A Fright at the Opera is the first part of the 12th episode of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo and originally aired on January 24, 1981. This episode sees the gang in Paris where they fall into the underground sewers and encounter a phantom.
For some trivia, Paris has some cool catacombs underground where the walls are lined with real human bones and skulls. There’s nothing sinister or satanic about this spot, it’s just a giant mausoleum for seven million Parisians as the centuries passed. If you ever visit, and you like spooky places, it’s worth the tour.
A Fright at the Opera – Episode Review
The episode begins with the gang visiting the Eiffel tower in France. While reading a map, Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy fall into a sewer. Falling into a bathtub, the gang take a short sail down the sewers. Scrappy reads the tour book and explains that people have been lost forever down there.
A shadowy man tells them all that they are doomed and that they can never escape. The man runs away, and the gang spot him playing some creepy music on a pipe organ. Scrappy goes in to attack him, but activates a secret passage instead.
Furious, the phantom continues to play the pipe organ to torment the gang. After some time, the gang end up in a theatre which has no way out. Instead, every door opened eventually leads them to the phantom.
The chase around the theatre continues until Scrappy captures the phantom in a cage. In order to escape Scooby and Shaggy run into a background painting of the Eiffel tower that is meant as a set piece.
My Review
I give this episode a 3.5 out of 10. The spooky factor is back, but I can’t claim this is a great episode. The phantom looked neat enough – but he’s not memorable at all. All he does is play the organ and laugh. The set pieces are kinda bland as well.
Still, it’s watchable, and better than a lot of other episodes in this series.
Join me next week when I will be covering Robot Ranch. Until then, Stay Spooky!
