#there was this one episode of scooby doo! mystery incorporated where the whole plot is 'we dont wanna assume your morality but We Know'

[grutadodaibo]

So, I decided to rewatch Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated, it's been 3 years since the last time I watched it, by now I am midway season 1, it has been a nice experience, I really appreciate the writers effort for trying to make a plot focused Scooby Doo show while keeping all the tropes the franchise is known for, and I keep wondering why someone at Warner Bros. haven't tried to give it a try on it again (Unless you count HBO'S Velma, but let's not talk about this, we all know how bad this show is).

But one thing that keeps coming back everytime I watch an episode of the series, is how in order for the series to work, the gang needs to be either out of character or very one note. Their dynamic is really weird because you have these two opposing forces on the series where in one hand they want us to root for their friendship and for them to stay together but at the same time when they are together they are this close 🤏 to split up and never see each other's faces again.

I kept remembering the 2002 live action movie where the gang has a similar dynamic, but there they at least have a reason for why they acted like that, they've been together for too long and can't stand each other anymore because every monster they find the same thing keeps happening, that's why they break up and keep acting completly rude and apathetic towards to each other. Here though, there really isn't a reason why, they know each other for a while, have solved some misteries by the time the show begins, but overall, they are just really toxic to each other, the prime example being the way they write Velma and Shaggy's relationship, I know that Tony Cervone has stated that this was because Velma is lesbian in the series, going through a compulsive heterosexual relationship but this is not enough to explain way her relationship with Shaggy is so messed up, with her trying to change how he talks, how he dresses, what he eats and the whole rivalry they pull out of nowhere between her and Scooby, I'm all for Velma being lesbian (Even tho I'm more of the Bi Velma team) but this really isn't the way to do it.

I stil like the show, but we all need to adress criticism when criticism is needed, specially when the show is often regarded as the best piece of midia in the franchise, and that could be a problem for new interpretations of the characters that have the same issues as the ones from SDMI.

[ariminiria]

You know...even the live action Scooby Doo movies from the 2000's were MUCH more enjoyable then the crap that Hollywood throws at us now. Those people who worked on the LA Scooby Doo movies totally went all out!

They were a little bit bad in some ways, but at the same time they were so charming. And they weren't trying to be edgy, or anything more or less than the source material. They set out to strictly make a live action Scooby Doo, and they did.

I also think that Scooby Doo is a better candidate for live action than many things that have been adapted as such recently, because of the "monster of the week" nature of the show. Most of the episodes were unrelated, unconnected, and rarely referenced each other, except to sometimes mention old cases. But there wasn't a huge overarching plot to drag the pacing down and detract from the main focus, aka whatever case they were currently working on.

That's why I personally found the Mystery Incorporated reboot to be severely underwhelming. Definitely my least favorite iteration thus far. They focused too much on a "big" mystery instead of just. Ya know. Monsters. And they added too much supernatural element. I'll get into why the live action one gets a pass for that later, but the original cartoons and the What's New Scooby Doo phase only ever winked at supernatural realism. Like the cornfield episode where the creepy cat disappeared except for its red eyes at the end. But it was never really taken super seriously.

The live action movies came out to do their own thing and they set the bar from the get go. So sure, we're having Scrappy Doo try to eat Scooby's soul and the gang gets their bodies all swapped around, why not. They kept the tone consistent with the original material and that's what matters. And you didn't have to watch the other movies to understand whichever one you were watching, much like the original monster-of-the-week setup of the series.

Mystery Incorporated tried too hard to be dark and gritty, yet it still pretended it was being faithful to the original. But they reduced all the characters down to the most one dimensional cardboard cutout caricatures of themselves, taking one trait and blowing it up into their whole personality. Fred is a dumb jock who knows nothing but how to make traps. Velma knows nothing but books (and also she's a controlling emotionally abusive girlfriend now??). Daphne is overtly obsessed with Fred and that's her whole personality.

And then they tried to add an overarching plot in the background of each season. They imply that its similar to the cases they've solved this far - ie realism - but just a bigger threat pulling the strings. They're never ever clear of what is supposedly going to happen. Some vague and generic bad guy is planning something. What something, you might ask? What is the culmination of three seasons of insulting material and vague hints? Maybe a real estate scam? An inheritance scheme?

No. Quite literally out of nowhere at the end of the last season, they go through a portal into a shadow dimension and a whole bunch of people get eaten by a shadow demon that can only possess talking animals (for some reason) and it wanted Scooby but only managed to snag some pathetic bird. But it still wants Scooby tho! Anyways the shadow demon is literally consuming their town and the people in it (including the gang's parents cause yeah let's give the kiddies some nightmares) and somehow the power of friendship defeats the shadow demon but also sends them back to an alternate reality like Back to the Future and they all have really cool, better lives now. For some reason.

Honestly, it was insulting that they tried to even call that a Scooby Doo show. If they had made original characters and done their own new thing it would have been kind of interesting. But nah. Just something else where you can tell the creators hated the original material and were determined to twist it into what they wanted to watch instead of being faithful to the source.

The movies understood what they were doing and they didn't try to make it something that it shouldn't be.

[zonerobotnik]

Okay, so the poll said to give my review on "Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated", so here we go.

It's going to have spoilers, but I will try to avoid giving any specific details.

I wish I could say that I loved it. I DID enjoy it, but it's one of those good shows that is ruined by the ending. When I saw that it had an overarching plot, I was excited to see what they might do. But, it was the overarching plot that ruined it.

Moving away from the monster-of-the-week mask-ripping mysteries of the original show, the plot focused on them finding out about a mysterious treasure in the mines that is so great and terrible that people would kill for it and they decide they're going to take it for themselves.

That's not so much the problem but, once they started to find clues about the treasure, everything they dealt with was connected with this treasure and a previous mystery-solving gang that is still around and trying to take the treasure for themselves, aside from very few exceptions, using the new gang to bring them closer to their goal.

That's not really a problem, and wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for one issue: The inclusion of actual supernatural and aliens.

The overarching plot gradually revealed that almost every single unmasked criminal was actually involved with some supernatural entity, even the gang themselves were orchestrated to be together by a supernatural force. I'm a fan of supernatural inclusion but, when you throw "Inescapable Destiny" into the mix, it's pretty much lost my interest. But, I was already near the end, so I kept on watching, and I wish I had stopped.

In one episode, we find out that a lot of the really terrible characters were that terrible because they were involved with the treasure and the good in their heart was trapped in another dimension, from which the gang help someone restore himself so he's whole again, but everyone else in there is completely abandoned. This is never addressed by anyone, but there's only a few episodes left and we're on a rollarcoaster to the ending and so everythng else doesn't matter.

They end up fighting the supernatural entity and cast him away into another dimension, after the entity has pretty much devoured everyone but the gang. And instead of magically restoring everyone and everything that were affected by the entity's escape from his cell ala Gravity Falls once it was defeated, they instead shunted the main characters into another world where the entity was never involved, overwriting the versions of them in that world, extremely different versions, and retaining the memories of their own world.

Their world is destroyed, dead, because they followed the path of the overarching plot. If they had only kept to just ripping masks off fake monsters, they never would have ruined their lives and destroyed their world by basically doing all the work for the other group.

And how do they respond to having a new life, being able to start over? They throw away the new life, which they stole from other versions of them, and answer the call from a mysterious person that contacts them and says there are more mysteries to solve, someone that is aware of who they are and their world, that seems to be an entity that is of a supernatural nature and is able to cross dimensions with ease.

They get in their van and take off to meet the stranger, leaving behind wedding preparations, loving families and friends, basically a perfect life, to go find more mysteries.

And that's how the series ends. After destroying their own lives, they then went on to destroy the lives of another version of themselves. And what will happen when they've done that? Will they then move on to another version with their new friend? We don't know, but I hate this ending. They could have used magic to restore things and let them have their own lives back, instead of throwing them into a world where the entity never existed, a world that wasn't their own.

I'd like to see if there's more Scooby-Doo series that have overarching plots, but I'm worried about if they will be just as bad. I never thought I would find a series that made me want to scream at the writers more than Voltron Legendary Defender, but I somehow found one. I feel like going back and rewatching VLD, just to wash the bad taste this series left in my mouth out of my system.

3/10, It was decent enough but I would not recommend you watch it.

[pawsitivevibe]

wtf was the ending of Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated. Wild. Lol the whole time we were like "wow imagine tuning in for only the finale and being like WHAT is HAPPENING?" Anyway, I recommend viewing, but DO NOT look up spoilers lol.

Also it was fun and I'm sad we're done and have to find a new Good cartoon to fill that slot. We had one picked but now we can't remember what it is RIP. It definitely has to be a plot-driven cartoon made for kids, though. Cartoons made for adults are ... Bad. Cartoons like Mystery Inc that are full of clever things and references (there was a The Shining episode for example) that adults will get, while still being fun for kids ... That's where it's at. She-ra and the Princesses of Power, The Owl House, and Avatar are other ones that fit the same niche.

[smallestclowninthecircus]

Me ranting about Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated season 1

rewatching scooby doo mystery incorporated is always so disappointing. (spoilers ahead though its vague)

the awful velma v scooby thing is the obvious one. i want them to be happy little guys, maybe they squabble in an episode or two, but a whole plotline abt 3/5 characters arguing is infuriating to watch.

another one- why are they all rich? it can be helpful to the plot sometimes but its so annoying- in the first episode when we're introduced to their families, its just the same thing 3 times and then velma's parents are kinda kooky i guess.

overall i think the tone of the show tries to be to serious and scary- scooby doo should be spooky not scary. it makes the cartoony antics feel out of place. this is just a personal preference thing but i prefer scooby doo media closer to A Pup Named Scooby Doo. its silly and goofy. i think this critique can best be summed up when you look at the chase scenes. theres a disappointing lack of chase sequences in this show, we get it a bit in the episode In Fear of the Phantom but even then, it ends with them almost burning alive. I really like the episode Myster Solvers State Finals in terms of tone. the goofy characters make it so much fun to watch.

I do really like the meta plot of this show, the different iterations of mystery incorporated over time is really cool to see. i just think some specific moments earlier on in the show could be a bit lighter. save that grittiness so it feels special.

I like the Mr. E thing, i think its interesting and a fun concept. the thing is, it feels like every time he gets involved in a mystery, theres absolutely no way they could have solved it without him. i like the gatorsburg episode where he just tells them about the mystery, but when he's just there to give them hints when it gets too hard? it makes their victories feel unearned.

i think the group breakup at the end of season one is kinda tacky but i can live with it. i just dont like the character infighting which this show seems to rely on so much. the fred daphne dynamic works so much better if theyre both invested in the relationship.

ALSO i think they did daphne's character so dirty (a common problem in sd media). 1. the joke of her being clumsy makes no sense and is usually just used to make her the damsel in distress. shaggy and scooby are literally goofball clumsy guys if you need someone to do that kind of physical gag, just give it to one of them. 2. the way her relationship with her family is not satisfying. i love that her sisters are all accomplished in different fields, and it seems like the writers want us to think her parents are pushing her towards this, but they literally set her up with some guy a few episodes in! if they want her to focus on her studies/ honing a skill, then have them actually do that! 3. please god let her have interests other than fred. she arguably doesnt even have an interest in fashion/makeup!

[vanillabat99]

5 for the fandom ask meme!!

5: What is your favourite overused trope?

- I don't know if this is overused, but I LOVE when mysteries have someone who is Very Clearly The Villain right from the start but the entire plot is "oh, they couldn't possibly be the villain!" only for them to Actually Be The Villain in the end!!!! Whether the characters know they're suspicious or if it's just the viewers/readers/audience that know, it's such a good trope!!!

I also really enjoy Unlikely Friends and/or Forbidden Lovers!!

---

Thank you for sending this in!!!! I haven't done an ask game in awhile!! Wishing you the best 💕💕💕

[broke-on-books]

Thinking about the effect that the Scooby Doo legacy and stereotypes associated with it have had on the friendships of individual gang members other than just Shaggy and Scooby.

(Some negativity and a lot of personal opinion below, also running on 3hrs sleep so do what you will)

Like this post was actually written after my rant in the tags but in newer Scooby media (with newer counting as everything after the change in art styles and entrance to the 21st century in my mind) it always has to be a spectacle when they do something against the "Laws of Scooby" like they decide to switch up the clue finding pairings for an episode? Suddenly it's the focus of the whole thing, and people are clashing, and blah blah clap the writers on the back for being so self aware!

It's like: listen. Take that one what's new episode for example, in the mall where the toys come to life. They decide to split up the pairings, putting Fred and Shaggy together, and leaving Scooby with the girls. And instead of it being a fun and interesting change, it's just... awkward. Like suddenly Fred and Shaggy can't even have a conversation together? Like they can't even find a common interest to relate over for small talk and I'm supposed to believe that they're friends? And they ARE FRIENDS! First and foremost, friendship is the strongest binding factor in Scooby Doo! These teenagers basically live together and drive around solving dangerous mysteries together. Like for Pete's sake! There's your common intrest right there! It just rubs me the wrong way honestly

This same thing was done (I think I remember) in a few be cool, scooby doo episodes although like a lot of stuff in be cool, they handled it much better, and normally presented a resolution of the gang's friendships at the end of the episode, and would occasionally break the status quo with other team ups.

But still, compared to older, hanna-barbera era (hey, that rhymes!) it felt almost performative, like they were telling us that We, as an Audience had to acknowledge that they were being Different (TM).

Just when you compare it to older cartoons, specifically those where many of the iconic hallmark gags and catchphrases of scooby doo weren't fully cemented, it's a much more chill and relaxed affair. Like Velma can go look for clues with Shaggy and Scooby in WAY, no problem! But if it happens now, there has to be some sort of reason or conflict behind it other than them just being friends, and wanting to hang out!

It's just very interesting, and while an occasional trend, It's one I can find appearing more in Scooby properties I don't like as much, and less in those I do. Like some of the more recent straight to DVD movies! (Can they still be called that tbh?) I love those, and most of them, I've noticed, puts greater emphasis and care on the friendships of the gang than other properties do.

I've especially seen this with the more "popular" or mainstream Scooby media. Like the ones like Mystery Incorporated, the Gunn Movies, etc. try and do something different with the plot (most of the time to great acclaim) but do so at the expense of the characters and their friendship with each other

Like I appreciate what they're trying to do! I do! I like branching out, I loooove changing it up plot wise! But when you don't preserve the heart of the franchise (the scooby gang) it just feels uncomfortable, or flat to me as a Scooby fan.

Like to a more casual fan I can totally see how they can LOVE Mystery inc, or the Gunn Movies, but as someone who watches old episodes and owns and loves DVD releases, it doesn't always feel like the same characters or same story. Like I adore SDMI and what it tried to do with it's plot, but I can have a hard time having fun with it when the gang are arguing and neglecting their real friendships over bullshit relationship drama for the 15th episode in a row. It just makes me a little sad and it's hard to watch as someone who cared about them. It just... I'm a fan who would take a repetitive, carbon copy scooby story with solid and considerate versions of the characters over a story with an amazing plot, but horrible characterization (to the point that you could not PAY me to believe these people are friends) any day

Anyways this got much too long plus my rants in the tags, and I STILL haven't nailed down my point here and I don't think I will so I'll just wrap it up with the fact that Scooby Doo is character driven, and it has survived off those characters for over 50 years. And sometimes it seems that executives have a hard time remembering that when the adaptations most ingrained in the public consciousness seem to show the opposite of this. But I don't know, characterization and character dynamics are something that has changed and evolved a lot over the course of the Scooby Doo franchise's lifetime, and appears in many different forms at different times, making each show and movie (nay, each episode) almost hit or miss in the mind of each fan and their own version of the characters. And I think you can get your best glimpse at what other people see in Scooby through their version of the friendships it involves and how it stands as a central theme

[darkpoisonouslove]

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who Review

I know that the second season hasn’t all come out yet but I watched everything that has and the opinions I have seem pretty solid so I am going to write out a review on everything I’ve watched so far. If there are any changes later on, I will edit accordingly because I do plan on finishing this series (however long it may go on). I am going to start with the things that I don’t like so that I can leave this off on a positive note.

The mysteries are weirdly constructed and feel like an afterthought. There is a lot more focus on the gang (and mainly Shaggy and Scooby) bonding with the guest star that there doesn’t seem to be enough time for the mystery to unfold properly which also affects the pacing. The episodes are 20 minutes (which was a far better call than the 40+-minute episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Movies) but they feel longer and like they’re dragging out because there isn’t all that much happening when it comes to the mystery. Usually, there are one or two clues that I have zero idea how Velma connects into a whole mystery because they feel so far fetched. That is not the case with all of the episodes but it happens a lot and so many times they don’t even know what the motive of the villain is which... you call that a solved mystery? Not in my book but okay, I guess.

The comedy is just... subpar doesn’t cover it. It’s bad, okay. Out of 46 episodes that I watched, I considered only 1 sufficiently funny. There were a couple others that weren’t terrible but oh, god, there was this one episode that didn’t stop saying that comedy is in the timing and yet, it was the absolute worst when it came to comedy. The jokes feel like the center of the narrative which is bad when so many of them don’t land. It feels like they don’t write jokes for the plot they have and instead write the plot around the jokes that they want to include. So many of the jokes are so tired because you’ve seen them a million times. They used the “they’re behind me, right?” joke so many times and it isn’t even properly timed in order to be funny. Just, please, stop already! How did they manage to kill Shaggy’s humor? I don’t understand.

Speaking of repetitions, I don’t know why but they have decided to give new catchphrases to the characters even though they already have some! And those were enough! We already love “jinkies”, “jeepers” and “zoinks” but now they’ve thrown in others. Fred is saying “hold the phone” over and over again to the point where it’s painful and if I hear “It’s trappin’ time” from him or “This mystery is really coming together” from Velma one more time, I swear to god! It’s too much. Please, just stop! I am begging you! What we had was good enough. Don’t overdo it!

On the topic of the gang, it feels like they are trying to push roles on them which I can understand since each member’s function was very undefined in the original show (and for some time after) but I feel like they are going too far and not far enough at the same time. Shaggy and Scooby are scared and hungry all the time and act as bait. Nothing new or unusual there. That formula is pretty hard to fuck up, tbh, but it still feels a little off. That is not the problem, however. Velma is definitely pushed into the role of the one who is solving the mysteries which is overdone, imo, because no one else seems to have any idea what is going on and she is the one that is pretty much solving the mysteries on her own. Fred is made into that trappin’ guy from Mystery Inc again but at least that is tamer here. And there are some side things thrown in about him so it isn’t that bad. Daphne is truly the mystery of this show, however. She is... just there. She doesn’t have a role, at all. I remember an era when Daphne was a martial arts legend and a different characterization where she was super creative with accessorizing and that worked for here. But here she’s just... existing around. She doesn’t really do much. And it really stands out when all of the others are so confined to one single role. I am not sure what they were thinking with this.

Now for the good parts. There are so many little moments in which the gang are actually shown to care for each other and that saves everything for me tbh. It is super cute because it is obvious how much they care for each other in a way that was rarely shown in other series/movies. A lot of the time it was actually implied that mysteries are what holds them together but here you can see the genuine friendship that is built between them even if it is just glimpses over the different episodes. It is really endearing and I am absolutely loving it. They are a perfectly caring unit and no one hesitates to do something for their friends or apologize or anything. It is heartwarming and what made me stick with this series so long.

And I have to talk about the guest stars now. I was not a fan of The New Scooby-Doo movies because of the guest stars. I don’t even remember much from watching them but I know that I wasn’t a fan. This time it feels a lot better. They have definitely found a way to incorporate the guest stars in the episodes better. I like the way that some of them are friends of the gang while others just come along with the gang to help with the mystery. I like it. It’s definitely not bad and I like a lot of the guest stars they’ve included. Also, a few times the guest star was the monster and I was hoping for that because it wouldn’t be interesting otherwise. Well, they delivered.

Generally speaking, despite the annoyances I have, I could have been thoroughly happy with the series if the mysteries felt better composed. That, imo, is the only component that is lacking to the point where it is detrimental to the story. Everything else I could forgive if the mysteries had been a little more engaging. I still like the series, however, and I can see it continuing for more than two seasons based on the fact that there are many famous people who guest star. That wouldn’t be the worst case scenario but I hope they will update some of the elements if the series does go on. It could be better even if it is already enjoyable.

[goldenavenger02]

Susz's Halloween Recommendations Part 1: Movies, specials and TV shows.

Movies/specials

Girl Vs. Monster (2012)

Skylar, a teenage girl who discovers on Halloween she's a fifth generation monster hunter. When Skylar accidentally releases some monsters from a containment chamber she must recapture them before they wreak vengeance on her parents.

Notes: I've been watching this since it came out and it's always been a favorite of mine! Has a great message about facing your fears and not letting them control you with the backdrop of monster hunting!

Halloweentown (1998)

When a young girl living with her good-witch grandmother learns she too is a witch, she must help her grandmother save Halloweentown from evil forces.

Notes: I watched this for the first time last year, and I was pleasantly surprised even as an 18 year old!

Hocus Pocus (1993)

A curious youngster moves to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.

Notes: another movie I watched last year, and so surprisingly dark for Disney, especially in the 90s.

The Haunted Mansion (2003)

A realtor and his wife and children are summoned to a mansion, which they soon discover is haunted, and while they attempt to escape, he learns an important lesson about the family he has neglected.

Notes: Eddie Murphy trying to keep his family safe in this haunted house? It's one of my favorites!

Scooby Doo (2002)

The Mystery Inc. gang have gone their separate ways and have been apart for two years, until they each receive an invitation to Spooky Island. Not knowing that the others have also been invited, they show up and discover an amusement park that affects young visitors in very strange ways. Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby soon realize that they cannot solve this mystery without help from each other.

Notes: this is a childhood movie of mine, and the sequel is so good as well. Definitely a good mix of spooky and fun!

Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins (2009)

A made for TV movie about the origins of the Mystery Incorporated gang.

Notes: a high school/Disney Channel style movie with horror elements starring Robbie Ammel and Hayley Kiyoko. This one is one I've been watching since it came out and it's one of my favorites.

Coraline (2009)

An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.

Notes: watched this one last year and I absolutely adore it! It's so terrifying and I highly recommend.

The Boy (2016)

An American nanny is shocked that her new English family's boy is actually a life-sized doll. After she violates a list of strict rules, disturbing events make her believe that the doll is really alive.

Notes: the movie is suspenseful the whole time, and the last 15 minutes are absolutely horrifying.

Flashback (2020)

After a chance encounter with a man forgotten from his youth, Fred literally and metaphorically journeys into his past.

Notes: I watched this psychological thriller a few months ago and it has it's scary elements, but it's really interesting to see the main character descend into madness and obsession due to something in his personal life.

Edge of Winter (2016)

When two brothers are stranded by a brutal winter storm with an unpredictable father they barely know, the boys begin to suspect their supposed protector may be their biggest threat.

Notes: pretty sure this movie was filmed around the same time Captain America: Civil War, so it's very young Tom Holland, but this is a movie he is so good in. Definitely makes you wonder just how far parents are willing to go.

Hubie Halloween (2020)

Despite his devotion to his hometown of Salem (and its Halloween celebration), Hubie Dubois is a figure of mockery for kids and adults alike. But this year, something is going bump in the night, and it's up to Hubie to save Halloween.

Notes: Don't take this one seriously and you're more likely to enjoy it. Definitely more of a comedy than anything scary. Adam Sandler is very polarizing but I enjoyed this.

Hotel Transylvania (2012)

Dracula, who operates a high-end resort away from the human world, goes into overprotective mode when a boy discovers the resort and falls for the count's teenaged daughter.

Notes: a family Halloween movie that really is just a fun time.

Ninjago: Day of the Departed (2016)

On the Ninjago holiday: Day of the Departed, the ninja remeber those who have departed.

Notes: Takes place in between season 6 and 7 and really explores grief as well as the concept of being forgotten. Obviously you have to watch the seasons before to understand this, but it's really interesting to watch for sure.

My Friend Dahmer (2017)

Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys in the Midwest United States between 1978 and 1991 before being captured and incarcerated. He would become one of America's most infamous serial killers. This is the story before that story.

Notes: a fascinating look into an infamous serial killer, both parts fiction and non fiction and suspenseful the whole time.

TV shows

Teen Wolf (2011-2017)

Scott becomes the eponymous teenage werewolf of the series after he is bitten by an alpha werewolf the night before his second year of high school, drastically changing his once-ordinary life.

Notes: one of my absolute favorite TV shows, and perfect for the Halloween season! Especially since the movie is coming out next year!

Only Murders in the Building (2021-)

Only Murders in the Building follows three strangers, played by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, who share an obsession with a true crime podcast. After a murder in their building, the three neighbors decide to start their own show that covers their investigation of the murder.

Notes: Already fantastic and season 1 is still coming out on Hulu! The blend of comedy and horror is always one of my favorites!

Cruel Summer (2021-)

The series follows two teenage girls in the 1990s and the repercussions on everyone's lives after one disappears and the other seemingly takes her place.

Notes: this has huge triggers for domestic violence, grooming and sexual assault. If you're not triggered by that, I HIGHLY recommend this, and I'm so excited for season 2! It also has some great LGBT+ rep!

Nancy Drew (2019-)

Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) is a brilliant teenaged detective whose sense of self had come from solving mysteries in her hometown of Horseshoe Bay, Maine – until her mother’s untimely death derails Nancy’s college plans.

Notes: I've been watching this since it came out and season 3 is about to start airing! The first season is so wonderful and full of twists and turns (season 2 isn't as good, but it's the CW) and I highly recommend!

Ninjago Season 5, Possession (2015)

The spirit of the evil Morro is released from the cursed realm and the Ninjas have to unite in the battle against an evil foe.

Notes: one of my favorite seasons of the show, and definitely one of the darkest ones! Deals with grief, depression and high expectations and it's so good!

Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013)

Scooby-Doo and the gang attempt to solve creepy mysteries in the town of Crystal Cove, a place with a history of eerie supernatural events.

Notes: this starts off similar to the original Scooby Doo show from the early 70's, but as the overarching plot gets deeper and deeper, you really spend your time just wondering "what the heck is going on".

I'm not going to put specific episodes of TV shows on here, because that'll get daunting, but part 2 is books and fics!

[the-scooby-gang]

Finally watched the Scoob!movie

Here we are in the future! As you guys know I was REALLY EXCITED to see the new movie. Well, here we are, so I will share my thoughts.

This one is a long one, so buck up!

Let’s break the movie down and see its high and low points, shall we? 

One thing that I noticed right out of bat is that the movie is following the typical Hanna-Barbera crossover logic: “Hey audience, you already know these characters and their dynamics, so we will not really focus on them (unless is a plot point on the narrative) and focus more on the adventure”

Which worked for me. But I also know that I’m a 20 years old woman that was a child when Wacky Races, Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines, Scooby-Doo and Captain Caveman was on every day at morning before I went to school.

What I mean is, I already know these characters, so watching the movie was just like watching the crossover episodes. It was fun, not because of the plot, but because the characters that I grew loving were sharing a screen.

But now I think of a new audience that may have NO IDEA who these other characters are and are kinda mislead by the title of the movie because, and lets be honest here, the movie should have being called something like:

Scooby gang and the Falcon Team!

or more precisely

Scooby, Shaggy and the Falcon Team!

That’s the first low point: The opening minutes leads you to believe that, even if Shaggy and Scooby have most of the screen time, after all the plot of the movie is clearly about their bond as best friends, you expect that the whole Scooby Gang are going to have equal screen time. But that is not the case.

They have nice moments of course! One of the first high points is that the gang is really wholesome when they are together! They are good friends that care about each other! What breaks them apart is not some forced antagonism between them, but an outside force (MOTHERFUCKING SIMON COWELL) and, by the way things went, if the plot had not kicked in on the bowling alley, the gang would unite again, hug, call Simon Cowell an idiot, reassure Shaggy and Scooby that they are valid and find a new person to sponsor the expansion of Mystery INC. 

In fact, now that I think about it, the plot could have gone WAAAAAAY different, but that is a talk for another post.

High point one and a half: The movie was funny and cute. Self aware jokes, Muttley and Dick antics, Dick’s disguises, the F-Bomb, Shaggy is a Potterhead, Scooby was animated with “This dog deserves hugs” mentality and I approve.

High point number two: Dick Dastardly. His entire personality, his disguises , his motivation. God his motivation. I too would open the gates of hell to get my dog back (and also some treasure, this is Dastardly we are talking about)

In fact his interactions with Muttley are high point number three. THEY ARE SUCK ASSHOLES BUT THEY CLEARLY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH I LOVE THAT!

But that also opens the gates for Low point number two: Where Dick arc is finished in a satisfactory way (being an asshole that cares for one (1) asshole dog) , Brian’s a.k.a Blue Falcon doesn’t.

You see, in the movie Shaggy clearly sees that Brian acts the way he does because he is NOT Blue Falcon. He is his son. He has the weight of a legacy on his shoulders and he is not coping well with that. This is highlighted by how Dynomutt sees him and his childish ways. (in fact, Dynomutt just being done with Brian shit 95% of the movie is high point number four) And you think “They are going to make a scene were he and Dynomutt are more open with each other. Where Brian says how scared he is and how the pressure of the legacy is maybe too much for him and that he is no hero, and them Dynomutt is going to reassure him that, No. You are a hero. I’m sorry for expecting you to be like your father, instead of doing to you what did for him: guiding you” and we got that! .....Really rushed in the middle of the final action scene with no emotional punch at all as a side effect from the “we expect you to know who these people are” crossover logic. Because I never watched Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon

I don’t how their dynamic was supposed to go. Even more by being the original Dynomutt with a new Falcon. I have no bases of how things used to be to feel anything. Especially because I don't know how the OG blue falcon acted in comparison to his son to see were he was falling short. I don't know how Dynomutt acted with the OG Falcon to see were he was setting the bar for Brian. Without that information, even if Dynomutt being done is entertaining  and fun, it leaves the emotional impacts hollow.

Low point number three is also to blame here: the movie fells INCREDIBLY RUSHED. And I think I know the reason. Hanna-Barbera is no stranger to crossovers, but they never did more them one property + another before, three properties at most. It was always Scooby Doo and The Wacky Race or Scooby Doo and Captain Caveman or Scooby Doo and The Blue Falcon but never Scooby Doo and All of them together. 

Even in the episode of Mystery incorporated “Mystery Solvers Club State Finals” were ALL THE HANNA-BARBERA MYSTERY SOLVER TEAMS WERE TOGETHER UNDER ONE ROOF , they made the mystery about the disappearing of all the mystery solvers except the mascots, which left the cast of characters of the episode more manageable them having all the gangs fighting for screen time, and even them some of the mascots have more dialog and character beats them others.

With so many characters, they had to pic which ones got a full arc or important plot beats, which left all the other character lacking as a side effect.

That brings us to low point number four: THE MYSTERY IS WEAK. It’s weak even for Scooby Doo levels and that is saying something. I saw episodes of Be Cool (that is a really good incarnation character design aside, you should check it out) that had a more well rounded mystery them this. The focus of the movie was divided in so many places that the mystery had no room to breath (Dick, Shaggy and Scooby, Shaggy and Scooby and the Falcon team, Dee Dee and Dynomutt backs aching by having to carry the plot forward, Shaggy and Brian have a heart to heart moments, Captain Caveman fight scene, and finally the mystery gang and the, you know, mystery)

The mystery is about “why the fuck Dick wants Scoob so bad” and the answer is “Because Scooby is descended from Peritas, Alexanders the Great Dog, and he needs him to open the gate to the underworld that Alex and Perry created to protect their treasure, plus save Mutley that is stuck there”

That could have being such a strong mystery!!! They would think that he only has greed in mind by opening the gates, not giving a flying fuck about the giant Cerberus that is going to eat Athens while he fills his pockets, only to discover that, yes there was greed in his actions but there was also a man looking for his best friend stuck on the other side, with would have made such a strong emotional parallel to Shaggy and Scooby final challenge. Missed opportunity. 

Back to the high points to balance thing out, the high point number five: Fred is a himbo that loves his friends and his van. The moment were they hear that Shaggy and Scooby are in danger and he immediately turns the van around nearly launching Velma and Daphne though the window was really good, plus the “Leave Shaggy Alone” and the fact that when the Fake!Fred appears (Dastardly in one of his ultra-realistic disguises) in the island and Shaggy calls his name and they hug in the most wholesome way, the fact that Shaggy doest think that the wholesomeness is out of character implies that the Real Freddie is just as sweet.

High point number six: Daphne gains first an Allie and then an entire robot army for her friends though the power of compassion. This is a nice take on Daphne. They say that Fred is the Brawn, Velma is the Brain and Daphne is the People person, which I take is the fact that she can make fast friends and easy contacts to solve the mysteries + think about why someone would do something, like, Velma sees the logic behind the mystery while Daphne sees the emotion that lead to the mystery in the first place.

Which, unfortunately leads to low point number five: even if I can make all that character analyses from one phrase and this specific moment and its outcome, thanks to Low point number three and four a.e. Lack of character focus and lack of mystery I can't truly see if I’m right or not about Velma's logic and Daphne’s emotional knowledge... BECAUSE I CAN BARELY REMEMBER VELMA AT ALL. Velma is the one that suffered the most by the lack of mystery because there is where she thrives. The moments were Velma piece the clues together is so overshadowed by everything that is going down that you barely notices it. Same thing for Dee Dee. She and Dynomutt are, thanks to the way the plot was build, the only ones that are actually making moves to compel the plot forward, but outside of being the one flying the ship and trying to find were the skulls macguffings are, I can barely remember her besides  a moment were she and Dyno are baffled about Brian thinking that Anonymous was an actual name.

Dee Dee is from Captain Caveman, she was the brains of the group, which we kinda see, but she is apparently in a point in time where she and Cavey don't even know each other. I think if they had removed the Caveman fight scene and instead added dialog of her talking about how she and her friends discovered a caveman on ice and they are planing on defrosting him, you know, THE PLOT OF THE ORIGINAL CAPTAIN CAVEMAN AND THE TEEN ANGELS would have being better.  Or maybe just say that she is just here because she promised the OG Blue Falcon that she would help train his son to replace him and when her work is done she is going back to her team. You know, actually stabilising a more connected world without inflating your cast and making things difficult for yourself and the script writers.

Low point number five and a half : Captain Caveman is completely superfluous. He was a funny beat, but outside of that, the time that they expended getting to his island, finding him, fighting him and losing the skull macguffing anyway  could have being expended on character moments either between the falcon team, or better yet, the Mystery gang. Or put more time on the mystery itself.

Now to high point number seven and the most important of them all, after all it is the plot were the entire movie is set upon: When Shaggy is speaking with Brian about how the pressure of his father shadow over him is beyond overwhelming, Shaggy is so insightful in that scene that it heavily implies that he feels in part in a similar way in the gang and that is one of the reasons he felt offended when Simon Cowell, and later on Dick Dastardly, say that he is virtually insignificant  to the group and them gets jealous of Scoob when he starts to spend more time with the Falcon Team. 

Is one thing to be the scary cat with your best friend, is another thing entirely to be the scary cat alone. AND I LOVE THAT

Shaggy and Scooby bond has being highlighted from the opening scene (high point number eight) and Shaggy’s felling of loneliness. That before Scooby came into his life, he had no one. And even after the gang was united, Scooby remains his first and best friend. The slight idea of losing his friend to something that he can never compare (What is a Shaggy in face of a Blue Falcon Team membership) makes him lash out. We joke about Scooby being Shaggy service dog, but for all effects, Scooby is his emotional support, his light on the end of the tunnel that was his loneliness. The gang are his friends, but they are really different from him. Meanwhile he and Scoob are almost always in the same wave lane. And them suddenly Scoob appears to be changing. Moving away. 

The entire movie is Shaggy dealing with the idea of losing Scooby. Of losing his first friend and scared cat companion. What he ultimately learns is that the power of his friendship with Scoob is way too strong to let simple thing as “going away” or “changing” diminished what they created through the years. That’s why he says he has changed in the final. That he has grow. Because he has come to realise that even if Scoob changes and becomes more brave or something, he has nothing to fear. Because being friends is to know that, even miles apart, dimensions apart, your friendship lives on.

By acknowledging that Scoob can change, or even leave but never truly abandon him, Shaggy himself grows.

That’s why he chooses to be the one stuck on the other side.

Because he knows that he is not alone, not really.

So the final count is:  HIGH points = 7,5 LOW points = 5,5

I liked the film. I was giggling like an idiot the entire time. My inner child was happy, even if my adult brain was not as pleased in many moments after further thought. However both my child heart and my adult brain agree that the movie is far from perfect. Many interesting ideas but poor execution of many of them.  With is fine. We all know that the Scooby movies have already peaked *cough* Legend of the Phantosaur *cough*

This was a long ass review of the Scoob! Movie.

[scoobydoominuscoobydoo]

Why do you hate Scooby Doo Mystery Inc so much?

Hate is a pretty big word that I really don’t like to throw around that often because to me it implies zero redeeming qualities and that it never should have existed. I don’t think the Scooby world would be better off if MI never existed because despite it’s flaws there was a pretty huge following for it in the beginning. It did something that wasn’t all that common for CN shows at the time and that was trying to take a more serious and heavy-handed approach to the Scooby gang’s lives. It also brought back the concept of an overarching story line that was pretty well done before it go so convoluted (the last Scooby show to do that was 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo and that was back in the 80′s). It showed that the standard Scooby formula actually worked really well with this sort of set up. 

It also is the best looking show and I really do mean that. The art-style is appealing to the eye and the color pallet was shooting for this whole neon noir that worked really well. The directing and camera work is set up like a teen slasher movie and it meshes nicely with the vibe the show is going for. The designs for the monsters are also pretty memorable from the first season and look great. Like I can remember most of the episodes from the first season simply because of the set pieces and monster designs (the episode where they end up in a house underground is one of my favorites aesthetically).

This was also the first series with Matthew Lillard as Shaggy since the 2002 and 2004 live-action films and he does a great job for sure. The performances from the whole cast are good as a whole (not exactly off brand for them).

There’s the episode “Night Terrors” that got like 11 year old me shipping Shaphne in the first place.

So there are definitely some things I respect from MI and I wouldn’t say that I hate the show. I think strongly dislike suits my feelings more.

Despite the fact that it did a lot for Scooby it also messed a lot of it up (this is coming from someone who watched it several times all the way through). The story got too complicated and there were a lot of unresolved plots and character actions that didn’t make sense.

I think the worst crime it commits - and the one that my animosity is directed at - is that it’s characterization was the worst out of all the shows. It tries to sell the gang as the town outcasts who only have each other but most of the time I can’t buy that they’re close friends because of all the times they just stop talking to each other. It really feels like they hang out with each other on accident and would really be with literally anyone else. Most of the first season just feels like Daph is there because Fred is there and she wants Fred to jump her so.

The gang’s relationship is a key element of every Scooby show and if you leave the impression that they aren’t that close than you’ve got five characters acting independently that sometimes solve mysteries together.

Not to mention how badly the gang themselves are written.

I’ll start with Shaggy because he’s my guy and his treatment in MI makes me sad. Overall, I think he’s the most “in character” out of everyone but that still isn’t saying much. A lot of his development is through either Scooby or Velma and the Velma development was handled as poorly as possible. I know this show came out during a period where putting the guy on the receiving end of an abusive relationship was funny but that doesn’t make it okay. It’s played for laughs but even when I was little I didn’t think Shag being in a controlling relationship was amusing. When he breaks up with Velma (for a completely valid reason that doesn’t even mention her abuse of him) he’s painted as the bad guy and it’s brought up for the rest of the show. That effectively ruined his connection with the rest of the gang and now he’s more or less just there. He doesn’t get any emotional heart-to-hearts or scenes showing his relationship with the gang (the most he gets is with Daphne ironically). 

Most of the conflicts he alone faces are connected to Scooby or food and I feel like they could have explored so much more with him. Especially since that was the whole selling point of the show to begin with. The consistent fact that Shag is the glue that holds the gang together isn’t an element in this show either. I figured they might explore his obviously neglectful parents who still don’t seem too attached to the having a kid thing. But that didn’t happen and any outstanding Shaggy moments in the show aren’t as deep as the show promises.

Daphne easily gets it the worst. Her whole character is like completely dependent on Fred’s current attitude of her. Which is a shame because the show has these undertones of implying that Daphne is this eccentric, dorky, rich girl and I have no problem with that but nothing is done with it. Literally all of her characterization comes from Fred and any major development with her also comes from Fred. Season one her is pining for his affections relentlessly to the point that is seems kinda ridiculous. Even when they try and have Daphne “give up” on him she doesn’t even really do that. She’s just more inward about her feelings. I can’t even think of anything else to say about her because everything about her is just “SHE IS INTO FRED” in big red letters all over the story. I will mention that she is kinda sexualized in this show but it isn’t all that extreme. It’s not exactly illegal for a sixteen year old girl to wear bikinis (that she wears to get Fred’s attention of course). She did pull the teenager wearing lingire way before Riverdale did so props I guess (not really I still don’t understand the point).

It’s disappointing because Daphne is such a charming and lovable character in every show she’s in. Yet in MI she’s blown down to Fred’s arm candy and even when they promise to give her a character beyond that they really don’t. She falls back into the same relationship dynamic with him despite the supposed character growth.

MI Velma is given the backwards character arc of being the victim in an emotionally detached relationship. And it always confuses me because it’s obvious she had no interest in who Shaggy is because she wanted nothing to do with his life and kept trying to change him. Ironically she was trying to turn him into her arm candy and somehow convinced herself that he was the bad guy for not wanting to be that. The show wants you to feel bad for her because a boy chose a dog over her - but that isn’t even what happens! He states that he really isn’t ready for the kind of relationship Velma wants with him and that is painted as him choosing his dog. She holds that over him and Scooby’s heads for the rest of the show and I still don’t feel bad for her because she literally tried to force him to get rid of his dialogue quirk through physical harm. And he felt bad about it until the end of the episode????

When she isn’t abusing one of her best friends she’s usually talking down to all three of them because she’s perfectly aware that she’s smarter than them. Yet she’s the one who gets the most interesting story. Working for Mr. E and having an obvious lesbian relationship with Marcie are like actual things that progressed her character. Neither Shag or Daph get this treatment  and they don’t even get any character development to begin with. But every time I finish the show I stay at the same conclusion that I don’t like her all that much. Her redeeming quality could be her brutal sarcasm but that’s a character quirk that doesn’t fix who she is.

Oh Fred, dear little Fred. The one with the actual character arc that remains consistent. His character just got regulated to the dude-bro of your dreams with a trap/ascot obsession??? It’s pretty jarring to watch because Fred from the older shows is like this sweet guy who tries to play the mature one in the group. And then MI took that and threw it away so they could turn him into Captain Oblivious who only notices his feelings for Daphne when she expresses even the smallest bit of disinterest in him (how many relationships have I seen like that irl? Too many). There’s also the unspoken rule that all Fraphne development happens through jealousy (it’s been that way since Zombie Island and is still a regular thing). 

The thing is, there’s so much I could say about Fred yet not really all that much. He gets the most story and arguably the most screen-time. He prioritizes so many things over Daphne’s feelings for him and when they’re dating Daph states that she feels like one of his traps because he’s so controlling. He breaks her heart like it’s no big deal but then we’re supposed to believe he still loves Daph enough to actually stalk her?? The more I think about it the more shocked I get.

Actually, the more I talk about this show the more shocked I get. Mystery Incorporated has always been held to a higher regard as the best Scooby show. But that’s coming from the crowd that didn’t watch everything Scooby-Doo had to offer. 

Aside from the great art and animation, the integration of a greater evil happening behind the scenes, and probably the best score as well, MI’s flaws outweigh all of the good things it brings to the table. I try to give it another chance and I am always disappointed because nothing is accomplished or done with the characters and that’s what I was promised. An overarching plot suggests character development and progression but we don’t get that. Instead we get the butchering of a cast of characters we love and a bogus ending that makes zero sense in the context of anything.

TLDR; MI sucks but I would still watch it everyday for the rest of my life if it meant I never had to watch Scoob! again.

[popculturebuffet]

Scooby Doo (2002) Review: The Most Punchable Fred Jones of All Time

It’s one last hurrah for Halloween as I take a look at the often derided 2002 Scooby Doo Movie! See what happens when you combine future superstar director James Gunn with .. the guy who thought directing the Smurf’s movie and Big’s Mama’s House were good ideas. Oh and with a splash of the guy who wrote the loveable family film Cheaper by the Dozen and the utterly loathed Percy Jackson film. It’s as messy as you’d expect with that.. but is it BAD? good, so bad it’s good, just sorta okay? Come with me as I try to find out under the cut with a full review. 

I’ve always loved Scooby Doo. I grew up with the guy, watching reruns of the non-scrappy classic series from Where Are You to the Scooby Doo Movies, the three Superstar 10 movies (Boo Brothers, Ghoul School and Reluctant Werewolf), or the at the time brand new What’s New Scooby Doo. And later in life i’d absolutely adore Mystery Incorporated.. minus the whole Shaggy, Scooby Velma love triangle, but i’ll likely cover that at some point or sooner, you can comission reviews from me for 5 bucks each, 5 dollars off group orders if you really want to make me suffer through that that bad. But getting off self promotion point is I loved and still love the franchise. While I”ve yet to see “Scooby Doo and Guess Who”, though given there’s Weird Al, Kristan Schaal and Urkel episodes you can be sure i’m going to eventually, and Scoob was VERY ehhh even if Dick Dastardly was awesome. But despite my history with the great dane much like with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, despite my rich history with the franchise I haven’t dove in yet and with a friend who could use a nice halloween suprise and loves scooby doo, I figured now was the time to take a look at it.  And since i’d been wanting to take a look at it again anyway, and decided going big wasn’t a bad way to start, i’m taking a look at the 2002 Scooby Doo movie. I saw this flim first run in a drive in, and saw the sequel the same way and loved it as a kid, and fondly remember checking out the Sountrack Preview page back before youtube existed to make checking out soundtracks easier. It was a simplier time. And even rewatching it later with my nieces, I found myself liking it.  And the thing was almost every time this film comes up it’s with a turned up nose. The CGI, the confused audience, the deciding to cast Freddy Prinze Junior.. all terrible decisions that overshadow the film, when it’s not that bad. It’s not GREAT, but it’s not TERRIBLE either. So what is it then? Well i’ll tells ya. Let’s start with

PRODUCTION: Wait James Gunn Wrote This?

At the turn of the millneium Scooby Doo was back on top. After waning popularity during the Scrappy era, the advent of the warner affilated Cartoon Network meant a whole new generation of kids (raises hand) got to experince Scooby Doo for the first time. This new audeince lead to Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, the first of the franchises 80 or so DTV movies that will continue on long after the earth dies, and brought back the franchise after it’s long slumber. Scooby Doo went from dead to as popular as he was in his hey day again. Naturally Warner wanted to cash in and thus this movie was born.  Originally the film was supposed to be a more adult project, a send up of the franchise with more sex jokes and what not than made the final cut according to writer James Gunn. Yes, the same James Gunn who wrote and directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movie and whose currently saving the suicide squad. It was one of Gunn’s earlier films but just from when he’s talked about it, you can tell he genuinely cared about the project.  Along for the ride with our future Guardian was his co-writer, Craig Titely,  who i’m convinced only came in to do punch ups as the guy has only written three other movies. One of them was being one of MANY writers on Cheaper by the Dozen and thus likely not doing much of note with that, and the other.. is being the only writer on Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief’s movie adaptation.. aka the movie the fanbase and general audiences rejected in droves yet SOMEHOW got a sequel. Which is somehow still worse than his other film, one that asks “was the moon landing a hoax?” Spoilers, it wasn’t. Point is this isn’t a resume that screams co creator and more screams “Guy brought in to kid freindly this up”. More on that in a minute.  The director is another less than reassuring face: Raja Gosnell, whose credits BEFORE this film were Home Alone 3, Never Been Kissed and Big Momma’s house.. so already he dosen’t have the best track record but somehow got worse because AFTER this film and it’s sequel he directed both live action Smurfs Movies and the universally hated Show Dogs, aka the film  that thought dog rape was funny. The fact this film isn’t out and out terrible is a miracle. 

Even more so because naturally, as Studios tend to do they interfered: The film was supposed to be more adult, cracking jokes about common things fans of the series growing up thought like Velma is Gay or Shaggy’s a stoner, and having both be fully true. But wanting to appeal to kids, Warner gradually lightned it, hence Craig, and Raja clearly having no shame gladly took it instead of you know.. standing his ground.  So Velma has a love intrest thrown in and her kiss with Daphne is gone, while Shaggy’s toke smoking was lowered to subtext.. because either of those things is bad apparently? I dunno the 2000′s were fucked. 

Point is THAT’S why these films are so tonally confused and why I don’t hold it agains the film now I know: It wasn’t James Gunn or even, as dumb as he is, Raja Gosnell’s fault that the film had some tones clashing when the studio was demanding it, instead of you know, thinking this through at all and realizing more kids cared about Scooby Doo than they would’ve josie and the pussy cats instead of bringing it up DURING production, when most of the adult stuff was in there. It’s also why the sequel has no real adult stuff, though it’s STILL damn good, but i’ll get to that some other day. 

The film was also shot at an actual theme park in australia. Neat. 

So yeah the film’s humor kind of ping pongs between knowing adult winks and kids stuff. We get Scooby dressing like a grandma in the same film shaggy enhales his demon possed love intrests breath like weed. The jokes themselves on average are pretty good: Some of my faviorites include the grandma scene, everything rowan atkinson does, Velma getting drunk off her ass, and the instructional video bit which is easily my favorite bit of the episode and one of my faviorite scooby doo jokes period:

This is even FUNNIER to me on rewatch, as we now know this is an instructional video for demons.. and that Scrappy clearly had enough problems with his demon horde to have to pay for this thing. It tis glorious.  However there also are also a few that HAVE NOT aged well, are very creepy at best and disgusting sexual assault at worst with Daphne getting her ass grabbed by the Luna Ghost at the start being treated as a joke and Fred oggling Daphne’s body when he’s in it being treated as a ha ha and not...

So yeah the humor’s USUALLY good, but the slipups are noticable and do bring things down a bit when they come by. So the humor is decent if mixed and the production’s a nightmare, how’s the plot? The Plot: Scoob, We’re Getting the Band Back Together!

I won’t be as through as usual because this is a 90 minute movie, I’m running behind as is and it’s 20 years old, 

We start with your standard mystery inc case with the Luna Goose, aka Old Man Incel who resented Pamela Anderson for not boning him. But Fred hogging the glory during the resulting News Cast leads the gang to start fighting over lingering tensions: Velma is tired of Fred hogging all the credit when she does most of the legwork solving things, Daphne is tired of being kidnapped and being mistreated by Velma and Freddy who laugh at the idea of her doing more, and Fred..

We’ll get to him later. Shaggy is the only one wanting to stick together, but no one’s having it and the group breaks apart and Matthew LIllard REALLY sells Shaggy’s heartbreak over his friends all abandoning him well. 

Two years later though, with Shaggy and Scooby naturally getting stoned and eating large quantities of food on the beach, have made peace with retirement, and have apparently had to duck tons of people coming to them to solve mysteries since they aren’t about that. The latest in that line is a man representing Emile Mondovarius, the owner of Spooky Island, a vast island resort and theme park. Naturally since it has spooky in the name the boys want nothing but Mondovarius does what honestly every previous guy coming to them should’ve done: offers them an all you can eat buffet.  Since they’ve done more traumatizing for Dog Treats, they agree and it soon turns out the entire gang was invited, though none of them but Shaggy and Scooby are happy to see each other. I will say one of my complaints about the film is it never tackles the emotions behind the breakup: while the teams slowly repairs there are never any outright apologizes or scenes of them recociling or scenes of Shaggy chewing them out for abandoning him due to their spat. It just skips over the emotional bits to either wave a joke for the kiddies around or scream 

Really the jokes aren’t bad, the film just has trouble with actual emotion or depth that could’ve been there and tries for it once in a while, but dosen’t really do anything with it. The gang splitting up’s a good concept, and at this point on Scooby Doo on Zombie Island had really used it, and that was one where they were clearly still close friends and were still in touch they just quit mystery solving for a while till Zombie Island happened. Mystery Incorpreated would finally give this story justice later: Instead of over a petty ego squabble, the gang broke up over underlying tensions: The revelations about Fred’s dad caused him to go try and find himself, Velma alienated herself by hiding things from them, and Shaggy was shipped off to Military School and Scooby doggy prison camp... thankfully the last two didn’t last and Scooby rescued Shaggy with a tank but the tension DIDN’T go away: While the gang mostly reunited, Velma took time to forgive them and also tried bringing in the friend/girlfriend she’d made in the meantime only for her friends to isolate her and throw her out while Daphne took her time to return due to being hurt by fred. It’s complex and good stuff versus here where it’s just “WE’RE APART BECAUSE WE HATES EACH OTHER. And now we’re NOT”. It’s just a waste of a good concept and i’ m glad the franchise got around to doing it right. 

But my gripes aside our heroes head to the resort and meet Mondevarious, who admits outright to having tricked then and with confronted with the gang being broken up, makes it clear he knews.  “That’s the thing about broken things.. you can put them back together.”

And so he did. He needs the Gang’s help as he’s worried about the island and something going wrong there: The teens are leaving polite, well behaved. and clearly not themselves as one reacts to an old friend by neck lifting him and tossing him aside. Something’s deeply wrong here and the gang’s intrest is piqued enough to stay though everyone but Shaggy is determined to solve it themselves out of ego. Mondvarius is played by Rowan Atkinson and while I watched the bean movie as a kid this is where I fell in love with the guy, with later watches of Blackadder confirming that in my college years. Rowan just brings a fun dorky energy to the character and a nice earnestness too but when he later takes a turn for the bad, he does that well too. Atkinson is HIGHLY underated in my opinon and easily the MVP of this film’s supporting cast.   So the investigation begins, and we get our supsects: The first we met on the plane, Mary Jane, a kind blonde played by Isla Fisher who got the job becasue Gosnel, in a rare good decision, saw how talented she was and while still picking Sara Michele Gellar for Daphne, made sure she had  a part. She’s a nice sweet girl who Shaggy falls for and Scooby’s annoyed by it.. though unlike earlier the film beats mystery inc easily here as it’s a more understandable conflict and dosen’t act like Dog Issues is a thing people says. Again i’ll get to that clusterfuck of an arc some day. The other two are N’Goo Tuna, a shady worker at the park who spouts off the legends of the island. In a nice twist, he’s NOT the vilian, as is obvious but is his right hand man. He also has his own right hand and muscle in Zarkos a cool looking Luchador and N’Goo’s muscle. Also N’Goo may be one of the worst names in Scooby Doo History, and that includes Dabba Doo. But the legend claims the island was once owned by demons who want revenge since the resort took the island from him. 

The other is probably my faviorite non Rowan Atkinson character, Voodoo Maestro, played by Miguel Nunez. He’s basically just a guy who lives on the fringes of the island and also hates the resort and tries using voodoo curses. He’s honestly a delight from his attempt to sacrifice a chicken (An already dead one at that), to his general hammy and annoyed at dealing with these teenagers demeanor. NAturally he has nothing to do with this but he’s still a fun addition and I wish he was in more scnenes than the two he gets.  But with what they’ve gathered the gang all end up at a spooky castle attraction, with Scooby and Shaggy of course being bribed by daphne while Velma and Fred show up indpeendntly and end  up finding the weird training video from earlier but all get caught when the traps are activiated> There’s also a farting contest which.. eh not funny to me but i’ve seen so much worse i’m not even remotely upset. But then the traps trigger though during the chaos Fred and Velma are forced to work together and finally start doing so, and Daphne finds a clue: A mysterious pyramid known as the damon righus and finally gets some, if not nearly enough, credit.  So the gang is back together.. even if it’s a tenative peace, the high from solving this and relay to their boss the suspects, including him, though Fred assures Mondovarius it’s just because he’s spooky and rowan’s character’s delight over that is fucking glorious.  So the gang enjoys some down time at the local bar, with Fred and Daphne doing their own look ins, Scooby and Shaggy eating and encountring mary again and Velma getting hit on by a dude while looking over the ritus, revealing it’s some sort of soul sucking aparatus, and going into their history... which is really just an excuse to bring Scrappy in who in this universe, is a horny egotistical little shit whose abandoned as a result. ANd before anyone boos he’s not a puppy here, he’s got.. dog dwarfisim.. which while .. how does that even work... means he’s a grown ass man and deserved this. We also get drunk velma and Linda Caredenlli is a delight

The night gets interupted by terrible cgi monsters, the aformentioned emon who soul suck most of the college kids present and also get fred and velma who both find out these are very much real. We also get the best song on the soundtrack, man with a hex. It slaps. But it makes good chase music as with Mondvarious, Fred and Velma captured, the rest of the gang and mary escape.  The next morning we get a surreal as hell scene as everyone’s partying, Fred’s talking in slang and Velma with clevage, thank you, is chatting up.. Sugar Ray? For those younger of you they were a band at the time. They were a big thing. Not half bad but faded away. They looked as 2000′s as hell though. WHy Smash Mouth gets all the memes and not them is beyond me. Look at lead singer Mark McGrath!It’s like the early 2000′s gained sentience and took a human form. But the gang is quickly forced to run from sugar ray, though they get Daphne in a deleted scene. Why it was deleted I dunno. Point is Shaggy, Scooby and Mary are all alone.. oh and Mary’s possessed. Shaggy and Scooby argue over it because Shaggy just thinks Scooby is jealous and while he is .. why would he lie about this? He’s as cowardly as you are. But Scooby falls through the floor, and Shaggy is now going solo but luckily finds his friends souls, and eveyrone elses in a massive cool looking vat and frees them all.  Velma, when the demon leaves her and confronts her, finds out sunlight kills the demons and saves Daphne from hers... only to find Fred in her body. Daphne is naturally horrified and we do get a great bodyswapping scene.

Our heroes reconvince on the beach where htey find the Maestro who explains what’s going on to a point, with the gang’s clues filling in the blanks: The ritus, which they stole back earlier, is used for a ritual that will allow the Demons to rule over the earth for “a thousand years of darkness” but it requires a pure soul to work. Cue our big bad talking Scooby into being their willing sacrifice since Scooby dooes not understand what a sacrifice is.  Shaggy naturally rallies the group to go save him after their understandably worried since they usually dealt with weirdos in costumes and not the apocalypse.. well okay Velma and Fred aren’t, Daphne dealt with this kind of thing once a week back in Sunnydale. So they set up a plan to destroy all the demons at once by unleashing the soul bath, setting them all loose and then using a spooky disco ball from one of the attractions rigged up over the ritual area to shine the light in. It’s classic scooby doo. 

Things naturally go wrong as while Shaggy goes to rescue scooby and makes up with him, he’s caught, so are fred and velma and they have to scramble, while Daphne looses a fight with the luchador up top while trying to let the light in to finish the trap. Meanwhile Shaggy saves Scooby’s soul just as Mondovarious sucks it out by shoving the guy.. revealing him to be a robot! DUN DUN DUN. And inside is Scrappy.. which you all probably knew already but try to act suprise who wanted to conquer the world as revenge for the gang abandoning him and because again, in this universe he’s kind of an asshole. He absorbs the souls gathered so far and merges with the damon ritus, because we’re operating on video game rules now apparently, so final boss time.  But we get a great climax as Scrappy chases scooby, Daphne goes buffy on Zarkos ass , and as a result he shatters the glass and lets the light in releasing the disco ball the kill the demons.. man I love that I get to type things like that. Scooby removes the ritus and defeats his nephew and the day is saved. Velma hooks up with random guy, Daphne and Fred get together, I die inside a little and Shaggy and Mary Jane bond. At the press Fred does his good deed for the movie by letting Velma explain things and get the spotlight and the group have firmly reunited. THE END. Overall it’s a solid plot, that works well, comes together in the end and was well put together, it’s more the filling that causes it to tilt back and forth a bit, but overlal outside of the issue I mentioned it’s a good scooby doo plot. While some have pointed out it is similar to zombie island, a case reuniting the gang, the person who brought them there wanting to sacrifice them, or just scooby here, monsters being real, it works because everything else is so different. But since there’s more to break down and it’s easier to give it it’s own section let’s look at...

THE CHARACTERS: NOT HALF BAD, FRED CAN GO FUCK HIMSELF. 

So we’re down to character.. and since there’s a blonde, preeening, selfish, arrogant, sleazy, sexist, obnoxious, loud mouthed, useless elephant in the room, let’s start with Fred. And to quote it’s always sunny....

Yeah so that fury of a thousand crashing waves (Cracks Knuckles): Fred is the worst part of this movie, the worst version of the character across the entire franchise that i’ve seen with the sincre doubt that there is ANY version worse than this. Everything I said above is true and THEN some. He is one of the most unlikable characters i’ve seen in a film that wasn’t INTENDED to be. There’s just NOTHING to like about him. Nothing. He treats his “Friends” like garbage, all four of them: He basically ignores shaggy and scooby at best and treats them as if they were nothing. For Velma he’s your classic power abusing douche who pushes her to the side and often steals the credit for things she did. He’s still a good mystery solver, but he acts like he does all the work to the press and takes all the credit when Velma works as hard as he does if not harder. And worst of all is Daphne, who he basically either treats like some moron who gets kidnapped due to incompetence and not because creepy old dudes want to feel her up, which given the intro is VERY likely the reason she’s the resident victim of the group, and not like a person, or like a pair of boobs and legs he wants to bang or feel up creepily while he’s in her body. For fuck’s sake his reaction to finding out he’s in her body is a creepy and smug “I can see myself naaaakeddd” If that dosen’t make you want to smack him get off my blog. And they get together in the end! 

Who who wanted that. I genuinely want the presumibly original ending where Daphne and Velma hook up and Fred falls off a pier and is never seen again. The acting does not help. While the other four gang members are expertly cast Fred was given to Freddy Prinze Junior, who made a career out of playing arrogant dicks who are somehow the main character so I can’t fault the casting but I can fault that he can’t delver any line without that smug air of trying to be cool douche and it’s at it’s worst with Fred since Fred’s already written as the biggest creepiest douche in the world and Freddy somehow makes it WORSE. He also has zero chemstiry with Daphne, which would be weird given he and Sarah Michelle Gellar had dated for 2 years at this point and as of this writing have been together for 20 overall and have two wonderful kids together... but given how badly written Fred is here, I can’t blame either of them. And i’m sure FPJ is a swell guy, loves his kids loves his wife seems like a really plesant guy, nothing against him as a person, but at least at this point in his career he wasn’t very good. And I am actually planning on trying to seek out one of his later works in his career to see if he’s gotten better in recent years, and willing to give him the benifit of a doubt that he probably has. I just don’t like him here, and while the script does most of the work he only makes it worse.And works before this (Pup Named Scooby Doo) and after this (Mystery Incorperated) would prove you can give fred a personality that’s not dick tip, so fuck this character, fuck the writing.. and I hope Freddy is having a happy halloween with his loving wife and children, seriously I meant it I have nothing against him as a person. A terrible actor can still be a WONDERFUL guy. 

Now that’s thankfully put to bed, let’s pivot over to Shaggy, whose easily the best of the cast. Matthew Lillard looks the part pefectly, has the right combination of heart and goofus and has some great comedic timing. Granted Scream had already proven the guy’s got genuine talent, but still he’s great here and is currently playing Shaggy in most films and productions, except Scoob which.. was far from it’s only mistake but easily the biggest. There’s not much else to say: the guy IS Shaggy and is the only person whose taken up the roll to equal Kasey Casem in it. As for how he’s written.. he’s basically the same and apart from one line of him wanting to leave everyone to their deaths, which feels like it was added later, he’s written really well and is easily the most likeable of the group. 

Scooby is alright. Not the best version but funny and charming enough when he needs to be and while I hated the CGI at one point.. it’s honestly not that bad. It’s not GREAT, but time has actually been very good to it both in how it’s held up and in the fact we’ve gotten SO MUCH WORSE with so much better techlogies. I mean.. Cats exists.. Marmaduke Exists.. the Bill Murray Garfield exists. This was offputting at the time but now it’s just okay. But character wise he’s good and again not much diffrent. 

Velma is the second best casting of the movie. Played by Linda Cardenelli, who i’ve harbored a crush on for a good few decades now and admire mostly for her talent and charm, Linda kills the roll and easily slips into it as easily as Matt did, and while not picking it up full time like he did, still did it a few times afterword and played hot dog water in mystery incorperated, so she did finally get to play a Lesbian Velma it just took a while. And while Velma being gay is kind of sterotyping, it would’ve been nice to have been kept in instead of edited out for bullshit reasons. But overal her character is decent: While she ALSO bullies and belittles daphne like fred, unlike fred it comes less from just being a douche and more from insecurity. As her scene at the bar makes clear she feels undervalued like the other, like the nerd who the cool kids LET hang out with them instead of part of the team. While it dosen’t make her treatment of Daphne OKAY, it makes Velma understandable. We also get Velma Clevage which.. okay not sure if the world needed that but whatever. Point is it’s throughly likeable portryal that I wish got some character growth.  Finally out of the main 5 there’s Daphne, whose alright. Not as good as the other two, as it feels they lean a bit too heavily on her having taken self defense and wanting ot be tougher, but Sarah Michelle Gellar gives her a ton of charm and likeablity that her husband’s character sadly lacks. There’s just a fun, adorable energy to daph that ends up coupling with her buffy style badassery at the end and Sarah plays both beautifully. The script didn’t give her a ton to work with, though that’s the same for all four of htem, but Sarah really made the character work and made her somewhat memorable despite not being as good as Linda or Matthew. Basically not the best, but still a comfortable third ahead of scooby doo and jackass jones. 

As for the rest of the cast, Rowan Attkinson i’ve covered and is utterly fantastic as is the Voodoo Maestro, and both should get hteir own hbo max spinoff together. The minons.. stupid name and luchadoor are decent enough, nothign special but they have presence and do the job of goon well. And Mary Jane is alright.. the joke is WAY too on the nose to be funny and she’s mostly just there to be sweet, but she’s harmless. Not good but not bad.  So finally we have our big bad, Scrappy. And i’m.. mixed about this. On one hand, Scott Innes, who it turns out is also from Missouri good on you dude!, does a terrific job and I couldn’t tell it wasn’t don messick as Scrappy and he plays him as evil great. On the other.. it’s just kinda goofy. Out of all the tips of hte hat to scooby stuff this feels the most over the top. Scrappy was hated, including by james gunn.. so he’s the bad guy. It’s just a bit on the nose, and the twist is pretty easily teligraphed since Scrappy suspciously is mentioned in one scene so him showing up at all is pretty easy to see coming. It’s not terible but it’s not great. His demon minons also just suck.. the designs are wonky and their cgi, unlike scooby and scrappy’s, is just REALLY bad and dated, and even as a kid I never liked them. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:  Scooby Doo is a decent but messy movie. The clashing tones, dated humor and godawful version of fred drag it down at times, and it’s very clear this had a lot of hands in the pot. But.. I still enjoy it. It’s not the best scooby ever, tha’ts mystery incorpeated, but it has great atmosphere, some good ideas, an utterly spectacular with one exception cast, and some really funny jokes. I genuinely feel the film is overhated when it’s a unique, weird and wonderful slice of Scooby. For better or worse there’s no other Scooby doo property quite like it, and that’s what makes it so fun. And it has enough good performances and jokes to smooth out the edges. It’s not the best, it’s a mess.. but sometimes a mess is fun and I like this flim for being a fun mess I can enjoy with my nieces and talk about to all of you. And sometimes that’s all you need.  Thank you for reading this. If you like this you can comission your own review: 5 bucks for a tv episode, 15 for a movie, 10 for an hour long special, and 5 dollars off when you order more than one episode of a show at a time. Just send me a direct message or ask on here and we’ll get started. Until then you can check out my backlog of reviews, check this space every monday for ducktales reviews, and VOTE DAMMIT VOTE. Until we meet again it’s been a pleasure. Play us out Atomic Fireballs, it’s been a wonderful halloween. 

[ivecaughtawritingbug]

There’s a lot of people out there who think What’s New, Scooby Doo is the original Scooby Doo show. Quick Timeline:

1969 - 1971: Scooby Doo, Where Are You? Focus is on the mysteries, there’s a new plot every episode, and the characters are static. The behind the scenes stuff is pretty interesting, like the character “interviews”, and the backgrounds for the characters are the ones I like the best. Total of three seasons.

1972: The New Scooby Doo Movies. Not actually movies. These are the crossovers with Batman and Robin, and the Harlem Globetrotters, and the Addams Family. It was done in the same animation and writing as the original. This is the final version to feature the original vocie of Velma Dinkly. Total of two season.

1976 - 1978: The Scooby Doo Show. Umbrella name for a couple of different shows that ran at the same time. Total of three seasons.

1979 - 1980: Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. These were half hour episodes with three seven minute shorts. For the majority of the episodes, only Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy appear as characters with no or limited mention of Fred, Daphne, and Velma. Scooby suffers from Anthropomorphic Shift: walks on two legs, speaks normally, etc. Everyone in my family thinks Scrappy is obnoxious. Total of two seasons.

1983 - 1984: The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show/The New Scooby Doo Mysteries. The name was changed in 1984. Done in the style of two eleven minute shorts in a half hour episode. Daphne reappears unexpectedly.

1985: The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo. Never heard of it, probably because it lasted less than four months.

1987: Scooby Doo meets the Boo Brothers. The first full length movie, direct to TV. I don’t remember any of the direct to TV movies featuring Fred, Velma, and Daphne.

1988: Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf. Movies, direct to TV.

1988 - 1991: A Pup Named Scooby Doo. The show features younger versions of the characters. This is the final version that features the original voice of Scooby Doo. I know I watched it in reruns, though not as extensively as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? My mother has Opinions on this one, which much like her preference of the original Power Rangers seasons, doesn’t make sense considering she was an adult with no children at the time of their release. Total of four season. This is the longest running version.

1994: Scooby Doo in Arabian Nights. Movie, direct to TV.

1998: Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Is this the one with the cats? The first movie released direct to video, and had a completely different animation style to the others.

1999: Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost. For some reason my favorite sleep over movie when I was little. First appearance of the Hex Girls. Direct to video movie, with a similar animation style to Zombie Island.

2000: Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders. I think I’ve seen this one. Direct to video movie.

2001: Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase. Different animation style than Zombie Island and Witch’s Ghost, more similar to what would appear in What’s New, Scooby-Doo. Direct to video movie.

2002 - 2006: What’s New, Scooby-Doo? The first version to appear after the forclosure of Hanna-Barbera Studios and the death of William Hanna the year before. Also the first version to come out after I was born, and the oldest version that appears on Netflix. It features both the return of Casey Kasum as the voice of Shaggy, and his final appearance as the voice Shaggy. It’s the first real appearance of Idiot!Fred, Ridiculously Capable!Daphne, and Blanket Genius!Velma, especially by the time you get to season three. Still no overarching plots, still no character development. Total of three seasons.

2002: Scooby-Doo. The first live action theatrical movie. I love it. It’s so funny, and has good utilization of the Scooby-Doo Universe as a whole.

2003: Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire, and Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico. Legend of the Vampire is the next appearance of the Hex Girls. Both direct to video movies.

2004: Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster, and Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed. Along with What’s New Scooby-Doo, Loch Ness establishes that Daphne has cousins everywhere. Loch Ness was a direct to video movie. Monsters Unleashed was a live action theatrical movie.

2005: Aloha, Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy? Direct to video movies.

2006 - 2008: Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue. Never heard of it. Total of two seasons.

2006: Scooby-Doo, Pirates Ahoy! This is the last one I can reliable say I’ve seen. Direct to video movie.

2007: Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! Direct to video movie.

2008: Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King. Direct to video movie.

2009: Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword, a direct to video movie. Also, Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins, a live action TV movie, prequel to the two theatrical movies.

2010 - 2013: Scooby-Doo, Mystery Incorporated. I never watched it, my brother may have seen a few episodes. The animation style, which is completely different from all the others, really bothered me for some reason, as did they fact that they changed everything I knew about the characters. I’ve heard both good and bad things about it since, and am unsure if I should try it. This is the only one I know of that had overarching themes, plots that take multiple episodes to resolve, and character development. Total of two seasons.

2010: Scooby-Doo, Abracadabra-Doo and Scooby-Doo, Camp Scare. Direct to video movies. Also, Scooby-Doo, Curse of the Lake Monster, which was a live action TV movie.

2011: Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Phantosaur. Direct to video movie.

2012: Scooby-Doo and the Music of the Vampire, and Big Top Scooby-Doo. Direct to video movies.

2013: Scooby-Doo, Mask of the Blue Falcon, Scooby-Doo Adventures: The Mystery Map, and Scooby-Doo, Stage Fright. Direct to video movies.

2014: Scooby-Doo, WrestleMania Mystery, and Scooby-Doo, Frankencreepy. Direct to video movie.

2015 - 2018: Be Cool, Scooby-Doo. Wacky animation style, but it goes back to the original characterization for the gang. Total of two seasons.

2016: Lego Scooby-Doo, Haunted Hollywood, and Scooby-Doo and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon. Direct to video movies.

2017: Scooby-Doo, Shaggy’s Showdown, and Lego Scooby-Doo, Blowout Beach Bash. Direct to video movies.

2018: Scooby-Doo and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and Scooby-Doo and the Gourmet Ghost. Direct to video movies. Also, Daphne & Velma, a live action direct to video movie.

2019 - Present: Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? Never heard of it. It premiered on Boomerang’s streaming service. The first thing that struck me, looking it up, is that it uses the original font style from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You. So far, only one season.

2019: Scooby-Doo and the Curse of the 13th Witch, and Scooby-Doo Return to Zombie Island. Direct to video movies.

2020: Scoob! I’ve heard it’s funny, and I noticed that Dick Dasterdly is the villain, which I love not only because it establishes a universe (a strange one, but a universe nonetheless) for them to live in, but also because I watched Wacky Races a lot as a kid too (I had trouble sleeping, still do, and the reruns were at 3 am, between the Flintstones and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.) I haven’t had an oppurtunoty to watch it yet, though, as I went back to work the day it was released on Netflix.

And that’s all folks.

[scar0tissue]

Something I want to talk about: Scooby Doo!

I can not express enough how much I love this franchise. I grew up with it and I still get giddy when the theme song comes on, for me it is a amazing package of my childhood sent right back to me whenether I see the gang. But what I want to focus on with the new movie out are exactly that, the movies. I love these movies. But I will say that some of them are less than worth a watch: so as a self proclaimed Scooby Doo enthusiast I will give short (and bad) reviews based on my memory of them and tell you whether I think they're worth a watch. By the way , this is in no particular order. And this will also probably not contain every movie, just the ones I have memory of.

NOTE: these are my opinions, these are based on my experience and what they are like to me.

1. Zombie Island: (I know I said in no particular order, but I had to put in my top 3).what a place to start, a fantastic movie that captures the feeling a Scooby Doo movie should have. Unlike most Scooby Doo movies this one is actually on the scarier side of things, there is a real sense that things may go wrong for the gang and it is a good spice up of the regular formula Scooby Doo has. I say that this movie is well worth a watch.

2. The Witches Ghost: I don't actually know if this followed the zombie Island chronologically or by release, but for me it always felt like the next movie to watch. The opening sequence to this movie always takes me back to when I was a child and would by at my grandmother's house and we would watch this. The movie is very interesting with more plot twists than your average Scooby Doo episode. It is in my opinion on par with zombie Island. Once again I say this movie is well worth a watch.

3. Pirates Ahoy!: Oh the memories with this. If you ever want a pure example of a great Scooby Doo movie, look no further than this pirate themed adventure. It has everything zombies, pirates , and Scooby and shaggy dancing like chickens. It also has one of my favourite side characters in the form of the scientist that comes aboard. I don't want to spoil any of this movie as I would put this near top spot. If you want to watch any Scooby Doo movie , watch this and get to scrubbing the deck ya sea dogs.

The Loch Ness Monster: this movie ,while not my absolute favourite, holds a special place in my heart as it is the closest I beleive a Scooby Doo movie has ever been to where I live. It takes the classic legend of the loch Ness, and manages to make a mystery movie that can only be described as amazing. Definetly a good watch.

Where's my Mummy: it knows what it is , it has asthetic (did I spell it right?) It has pyramids, sand , mummy's , Pharos, and more. Worth a watch and honestly a cut above the rest.

Aloha, Scooby Doo: I would once again say the same as with the previous review. It knows what it is , the dancing, the volcanos and the surfing. A regular old mystery with that extra volcano god/demon mixed in. worth a watch.

The samurai sword: Robo ghost samurais, do I need say any more? Watch it.

Alien Invaders: Ok, this is a very interesting movie. The design of the aliens as well as the whole setting makes for a great movie. It has good pacing and also a better love story than twilight. Worth a watch.

Monster of Mexico: watch this, it may be old, but watch it. It is an absolutely fantastic price of media that encapsulates what Scooby Doo is at its core. The gang going somewhere nice just to find themselves slap bang in the middle of a regular old mystery. Worth a watch.

Chill Out Scooby Doo: do you know what surprised me , is the amount of winter/snow based movies in the Scooby Doo franchise. But I will say this one stands out. It is interesting and good to watch. I would say it's worth a watch.

Goblin King: goblins , ghouls and whatever creepy will pop up in this movie , creepy and fun, definetly a good watch. Especially the end.

Abracadabra Doo: this is what I think was the high point of Scooby Doo was in the 2010's before mystery incorporated came out. This was a good movie which mixed magic, mythology, and mystery together well. A really good watch, but I can see how some may not like it.

Legend of the Phantasaur: Dino's and bikers , all against shaggy. Who will win, great movie, worth a watch if your devoted enough, but may be a bore for some people.

Cyber Chase: cyber Chase is more like a fan fiction than anything else, it is fan service. You see some fan favourite monsters, the gang teams up with a parallel version of themselves and it comes to a climax. It is a good watch for nostalgia, but I would say it may not look the best to people that don't have all that many memories of Scooby Doo.

Camp Scare: this , for me, perfectly embodies the old tradition of a summer camp, at least idealised. The end is an amazing watch and it has a pretty good feel for most of it. Especially Fred with his never ending optimism. Worth a watch. But like me, may not be the best if you have bad memories of summer camp.

Too be completely honest, most movies past this point in the animated section are boring or downright bad. But there may be hope with a Scooby Doo movie with king Arthur coming out this year.

Honourable Mentions for animated movies:

Music of the vampire.

Legend of the vampire.

Big top.

Stage Fright.

Wrestlmania mystery.

In this list I have put the ones on dvd I remember, but I do remember also some VHS ones that I don't know If you can or can't get them today. But all of them are worth watching, these are: Boo Brothers , ghoul school, the reluctant werewolf, and Arabian Nights.

Now live action.

These movies I would say are more comedy's than anything else. While they do have touching moments , you'll probably find yourself laughing more than anything else. So here we go:

Scooby Doo: an island with weird monster people and bad CGI? Sign me up. A good watch but as I mentioned earlier, more so for the comedy.

Scooby Doo 2, Monsters Unleashed: actually a good movie, good villains and genuinely good moments. The effects I would say are better than the first one and the characters it introduces are pretty good. Also Daphne sasses everyone. Definitely worth a watch.

Scooby Doo! The Mystery begins + Curse of the lake monster: I have grouped these both into one because I just think they're bad, I watched them for free on Amazon and I still think I need money back. They are nothing compared to the original live action. Also , Fred is a brunette , how did nobody seem to realise this while making this. Not worth watching.

Once again, post 2015 nothing was really worth watching, but I can't speak for the live action Daphne and Velma movie, I don't even know if this can be classified as a Scooby Doo movie because I dont beleive he's in it. But I have not watched it and therefore cant give a proper review for it. So for the sake of simplicity, I will say it's worth a watch.

I think this wraps this up. I am in no way a professional reviewer, I am just someone who likes Scooby Doo , a lot. I don't own any of the images in this post.

Stay home and stay safe, much love my friends.

Best wishes.

[sarasanddollar]

SARA'S VAGUE SENSE OF HOW CARTOONS PROGRESSED:

as requested by @chintastic and @whatdoesthefauxsay, and specifically requested by @lunagalemaster to be posted to Tumblr!

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh early 1900's animation becomes a thing in the West? Merrie Melodies, early Looney Tunes, that kind of thing. Black and white stuff, view in theater only, it's not "adult" but it's really for adults going to the theater and sort of "look at our technical skill!" sort of show (and as a form of escapism from the war, then the Depression, then the war again)

skip on down, Snow White happens, Disney is a phenomenon, we're not really looking at cartoons in the film circuit here tho so I won't be talking abt like Disney movies and Pixar et al. because that's a whole other animal

television gets invented !

"adult cartoons" that are like funny/sexy happen, stuff like Betty Boop, we're still figuring out what animation is for but plot starts to show up esp with the now popular Mickey/Bugs Bunny stuff

It's the mid 1900's, we're out of the war, I don't know what happens in this period, I know the Hays Law becomes a thing so censorship happens pretty fast, and Saturday morning cartoons directed solely for kids are officially a thing, so Inspector Gadget, Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones + the Jetsons, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Tom & Jerry, more Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse cartoons. A lot of these toe that line between "cartoons for kids" and "cartoons for adults" by including little things that make it fun for parents too

It's the eighties!!! The Industry has figured out that they can make cartoons that [gasp] Sell Merchandise!!! to kids. So toy cartoons come out, that's all stuff like TMNT, My Little Pony, Transformers, X-Men, He-Man/She-Ra, Voltron, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, and Strawberry Shortcake. The quality of storytelling goes DOWN down down down down and everything is just factory-churned out with the purpose of Selling Toys (tho we still hold a lot of these things pretty near and dear)

The nineties happen. Nickelodeon figures out that cartoons are good and kids like them! And starts airing those instead of live action and puppet shows. They realize, hey, what if... We had cartoons. ALL DAY. Instead of just on Saturdays, for an hour in the morning. They instate an all-day all-cartoon channel that is ONLY their original content (they borrowed stuff like Tom & Jerry up until then), and they follow a brand guideline to make sure it's... The kind of stuff kids like. It's funny, it's interesting, it's creator-driven, and it's not just to sell toys or just churned out to fill a time slot. Quality picks up! This is why 90s cartoons are still a classic today. But also TLDR Nickelodeon killed the Saturday morning timeslot

Cartoon Network follows suit. We get good stuff well into the early 2000s, and then Disney decides to throw in as well - they'd already had shows in the 80s based on their existing brand properties (Little Mermaid, Hercules, Aladdin, and ofc Micky Mouse, Chip+Dale, and DuckTales!) but we start getting original channel-only stuff like, well, American Dragon. More on that later.

The Simpsons. We start to get adults for cartoon that also have heart and morals, instead of just. Sex jokes (Simpsons has quite a few of those too though!). The Simpsons is a cultural icon and influences pretty much every kids cartoon you can imagine, from SpongeBob to Fairly OddParents.

Anime. Anime was beginning to become VERY popular in the States sometime in the seventies (backtracking a bit here) and popular stuff like, AstroBoy, Akira, Speed Racer, started getting ported to kids channels later on (with really bad dubs.) That got a greater and greater influence ESPECIALLY among adult weebs that weren't really as huge a group as they are now demanding Better Quality English-accessible stuff (there's a whole thing on the history of this that I don't have enough internet time to get into) and that started to happen, esp when Ghibli became a huge success, people started going crazy for it, and Disney was like hey ! a market ! and made Good Dubs with A-list guest star voice actors that started the anime revolution overseas

Speeding back up, we start getting things with overarching plots. Avatar happens. Avatar ... Is revolutionary, and that starts making people realize that hey :pikagasp: we can have things that are Complete. Instead of you know axing them halfway or keeping them static status quo for every episode. This is due to the influence of anime on the industry! Remember we're well into the early 2000s and anime is now more mainstream than ever. Naruto, FMA, Black Butler, OHSHC, Death Note, all that good stuff is happening at this point in time.

Avatar doesn't do anything though. It's just, different. Different enough that people remember. (And enough that everyone who worked on it worked on the aforementioned American Dragon - a lot of the same writers and actors, giving it a pretty good internal plot of its own!)

Stuff like Totally Spies happens! That's also anime influenced. Later we'll get stuff like the new Voltron, the new She-Ra, the return of Avatar with Korra, slowly but surely everyone is deciding that Japan is the good trend. Even Winx Club or Angel's Friends over in Italy gets the anime influence! Everyone knows what's up.

It's the early 2010 and cartoon quality goes... Down for a bit, around these points, we get stuff like Fanboy and Chum Chum, Fish Hooks, just, the so random xD rawr humor is what kids are into and the industry doesn't know what to do except gross out humor and barfing rainbows and it's just... Not memorable.

Except Adventure Time nails it and it's a PHENOMENON. I don't know what happened there but something about the childlike wonder and good humor being connected to the (you guessed it!) overarching plot causes a sensation like never before.

Gravity Falls.

Steven Universe.

Star vs. the Forces of Evil.

In Canada, Detentionaire.

A Scooby-Doo reboot during this time called Mystery Incorporated.

Suddenly this is the trend. Starting with ATLA but leading to AT, big scary mystery, big scary villain, episodes that CAN be viewed stand-alone but also super connect? THIS is the industry trend now and we are LOVING it. We love a story that... Progresses. Characters that grow and change. 80s kids are now older and want cartoons that are good, not just. Toys selling machines.

Streaming services killed the television star. It's a LOT easier to do the overarching plot thing now that you can sit and binge something in one sitting instead of waiting once a week/month to see one ep of a thing you already forgot what happened in last time.

My Little Pony!! Gets rebooted. It's 2013 and for SOME reason this has a huge following? A huge following of adult men, where it's a show for little girls. The brony movement was so huge it's often compared to how Star Trek became a big hit among female viewers way back when. This doesn't influence other shows in storytelling terms but it does change marketing - now your only audience might not be what you think it is. Everyone tries to follow suit by selling their shows to "adult fans," it doesn't always work but boy howdy! And well, MLP follows the trend of overarching plot too, best as it can.

It's the late 2010s and we're in the nostalgia age. Now 90s kids are older and they run the market - we're not trying to make new stuff or support new creators, we're trying to salvage what was and make money off what people loved before. Reboot after reboot after reboot, Disney with its big movies and Nickelodeon doing (a great job, admittedly!) with their Rocko, Zim, and Arnold movies. It's working out fine, but it's a pretty big indicator that there are no new ideas - or rather, new ideas are being snuffed out in favor of bad PowerPuff Girls reboots (Cartoon Network not doing so hot, SU is what saved it!)

this is probably not well written I kept backtracking and adding other stuff pff I hope it's coherent ;; ENJOY

[ducklingdraws]

My Idea for a Scooby-Doo! Reboot

So a while back, after noticing that Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated was on Spectrum On Demand, I decided, "Hey, I'm gonna rewatch this show." I don't know why I did it, because I rarely ever rewatch shows. I'll watch reruns, but never have I actually decided to rewatch a television series. But, I did it for Scooby-Doo.

And frankly, I had forgotten how good the show was. It's honestly really dark, while also being absolutely hilarious; and in its humor, the show actually does really unique things with the Scooby-Doo gang, with the biggest example being this show's version of Fred Jones. It's wild. But in my opinion, the thing that really makes this show what it is...

...is its story. I feel like the story and characters are fuel for this show in a way that feels different from other shows, somehow. I don't really get it, but that's the way I see it.

So, seeing as there's all these serialized cartoon series nowadays, and Scooby-Doo is always getting rebooted in one way or another, I figured... what if I rebooted Scooby? If I had the opportunity to reboot Scooby-Doo and the only Warner Bros requirement was "just make it," what would I do with it?

Without further ado, this is To the Future, Scooby-Doo!

First up: The Premise

To kick things off, I'll discuss how the show is set up. This version of Scooby-Doo is set in the future. Technology has become more holographic and stuff like in the movies, but fashion hasn't evolved to be nothing but latex bodysuits yet. Flying cars are real but not very widely used, and clothes can tell the time.

On the biological side of things, prosthetics are holographic as well, and incredibly easy to attach. It's almost like having your original limb. Food is healthier while also being more environmentally friendly, and animals have been genetically modified for a very long time. They have been allowed to mate, which has eventually lead to many domesticated animals being able to speak!

The main setting is a large port town known as Port Intrigue, where all sorts of goods are traded, and many people lead peaceful lives. It's a nice place, and a lot of the economy is structured around it. There are other important trade cities like it, but Port Intrigue may be the most powerful.

It's also probably the weirdest, because in true Scooby-Doo fashion, no one can just "be a criminal." Heck no! Where's the fun in that?? If you're gonna try and get money through illegal fear tactics, you've gotta do it in style!!

And for some reason or another, the police get a little help with solving a lot of the more, uh... colorful mysteries. Help from a group of kids attending Intrigue High...

Next up: The Scooby Gang!

So here's the big part! All of my redesigns of the classic gang! Let's kick it off with:

FRED JONES

So this version of Fred is definitely toned back from various recent versions of Scooby-Doo, particularly the DVD movies and Mystery Incorporated. He's a lot more laid back, and has a sort of "cool guy" persona.

One day a long time ago, his parents, 2 great scientists, didn't pick him up from school, and apparently they mysteriously disappeared. So since then he's been living with Shaggy. At Intrigue High, he is in the theater program as a Tech, so he's good with pulleys and ropes and other various behind-the-scenes theater things, which makes him really good at making weird Rube Goldbergs - and traps, whenever the need arises. But when would Fred ever need to build a trap?

NORVILLE "SHAGGY" ROGERS

...Y'all can excuse the scribbles in the lower corner, right?

Anyway, this version of Shaggy is just as uptight as he always is, but instead of that only being attributed to mystery solving and creepy ghoulies, it's evolved into some much, much greater!!!

He's the mom friend now.

Y'know, telling everyone to watch their eating habits and be careful of opening soda cans because so help me if you scratch yourself...!

Long time ago he lost his arm so now he has one of those cool prosthetics. The trauma of losing it though has made him extra cautious, and a bit of a scaredy cat. Of course, he's willing to do whatever it takes for his friends, just like the Shaggy we all know!

He still likes to eat and is a bit of an amateur chef, participating in the culinary club at Intrigue High.

VELMA DINKLEY

This is my rendition of Velma Dinkley. She's still the smartest one of the group, and good at technology, but is also a boxer! She's not just strong, but also strong willed!

The Dinkley's have a long, long history of scientific endeavors, and Velma's father is a great scientist as well! Though really, it's more of a hobby for him.

Velma lives with her younger sister Madelyn (who some of you might remember from Abracadabra-Doo) and her father, Victor.

This Velma is snarky, yet quirky. She's got a real go-getter mentality, which everyone can't help but to respect.

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne Blake is a bit of a softie. She was never very forward with making friends, but developed a clique of her own with Fred, Shaggy, Scooby and Velma.

Her house used to be the gang's main hang out spot, but after the kids moved on to high school, they haven't been over to her house at all.

Daphne likes to draw, and really wants to be a fashion designer. In fact, she's a part of Intrigue High's costume design team for the theater program!

SCOOBY-DOO

Scooby-Doo has been part of the Rogers family ever since he was a puppy, and Shaggy was a little kid. The two have been basically inseparable their whole lives, with Scooby even attending school with everyone else.

He likes belly rubs, scratches behind the ear, and food. So in other words, he's the same Scooby we all know and love! Still fearful, but dedicated to his friends, including...

MEASLES

Shaggy and Scooby may have been buds since they were little kids, but before Shaggy, Scooby had Measles.

Since they're both GMO animals, they both have the ability to speak human language, which they would use to try and get food. Eventually, Measles was able to get Scooby into a good home with the Rogers family. Unfortunately, Mr and Mrs Rogers couldn't afford to take care of Shaggy, Fred, a dog, and a cat, but Measles promised to visit Scooby whenever she could, or that they'd at least see each other around. And she's kept that promise! Even to this day, the gang will sometimes find her in random locations, like... the Theater Program's costume box?

Measles has a lackadaisical, yet somewhat snarky personality, but definitely cares for her friends. It just may take a while to show it.

Last up: Everything Else

Uh, hm. I guess this is the generalization of the show.

Well, it's a giant celebration of Scooby-Doo. The gang wears different outfits, rarely wearing the same one in consecutive episodes. And each outfit would be pulled from a previous Scooby series (yes, including *shivers*... Get a Clue).

Also, other characters from previous series and Scooby media are not only in the show, but play decently sized rolls. For example, I already mentioned Madelyn Dinkley, but there's also Red Herring from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, or Mayor Nettles and Sherriff Bronson Stone from Mystery Incorporated (they're married from the start this time!). Even the dreaded Scrappy Doo makes his return at (what I imagine to be) the start of Season 2, hopefully to redeem himself and not be relegated to a tired joke about "lol Scrappee sux XD"

Flim-Flam is back too, but is rebranded as Frida McScam, the fast talking troublemaking free spirited girl who takes everybody's crap and spins it in her favor (and also might be psychic).

Scooby's family tree is mentioned, and his parents even have a major role in Season 1.

Just a whole lot of Scooby-Doo trivia and stuff. Stuff that I imagine the people working on the show would be way, way better at remembering and putting to use than I am!

As for the overarching plot?

Well, what futuristic setting would be complete without aliens? I imagine the aliens would be a race of owl creatures known as the Willawaw (another Scooby reference because I hope this show is FULL OF THEM). Basically, these aliens are the bad guys, both in the show proper, and in a lot of the show's backstory. They're like myth villains, or greater scope villains, or something.

I was even thinking like, when the gang ends up running, rather than using a recyclable run cycle from a side view, everyone could have brand new running animations, like to distinguish them all as unique. Although I guess that's what the running cycles were... but the chase scenes are a lot like Mystery Inc, where they were a lot more action packed. It could be great! And of course, everyone would use the classic running style at some point throughout the show, because that seems to be tradition for Scooby-Doo.

This was a really big post! But if you read all of it, thanks a million! I hope you liked the small amount of art within, or just the idea in general! Maybe I'll even draw my reimagined takes on the other characters some day. But for now, I'll leave at this.