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- For the movie named after this episode, look here.
The Night the Clown Cried is the first episode of the second season of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, and the twenty-seventh episode overall.
Premise[]
After the gang disbands, Crystal Cove is being tormented by an evil man-baby called Crybaby Clown!
Synopsis[]
It has been months since Mystery Incorporated split up and the town is in total chaos. Crybaby Clown chases Sheriff Bronson Stone in his wagon throwing an exploding bottle at his car. The sheriff jumps out in time. As the new mayor, Janet Nettles, watches Crybaby Clown drive past City Hall she wonders aloud what she has gotten herself into. A mysterious masked figure shows up and comments (with a muffled voice) that it was more like a mystery. The figure tosses a folder on the desk and states that she needs to find the second incarnation of Mystery Incorporated, otherwise her time as mayor would be short-lived. The figure then jumps out the window but not before telling her that he found out where Scooby is, as for the others, she’s on her own.
Scooby was put in solitary confinement at the farm for trying to escape. Scooby explains to a cow that he had to try and escape. He states that his friends are counting on him— otherwise Professor Pericles wins. Scooby then attempts and succeeds in escaping, and is picked up by Mayor Nettles. She introduces herself and shows him all she could find on his friends. Scooby, who is glad to hear this, asks if she has Scooby Snacks with her and she does.
Shaggy is in line with the rest of his bunker mates when Scooby busts through the wall driving a tank. The commanding officer tries to do something about it but just manages to be dropped under the tank.
Shaggy and Scooby find Fred going door to door trying to find Brad Chiles or Judy Reeves. In the time since the gang has split up Fred had grown a scraggly beard, his clothes are ripped and he lost one of his shoes. Scooby and Shaggy convince Fred to come back. Fred agrees and then once the mystery was solved he will be going back to look for his parents.
Once the three arrive in town, Crybaby Clown goes after them. As Fred runs away he is snagged up by one of his own traps. When he comments that he recognizes the net, the mysterious figure shows up and tells him that he should, because he was one that built it. The figure cuts Fred loose and comments on Fred's beard. Fred realizes that it was Velma and gives her a hug. Just as Scooby and Shaggy pull up in the Mystery Machine, Velma pulls up the cloth over her mouth. Shaggy and Scooby try to pounce on her but she easily side-steps them. When she pulls off the hat and cloth over her mouth Scooby and Shaggy immediately hug her in joy of seeing her. She makes the comment, "Oy, where was this affection when we were dating?"
They drive up to the mountain and look over the city being destroyed. Since the Gang broke up, things have been terrible in town. Velma admits after everyone else left, she wanted noting to do with solving mysteries but after things got this bad she had to get them back together. No one has heard from Mr. E since their night in the caves. Cassidy came over one night but Velma didn't talk to her, and she assumes Pericles drowned in the caves. Scooby tells them Pericles is alive and he has their pieces of the planespheric disk. Fred says they'll worry about that later, in the meantime they have to get Daphne back.
Velma joins them and together they go to the Bloody Stake to get Daphne back, but to Fred's surprise, she is on a date with movie star, Baylor Hotner. As they walk out, Daphne mistakes Fred for a hobo, and Baylor gives him an energy bar. Fred is speechless but Velma tells him after he left town and broke her heart, she moved on.
The remaining gang show up at City Hall, where a town meeting has formed to talk about Crybaby Clown. The citizens are so desperate to rid of him, they are overjoyed to see the gang reunited. Shaggy's parents are surprised to see Shaggy & Scooby out, which the former of the two lies that he was promoted to a general and let out for undercover work with Scooby. The celebration is short-lived, however, when Crybaby Crown turns up unexpectedly, demanding a five million dollar bribe to leave them alone or continue to suffer. Sheriff Stone is eager to please Crybaby Clown, but Mystery Inc. turn down his offer. In retaliation, he cuts the lights and set off a bomb disguised as a giant diaper. A panic ensues, but everyone escapes in time.
Fred makes one last attempt to get Daphne back at her mansion, unsurprisingly Mr. Blake and Daphne are not happy to see him. When Baylor meets the gang, rather than calling them her friends, she refers to them as kids from her school. Fred tries to talk her into coming back, but angered, she still refuses, as she is done with mystery-solving and is now with Baylor, who gives time for her. She tells Fred firmly that she never wants to see him again. When she shuts the door on them, Fred immediately tells the others that this was a lie, convinced that she'll join them later.
Fred comes up with a doughnut shop-themed trap in order to capture Crybaby Clown. The trap doesn't work (because Fred counted on Daphne's return, which doesn't happen) and Crybaby Clown escapes using one of his bottle bombs to blow up Chen's Fireworks, triggering a uncontrolled volley of fireworks that cause explosions and fires across Crystal Cove. As the gang helplessly watch the chaos, Velma remarks that if the town still didn't hate them, the fireworks show would make sure that they will. Fred is depressed that, for the first time, the villain escaped and states that Mystery Incorporated won't be the same since Daphne is never coming back.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Sheriff Bronson Stone
- Farmer (first appearance)
- Mayor Janet Nettles (first appearance)
- Drill sergeant (only appearance)
- Baylor Hotner (first appearance)
- Paula Rogers
- Barty Blake
Villains:
- Crybaby Clown (first appearance)
Other characters:
- Randy's mom (no lines)
- Cow (only appearance)(no lines)
- Brad Chiles (mentioned)
- Judy Reeves (mentioned)
- Drake Brothers (only time mentioned)
- Colton Rogers (no lines)
- Mr. Baywosenthal (no lines)
- Fred Jones, Sr. (mentioned)
- Angel Dynamite (mentioned)
- Cassidy Williams (mentioned)
- Professor Pericles (mentioned)
- Nan Blake (mentioned)
Locations[]
Objects[]
- Scooby Snacks (mentioned)
- Hotners'
- Dirty diaper bomb
- Doughnuts
- Flour
- Crossbows
- Eggs
- Frosted Thins[sic]
- Barrel
Vehicles[]
- Crybaby Clown's buggy
- Sheriff Bronson Stone's police car
- Janet Nettles's limousine
- The Mystery Machine
Cast[]
Continuity[]
- From the recap:
- The Freak of Crystal Cove stood on where a window used to be at the Old Spanish Church and laughed. (Pawn of Shadows)
- The Freak of Crystal Cove was unmasked and unveiled to be Fred Jones, Sr. (All Fear the Freak)
- After Fred was distraught over the parents that he'd never even known about, he called off the engagement between him and Daphne and decided to leave Crystal Cove in search of his real parents. (All Fear the Freak)
- Daphne scolded Velma for not telling the gang about Angel's secret earlier. (All Fear the Freak)
- Shaggy's parents told him that he would be going to military school while Scooby-Doo would be sent to a farm. (All Fear the Freak)
- In this episode and the next Sheriff Stone refers to himself as the "Emergency Mayor," while the Mayor tells him that is not true.
Notes/trivia[]
- This episode was originally set to air May 2012, but instead was released online and the televised premiere was pushed back to July 10 and then finally July 30 of the same year.[citation needed]
- Crybaby Clown mentioned Redbeard's Ghost and Mano Tiki Tia as cases Mystery Inc. solved. In the regular continuity, the latter case was set in Hawaii. This case must have been closer to home, since Daphne said she had never been further than Gatorsburg.
- The drill sergeant calls Shaggy, "Private Hippy".
- This is the only two-parter episode in the series, and also the second episode, after Dead Justice, in which the monster gets away (although in the said episode, the monster was caught by someone else).
- This is the first episode in the series (and the franchise as a whole) that features a 'previously' segment. This trend will continue until Come Undone.
- The 'previously' segment is announced by Fred.
- Mark Hamill who voices Crybaby Clown in the episode also voices another villainous clown themed-character DC Comics supervillain the Joker (archenemy of Batman) on TV and in video games.
- Velma's "Rorschach" disguise includes the trendy pants that she gave to Shaggy in The Song of Mystery while they were still dating. This would tip the masked figure's identity to attentive viewers.
Miscellaneous[]
- "Jinkies" count: 1.
Cultural references[]
- The title refers to the infamous unreleased Jerry Lewis movie, The Day the Clown Cried. The clown's voice is also reminiscent of Jerry Lewis.
- Shaggy resembles the titular character from the sitcom, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
- During the meeting, Crybaby Clown scratches his nails on the chalk board and mentions how the townspeople know him and how he earns a living, this is a reference towards the film, Jaws, when Quint scratches his nails on the chalk board and says the exact same lines.
- Velma's line "Who were you expecting, Rorschach?" refers to a character in the comic book and film Watchmen.
- The character of 'Baylor Hotner' is a reference to actor 'Taylor Lautner'. As he is mentioned to have acted in teen vampire movie 'Dawn' which itself is a reference to the 'Twilight'.
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches[]
- TBA
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- It's unknown how much time passed between All Fear the Freak and The Night the Clown Cried. Due to Fred's long hair and beard, it can be assumed it was at least several months.
In other languages[]
Language | Name | Meaning |
---|---|---|
Italian | La Notte Del Clown | The Night of the Clown |
Spanish (Latin America) | La Noche en que el Bufón Lloro | The Night the Buffoon Cried |
French | La Nuit du clown triste | The Night of the Sad Clown |
Polish | Płaczący Klaun | The Crying Clown |
Greek |
Τη Νύχτα που Έκλαψε ο Κλόουν (Star TV Dub) Η Νύχτα που Έκλαψε ο Κλόουν (Boomerang TV Dub) |
The Night the Clown Cried |
Turkish | Palyaçonun Ağladığı Gece | The Night the Clown Cries |
Home media[]
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season Two, Part 1 - Danger in the Deep DVD set released by Warner Home Video on November 13, 2012.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Season Two, Volume 1 DVD released by Warner Home Video on September 18, 2013.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystères associés: L'intégrale de la saison 2 (Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The entirety of season 2) DVD set released by Warner Home Video on September 10, 2013.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: The Complete Season 2 DVD set released by Warner Home Video on October 7, 2014.
- A Scooby-Doo! Valentine Bouquet Digital DVD released by Warner Home Video on January 12, 2021.
Quotes[]
Drill Sergeant : Private Hippy. Do you take me for a fool? |
Crybaby Clown: And by the way, building your little donut shop trap next to a fireworks store might not have been the best idea. See ya soon, Mystery In-dork-orated! (throws explosive into fireworks) |
References[]
External links[]
- TBA
Previous episode: | Series: | Next episode: |
All Fear the Freak | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated Season 2 |
The House of the Nightmare Witch |