Scooby Roo is the first half of the sixth episode of The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show. and it originally aired on October 1st, 1983. Written by Glenn Leopold, this episode sees the gang encountering a Neanderthal Monster at Devil’s Rock Sheep Station in the Australian Outback.
Scooby Roo – Episode Review
The episode begins with the gang driving through the Australian Outback in the Mystery Machine. Daphne is there to learn more about the Neanderthal Monster who is frightening away the workers at the Devil’s Rock Sheet Station.
Scrappy spots a sign called Roo Crossing, and then we see a happy Kangaroo stomp all over Scooby. The Kangaroo then puts Scrappy in its pouch and hops away. Scooby then runs into the Neanderthal monster and is nearly lassoed.
We then meet Hugh Smallwood who explains the legendary Neanderthal Monster of Devil’s Rock has scared off all his sheepherders, staff and sheep. Unafraid as always, Daphne decides to stay at the station where we meet Hugh’s foremen – Griff and Darcy and an Australian sheepdog named Dingo who is eating all of Scooby and Shaggy’s food.
Daphne takes a polaroid of Dingo, however, the image doesn’t develop. Curious, Daphne walks out into the outback with a Geiger Counter and discovers uranium, along with the crumbs of a dog biscuit.
Scooby and Shaggy visit the Mess Hall where they have a run in with the monster. the monster lets loose all of the sheep which nearly causes a stampede that Scrappy stops and controls with a traffic officer uniform.
Scooby accidentally catches the Neanderthal and Daphne unmasks him as Darcy the ranch-hand. Darcy had discovered uranium at Devil’s Rock so he dressed up as the monster to scare off any nosy workers. Daphne new uranium was nearby as the radiation from the uranium was ruining the pictures she was taking. She also knew Darcy was behind it as they found dog biscuits that Darcy’s dog named Dingo had been eating.
My Score
I give this episode a 6 out of 10. This one is pretty good with a great mystery but unfortunately it isn’t overly scary although I did enjoy the look of the monster. The outback setting really won me over with this one, and it was cool to see the Koala Bear, Kangaroo and Sheep Dog. The sheep ranch setting was also fun and the writing incorporated a lot of clues into the episode for a fully fleshed out mystery.
The short running time makes this one tough to remember as it doesn’t have enough time to flesh out a creepy atmosphere, plus not having Fred or Velma in it takes away some elements that I feel are needed for a classic Scooby episode. Still, this is a fun one and I’d be more than happy to watch it again.
