MMMMystery History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Art forgery

First aired September 13, 1969.

Mr. Wickles, the curator of the county museum, was making forgeries of paintings in the museum. He would place the forgeries in the museum and sell the originals for a profit. He captured Professor Hyde White, described as the only one who could recognize the forgeries were fakes. The armor of the titular knight was being brought by Hyde White. It was their finding of the armor that brought Mystery, Inc. into this case. The legend of the Black Knught was fabricated by Mr. Wickles.

Fun Fact: Shaggy demonstrates two useful skills--gymnastics when he is able to leap into an open window from the top of a tall ladder and ventriloquism to distract the Knight.

Answer: Ship stealing

First aired: September 20, 1969.

Rather than the villain being the ghost of Captain Cutler, the villain is the very alive Captain Cutler. With his wife's assistance, he had previously faked his own death. The captain was masterminding thefts of yachts from the local marina which would be repainted and then sold. Interestingly, Shaggy determines the identity of villain before Velma. The picture of Captain Cutler seen by Mystery, Inc. had a beard. Shaggy was able to recognize the captured Cutler even though he was clean-shaven.

Fun Fact: This episode and "What a Night for a Knight" feature different theme music and unique title cards compared to the rest of the series.

Answer: Treasure hunting

First aired: September 27, 1969.

There is supposedly a hidden treasure somewhere on the grounds of Vasquez Castle, located on Haunted Isle. Ex-magician Bluestone the Great has disguised himself as the Phantom to scare away others while he searches for the treasure. In this case, I'm not certain if treasure hunting itself is illegal, especially since the Castle appears to be long abandoned. However, the sheriff who identifies Bluestone mentions he has been accused of other previous crimes, leading to his arrest.

Fun fact: Bluestone seems friendlier than the villains in many other episodes. He is even willing to demonstrate how he could appear to walk through walls.

Answer: Buying oil-rich land cheaply

First aired: October 4, 1969.

Hank, assistant to inn owner Big Ben, discovered while in an abandoned gold mine, that the town was sitting on oil rich land. He disguised himself the Miner Forty-Niner ghost to scare aware residents of the town and guests so that he could buy the land cheaply. Again, I'm not certain if scaring people is exactly illegal, but perhaps it was felt to make the land purchase potentially fraudulent. Hank wears stilts as the Ghost, adding 20-30% to his height, presumably to throw off suspicion.

Fun fact: In addition to voicing Shaggy Rogers, Casey Kasem also voiced the Miner Forty-Niner in this episode.

Answer: Rigging a competition

First aired: October 11, 1969.

This question might have been too simple if it had mentioned Buck Masters kidnapping several dogs. The dogs had all been enteted in an upcoming show. Masters planned to have his dog (which was also "captured") "escape" at the last minute in time for the show. With the serious competition absent, Masters's dog would have easily won the contest. Presumedly this contest has a significant cash prize as Buck Masters was willing to hire henchmen and spend money on equipment to guarantee a win.

Fun fact: Scooby was in serious danger this episode as he was tied to a railroad handcar that nearly crashed into a speeding train. It took Fred driving the Mystery Machine close enough that Shaggy could leap onto the hand car and guide it to safety to rescue Scooby-Doo.

Answer: Obtaining a family fortune through deceit

First aired: October 18, 1969

Stuart Weatherby attempted to swindle his brother and niece out of their share of the family wealth. He pretended to be the ghost of Elias Kingston, who formerly lived at the abandoned mansion next door. Stuart used makeup and props to show the ghost's power to prematurely age people. It is unclear if Stuart already had some of the family fortune and wanted it all or if primogeniture had given his (elder?) brother control of the full fortune, excluding Stuart.

Fun fact: Even though she did not appear again, Sharon Weatherby (Stuart's niece) was good enough friends with Mystery, Inc. to invite them for the weekend. She also came from a wealthy enough family to live at an "estate" and be able to provide quarters for five guests.

Answer: Sabotaging a movie

First aired: October 25, 1969.

Carl, the stuntman in the film "The Ape Man of Forbidden Mountain", pretended to be a real Ape Man, to attempt to disrupt the filming. Director John Maxwell (Daphne's uncle) said that he had been angry at not being cast as the lead in the film. However, the Ape Man was a leading role. Perhaps Maxwell meant a role where Carl's face could be clearly seen. In comparison to many other episodes, it seems that Carl would benefit financially from his sabotage of the film (maybe seen as a crime if it is considered sabotaging a business).

Fun fact: Scooby-Doo showed unusual bravery when he faced off against the Ape Man on the rope bridge in an attempt to rescue movie star Candy Mint.

Answer: Sabotage of an android

First aired: November 1, 1969.

One could argue that Mystery, Inc. commits the crime as they trespass into the Funland amusement park. Mr. Jenkins, the park's caretaker, had created an android named Charlie to operate the park. Sarah Jenkins, his sister, had altered the android's programming to make him malfunction since she felt android should not be around children. This appears to be sabotage of property, whether Charlie was the property of Mr. Jenkins or Funland is unclear.

Fun fact: The villain in this episode is unclear. Is Charlie the first non-human villain in the franchise? Is Sarah the villain for sabotaging Charlie. I think you can make an argument that Jenkibs is the villain, since he planned to use an android, rather than hire people to work at Funland, benefitting the local economy.

Answer: Counterfeiting money

First aired: November 8, 1969

Mr. Pietro the puppeteer used his theater to hide his counterfeiting operation. Mr. Pietro seemed to be exceptional at designing and operating puppets: At one point, he operated a life sized puppet of a doorman for several minutes with the doorman puppet operating and speaking as another puppet. Earlier in the episode, Scooby was fooled by a realistic female dog puppet. It is interesting that a performer as skilled as Mr. Pietro would need to supplement his income with counterfeiting.

Fun fact: Frank Welker, who voiced the character of Freddy Jones, also voiced Johnny, the door man's puppet, in this episode.

Answer: Revenge for previous imprisonment

First aired: November 15, 1969.

Harry the Hypnotist had previously worked for the circus, but had been caught stealing from the circus and imprisoned. He later (whether after being released or after escaping is unclear) returned to the circus disguised as the Ghost Clown to seek revenge. His plan appeared to he to drive the circus into bankruptcy by scaring away all the customers and employees. Harry was skilled enough to hypnotize Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, and even himself near the end. Though both Harry and Carl were seeking revenge, there was no indication that Carl had been imprisoned.

Fun fact: Shaggy, in part, comes up with the plan to use mirrors to defeat the Ghost Clown's hypnotism.