Gentlemen, Start Your Monsters! is the eleventh episode of the third season of What's New, Scooby-Doo?, and thirty-ninth overall.
Premise[]
Fred competes in a car race invaded by a skeleton driving a monster truck.
Synopsis[]
Race car driver Champ Truman drives laps around a track to prepare for the Gainesville 5000, but he encounters a skeleton driving a monster truck who destroys his car, forcing him to flee. Fred later visits the race and also practices, intending to compete in the race. The others, led by Daphne, act as Fred's pit crew, but Daphne encounters Mike Fury, the coach of competitor Ricky Burdick, who belittles Daphne and boasts his driver will win. Suddenly, Fred encounters the same skeleton, watching as he destroys another car. As they begin investigating, they meet fellow racer Burr Batson, who boasts about his racing skills to Daphne.
Mystery Inc. stays at the race track for the night, as Fred had designed the Mystery Machine to be slept in. They meet Jimmy and Cindy, two children who claim their father is competing in the race. After Mystery Inc. goes to bed, they are awoken by the skeleton driver, who speeds toward them in his monster truck. Using the vehicle's new features, Fred narrowly dodges the charging vehicle. Mystery Inc. splits up to investigate further; Fred, Daphne, and Velma find the car Jimmy and Cindy's father uses, but also a crash test dummy in a nearby locker. Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby find food but the skeleton driver attacks them, forcing them to drive away in Fred's race car. They ward the skeleton away by throwing their pizzas in his face.
The race begins, and Fred starts driving around the track. However, the skeleton driver appears and destroys Batson's car, forcing him to flee. The driver then intercepts Fred's earpiece, threatening him, then somehow takes control of the car. Fred is left powerless as his vehicle crashes into a billboard and though unharmed he continues to drive down the track uncontrollably. So, Daphne steals Fury's car to rescue Fred. Fred attempts Fury's car, and though passing cars force him go to back, Shaggy finds and disables the remote controlling Fred's car. Fred, regaining control of the car, pulls over for a pit stop.
Inspecting the remote, Velma discovers how the skeleton controlled the car. To stop the skeleton driver, Fred returns to the race track, luring the skeleton driver into appearing. Then, Velma modifies the remote to block radio signals, and the skeleton driver's truck abruptly stops. The skeleton driver falls off his truck and breaks, revealing he is a robot, and Jimmy and Cindy's father's car also stops, revealing the car is also remote-controlled and its "driver" is a disguised crash test dummy. They spot the culprit atop a radio tower and ascend the tower to confront them.
The masterminds are revealed to be Jimmy and Cindy, who wanted to sabotage the race as an act of revenge, as they were denied from the race due to their age. While Jimmy controlled their "father's" race car, Cindy controlled the skeleton driver to attack the other racers, eliminating their competitors. After catching the culprits, Fred returns to the race and wins, angering Fury. He and his team celebrate with a barbecue, grilling food on their race car's hot engine.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Mike Fury (only appearance)
- Burr Batson (final appearance)
Villains:
- Skeleton Driver (only appearance)(robot)
- Jimmy (only appearance)
- Cindy (only appearance)
Other characters:
- P.A. announcer (only time heard)
- Champ Truman (only appearance)
- Ricky Burdick (only appearance)(cameo)
- Jake V. (mentioned)
- Steve (only appearance)
- Jimmy and Cindy's father (only appearance) (mentioned)
Locations[]
Objects[]
- Mystery Machine remote
- Gang's flashlights
- Apples
- Watermelon
- Bananas
- Crash test dummy
- Corn on the cob
- Scooby Snacks car
Vehicles[]
- Mystery Machine
- Team Scooby Snax's race car
- Jimmy and Cindy's race car
- Burr's race car
- Burr's monster truck
- Skeleton Driver's monster truck
- Race cars
- RVs
Suspects[]
| Suspect | Motive/Reason |
|---|---|
| Mike Fury | He wanted his racer to win. |
| Burr Batson | The way he drove a monster truck. |
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/Reason |
|---|---|
| Jimmy and Cindy remote-controlling the Skeleton Driver | Angry because they were too young to be in the race. |
Cast[]
Songs[]
| Song | Credits | Performed by | Character performance by |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Hot" | Written by Gregory D. Camp, Paul Gerald DeLisle, and Steve Scott Harwell | Smash Mouth | N/A |
Continuity[]
- This is the second episode of What's New, Scooby-Doo taking place in an auto race, after The Fast and the Wormious. One suspect from that episode, Burr Batson, reappears in this episode.
Notes/Trivia[]
- The episode title is a play on what is said before the beginning of a race, "Gentlemen, start your engines."
- Instead of saying "meddling kids," Jimmy calls Mystery Inc. "meddling grown-ups" since he is a child himself.
- While not explicitly made clear, Ricky Burdick was likely seen next to Mike when the gang took the former's car to save Fred.
- This episode was included in Cartoon Network's Scooby-Doo! Back to School Marathon (August 10–11, 2013).
- A "Daphanatic" from Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy, has a photo of Daphne wearing her race car outfit.
- The location and plot of the episode is a Mashup of Nascar, Daytona 500 races (also Nascar) and Monster Jam.
- Fred was playing his racing game is a style of the GameBoy Color.
Miscellaneous[]
- Disguises: Scooby as a baby and Shaggy as an old lady.
- Traps: Fred lures the monster into appearing, then Velma uses a remote to stop his monster truck.
- Clues: A crash test dummy and the skeleton driver's remote.
- Scooby Snacks bribe: 1.
- "Jeepers" count: 1.
- "Jinkies" count: 2.
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches[]
- None known.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- In the opening credits, Chuck Sheetz is misspelled as "Chuck Sheets".
- A point is always made of keeping the boys and girls in separating sleeping rooms. A Scooby-Doo Valentine even has them living in separate houses, yet here, the Mystery Machine has been modified to have them all sleep in it at the same time.
- An advertisement on the stadium reads "Poformance Oil", a misspelling of "performance."
In other languages[]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Greek | Κούρσα Ταχύτητας | Speed Race |
| Polish | Potwory na start | Monsters to the starting line |
Home media[]
What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 10 - Gentlemen, Start Your Monsters DVD released by Warner Home Video on November 20, 2006.- What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 9 - Route Scary Six DVD released by Warner Home Video on February 20, 2007.
- Quoi d'Neuf, Scooby-Doo?: Volume 10 - A Fond les Ballons! DVD released by Warner Home Video on September 12, 2007.
- What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Complete 3rd Season DVD set released by Warner Home Video on January 8, 2008.
- What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Volumes 9 & 10 - Spooky Case & A Mad Race! DVD released by Warner Home Video on May 30, 2011.
- Scooby-Doo! and the Robots DVD released by Warner Home Video on August 30, 2011.
- Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: Field of Screams DVD set released by Warner Home Video on May 13, 2014.
- Scooby-Doo! and the Robotic Robots - Digital VOD release purchasable on Prime Video/iTunes.
Quotes[]
Jimmy: And we would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for you meddling grown-ups. |
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Gold Paw |