What is it about Scooby-Doo?
No, really, I’m curious –
why exactly has this been such a popular, enduring franchise?
I am as fond of Scooby and
the gang as any baby boomer that grew up on Saturday morning cartoons, but I
find it hard to identify any outstanding qualities in the show that validate
its continued prominence for 50 years.
This video collects all of
the opening credit sequences to all of the Scooby shows. It’s more than 20
minutes long – and it doesn’t even count the dozens of direct-to-DVD movies,
beginning with 1998’s Scooby-Doo on
Zombie Island, or the two live-action films from 2002 and 2004.
Some of these versions
tried to add layers of depth to the stories or more mature personality aspects
to the characters (such as 2010’s Mystery
Incorporated), but fans seem divided on whether that’s necessary. Most
prefer the basics: Fred driving the Mystery Machine (and usually getting lost
or running out of gas), Daphne tripping over something that triggers a trap
door, Velma losing her glasses, Shaggy in desperate search of food, and Scooby
mixing occasional moments of bravery with consistent cowardice.
And running. Lots and lots
of running.
Familiarity accounts for
some of why my generation remains loyal – if you grew up with the Scooby gang it’s
somehow reassuring to know they are still having new adventures. But in this
current age of edgier kid shows I have no answer to why today’s kids enjoy Scooby-Doo
mysteries as much as I did back when the Beatles were still together.
New to the Blu-ray market
is The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The
(Almost) Complete Collection.
It’s a vast improvement over the first DVD
released for this 1972-1973 series, which left out about half the episodes.
Here, you get all but one – “Wednesday is Missing,” featuring The Addams
Family. Rumor has it that its deletion was due to John Astin holding out for
more money, but you can’t always believe the internet.
If you bought the first set
you’ll certainly want to upgrade here. I did, though even as a kid this was far
from my favorite iteration– the shows are longer (about 42 minutes) to
accommodate the guest stars, but the plots certainly are not any more intricate.
Still, this is from the pre-Scrappy era, which automatically places it within
the upper echelon of Scooby shows.
What strikes me most in
watching it now is the downright strangeness of the guest star selections. Were
kids in the early ‘70s really excited to see Scooby-Doo meet Phyllis Diller or
Jerry Reed?
The team-ups with Batman
and Robin were a better fit (and are two of the highlights of the set); in fact
most of the shows featuring other animated characters – Josie and the
Pussycats, Jeannie and Babu, Speed Buggy – have a more organic feel, as if they
all existed in the same universe already.
With other guest stars, the
results are decidedly hit-and-miss: Don Knotts (two episodes, both awful), Davy
Jones (dull, though it does feature one song from the former Monkee), Jonathan
Winters (better than expected), Sandy Duncan (delightful), Sonny & Cher
(dreadful – you can picture Cher rolling her eyes at her corny dialogue as she
reads the script) and Dick Van Dyke (breezy fun).
In watching them again
after many years, I was surprised that my favorite episode was one that didn’t
seem to have a chance of succeeding. The guest stars were cartoon versions of
Laurel & Hardy, whose heyday was the 1920s and ‘30s. Both members of the
iconic comedy team had passed away, so their voices were not original. And yet,
everything seemed to work – story, setting, sight gags – even the monster of
the week had a few original tricks up its sleeve before his inevitable
unmasking. It made me curious to check out the previous cartoon shorts
featuring Laurel & Hardy.
The show looks great on
Blu-ray, but don’t expect the same dramatic upgrade in sharpness and definition
that was apparent on live-action series like I Love Lucy and Star Trek:
The Next Generation. There are a couple of extras but nothing to write home
about.
So purchase or pass? If
you’re a Scooby-Doo fan, you’ve probably already bought it. If not, this isn’t
the best place to get started.
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ReplyDeleteSpeaking of cartoon shows, Mr. Hofstede, have you seen episodes of the 1992-97 "X-Men" cartoon series (unofficially known as "X-Men: The Animated Series") other than the ones that you reviewed for your 2006 book "5000 Episodes and No Commercials: The Ultimate Guide to TV Shows On DVD 2007"? If so, has your overall opinion of "X-Men: The Animated Series" changed since the book came out? The way I see it, the show's adaptation of "The Dark Phoenix Saga" is pretty faithful (though not ENTIRELY faithful) to the original version that played out in the comic books during the 1979-80 period.
ReplyDeleteUm, maybe I should have said "also known" instead of "unofficially known."
DeleteIn any case, Mr. Hofstede, you might want to check out a certain YouTube video that discusses how "The Dark Phoenix Saga" was adapted for "X-Men: The Animated Series." Here's the URL:
https://youtu.be/EYSVa0nuD7c?si=q37gvfFglEBrNMY8
Speaking of Davy Jones, he was the subject of a recent episode of the Reelz TV series "Autopsy: The Last Hours of..."
ReplyDeleteI guess I was a kid from the early 70s who loved seeing these guest stars, as this was my favorite version of Scooby Doo.
ReplyDeleteI remember being surprised to hear John Astin's real voice. I was first familiar with the Addams family from the 1973 cartoon series (where Jodie Foster voiced Pugsley), and I was expecting the 1973 cartoon voice, which Lennie Weinrib did. Weinrib's Gomez voice to me resembled Johnny Carson's Art Fern character, so hearing John Astin's real voice surprised me here.
Mr. Hofstede, you're not particularly offended by the damsel-in-distress trope, are you? Daphne Blake has apparently been the poster child for that trope. Did you care for the short-lived cartoon series "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop"? Imagine if Penelope had been featured in a proper episode of "The New Scooby-Doo Movies." Would Mystery, Inc. have outed Sylvester Sneekly as the Hooded Claw?
ReplyDeleteI loved this series... I thought the animation is the best out of any series that had Scooby doo.. Other series would start off looking nice and sharp and as the seasons went along.. The animation quality would go down hill.. Boo Brothers movie is one example and A Pup Named Scooby Doo last seasons went downhill in terms od story and animation quality... The New Scooby Doo movies look better then I have ever seen them... So the Addams Family is not a part of it.. Does not bother me... Besides this brought in Davy Jones, Jerry Reed, and even Speed Buggy among others.. Mamma Cass even took part as the owner of a candy factory haunted by green globs... A must own for fans of classic Scooby... The stuff that is current now is just a cash grab...
ReplyDelete