and Ted Cassidy (Lurch) provided the voices for their characters. After the episode aired, fans wanted more animated adventures featuring the Addamses, and Hanna-Barbera responded in kind.
 * Fred states that he's seen the Addams Family on T.V. lots of times; this is probably a reference to the live-action sitcom.

Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches

 * In one scene Fred has no nose.
 * In the beginning, when the Mystery Machine is driving through the fog, from the inside where Shaggy and Scooby sit, there is three open windows along the side of the van, although it wasn't there before or after. Actually, the Mystery Machine has no side windows, just two in the front.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

 * At dinner when the Giant Vulture makes its appearance, the candles go out and then the Thing fires up the candles. But in the next shot the candles are again blown out.
 * The Giant Vulture is revealed to be a helicopter but it does not move like a helicopter rather it moves like a jet plane.
 * At the end, magnets are the explanation for the magic carpet, the levitating chair, and the suit of armor but Daphne refers to the suit of armor as "the mummy". There was no mummy in the episode, and the suit of armor was encountered by Velma, Shaggy and Scooby (though they could've told Fred and Daphne later on).

Home media

 * Scooby-Doo meets the Addams Family VHS.
 * Since The Addams Family characters are owned by another company, licensing issues prohibits Warner Home Video from releasing this onto DVD.

Quotes
Velma: I think we took the wrong turn.

Fred: (about the steel cubes the housekeeping couple had used to control various objects around the Addams's house via the helicopter, which was disguised as a giant vulture) That explains Wednesday's levitating chair.

Daphne: And the mummy.

Velma: And the flying carpet.

Male Housekeeper: Yes. We wanted to frighten the Addams Family out of the area.

Daphne: But why?

Female Housekeeper: All those eerie things in that house - mummies, dinosaurs - they had a bad effect on the neighborhood children.

Velma: The neighborhood kids? Is that what this is about?

Male Housekeeper: Why don't you call the authorities and get this over with?

Velma: Just a minute, folks. I've got a much better solution.