View source for The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

{{Short description|American animated television series}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.jpg
| creator              = 
| based_on             = {{Based on|[[List of Scooby-Doo characters|Characters]]|[[Hanna-Barbera]] Productions}}
| developer            = [[Tom Ruegger]]
| director             = {{Plainlist|
* [[Arthur Davis (animator)|Art Davis]]
* Oscar Dufau
* Tony Love
* [[Don Lusk]]
* [[Rudy Zamora]]
* [[Alan Zaslove]]
* [[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
}}
| voices               = {{Plainlist|
* [[Don Messick]]
* [[Casey Kasem]]
* [[Heather North]]
* [[Vincent Price]]
* [[Susan Blu]]}}
| theme_music_composer = [[Hoyt Curtin]]
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| num_seasons          = 1
| num_episodes         = 13
| executive_producer   = {{Plainlist|
* [[William Hanna]]
* [[Joseph Barbera]]
* Tom Ruegger
}}
| producer             = [[Mitch Schauer]]
| runtime              = 22 minutes
| company              = [[Hanna-Barbera Productions]]
| network              = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1985|09|07}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1985|12|07}}
| related              = [[List of Scooby-Doo media#Television|List of ''Scooby-Doo'' TV series]]
}}
'''''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo''''' is an American [[animated television series]] produced by [[Hanna-Barbera|Hanna-Barbera Productions]], and the seventh incarnation of the studio's [[Scooby-Doo|''Scooby-Doo'' franchise]].<ref name="Perlmutter">{{Cite book |last=Perlmutter |first=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |pages=534–538}}</ref> It premiered on {{Start date|1985|09|07}}, and ran for one season on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] as a half-hour program. Thirteen episodes of the show were made in 1985. It replaced ''[[The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries]]'' and aired alongside ''[[Scooby's Mystery Funhouse]]'', a repackaging of earlier shows.<ref name="Daytime">{{Cite book |last=Hyatt |first=Wesley |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat/page/378/mode/2up |title=The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television |date=1997 |publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications |isbn=978-0823083152 |pages=377–379 |access-date=22 March 2020}}</ref>

The series also aired in reruns on [[USA Network]] in the 1990s, on [[Cartoon Network]], and currently on [[Boomerang (TV network)|Boomerang]]. With 13 episodes, it is currently the shortest-running series in the ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' franchise. A follow-up film from a different creative team, ''[[Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost]]'', released in 2019, featured the previously unseen 13th ghost and ended the series. Additionally, the entire series is accessible via the streaming services Boomerang and Tubi.

==Plot==
{{blockquote|''This is a warning to all living mortals that whosoever opens this Chest of Demons will release 13 of the most terrifying ghosts upon of the face of the Earth! Only ''you'' can return the demons to the chest...because you let them out!''|Vincent Van Ghoul, in the original opening title sequence}}

In the initial episode, the gang are thrown off course on a trip to Honolulu in [[Daphne Blake|Daphne]]'s plane, landing instead in the [[Himalayas]]. While inside a temple, [[Scooby-Doo (character)|Scooby]] and [[Shaggy Rogers|Shaggy]] are tricked by two bumbling ghosts named Weerd and Bogel into opening the Chest of Demons, a magical artifact that houses the 13 most terrifying and powerful ghosts and [[demon]]s ever to walk the face of the Earth. As the ghosts can only be returned to the chest by those who originally set them free, Scooby and Shaggy, accompanied by Daphne, [[Scrappy-Doo]], and a young boy named [[List of Scooby-Doo characters#Flim Flam|Flim Flam]], embark on a worldwide quest to recapture them before they wreak irreversible havoc upon the world.

Assisting them is Flim Flam's friend, a [[warlock]] named [[List of Scooby-Doo characters#Vincent Van Ghoul|Vincent Van Ghoul]] (based upon and voiced by [[Vincent Price]]), who contacts the gang using his [[crystal ball]] and often employs magic and witchcraft to assist them. The 13 escaped ghosts, meanwhile, each attempt to do away with the gang lest they are returned to the chest, often employing Weerd and Bogel as lackeys.

[[Fred Jones (Scooby-Doo)|Fred Jones]] and [[Velma Dinkley]] were both absent in this incarnation. In ''[[Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost]]'', it is revealed that they were away at summer camp.

==Production==
The series was created and produced by [[Mitch Schauer]]. [[Tom Ruegger]] was associate producer and story editor, the irreverent, [[fourth wall]]-breaking humor found in each episode resurfaced in his later works, among them  ''[[A Pup Named Scooby-Doo]]'', ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'', and ''[[Animaniacs]]''.<ref name="Ruegger">{{Cite web |title=Tom Ruegger Is Back! |url=http://platypuscomix.com/people/ruegger2.html |access-date=2011-05-15 |website=Platypuscomix.net}}</ref> Of ''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo'', Ruegger recalls not being fond of the Flim-Flam character<ref name="Ruegger" /> or the other added characters in the cast.<ref name="Ruegger" /> As with most of the other early-1980s ''Scooby-Doo'' entries, original characters [[Fred Jones (Scooby-Doo)|Fred Jones]] and [[Velma Dinkley]] do not appear, and the enemies were real (within the context of the series) ghosts and not simply humans in costume. ''13 Ghosts'' ended its run after 13 episodes and was replaced by reruns of ''[[Laff-a-Lympics]]'' in March 1986, before the end of the season.

After a hiatus, Ruegger and ABC decided that they would overhaul the series entirely, developing ''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'' in 1988.<ref name="Ruegger" /> At the time of the cancellation, eleven of the thirteen ghosts were recaptured in the chest of demons with the show-stopping production before the last ghost could be found. To date, it is the last ''Scooby-Doo'' running series to have featured Scrappy-Doo, who was removed as a regular character after the three ''[[Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10]]'' movies in 1987-8.

A direct-to-video film released in 2019, ''Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost'', resolves the open ending of the original and features the entire gang helping Vincent Van Ghoul in capturing the last ghost.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trumbore |first=Dave |date=2018-11-07 |title=Exclusive 'Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost!' Trailer Teases a New Mystery |url=https://collider.com/scooby-doo-and-the-curse-of-the-13th-ghost-trailer/ |access-date=2021-08-20 |website=Collider}}</ref>

Shaggy and Daphne were both present and were both given new uniforms, Daphne's being more of an 80s style that was fairly similar to that of ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'', the headband was removed and she was given bangs. Shaggy had the same clothes, except his color scheme changed to a red T-shirt, baggy blue jeans and brown shoes. A reason for this color change has to this day, not been specified. He would only wear this outfit four more times in the more than three decades since it was introduced, the last appearance being in 2001s ''[[Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase]]'' as part of the gang's digital counterparts. Hints that this style may be coming back were implied in 2019's ''[[Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island|Scooby-Doo Return to Zombie Island]]'', where Shaggy is seen wearing a red floral shirt while laying out on a [[Boat racing|boat]].

==Voice cast==
{{main|List of Scooby-Doo characters}}
* [[Don Messick]] – [[Scooby-Doo (character)|Scooby-Doo]] and [[Scrappy-Doo]]
* [[Casey Kasem]] – [[Shaggy Rogers|Shaggy]]
* [[Heather North]] – [[Daphne Blake]]
* [[Susan Blu]] – [[List of Scooby-Doo characters#Flim Flam|Flim-Flam]]
* [[Arte Johnson]] – [[List of Scooby-Doo characters#Weerd and Bogel|Weerd]]
* [[Howard Morris]] – [[List of Scooby-Doo characters#Weerd and Bogel|Bogel]]
* [[Vincent Price]] – [[Vincent Van Ghoul]]

==Episodes==
<!--<onlyinclude>-->{{Episode table|background=#b60000|overall=|title=|director=|writer=|writerT=Story by|airdate=|episodes={{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=1
 | Title=To All the Ghouls I've Loved Before
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=[[Tom Ruegger]]
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|09|07}}
 | ShortSummary=After crash-landing in a Himalayan village where its cursed inhabitants become [[Werewolf|werewolves]] at night, Scooby and Shaggy unwittingly release the 13 [[ghost]]s from the Chest of Demons.
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=2
 | Title=Scoobra Kadoobra
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=[[Gordon Bressack]] & Mark Seidenberg
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|09|14}}
 | ShortSummary=The gang pursues Maldor, a ghost [[warlock]] from the Dark Ages, in the depths of a haunted castle. There, they find a powerful artifact that Maldor himself seeks but may also prove the ghost's undoing.

* Ghost: Maldor the Malevolent
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=3
 | Title=Me and My Shadow Demon
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Cynthia Friedlob & [[John Semper]]
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|09|21}}
 | ShortSummary=Lured to the enigmatic Befuddle Manor, the gang must contend with a ghoulish convention of ghosts and the mysterious Shadow [[Demon]] led by vampire witch Queen Morbidia.
* Ghost: Queen Morbidia
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=4
 | Title=Reflections in a Ghoulish Eye
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Charles M. Howell, IV & [[Rich Fogel]]
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|09|28}}
 | ShortSummary=While at a Ghost Chaser convention in Marrakesh, Morocco, the gang encounter a mirror demon: a frightful apparition who has the power to trap mortals in his eerie mirror dimension. To complicate the situation, the hotel concierge thinks the gang has kidnapped a maid, although she was actually kidnapped by the demon.
* Ghost: Reflector Specter (Mirror Demon)
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=5
 | Title=That's Monstertainment
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Tom Ruegger & Mitch Schauer
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|10|05}}
 | ShortSummary=The gang is trapped in the classic horror film "The Son of the Bride of the Ghost of [[Frankenstein]]" by Zomba, a zombie-like ghoul who attempts to nab the Chest of Demons from Scooby's heavily guarded room.

* Ghost: Zomba
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=6
 | Title=Ship of Ghouls
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Misty Stewart-Taggart
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|10|12}}
 | ShortSummary=Too much of a nervous wreck to continue, the gang takes a tense Scooby on a vacation cruise, where Bogel and Weerd plan to scare Scooby to death. However, the gang does not suspect that the captain of the cruise is a ghost, and wants to free his fellow spirits from the Chest of Demons.

* Ghost: Captain Ferguson
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=7
 | Title=A Spooky Little Ghoul Like You
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=John Ludin
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|10|19}}
 | ShortSummary=While attending a [[warlock]] convention, Vincent Van Ghoul is placed under an amorous enchantment by Nekara, an [[enchantress (fantasy)|enchantress]] with the power to drain warlocks of their powers by kissing them.

* Ghost: Nekara
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=8
 | Title=When You Witch Upon a Star
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Jeff Holder & Tom Ruegger
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|10|26}}
 | ShortSummary=Three bumbling [[Witchcraft|witches]] named Ernestine, Wanda, and Hilda Brewski (similar to [[The Three Stooges]]) are tasked by the powerful witch Marcella to perform a spell which will free her from the dimension in which she is trapped. Meanwhile, Vincent goes to the Zone of Eternal Evil where he is subsequently captured by Marcella.

* Ghost: Marcella
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=9
 | Title=It's a Wonderful Scoob
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=John Ludin & Tom Ruegger
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|11|02}}
 | ShortSummary=After one fright too many while pursuing Time Slime, Scooby quits the gang and moves back in with his parents. After an audition for another anthropomorphic dog, Flim Flam has Scooby replaced by a lazy and dim sheepdog named Bernie Gumsher. This not only causes child protests across the nation which in turn leads to a televised address from President [[Ronald Reagan]], but also causes the gang to be captured by Time Slime. Vincent Van Ghoul takes Scooby to the future to show him what the world will be like if he does not return to stop Time Slime from releasing the demons that were previously reimprisoned.

* Ghost: Time Slime
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=10
 | Title=Scooby in Kwackyland
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Tom Ruegger & Misty Stewart-Taggart
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|11|09}}
 | ShortSummary=The gang and the furry-like ghoul, Demondo are trapped in the newspaper comics section and must rely on the help of comic characters—including Scooby's favorite, Platypus Duck—to escape.

* Ghost: Demondo
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=11
 | Title=Coast-to-Ghost
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Cynthia Friedlob & John Semper
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|11|16}}
 | ShortSummary=As part of an initiation test to join S.A.P.S. (short for Spook and Poltergeist Society), the [[vampire]] demon Rankor tricks Vincent Van Ghoul into looking into the Eye of Eternity, which slowly turns him into stone. In order to cure him, the gang—accompanied by two-faced Bogel and Weerd—must travel from California to Massachusetts to acquire the Mask of Moomma. To complicate matters, they are relentlessly pursued not only by Rankor but also by the authorities for something Bogel and Weerd did.

* Ghost: Rankor
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=12
 | Title=The Ghouliest Show on Earth
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Evelyn Gabai & [[Glenn Leopold]]
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1985|11|23}}
 | ShortSummary=A circus comes to Dooville and enchants the residents, including Scooby's parents and Flim-Flam (the latter out of seeing business opportunities). Shaggy and Scooby discover that the circus is staffed by demons and monsters and its evil [[Ringmaster (circus)|ringmaster]] Professor Phantazmo whose calliope hides the circus' true face and who wants the Chest of Demons.

* Ghost: Professor Fantazmo
 | LineColor=B60000
}}
{{Episode list
 | EpisodeNumber=13
 | Title=Horror-Scope Scoob
 | RTitle=
 | DirectedBy=[[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]
 | WrittenBy=Charles M. Howell, IV
 | OriginalAirDate={{Start date|{{End date|1985|12|07}}}}
 | ShortSummary=When the gang appears on the TV show ''You Won't Believe It...or Else!'' owned by Boris Kreepoff, the [[lion]]-like demon Zimbulu attempts to steal the Chest of Demons, but it was stolen by someone else unbeknownst to the gang. Accompanied by Vincent Van Ghoul and a medium named Tallulah, the gang attempts to find the chest.

* Ghost: Zimbulu
 | LineColor=B60000
}}}}<!--</onlyinclude>-->

==Home media==
On June 29, 2010, [[Warner Home Video]] (via [[Hanna-Barbera]] and [[Warner Bros. Family Entertainment]]) released ''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lambert |first=David |date=March 22, 2010 |title=The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo - This 1985 Scooby Series, with Vincent Price, Is Coming to DVD! |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/13-Ghosts-ScoobyDoo-The-Complete-Series/13502 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517025049/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/13-Ghosts-ScoobyDoo-The-Complete-Series/13502 |archive-date=May 17, 2012 |access-date=2011-08-16 |website=[[TVShowsOnDVD.com]]}}</ref> which included "Don't Feed the Animals", an episode of ''[[Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!]]'', as a bonus feature. Exactly the same DVD in Region 2 was Released on 17 October 2016, with the Bonus episode also included. 

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!DVD name
!No. of episodes
!Release date
!Bonus episode
|-
| ''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo'': The Complete Series
| style="text-align:center;"|13
| {{Start date|2010|06|29}} (Region 1)<br>{{Start date|2016|10|17}} (Region 2)
| ''Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!'': Don't Feed the Animals
|}

==Reception==
{{expand section|date=October 2017}}
The series was heavily profiled in the Christian fundamentalist documentary ''Deception of a Generation'' as an example of alleged occult influences on children's entertainment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deception of a Generation |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnjdq32u-MU |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Hnjdq32u-MU |archive-date=2021-12-21 |access-date=12 October 2013 |website=[[YouTube]]| date=18 August 2012 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Follow-up film==
34 years after the series ended, a movie was created based on the series called ''[[Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost]]'' to give it a symbolic end.

==See also==
* ''[[Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost]]''
* [[Scooby-Doo (character)]]
* [[List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions]]
* [[List of Hanna-Barbera characters]]
* [[List of Scooby-Doo characters]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{URL|https://www.wbkidsgo.com/scooby-doo|Official ''Scooby-Doo'' website}}
* {{IMDb title|0088628}}
* {{URL|https://archive.today/20130118060248/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Hanna-Barbera_Studios/T/The_13_Ghosts_of_Scooby-Doo/index.html|''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo''}} at [[The Big Cartoon DataBase]]
* {{URL|http://cartoondatabank.com/1/13ghostsofscoobydoo1985.htm|The Cartoon Scrapbook}} – Profile on ''The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo''

{{Scooby-Doo}}
{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1980s}}
{{Hanna-Barbera}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, The}}
[[Category:1985 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:1985 animated television series debuts]]
[[Category:1985 American television series endings]]
[[Category:1980s American animated television series]]
[[Category:1980s American mystery television series]]
[[Category:1980s American horror comedy television series]]
[[Category:Scooby-Doo television series]]
[[Category:American animated television spin-offs]]
[[Category:American children's animated adventure television series]]
[[Category:American children's animated comedy television series]]
[[Category:American children's animated fantasy television series]]
[[Category:American children's animated horror television series]]
[[Category:American children's animated mystery television series]]
[[Category:Animated television series about ghosts]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Television series by Hanna-Barbera]]
[[Category:Television series created by Tom Ruegger]]
[[Category:Television series created by Joe Ruby]]
[[Category:Television series created by Ken Spears]]
[[Category:Television series created by Mitch Schauer]]
[[Category:13 (number)]]
[[Category:American Broadcasting Company animated television series]]