Who’s Minding the Monster? is the first half of the eleventh episode of The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show and it originally aired on November 26, 1983. With a story by Robert Goldblatt, this episode sees the gang in Transylvania following up some rumors that Frankenstein lives!
Who’s Minding the Monster? – Episode Review
The episode begins with the gang driving through Transylvania. Shaggy is driving the Mystery Machine while Daphne reads a newspaper that says “Frankenstein Returns – Terrifies Village”. Shoddy journalism, am I right? Frankenstein refers to Dr. Frankenstein, not the monster (which should be named Frankenstein’s monster) – okay I’ll shut up now.
Scrappy explains that they are in Transylvania and that all monsters live here, however, Daphne is convinced it is a hoax.
Stopping in at Igor’s Cafe, which has the weirdest layout for a cafe I’ve ever seen, Daphne asks for directions, we can see Frankenstein’s castle through the cafe window, and just off in the horizon. Scrappy wonders how they’ll get inside, but fortunately, Daphne sees a sign that says “Wanted, Babysitters, Inquire at the Old Frankenstein Castle”.
Igor explain that the Frankenstein’s have moved out of the castle years ago and Dracula lives there.
Daphne and the gang show up at Dracula’s place and declare themselves the babysitters. Here we meet Dracula, Junior, and Dracula’s wife. We also learn the Jr. has been upset as the last babysitter vanished without a trace.
Dracula and his wife head off to a dinner engagement and we see Frankenstein’s monster enter through the basement.
Scooby and Shaggy stay behind to babysit, while Daphne and Scrappy head down to the basement to investigate. Scrappy spots Frankenstein’s monster so they follow after him while Scooby and Shaggy raid the fridge. They hear the baby cry so Scooby goes to comfort Junior.
The moon is full and Jr. turns into a little werewolf scaring the heck out of Scooby. We then get the gag where the moonlight shines on and off of the baby turning him too and from a little werewolf.
Dracula’s wife and Frankenstein
Outside, Scrappy finds a remote control unit and we see that the radio waves irritate Frankenstein’s monster. The Dracula’s come home and we discover that Frankenstein’s monster was Juniors old babysitter. Dracula takes him to the basement lab and we find out they need a brain to re-charge the monster’s brain. Scooby and Shaggy fall through a trap door and become the test volunteers.
The brain recharge is about to begin, but Daphne uses her pocket mirror to deflect the rays before too much harm can continue and Shaggy and Scooby are saved. Unfortunately for a nearby duck, Frankenstein’s brain is transferred to this random duck.
Daphne with her purse and compact mirror
My Score
I give this episode a 6 out of 10. I did dig the gothic elements of this episode quite a bit, but I felt it was too paint by numbers and there wasn’t really a new twist on this concept. It’s still a fun episode and there is a lot to like, I guess I was just expecting more seeing as they were in Transylvania and all.
If you are a fan of real monsters, I would recommend this one to check out. This would also be a fun watch for little kids who are frightened easily but can handle the not so scary Dracula and remote controlled Frankenstein monster in this one.
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