The Backstage Rage

The Backstage Rage is the ninth episode of the first season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
== Premise ==
﻿The gang investigate an abandoned theater where they face a spooky phantom and his puppets, all connected to a counterfeiting operation.
== Synopsis ==
Scooby and Shaggy are walking home from a pizzeria when a car rolls up by and hits a bump, causing a violin case to fall out of the back window. Shaggy picks up the case and discovers it is full of money. Shaggy goes to call the gang, leaving Scooby to guard the violin case. The same car drives over near Scooby, and suddenly a poodle, whining and limping, attracts Scooby's attention. Scooby puts down the violin case and heads over to the poodle. Two hands are seen picking up the violin case. The poodle giggles and Scooby turns his head to hide his giggles, and the poodle is lifted up and the car drives off. Scooby is confused and also sees that the case has been stolen. When the gang gathers, Scooby explains the whole situation.
The gang search the area and find a puppet controller with "Pietro's Puppets" written on it. Under the circumstances, the gang deduce this was the work of counterfeiters. So, Mystery Inc. head to Strand Theater, an old theater where Pietro's Puppets is located. They talk with the doorman who they fool by signing Scooby up for an audition. But Shaggy finds a discarded counterfeit bill, and with the evidence, the gang leave. In the van, however, Velma concludes it was a real dollar. The gang return and sneak past the sleeping doorman. The gang split up and a phantom in a black cape begins to stalk the gang, trying to drop sandbags, and set props onto them.
The gang see the phantom and follow it into a room filled with empty violin cases under the stage. All the cases are empty. They are lured back on stage by the sound of an organ playing and as they get onto the stage, they see the phantom playing the organ. In a second, the phantom disappears. All of a sudden, the gang sees Viking and Pirate figures letting out battle cries while raising their swords and the girl poodle shows up and Scooby disables the dog from its strings and they see that it is a puppet.
In the dog's stuffing, rests a money-printing case for a 20 dollar bill. They confront the doorman, but they find out that he is just a life-size puppet! The gang returns to the room underneath the stage and find a secret room. Inside they find a printing press and piles of freshly printed 20 dollar bills. The phantom finds them and gives them the chase. Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby go back onto the stage and the Pirate and Viking appear again, but Velma realizes they are just puppets. Scooby spots the phantom working the puppets from a catwalk and corners him on a rope. Freddy pulls another rope, causing the villain to fall into a trap, and the phantom is unmasked as Mr. Pietro. With Pietro now in a cop car, the gang explain to the officer that he pretended to be the doorman to throw himself off suspicion and was scaring everybody away from the theater so his counterfeit operation would not be discovered. Shaggy adds that the real hero was Scooby, just when he can't find him. They spot him at the stage door entrance, wearing a magician's hat and cape. Velma responds by calling him a ham, to which Scooby replies with "Scooby Dooby Doo!"
== Characters ==
Main characters:
* Mystery Inc.
** Scooby-Doo
** Shaggy Rogers
** Daphne Blake
** Fred Jones
** Velma Dinkley
Supporting characters:
* None
Villains:
* Puppet master (only appearance)(Pietro's disguise)
* Pietro (only appearance)
Other characters:
* Police officer (only appearance)
== Locations ==
* Neighborhood
* The Pizza Palace (mentioned)
* Strand Theatre
** Back entrance
** Secret room
** Stage
** Tunnel
** Outside stage entrance
* Telephone booth
== Objects ==
* Puppet controller
* Violin cases hiding thousands of counterfeit dollar bills
* Witch Puppet
* Printing press
* Blockbuster Pizza
* Scooby Snacks
* Pizza box
* Girl dog puppet
* Johnny
* Theatre organ
* Pirate puppet
* Viking puppet
== Vehicles ==
* Puppet master's car
* The Mystery Machine
* Police car
== Suspects ==
Suspect	Motive/Reason
Pietro 	Strange manner.
=== Culprits ===
Culprit 	Motive/Reason
Pietro as the puppet master	Wanted to scare people away from his counterfeiting operation.
== Cast ==
Don Messick 	Scooby-Doo
Police officer
Casey Kasem 	Shaggy Rogers
Frank Welker 	Fred Jones
Stefanianna Christopherson	Daphne Blake
Nicole Jaffe 	Velma Dinkley
Vic Perrin 	Pietro
Puppet master
John Stephenson 	Pirate
== Full credits ==
The following credits are how they are seen on-screen (or as close as possible).
Show
== Notes/Trivia ==
* The Mystery Machine returns after a two-episode absence.
* The puppet master does evoke the titular character of The Phantom of the Opera.
* This is the third episode not to have an unmasking.
* This is the first episode in which the villain is caught by the gang without any planning or forethought; the villain is caught through instinctive actions from Scooby and Shaggy.
* This episode was one of four Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episodes, (the other three being A Clue for Scooby Doo, Hassle in the Castle, and Jeepers, It's the Creeper), that were selected for the 1998 VHS Scooby-Doo's Greatest Mysteries by being voted "Most Popular" by the fans.
* This is the first episode to have Daphne and Velma alone while the gang split up.
=== Miscellaneous ===
* Disguises:Pietro Puppet
* Traps:1
* Clues:1
* Scooby Snacks bribe: 1.
* "Ruh-roh" count:
* "Zoinks" count: 0.
* "Jeepers" count:
=== Cultural references ===
* Velma talks about Mata Hari, an archetype of the femme fatale.
=== Adaptations ===
* Gold Key Comics adapted this episode in Scooby Doo... Where Are You! #3, calling it One Spook Too Many.
=== Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches ===
* The pepperoni is more decorative when the pizza is first taken out of the box and then looks regularly placed when Shaggy has it balanced on his finger.
* At one point, the mysterious sedan looks as if it is driving on the sidewalk.
* When Scooby mimes playing the violin, his sclera are missing.
* There are several mistakes with the violin case:
** Shaggy's arms while holding it are reversed in different shots.
** Although Scooby doesn't put it anywhere near a storm drain, it's next to one when the puppeteer picks it up, at which time it's also facing the opposite direction.
* Nobody was driving the mysterious sedan when the puppeter pulls up the girl dog puppet
* When Shaggy says that a star is about to be born, Daphne's dress turns into a lighter purple.
* When the gang first split up, the scenery wall the phantom pushes onto Shaggy, and blames on Scooby, is gone a few moments later.
* When Velma removes the engraving plate from the dog puppet it is still there.
* When they go to wake up the doorman (and before they discover he is a puppet) his eyes are wide open.
* When Freddy looks inside that harp-shaped room and says, "Wow, we hit the jackpot", it becomes a normal rectangular-shaped room.
* When the gang catch the puppeteer, he falls into a bass drum that looks like it was already broken.
=== Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities ===
* It is unexplained how Pietro could continue to manipulate the girl dog puppet and also go over to get the counterfeit money. Perhaps he had a remote control.
* A puppet dog, a violin case, packs of brand new bills equals counterfeiters? That literally makes no sense.
* Shaggy and Scooby are noticeably less cowardly than usual in this episode - they don't protest about returning to the theatre, splitting up and looking for clues or express a desire to leave, and Scooby even chases after the villain at the end without incentive, much like he does the Ape Man in Never Ape an Ape Man.
* Why would Pietro keep the lock to his door open? Unless if he actually wants intruders to come and expose his wrongdoings he should have kept the door locked at all times.
* There was no way that Pietro was able to get back on the stage during the tunnel chase scene because the door they went through became bolted lock and there was no other way out. Perhaps there was another door and the gang didn't notice it because they were chased by the puppet master.
* Why did Pietro let go of his foot of the trapdoor that the gang was trying to get out of? Surely if the gang had just uncovered his wrongdoing, he would make at least some effort to try to trap the gang.
* It is unknown if Scooby ate the Scooby Snack that Daphne offered him by throwing it in the prompter's box. If he would have eaten it, he would have been really fast in finding it and eating it because he was never shown to eat it on screen.
== Home media ==
* Scooby-Doo's Greatest Mysteries VHS released by Warner Home Video on April 13, 1999.
* Scooby-Doo's Greatest Mysteries DVD released by Warner Home Video on May 6, 2003.
* Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons DVD set released by Warner Home Video on March 16, 2004.
* Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons DVD set released by Warner Home Video on June 20, 2005.
* Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: Volume 3 - Hello Mummy DVD released by Warner Home Video on September 1, 2009.
* Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series (limited edition) DVD set released by Warner Home Video on November 9, 2010.
* Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series DVD set released by Warner Home Video on November 21, 2011.
* Happy Spook-Day Scooby-Doo! DVD released on April 9, 2012.
* Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series DVD set released by Warner Home Video on November 13, 2012.
* Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map (Walmart exclusive) DVD released by Warner Home Video on July 23, 2013.
== Quotes ==
Velma: He's gone!
Daphne: It must've been our imagination.
Shaggy: Well, that was the first time I ever heard mine.
Category:TV Episodes
Category:Scooby Doo Where Are You! episodes
Category:The Funtastic Index