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Scoobynatural is the sixteenth episode of the thirteenth season of the live-action CW series Supernatural. It features the main characters of Supernatural going into the world of Scooby-Doo, specifically the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode A Night of Fright is No Delight.
Premise[]
After a haunted television set transports the Winchester Brothers into the animated world of Scooby-Doo, they join forces with the Scooby Gang to solve a ghostly mystery, one that is very real and life-threatening.
Synopsis[]
At a pawn shop, Dean Winchester battles a giant stuffed dinosaur which has come to life and gone on a rampage. His brother, Sam, eventually manages to pin the dinosaur down and Dean douses it in holy oil before setting it on fire, causing the dinosaur to violently explode. In the aftermath, the shop owner, Alan, is relieved that the threat is over and dismisses the mess since they saved his life.
The three men are joined by Jay who heard the commotion. After the Winchesters quickly try to cover up the events, Alan identifies Jay as "the big man around here" who owns pretty much the whole neighborhood. The Winchesters are confused by the attack since they had come to town to investigate reports of a giant lizard and tracked it back to the pawn shop. However, they didn't expect a giant, evil plushie and are unsure what it was since the dinosaur didn't act like a cursed object (something they have encountered before). The brothers decide to investigate further and Alan offers to give them anything they want as thanks for saving his life. Against Sam's wishes, Dean takes a giant flat screen TV.
At the Men of Letters bunker, Sam does research, but can't find anything about cursed objects that physically attacks people. Dean dismisses the threat as being over and leads Sam to a bedroom he has transformed into a man cave. Dean decides to test out his new TV but when he turns it on, the screen glows, crackles, and shoots a purple beam of energy at them, sucking them inside the television.
The Winchester brothers appear on a roadside in an animated form and are shocked to realize that they have been transported into a cartoon. The Winchesters attempt to figure out what happened to them, suggesting that its "an angel thing" or maybe the Trickster despite the Trickster supposedly being dead. To their further shock, they spot their car parked nearby. Dean suggests that it could be because he had the keys in his pocket, but states that "beyond weird" is their kind of thing and is unconcerned by this new development. Dean points out that they have a case and suggests that they work it "same as always" and the Winchesters drive off.
Finally, the car arrives at the Malt Shop, and the Winchesters are surprised to spot the Mystery Machine parked outside. They quickly realize they are in Scooby-Doo. Entering the Malt Shop, Dean is excited to see Mystery Inc. on the dance floor and Scooby-Doo slurping a milkshake. Calling dibs on Daphne, Dean leads the way over to Mystery Inc.'s booth, calling it a dream come true. Dean calls Mystery Inc. their role models, ("except Fred, he's a wad."), and points out that the Winchesters do the same thing as Mystery Inc.: they go to spooky places, they solve mysteries and they fight ghosts. Sam is unsure of the comparison since their ghosts don't wear masks and they don't have a talking dog.
Dismissing Sam's comments, Dean joins Mystery Inc. at their booth, introduces himself and Sam and asks to join them. Fred agrees and introduces everyone. Dean takes the opportunity to sit next to Daphne and kiss her hand in an attempt at flirtation. Scooby and Shaggy find Dean's comment that they are famous as ridiculous, thinking they are only famous for their eating skills. Velma explains that they are celebrating Scooby being named as the heir to an old southern colonel that Scooby saved from drowning and shows them a newspaper. When Sam tries to question the gang for details on the death, Dean pulls Sam aside, and basically tells him to stop being so serious and play along with the lighthearted tone of the cartoon. Sam is annoyed that Dean would rather hang out with Scooby than find a way to escape but Dean insists that, based on previous experience, their best course of action in this situation is to play their part.
Dean offers his and Sam's help as mystery solvers and Fred accepts. Right before they go, Shaggy and Scooby compose their "road food" and Dean is thrilled to have a chance to recreate one of Shaggy's famous, super tall, super stacked sandwiches. Thanks to cartoon physics, Dean stretches his mouth large enough to fit that sandwich, much to Sam's mild annoyance and embarrassment. Outside, Dean challenges Fred to a race to the colonel's mansion; certain that his impala can outpace Fred's van. When Sam asks Dean why he hates Fred so much, Dean mulishly claims Fred "thinks he's so cool with his perfect hair, can-do attitude, and stupid ascot." As soon as the light turns green, Fred takes off, leaving the Winchesters in the dust. With an angry shout, Dean drives after the Mystery Machine. Unnoticed by anyone, a trenchcoat wearing figure walks into the road and watches them leave.
The Winchesters manage to catch up and Dean insists to Sam that Fred must've cheated. Upon seeing the mansion, Dean realizes that the Winchesters have been transported into A Night of Fright is No Delight, an episode Dean has seen many times. In the mansion, the Winchesters sit with everyone else as Cosgood Creeps introduces himself and plays a record where Beauregard Sanders informs his heirs that they will all receive an equal share of a million dollars as long as they spend the night in the mansion which is haunted. If anyone doesn't stay the whole night, their share will go to the others.
Sam is annoyed that "some weirdo" would go to the trouble of making people spend the night in a haunted mansion for a million dollars. Velma tells Sam that the house isn't really haunted and these kinds of things happen all the time. Dean stops Sam from revealing that they are in a cartoon, insisting that they not tell the Scooby gang the truth as Dean wants to keep them "pure and innocent and good." Sam suggests that they "just skip to the end" of the episode since Dean knows what's going to happen but Dean refuses and Sam realizes that Dean just wants to spend more time with Daphne. Cosgood leaves with a creepy laugh and Dean tells Sam that Cosgood turns out to be the bad guy (much to Sam's lack of surprise). As everyone heads to bed, Dean tries to get Daphne to bunk with him, but is rejected in favor of Velma (Daphne cheerfully claims boys and girls don't share rooms). Dean has to share a room with Fred, Scooby, Shaggy and Sam.
In the boy's room, Fred reassures a worried Scooby, who's presumably worried about the whole haunted house claim. Dean joins them, clad in a sleeping robe (which an incredulous Sam initially identified as a nightgown), and Dean admits the robe is comfortable. Over in the girl's room, Daphne brings up the Winchesters, Velma calls Dean "all right," but is dismissive of Sam, calling him a "big lug" and insisting that there is no such thing as the supernatural. Daphne is surprised, telling Velma that she'd thought big lugs were Velma's type, causing Velma to blush. That night, a glowing green ghost with chains flies through the halls of the mansion, causing the lights to flicker.
Cousin Simple is brushing his teeth when the lights flicker in his bathroom and his breath turns visible. He turns to find the ghost behind him armed with a knife. Scooby has finally gone to sleep, leaving Dean and Sam awake. Sam grouses at him for eating but Dean relates the next part of the episode; in a few minutes they will find out that Cousin Simple is missing, the gang will think its a ghost but it will really be Cosgood Creeps in disguise. On cue, Cousin Simple screams and the Winchesters and the gang rush to his room. There, Daphne finds Cousin Simple's dead body. Dean is surprised as the dummy bodies aren't supposed to show up until later in the episode. Sam takes a closer look and tells him it's not a dummy. Cousin Simple really is dead with a knife sticking out of his back and surrounded by a pool of blood. The gang all make their famous exclamations ("Jinkies!" "Jeepers!" "Zoinks!" "Ruh-roh"), and so does Dean ("Son of a b*tch.")
With everyone now dressed, Fred announces that they have another mystery on their hands and leaves. Sam is understandably surprised and annoyed at how casually Fred is acting around a dead body. Dean tries to use the opportunity to hit on Daphne by calling Fred a jerk, Daphne disagrees and walks off. After the Scooby gang leave the room, Dean tells Sam that what is going on is not the way things happened in A Night of Fright is No Delight. There was no actual murder in a children's cartoon. Sam recognizes that Dean is right and is left worried by the fact that if Cousin Simple can die, so can they. Dean is more concerned that Scooby can die and is adamant he won't let that happen.
Sam and Dean join the gang in another room where Velma tries to come up with a rational explanation for what is going on. Shaggy spots the trenchcoat wearing figure from earlier approaching the large windows. The stranger opens a window and he's grabbed by Fred who throws a curtain on him. Dean goes to punch the man but stops short when the man is revealed to be Castiel. The Winchesters introduce Castiel as a friend of theirs. The gang take news of this newcomer in stride and Castiel is dealing with it fairly well too, though he's a little perturbed to meet a talking dog. Castiel explains to Sam and Dean that he came back to the bunker from an important task involving djinn and fruit from the tree of life when he stumbled upon the TV that sucked them in. Naturally, he got sucked in as well. He was zapped to the moment where the van and the impala raced off towards the mansion and Castiel had been trying to catch up to them since then.
The purple sparks in Castiel's story has Sam realizing that they saw the same thing with the killer stuffed dinosaur from the pawn shop ‒ he thinks the two incidents are connected. Velma overhears the tail end of their conversation and the Winchesters and Castiel quickly come up with a cover story, claiming it's a book ("The Killer Stuffed Dinosaur... In Love.") The Scooby gang accept the lie easily and suddenly, the lights start flickering. Shaggy notes its getting cold and everyone's breath becomes visible. Velma lights a lamp and Sam and Dean take out their flashlights. They all start walking around the mansion when they hear screams coming from another room. The doors all shut and the ghost emerges through the closed door, knocking away Sam's flashlight. Shaggy and Scooby cower in fear in Castiel's arms, and Dean turns to Sam to get ready for the attack but Fred beats them to it. When Fred tries to tackle the ghost, he goes right through the spirit. The ghost makes some deep gouges in the wall and Fred tries for another tackle but the ghost disappears through a wall.
Velma is desperately trying to offer a rational explanation for what they just saw to a terrified Scooby and Shaggy, suggesting that it disappeared through a hidden door. Fred points out that the ghost originally came out of a bedroom and they check it out. That's where they find Cosgood decapitated and dismembered, hanging from the ceiling. Sam and Dean are horrified but Fred merely offers a quick "That's not good" before he and the rest of the gang leave. Looking at Cosgood's body, Dean tells Sam that the cold spots and the lights fritzing out is a sign of their kind of ghost and Dean states that he believes the cartoon is haunted. They join the Scooby gang in the main room by the stairs and Fred tells everyone it's time to split up and search for clues. Needless to say, the Winchesters and Castiel think its a bad idea and Sam says it would be safer to stick together. Velma mistakes Sam's caution for cowardice and Sam, Dean, and Castiel are forced to follow along with Fred's plan if they want to keep the gang safe from a dangerous, lethal ghost. Dean immediately wants to pair up with Daphne and Fred cheerily joins them. Velma volunteers Sam to help her search the attic and teases him about being scared. Sam is confused by her attentions but is quick to agree. That leaves Castiel to team up with Shaggy and Scooby; Castiel is not pleased.
Searching the attic, Velma figures that this is Sam's first mystery and asks him to keep his "giant linebacker shoulders" from disrupting any potential clues. When asked why she keeps bringing up his shoulders, Velma can only blush and stammer. Sam decides to tell Velma that ghosts, and all sorts of supernatural creatures, are real. Though Velma is initially stunned silent, she laughs it off and insists monsters are all just crooks in masks. Sam points out that there are a lot better real estate scams but their conversation is interrupted when they find a trunk full of old toys. Velma notices that the toys are the only thing not covered in dust but Sam is more interested in the ectoplasm surrounding the toy trunk, something that gets left behind by ghosts. Velma is skeptical but then the toys start glowing and attack Sam and Velma. Even as they're running from the glowing toys launching themselves at the pair, Velma continues to try and offer a plausible explanation to what's going on ("It's probably just Christmas lights and fishing line!")
In the library, Dean flirts with Daphne again, asking what she looks for in a guy. With a look at Fred, Daphne tells Dean she's interested in someone "strong, sincere, and an ascot wouldn't hurt." Dean's not happy with the answer but a bookshelf catches his eye. He notices a single yellow book amongst all of the other books painted into the background of the cartoon. He wiggles the book, thinking it might open a secret passage but nothing happens... until a few seconds later when a trap door opens beneath Fred, Daphne and Dean's feet. The three go down huge, twisty slides and end up in a dark room. With only two pairs of eyes visible, Dean makes his way over to who he thinks is Daphne and claims he wants to give her a "once over" to make sure she's not bodily injured. Fred manages to find the lights and Dean realizes he has his hand on the ghost's thigh. The ghost is about as pleased by the reveal as Dean is and Fred, Daphne, and Dean all run away.
Down in an expansive storage room, Shaggy notes that it's very cold (a sign of a spirit). Scooby, Shaggy and Castiel discover that they are being followed by the ghost. While Scooby and Shaggy quickly take off, Castiel critiques the ridiculous costume but finds his hand going through the spirit when he tries to grab the supposed mask. Castiel is quickly dragged off by Scooby and Shaggy. This leads to a chase scene/montage with the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? theme song. Scooby, Shaggy, and Castiel run past Dean and Daphne, and Daphne is quickly dragged off by Fred before Dean can make a move. The whole group do their famous hallway doors gag and the Scooby gang quickly nail all the doors shut after trapping the ghost behind a room, but it doesn't work since the ghost can float through walls and doors. They all hide inside several large vases before getting discovered by the ghost and colliding into each other mid-run.
With the musical chase scene over, the group ducks into a room together and debate how they'll catch the ghost. The room suddenly grows cold and all of the glass fogs over, including Velma's glasses. The ghost breaks into the room and Fred rushes at the ghost, despite Sam's warning. This time, instead of going through the ghost, Fred is thrown into a marble bust. Daphne and Velma are pinned to a wall via telekinesis and Shaggy is flung out the window. Sam tosses an iron candlestick holder to Dean and together the Winchesters stab the ghost in the back; iron being used to deter spirits. The ghost screams in pain and disappears. A falling Velma and Daphne managed to get caught Winchesters and a dazed Fred finds he has a bloody nose. Fred is understandably concerned and asks what happened, before Scooby asks about Shaggy. They all spot Shaggy dangling for his life from a metal beam outside the window.
Shaggy yells for help but loses his grip and falls. Scooby quickly jumps after him and grabs his foot. Castiel dives after them both and grabs Scooby's tail. Using his trench coat like a parachute to slow their fall the three land relatively unharmed after a tree breaks their fall. The gang quickly rush down to assess the situation and Shaggy is horrified to learn his arm is broken, relating that he has jumped out of a biplane in a museum before without harm. Daphne and Velma quickly create an arm brace for Shaggy and use Fred and Daphne's ascots tied together as a sling. Sam insists it's time to tell the Scooby gang the truth and Dean finally agrees. They explain that the gang is facing a real ghost ‒ a Vengeful Spirit come back from the dead.
The Scooby gang have a horrifying epiphany about what it means to live in a world where vampires and werewolves and ghosts exist. They all have a nervous breakdown but Dean tries to rally their spirits by recounting all the villains they've faced and the things they went through to catch them. Dean says they're heroes and asks for their help in taking down this ghost. Encouraged, the gang agree to help but Velma points out that they don't have the knowledge or weaponry to fight real ghosts. In response, the Winchesters show them the arsenal in the impala's trunk. Sam tries to offer Velma a shotgun but Dean quickly stops him, citing that as "a Scooby Don't." Even if they aren't allowed to handle firearms, Fred still wants to help and Dean assures Fred he can help by doing what he does best: building a trap.
The trap is set and Fred explains how it works: Daphne has laid down salt lines over all the entrances but one which the ghost will be forced to enter through. At that entrance, Velma, Scooby and Shaggy have strung an iron chain that will trip an axe that will cut a rope, releasing a net full of coconuts strung above the doorway. When the coconuts fall, they will knock the ghost down a pathway slicked with soap, leading into a washing machine that they will secure with iron chains. All that's left is the bait, which falls to the usual two: Scooby and Shaggy. But this time they're joined by Castiel. Shaggy and Scooby are scared and Castiel isn't all that reassuring with his monotone straightforwardness. The lights start to flicker, and their breath fogs up, signaling the ghost is nearby.
The ghost appears behind Castiel and the three lead him on a chase towards the trap. While the iron chain does affect the ghost, the falling coconuts simply pass right through the ghost and end up tripping up Castiel, Shaggy, and Scooby. The three slide into the washing machine and get trapped. From their hiding space, Sam gripes that he knew the plan wouldn't work and Dean agrees that Fred's traps never work. Luckily they had a plan B which involves leading the ghost into the library, distracting him by throwing books at him, and getting it to the trap door near the yellow book. Scooby is the one who pulls the book sending the ghost down the long, twisty slide where it lands inside a salt circle surrounded by Sam, Dean and Castiel. Ghosts cannot cross a salt circle so it's stuck, helplessly flailing around. Dean demands to know who the ghost really is and after screaming and banging around the salt barrier, the ghost sinks to its knees and finally reveals its true form: a young boy.
The ghost boy explains that he didn't want to hurt anyone but "the bad man" made him. The boy identifies the bad man as Jay, the man visiting the pawn shop. The boy explains that when he died, his soul was tied to a beloved pocketknife that his dad gave him. Jay found the pocketknife and used the ghost for his own purposes. A flashback shows Jay putting the knife into the stuffed dinosaur, meaning the plushie that attacked Dean was not a cursed object but a ghost possession. The boy explains that he sometimes gets angry and lashes out, breaking things and hurting people but all he wants to do is see his dad again. The Winchesters and Castiel assure the boy that he's not at fault and promise to set him free if he can return them to the real world.
With the situation resolved, the Winchesters and Castiel find the Scooby gang panicking outside of the room, asking if they need to get guns and demanding they banish the ghost back to hell. Deciding that they can't leave them in such a state, Dean asks the kid for a favor. When the gang enters the room, the ghost kid is gone, replaced by a tied up man in a costume with a mask on. The Winchesters "admit" that they were wrong and Velma was right: it wasn't a real ghost after all. On Dean's prompting, Velma unmasks the man, revealing Cosgood Creeps. Sam and Dean claim that the flying was done by wires, the walking through walls was just a projector and the dead bodies were dummies filled with corn syrup. Fred realizes that Cosgood was trying to drive everyone from the house so he could get the money for himself which Dean confirms then shows everyone that the money was all Confederate dollars and was thus worthless. Scooby takes it in stride, stating "easy come, easy go."
Sam grudgingly admits that Velma was right and Velma is relieved and happy to know that "there's no such thing as the supernatural" (namedropping the show, and leading to a quick shot of Castiel's face looking at the audience). While everyone is distracted, Castiel discreetly heals Shaggy's broken arm, leaving Shaggy to think that his arm wasn't broken after all. With the case solved, Fred decides to return to the Malt Shop to celebrate and everyone says their goodbyes. Dean makes peace with Fred and tries to hit on Daphne one last time without success. Castiel thanks Scooby and Shaggy for teaching him about the great strength of laughter in the face of danger; of course they scatter at the mere utterance of the word 'danger'. Velma finally addresses Sam by his name (instead of "big lug") and grabs him, dips him, and kisses him. He's shocked but Velma is pleased as she walks off, murmuring about Sam's shoulders. Dean makes a remark about how "it's always the quiet ones".
With the Scooby gang gone, Castiel tells "Cosgood" that they are ready. "Cosgood" transforms back into the ghost boy who transports the Winchesters and Castiel back to their world in a flash of purple light. Dean comments on how the experience was the coolest thing that's ever happened to him before leaving the room to get a blowtorch and a sledgehammer. Dean smashes his TV with the sledgehammer and locates the pocketknife in the wreckage and tosses it to Sam. The ghost boy manifests in the bunker and Dean tells him that its time to go. Sam promises that they will deal with the bad man before he uses the blowtorch to melt the pocketknife. The ghost boy is no longer bound to the pocket knife now that it's destroyed so he disappears in a ball of purple light, finally free.
At the pawn shop, Alan is reluctantly finalizing the paperwork to sell his business to Jay when they're interrupted by the Winchesters and Castiel. Alan notices that Dean is wearing an ascot and Dean seems pleased and willing to show it off. Sam tells Alan that Jay has been driving people off their property so he can buy it cheap and has been using his own personal ghost to do it. Through flashbacks, it's shown how Jay searched through the stuffed dinosaur's remains, found the pocket knife, and slipped it into a vent on the back of the large TV that Sam and Dean were hauling away. Castiel shows Jay the melted pocketknife and tells him that the ghost is now free. Jay initially tries to deny it but then tells them that no one will believe them anyway. Sam tells Jay that they knew that, so they hacked into Jay's financial records and discovered that he never paid his taxes, so they tipped off the cops. Dean comments that if it's "good enough for Capone, good enough for you."
Outside, Sam, Dean, and Castiel watch Jay get taken into custody for tax evasion. Sam admits that Velma was right; it was a shady real estate developer after all. Right before being loaded into the back of the police cruiser, Jay exclaims, "I would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling kids!" Needless to say, Dean is thrilled. Dean gives his best "Scooby Dooby Doo!" impression as the camera closes on his face. Sam and Castiel are clearly confused and a bit embarrassed, with Sam practically whispering as he asks Dean what he was doing. Dean tries to explain how Scooby-Doo always said that catch phrase at the end of each episode and Castiel bluntly states that Dean is not a talking dog. As Sam and Castiel walk away, Dean tries to get them to admit that he at least looks good in the ascot, but to no avail.
Characters[]
Main characters:
- Sam Winchester (only appearance)
- Dean Winchester (only appearance)
- Castiel
- Mystery Inc.
Villains:
- Jay (only appearance)
- Cosgood Creeps (dies)
- Phantasm (only appearance)(ghost kid's transformation)
- Ghost kid (only appearance)(redeemed)
Other characters:
- Alan (only appearance)
- Nephew Norble (no lines)
- Cousin Simple (dies)
- Cousin Maldahyde (no lines)
- Cousin Slicker (no lines)
- Beauregard Sanders (photograph)(deceased)
- Scrappy-Doo (no lines)(cameo)
- The Trickster (mentioned)
- John Winchester (mentioned)
- Zeke (mentioned)
- Zeb (mentioned)
- Old Iron Face (mentioned)
- Black Knight (mentioned)
- Mamba Wamba (mentioned)
- Space Kook (mentioned)
- Ghost Clown (mentioned)
- Miner Forty-Niner (mentioned)
- Ghost kid's dad (only time mentioned)
- Cartwright Twins (only time mentioned)
Locations[]
- Alan's pawn shop
- Men of Letters bunker
- Malt Shop
- Beauregard Sanders' mansion
Objects[]
- Sandwiches
- Pocket knife
Vehicles[]
Cast[]
Continuity[]
- Shaggy flew in a bi-plane in the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode What a Night for a Knight.
Notes/trivia[]
- The idea of a crossover had been around for about ten years, but it wasn't until co-writer Jeremy Adams' suggestion that it went forward. Getting an early season pick-up meant the animation could be done early. Episodes of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! had appeared in previous episodes to the crossover.
- The cast really loves working with Matthew Lillard for the show. "He really takes Shaggy seriously," says Jeremy Adams, writer of the crossover episode.[1]
- Since this is a Supernatural episode, the events in the animated world of Scooby-Doo are not child-friendly.
- Before its TV debut, the episode had an early screening on March 20, 2018 during PaleyFest 2018. To capitalize on this, Hot Topic sold merchandise such as t-shirts.
- Supernatural was renewed for its fourteenth season the Monday after Scoobynatural aired.
- This is the first time new Scooby-Doo material has appeared on the CW since the final episode of Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!
- As A Night of Fright is No Delight first aired on January 10, 1970 and Scoobynatural aired in March 29, 2018 this means the Winchesters are in a 48 year old show.
- Frank Welker is the only original cast member to return in the episode.
- In the original episode, Colonel Sanders' cause of death was never mentioned, but here, it is revealed to be due to cancer, a tip off to Dean that the cartoon world is starting to crack.
- As is usually the case with most newspapers in a Scooby-Doo cartoon, there is no writing, which Sam points out.
- During the scene where Mystery Inc. and the Supernatural gang run between the doors, Scrappy-Doo is briefly visible.
- The episode features a montage scene with the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme song, mainly the scene where both groups flee the ghost and try to board it up behind doors with no luck.
- During the episode, Fred and Shaggy both suffer actual injuries, a bloody nose in Fred's case and a broken arm in Shaggy's. This is due to the unique circumstances of the episode since, as Shaggy points out, he never gets hurt no matter what dangerous stunt he pulls. Before returning to the Supernatural world, Castiel uses his powers as an angel to heal Shaggy's injuries, making Shaggy think that he was wrong about breaking his arm.
- During the explanation scenes, both in the cartoon world and the real world, the episode features intercut moments similar to what is shown when Mystery Inc. solves a mystery and uncovers the bad guy's identity and how they did it.
- Due to the combination of real world and cartoon, the cartoon world in the episode appears to feature a combination of the physics of both. Fred and Shaggy suffer real injuries while the ghost is vulnerable to salt and iron, ghostly weaknesses from Supernatural. However, at the same time, being slapped by Dean leaves Sam with a handprint on his face briefly, which Sam shakes off with no ill effect. Later, the ghost, who had books pass through it moments before, holds the books handed to it by Scooby and is affected by the trapdoor he opens beneath the ghost's feet.
- Due to the cartoon nature of the episode, there are visual effects in many scenes that do not appear in similar scenes in Supernatural. For example, when the ghost is trapped by a salt circle, the circle creates a visible barrier similar to a forcefield. Usually the effect of a salt circle is entirely invisible. Also, when Castiel heals Shaggy's arm, a sparkling purple glow appears around the limb. Usually Castiel's healing power has no visible effect or in a few cases, a brief golden glow. In a deleted scene, when Castiel pours salt on the ghost's arm, a red glow appears around the hand. Usually salt's repelling power has no visible effect.
- The ghost boy is what is called a Vengeful Spirit on Supernatural. A Vengeful Spirit is the ghost of someone who is usually a good person in life, but circumstances turn them into a ghost that attacks others for some form of revenge. Generally a person becomes one if they suffer a violent death such as a murder and become twisted by their desire for revenge. In the boy's case, his anger at being used consumed him and caused him to lose control. Like with the boy, in most cases, Vengeful Spirits aren't truly responsible for their actions and often can't control what they have become. By the end of the episode, however, the ghost boy becomes more benevolent once he realizes the Winchesters want to help him and even aids in restoring the status quo of the Scooby Gang. This is because he is not innately an evil being as Vengeful Spirits tend not to be.
- After exposing Jay and setting him up to be arrested for tax evasion, Dean states "good enough for Capone, good enough for you." This is a reference to famous gangster Al Capone who was finally busted for tax evasion. In the season 7 episode Time After Time of Supernatural, Dean met and teamed up with the famous Untouchable Eliot Ness who brought down Capone through time travel to 1944. Ness also proved to be a monster hunter.
- Dean suggests that a being he calls The Trickster could be behind the Winchesters getting sucked into the cartoon world. When Sam points out that The Trickster is dead, Dean ominously asks "or is he?" This is both a reference and foreshadowing: in the past, the being the Winchesters knew as the Trickster, in reality the Archangel Gabriel, sucked them into "TV land" or a succession of TV show parodies. Though Gabriel is supposedly dead, the audience had learned a few episodes before Scoobynatural that he is actually alive. The Winchesters were unaware of this fact when they got sucked into the cartoon world.
- A second reference to The Trickster and when they got trapped in "TV land" is made in the Malt Shop: Dean reminds Sam that the last time they got trapped in a TV show, they got out by playing their part.
- Before the Winchesters got sucked in A Night of Fright is No Delight, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! makes a few background appearances on TV during episodes, particularly in one episode where a cursed Dean with no memory watches Scooby-Doo as a distraction set up by Sam and enjoys the show.
- When pressed by Dean, Daphne admits her attraction to Fred. Although hinted at in the original series, the concept of romance between Fred and Daphne was not openly explored until the movie series began in the late 1990s.
- The ghost kid is not the first ghost to haunt the Men of Letters bunker on Supernatural. In the Supernatural episode Captives taking place about four years before Scoobynatural, the bunker was haunted by the ghost of Kevin Tran, a young man who resided there briefly and was murdered within. At the end of the episode, his ghost left with his mother. Kevin's ghost returned to the bunker briefly two years later in All in the Family and was sent to Heaven by God in front of the Winchesters.
- The concept that, to the Scooby Gang, ghosts and the supernatural are not real, is a major plot point in the episode, and when they do find out they are real, the characters suffer near-nervous breakdowns, forcing the Winchesters (with the aid of the ghost boy) to concoct a fiction to restore status quo. Later incarnations of the franchise, however, would have them encountering actual monsters.
- When first seen by the Winchesters, the Scooby Gang are dancing in front of a jukebox. Their style of dancing is a replication of the stock animation often used to show them dancing in the original series.
- When Castiel expresses surprise that they are dealing with a ghostly child, Dean tells him "creepy ghost kid. You get used to them." On Supernatural, several episodes feature creepy child ghosts with one in particular, a haunting at a Supernatural convention, featuring a man commenting on creepy children appearing so much in Supernatural moments before the ghostly children kill him. In the Supernatural episode The Foundry, the Winchesters investigate a house haunted by multiple child ghosts, one of whom they suspect of being the killer. The ghosts turn out to be the victims of the true villain, an adult ghost and aid the Winchesters in destroying the evil ghost which sets their souls free.
- When Castiel first appears, a flashback shows him arriving in the Men of Letters bunker with the Fruit of the Tree of Life. The Fruit plays an important role in season thirteen of Supernatural as it is one of four vital ingredients to a spell the Winchesters perform to open a portal to an alternate universe.
- The Thing, the next episode after Scoobynatural on Supernatural, Dean goes "jinkies" when finding a vital clue, earning him annoyance from Sam.
- The Supernatural season 13 DVD features a deleted scene for the episode where a disguised Castiel, Shaggy and Scooby serve the ghost dinner, ending with Castiel sprinkling the ghost with salt, a ghost weakness. It becomes enraged, forcing them to drop their disguises and flee.
- The specific design and interior of the mansion was taken from the DTV film Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur. Although, that mansion was being haunted by naval officers, rather than the green ghost seen here.
Miscellaneous[]
- Disguises: Shaggy as a chef and Scooby and Castiel waiters. (deleted scene only)
- "Ruh-roh" count: 1.
- "Zoinks" count: 1.
- "Jeepers" count: 2.
- "Jinkies" count: 2.
Cultural references[]
- Alan and Jay are named after former Warner Bros. Animation producer Alan Burnett and WBA executive Jay Bastian, respectively.
- When Sam and Dean get inside the malt shop, Sam calls Scooby "Marmaduke" which Dean finds offensive.
- Sam scoffs when Beauregard is referred to as "Colonel Sanders" (referencing the famous spokesman/mascot of Kentucky Fried Chicken). On Supernatural, the Prince of Hell Asmodeus, a primary villain in the season Scoobynatural aired, was sometimes called "Evil Colonel Sanders" by Dean.
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches[]
- None.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- Despite this being a Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode in the "real-world," there are several difference either because of this "real-world" not being exactly the same or an adverse affect from the kid's presence:
- In the original episode, the mansion is located on an island. In Scoobynatural, it is within driving distance of the Malt Shop for the Mystery Machine and Baby which race there.
- From an in-universe perspective, Scrappy's cameo makes little sense at this point (although Scrappy's Birthday would later retcon Scooby and Shaggy to have known him since birth). It was likely meant to be a joke or Easter egg since he only appears for a few seconds during the Scooby- Doo, Where Are You! theme song montage and is easily missed if not watched closely.
- The pep talk Dean gives the gang includes The Scooby-Doo Show monsters they had never faced at this point. Even if this is because the Winchesters have seen those episodes, the gang still don't bring it up as something they've never even seen before (though they could've been caught up in the trauma of the moment).
- Cuthbert Crawls, Cosgood Creeps's partner, never made an appearance. Incidentally, Jim Krieg also wrote the DTV Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy, where Crawls came back, but Creeps didn't (although he did have a non-speaking cameo in an archived flashback).
- Shaggy makes reference to having "jumped out of a biplane in a museum", referencing the events of the first episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! However, Shaggy never actually jumped out of the plane in that episode, instead, he crashed into a wall with it.
- In the original episode, Cousin Slicker says "Ten O'Clock, and I suggest we all turn in.", but in this episode, Cousin Simple says it, even though he never talked in the original episode.
- Cousin Maldahyde disappears from the narrative after Col. Sanders' message is played and is never referenced again. As well, all of the other guests disappear following the first murder with no explanation for where they have gone.
- Instead of using the exact same style of animation from 1969-1970 when the episode was produced/aired, the animation used in this special is more in keeping with the DTVs since Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo. The animation used in this episode is what animation director Spike Brandt, along with Tony Cervone, bought back for the aforementioned DTV when they hired as producers/directors.
- While talking about the last time they were trapped in a TV show, Dean tells Sam that they got out by playing their parts. In actuality, they got out by trapping the being they knew as The Trickster at the time and forcing him to let them out. The Trickster, revealed as the Archangel Gabriel after being trapped, had put them into the TV show parodies to teach them to play their part which they did, but he didn't release them.
- It's rather odd (and disturbing) that Dean and Sam, two men in their thirties, are romantically linked to Daphne and Velma, two girls in high school. Furthermore, the Winchester brothers are shown to be attracted only to age-appropriate women in other episodes.
Home media[]
: TBA
Gallery[]
Trailer[]
Quotes[]
Sam Winchester: A malt shop. Really? |
Velma: We just found out that Scooby's been named as one of the heirs to a fortune. Left to him by an old southern colonel. |
Sam Winchester: We should be trying to get out of here and instead you-you're... hanging out with Marmaduke! |
Sam Winchester: Did you just get beaten by a micro-van? |
Sam Winchester: What kind of weirdo sets all this up? I mean, spend the night in a haunted house for a million dollars? That can't be legal. |
Cosgood Creeps: I'll return to the house in the morning to find out which of you remain. If any. (cackles) |
Velma: Jinkies! |
Fred: Well, gang, it looks like we've got another mystery on our hands! |
Dean Winchester: Dude, this is not the way things went down in the episode. I remember everything that happened in 'Scooby Doo'. And no one ever got stabbed in the back and ended up in a pool of their own blood! |
Shaggy: Castiel? It sounds like a great Italian pizza place. (laughs) |
Dean Winchester: Alright prep-meister, Fred. What's your plan? |
Shaggy: Like, man, I guess that leaves me and old Scoob with you, Castiel. |
Sam Winchester: Look, I'm not supposed to tell you this but ghosts are real. |
Fred: We have to stop this ghost! |
Sam Winchester: Look, that isn't a guy in a mask and a costume. It's a vengeful spirit that's come back from the dead. |
Velma: I thought I was blind without my glasses, but I was just blind. Oh, how could I be so stupid?! |
Dean Winchester: Come on! Scooby gang does not have nervous breakdowns! Now you may not have tangled with the supernatural but you fought monsters. Real freakin' psychos! You stopped Zeke and Zab. Shaggy figured out that the sharks Old Iron Face rode were really just torpedoes disguised to look like sharks. And what about the Black Knight? Huh? Mamba Wamba? |
Sam Winchester: Here Velma, take this. (Hands over a rifle) |
Sam Winchester: Hey, Alan. Your friend here? He's been driving people off their property so he could buy it on the cheap. And he's been using his own personal ghost to do it. You see he'd plant a haunted object then let the ghost go to work. |
Sam Winchester: Huh. Velma was right. It was a shady real estate developer after all. |