Friday, May 22, 2020

Scoob! (2020) review


Scoob! (2020)

There aren’t many franchises that have maintained a consistent spot in the annals of pop culture like Scooby-Doo has. It has now been more than half a century since Scooby-Doo, Where Are You first made its debut on CBS’ Saturday Morning cartoon block on September 13th, 1969. The show immediately proved to be a hit for its studio, the legendary Hanna-Barbera Productions, and proceeded to evolve over the next several decades with new incarnations of the show. And while these newer shows did occasionally make a few story changes here and there (whether it’s by having a series with the gang as kids or by having the monsters they encounter be real instead of fake), they almost always stayed true to the franchise’s classic formula. As of this year, there have been 14 TV series starring the Mystery Inc gang and more than 40 feature-length films. Most of these films, however, have been direct-to-video releases, although the franchise did make its way to the big screen in 2002 with the live-action Scooby-Doo film, which was then followed by Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed in 2004. While neither film was a hit with critics, they both did solidly at the box-office, although the second film wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, resulting in a potential third film being canned. Thus, it wouldn’t have been until this year when the series would finally make its return to the big screen with a new animated feature titled Scoob!... that is, until the coronavirus pandemic hit, forcing theaters across the country to be shut down until further notice. And in Scoob’s case, this immediately proved to be a problem since it was originally set to come out on May 15th, which was now impossible. Thus, Warner Bros. ultimately decided to follow in the footsteps of DreamWorks’ Trolls: World Tour by forgoing its theatrical release in favor of it debuting via on-demand on the day it was slated to hit theaters. Not only that, but this new film is set to be the first in a new ‘Cinematic Universe’ that would be based around the classic characters of Hanna-Barbera, a prospect that I find quite exciting and solidly initiated through this entertaining new take on the Mystery Inc gang.

On an average summer day, a young, lonely boy named Norville ‘Shaggy’ Rogers (voiced by Iain Armitage as a kid and Will Forte as an adult) comes across a stray talking dog (voiced by Frank Welker). The two instantly begin to bond, resulting in Shaggy adopting him and giving him the name Scooby-Doo. Soon afterward, the two end up finding even more friends when they meet Fred Jones (voiced by Pierce Gagnon as a kid and Zac Efron as an adult), Daphne Blake (voiced by Mckenna Grace as a kid and Amanda Seyfried as an adult), and Velma Dinkley (voiced by Ariana Greenblatt as a kid and Gina Rodriguez as an adult). Together, they decide to tackle mysteries as the Mystery Inc gang, which they proceed to do for the next several years. And yet, despite their success, Shaggy and Scooby soon start to feel that they are the least valuable members of the group given their generally lax and cowardly nature. However, the two then find themselves summoned by their favorite superhero, the Blue Falcon… or rather, the Blue Falcon’s son Brian (voiced by Mark Wahlberg) who has taken up his father’s mantle in the wake of his retirement. After also meeting the Blue Falcon’s companions, tech-savvy Dee Dee Sykes (voiced by Kiersey Clemons) and the robotic dog Dynomutt (voiced by Ken Jeong), Shaggy and Scooby learn that Scooby is being pursued by the notorious Dick Dastardly (voiced by Jason Isaacs). Specifically, Dastardly plans to use Scooby to open the gates to the Underworld (since Scooby is revealed to be a descendant of Alexander the Great’s canine companion Peritas), potentially unleashing the three-headed dog monster Cerberus upon the world. Thus, both the Mystery Inc gang and the crew of the Blue Falcon’s ship, the Falcon Fury, find themselves in a race against time to prevent Dastardly from unleashing the Apocalypse as Shaggy and Scooby look to prove themselves worthy of being properly seen as heroes.  

Scoob is very much your traditional Scooby-Doo adventure albeit with a larger focus on other characters from the world of Hanna-Barbera. As such, I should probably start by noting that while this is very much a Scooby-Doo film, it isn’t as centered on the Mystery Inc gang when compared to the other films and shows that make up its massive franchise. In fact, given the nature of the plot, Shaggy and Scooby end up separated from Fred, Daphne, and Velma for a good chunk of the runtime. At the very least, the film does still allow for each member of the gang to have their own standout moment in the story, and if there is a major upside to all this, it’s that I believe that this film serves as a great gateway for new audiences to be introduced to some of the lesser-known characters from the Hanna-Barbera universe. I mean, if Marvel could do it for the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy, then Warner Bros and Hanna-Barbera can do it for the likes of the Blue Falcon, Dynomutt, and Captain Caveman (voiced by Tracy Morgan). And although the plot itself is rather basic (to the point where it somewhat rehashes the subplot of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed where Shaggy and Scooby look to prove themselves as valuable members of the gang), it still delivers solid emotional depth through its excellent handling of Shaggy and Scooby’s relationship. Plus, the film also does a great job of maintaining the overall spirit of the franchise even as a modernized adaptation of it. So yes, there are quite a lot of modern references here and there to things like Netflix and Harry Potter, but the film is also full of Hanna-Barbera trademarks from the delightfully cheesy sound effects to an impressive recreation of Where Are You’s title sequence (not to mention all the fun Easter eggs). And it all comes together thanks to some solid animation that reminds me a lot of 2015’s The Peanuts Movie in how it excellently manages to maintain the Scooby-Doo franchise’s traditionally 2-D animated roots even though it is a computer-animated feature.

There has been a bit of controversy, however, surrounding this film’s voice cast. Instead of utilizing the current ensemble that has been voicing the Mystery Inc gang on TV and film, this film goes for an all-star cast, with the legendary Frank Welker being the only one of the core crew reprising any of his roles (in this instance, Scooby-Doo, who he’s voiced since 2002). As you may have guessed, this didn’t go over well with some of the franchise’s current voice cast, namely Matthew Lillard, who took over the role of Shaggy from Casey Kasem after playing the character in the live-action films, and Grey Delisle, the current voice actress for Daphne. And while I completely understand where they’re coming from, especially since they’ve stated that they weren’t informed of this change, the cast for this film does end up doing a solid job. To be clear, I’m not saying that this new cast should completely replace the current voice cast (not in the slightest) but at the very least, Will Forte, Zac Efron, Gina Rodriguez, and Amanda Seyfried manage to be natural fits in their respective roles. But like I just said, not everyone has been onboard with this decision and have often argued that the ‘celebrity’ voices should’ve been reserved for the supporting characters like Mark Wahlberg as the Blue Falcon. On that note, Wahlberg is certainly a fun standout of the cast and a lot of this is thanks to how the film handles Brian’s role in the story since it primarily revolves around his struggles to live up to the legacy of his father. Because of this, he often avoids partaking in any superhero action (but still takes all the credit at the end of the day) while the far more competent duo of Dee Dee and Dynomutt do all the work, resulting in plenty of the film’s best comedic moments. Finally, Jason Isaacs is clearly having a lot of fun as the utterly diabolical Dick Dastardly, but perhaps the most fascinating part of this whole film is how even someone as villainous as Dick gets to partake in some of its emotional beats when the reason behind his plan to open up the Underworld is revealed. I won’t reveal it here for obvious reasons, but if you’re familiar with the character, then I don’t even need to say anything more because I’m sure you know exactly what I’m referring to.

All in all, Scoob is a delightful new spin on one of the most classic animated franchises of all-time. It may not be the best thing that has ever come out of the Scooby-Doo franchise, but it still delivers on a lot of what longtime fans have come to expect from it. Yes, it’s very much a modernized take on the property, but at the same time, it still does just enough to pay homage to the classic style of Hanna-Barbera. And while I fully understand why this film has been a notable source of controversy due to its revamped voice cast, I also feel that this will only become a genuine problem if this cast ends up replacing the current cast from the shows, which I strongly doubt it will. In short, I’m well-aware that quite a few people most likely groaned at the prospect of this being another film that’s meant to kick-start a new cinematic universe a la Marvel since, to be perfectly blunt, most of the attempts to follow the MCU’s winning formula have been underwhelming, to say the least. However, this is one of those cases where a potential cinematic universe would be highly appropriate since crossovers between Hanna-Barbera properties were quite common back in the studio’s heyday. Just look at the time that the Jetsons met the Flintstones or when the Mystery Inc gang cameoed in an episode of Johnny Bravo. And as someone whose experience with Hanna-Barbera is admittedly limited to The Flintstones, The Jetsons, the various Cartoon Network shows from the ’90s like Johnny Bravo and Dexter’s Laboratory, and of course, Scooby-Doo, I’m all for a Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe. As such, I do hope that this film’s fate as a direct-to-streaming release won’t end up affecting its potential franchise’s chances in the long run. Believe me, if it wasn’t for this crazy pandemic that we’re currently in right now, this was very much a film that I was planning to see in theaters.

Rating: 4/5

Saturday, May 16, 2020

Scooby-Doo: A Televised and Cinematic Retrospective


Nicole Jaffe, Casey Kasem, Don Messick, Heather North, and Frank Welker in Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969)

Today’s retrospective is going to be a fun one, folks, because we’re about to delve into one of the most iconic franchises in pop culture history. It’s a franchise whose legacy is so strong that it has managed to endure for half a century and still shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Yes, folks, today we’re talking about the adventures of that lovable talking dog, Scooby-Doo. It all began in 1969 when writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears developed the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! series for Hanna-Barbera, officially introducing audiences to the Mystery Inc. gang; Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and their talking dog, Scooby-Doo. Since then, this original incarnation of the show has gone on to produce numerous follow-up series that have taken the franchise in unique new directions and several films. While most of these films have gone direct-to-video, a few of them did see a theatrical release, and this weekend sees the video-on-demand release (which was originally meant to be a theatrical one until the Coronavirus pandemic stepped in) of the newest Scooby-Doo film, simply titled Scoob. And in honor of its release, today we’re looking back at some of the Scooby-Doo films that have come out over the years, and I do mean some since… well, there’s like forty of them and I’d be here all day if I discussed them all. With that in mind, I decided to primarily focus on six films; four of them animated and two of them live-action. When it comes to the animated Scooby-Doo films, there are four films that I feel are the ones that my generation is the most familiar with, so those will be the ones that I’ll be focusing on even though there were a few from the early 2000s that I remember watching when I was younger. But, of course, Scoob isn’t the character’s first foray into theatrically-released films (you know, back when it was meant to be theatrical), so I’ll also be covering the two live-action Scooby-Doo films that came out in the early 2000s. And so, with all that in mind, it’s time to split up and search for clues (and don’t forget about the Scooby snacks) as we look at some of the most notable feature-length films that star the one and only Scooby-Doo.

But first, let’s delve a little into the history behind this franchise’s run on the small screen…

PART 1 – A History of Scooby-Doo TV Shows

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969)
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970)
It all began, of course, with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You, which premiered on CBS on September 13th, 1969 as part of the network’s Saturday morning lineup. The show was primarily created to counter growing protests from parent-run advocacy groups over the increasing amount of violence seen in Saturday-morning cartoons. And as it turns out, Hanna-Barbera was responsible for a lot of the shows that these groups were against, including Space Ghost and The Herculoids, which had all been canceled that same year because of all this. To both appease the watch groups and to revitalize the network’s Saturday-morning lineup, CBS’s daytime programming executive at the time, Fred Silverman, approached William Hanna and Joseph Barbera to develop a show that was like the network’s hit series, The Archie Show. Since that show was about the characters of the famous Archie comic series performing in a band, Silverman tasked the duo with creating a show about a teenage rock band who solved mysteries between gigs. Hanna and Barbera then proceeded to put two of their writers, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and artist Iwao Takamoto in charge of the project, and while the idea of the main characters being in a rock band was ultimately scrapped after a while, it would eventually result in the show that we know and love today. And so, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You was born, introducing audiences to the teenaged mystery-solving gang known as Mystery Inc, consisting of their confident leader Fred Jones, fashion-lover Daphne Blake, bespectacled genius Velma Dinkley, cowardly slacker Shaggy Rogers, and their talking Great Dane, Scooby-Doo.

The original show promptly established the series’ long-running formula. Each episode revolved around the Mystery Inc gang as they travel to a location that’s currently dealing with a supernatural monster. Once they agree to investigate, the gang splits up to search for clues. Fred and Velma head off to find clues, Daphne usually ends up kidnapped, and Shaggy and Scooby search for food before they inadvertently come across the monster. After coming across enough clues to deduce that the monster isn’t real, Fred comes up with an elaborate trap to catch it. And while the trap usually goes awry due to cartoon hi-jinx, the monster is ultimately captured and is promptly unmasked to reveal the culprit, who is usually someone that the gang had met earlier. The culprit then proceeds to boast that they “would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids and their dog” before being taken to jail. The show proved to be a massive hit for both CBS and Hanna-Barbera, and after a 17-episode first season, it was renewed for a second season that premiered on September 12th, 1970 and consisted of 8 episodes. This second season incorporated more slapstick humor into the show and upbeat ‘chase scene’ songs that were reminiscent of those featured in The Archie Show. It was also notable for being the season where Heather North officially took over the role of Daphne from Stefanianna Christopherson. And while there would technically be a third season of the show (more on that later), Scooby-Doo, Where Are You officially ended its original run on October 31st, 1970 after 25 episodes.

Don Adams in The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972)
The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972-1973)
Two years later, the show was reborn as The New Scooby-Doo Movies, which premiered on September 9th, 1972. While it thoroughly maintained the premise of its predecessor, it was also expanded from half-hour episodes to hour-long episodes (hence the ‘Movies’ subtitle) and each episode featured a notable guest star who helped the gang solve mysteries. Some of the series’ most notable guests included Don Knotts, Dick Van Dyke, and while technically voiced by other actors, the Three Stooges. This version of the show lasted two seasons and ran for 24 episodes, with its last episode airing on October 27th, 1973. After that, reruns of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You were shown until 1976 when the franchise’s run on CBS had finally come to an end. It proceeded to move to ABC around the same time that Fred Silverman moved to the network and started its run there by packaging new episodes of the show with another Hanna-Barbera show, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, to create the Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour. First debuting on September 11th, 1976, the Scooby-Doo segments came from the series’ third incarnation, The Scooby-Doo Show, although this title technically wouldn’t be used until 1980 when the episodes hit syndication. This series introduced a new character in Scooby’s dim-witted cousin Scooby-Dum… who only appeared in this series (that should give you an idea of how the character was received). 16 episodes of this crossover were produced, concluding on December 18th, 1976, but The Scooby-Doo Show would live on in subsequent programming blocks. 8 new episodes were made for a block titled Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, which ran from September 10th, 1977 to October 28th, 1978 and consisted of it, Dynomutt (now known as The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt), Laff-A-Lympics, Captain Cavemen and the Teen Angels, and Where Are You re-runs.

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976)
The Scooby-Doo Show (1976-1978)
The second run of this block was retitled Scooby’s All-Stars and it ran from September 9th, 1978 to October 28th of that same year. Whereas Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics was a two-hour block, Scooby’s All-Stars was condensed down to an hour and a half one with the removal of The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt and the re-runs of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You. With that said, though, 9 of the 16 The Scooby-Doo Show episodes that were produced that year were designated as Where Are You episodes. And while the following 7 episodes were run under the Scooby’s All-Stars moniker, all 16 episodes were officially repurposed under the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You name when they were released on DVD in 2007. Yes, folks, this is where the mythical third season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You that I mentioned earlier comes into play. As such, the original series that started it all officially concluded on December 23rd, 1978 on ABC with a total of 41 episodes over 3 seasons. At this time, however, the series was beginning to face a serious dilemma as Hanna-Barbera had begun to feel that its formula had officially run its course. This was especially evident in the 1979 primetime special Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood, which was a parody of said formula in which Shaggy and Scooby attempt to move on to other shows when the former gets tired of their same old routine. Meanwhile, in the real world, ABC had begun looking into the show’s potential cancellation due to declining ratings. It also didn’t help that the show’s original backer, Fred Silverman, was now working for NBC. Thus, the show was massively retooled for the 1979-80 season, namely by introducing a brand-new character in Scooby-Doo’s nephew, Scrappy-Doo, and renaming the show Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo.

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979)
Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979-1980 (Half-Hour Incarnation))
Through this new show, the focus shifted from the original Mystery Inc. gang to the trio of Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy. Fred, Daphne, and Velma, meanwhile, were reduced to minor supporting roles. Nowadays, Scrappy is generally considered to be one of the most reviled characters to come out of the franchise due to many finding him to be a massively annoying sidekick; not even Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, the franchise’s creators, were fans of him. But back in 1979, this new addition was exactly what the show needed to stay on the air. The first incarnation of this version of the show ran for one season, debuting on September 22nd, 1979 and concluding on January 5th, 1980 after 16 episodes. It was then followed by a different version of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, which ran for 33 episodes for 3 seasons, beginning on November 8th, 1980 and concluding on December 18th, 1982. Instead of traditional 30-minute episodes, this new version of the show consisted of three 7-minute shorts per episode. These episodes removed Fred, Daphne, and Velma entirely and deviated from the franchise’s formula by having the monsters that the trio come across be actual monsters instead of costumed criminals. The first 20 episodes were packaged with another Hanna-Barbera show, Richie Rich, to form The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show. As for the final 13 episodes, they were packaged with The Puppy’s New Adventures in The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour. And to close out this ‘trilogy’ of shows featuring Scrappy-Doo, there was The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, which debuted on September 10th, 1983. It was later renamed The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries in 1984 and ended on December 1st after 2 seasons and 26 episodes. Through this show, the series returned to the traditional half-hour long format and notably brought back Daphne to the main ensemble while Fred and Velma returned for some episodes in Season 2.

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985)
The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985)
The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show was also notably the first entry of the series to be primarily developed by writer Tom Ruegger, who would later go on to create other classic shows such as Tiny Toon Adventures and the seminal staple that is Animaniacs. He would also oversee the development of the next installment of the franchise, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, which debuted on September 7th, 1985. In this show, Scooby and Shaggy accidentally open an ancient chest that unleashes the 13 most terrifying ghosts in the world, resulting in them, Scrappy, and Daphne having to travel the world to recapture them. Along the way, they are joined by a con artist named Flim Flam and his warlock friend Vincent Van Ghoul who, as the name suggests, was voiced by the legendary Vincent Price. Despite all this, the show only lasted a single season that, ironically, consisted of 13 episodes and concluded on December 7th of that year. Because of this, however, the show ended before the gang had captured the final ghost. Thus, this whole storyline was left unfinished until 2019 when, in an arguably unexpected turn of events, the direct-to-video feature Scooby-Doo and the Curse of the 13th Ghost was released to give this iteration of the franchise its proper conclusion. The film also featured Fred and Velma, who were both absent in the original series. As for the show itself, it ended up being the last main entry of the series to feature Scrappy-Doo, who would then go on to make some appearances in three of the franchise’s made-for-television features (Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987), Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (both in 1988)). He ultimately wouldn’t return to the franchise until the 2002 live-action film, where he was turned into the main antagonist to poke fun at the character’s controversial reputation.

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988)
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988-1991)
While 13 Ghosts may have been a bit of a dud for the franchise, Tom Ruegger ended up having much more success with the next installment of the series, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, which debuted on September 10th, 1988. Ruegger would end up leaving the show after its first season, however, which resulted in directorial duties going to Don Lusk, a veteran animator who notably worked for Disney on some of their earliest features such as Pinocchio and Bambi. As for this new show, the title says it all as it focuses on the members of the Mystery Inc gang when they were kids. The show was meant to return the franchise to its roots by revitalizing the classic formula of the gang investigating mysteries that involved criminals dressed up as monsters. But if there was one notable difference compared to previous incarnations of the show, it’s that this show was done in a much more comedic manner that was reminiscent of the classic cartoons made by Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. This style of humor was what Ruegger had wanted to do with The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo but wasn’t quite able to accomplish with that show. Suffice it to say, it worked a lot better the second time around as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo proved to be a solid hit. While its episode count may seem lackluster compared to other incarnations of the show with only 27 episodes produced during its run, it did last for 4 seasons before it concluded on August 17th, 1991. On a more somber note, this was the last instance where Scooby-Doo was voiced by his original voice actor, Don Messick, before his passing in 1997. After this show, the character was voiced by Hadley Kay for a pair of Johnny Bravo crossover episodes in 1997 before Scott Innes took over the role for the first few direct-to-video features of the era.

Frank Welker in What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002)
What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002-2006)
Surprisingly, though, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was the last major Scooby-Doo series for more than a decade. For the next few years, the franchise transitioned into direct-to-video features that primarily came into play thanks to its various shows benefitting greatly from syndication and re-runs. The last of these initial films, 2001’s Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, was the last Hanna-Barbera production that both William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced before the former’s death on March 22nd, 2001. After that, the studio was fully absorbed into the Warner Bros. Animation department, who proceeded to take control of the development of new Scooby-Doo shows. Thus, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was the last installment of the franchise to primarily air on ABC as the next two shows premiered on the Kids’ WB block. The first of these was What’s New, Scooby-Doo, which debuted on September 14th, 2002, exactly three months after the release of the first live-action Scooby-Doo film. What’s New, Scooby-Doo promptly revived the franchise’s original format from Where Are You but made appropriate updates to reflect its modern setting. It was the first series where veteran voice actor Frank Welker officially took on the role of Scooby-Doo, having already been the voice of Fred since the original Where Are You series. It was also the first time since 1997 that Shaggy’s original voice actor, Casey Kasem, returned to voice the character after the production crew agreed to honor his request to make Shaggy a vegetarian just like him. At the same time, though, this would also end up being the last series where he voiced the character before his death in 2014, although he did reprise the role for the franchise’s various direct-to-video features and would then make a few cameo appearances in subsequent shows before he retired from voice acting in 2009. The show ran for 42 episodes for three seasons, and while its initial run on Kids’ WB abruptly ended in 2005, its final episode, ‘E-Scream’, aired on Cartoon Network on July 21st, 2006.

Scott Menville and Frank Welker in Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006)
Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006-2008)
Two months later, the next iteration of the series made its debut on Kids’ WB (which, at this point, was now part of the network’s rebranding from The WB to The CW) on September 23rd, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue. The show saw the characters undergo a notable redesign (the second major instance of this in the franchise’s history after A Pup Named Scooby-Doo) that was heavily based on their live-action counterparts from the recent films. And while Casey Kasem was still involved with the franchise as the voice of Shaggy’s uncle, Shaggy himself was voiced by Scott Menville, best known for his role as Robin on Teen Titans. This may explain why this new show did away with the character’s vegetarian update from What’s New, Scooby-Doo. In the show, Shaggy ends up inheriting the fortune of his uncle, Dr. Albert Shaggleford, after he mysteriously disappears. This then leads to him and Scooby discovering that his uncle was an inventor and them having to deal with his uncle’s greatest adversary, mad scientist Dr. Phineas Phibes, who seeks to steal Shaggleford’s latest invention, nano-tech. Like the Scooby and Scrappy-Doo shows, this series focused more on Shaggy and Scooby while Fred, Daphne, and Velma were reduced to cameo appearances. Thus, the two were instead accompanied by Robi, a robotic butler that was built by Shaggy’s uncle. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue ran for 2 seasons, officially concluding on March 15th, 2008. A few months later, the Kids’ WB block was officially discontinued on May 17th. Thus, the next few Scooby-Doo shows made their debut on Cartoon Network, which had been airing re-runs of the franchise since the ’90s.

Matthew Lillard, Mindy Cohn, Grey Griffin, and Frank Welker in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010)
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013)
The first of these new shows was Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, which premiered on April 5th, 2010, and after Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue admittedly fared poorly with fans of the franchise, this new show went back to the traditional premise of the Mystery Inc. gang solving mysteries. However, to keep things fresh, Mystery Incorporated went for a tongue-in-cheek approach that parodied both the franchise itself and classic horror films. It was also the first Scooby-Doo series to utilize a serial-based story arc and was generally more serious in tone compared to other incarnations of the franchise. For this show, the role of Shaggy was taken over by Matthew Lillard who, of course, played the character in the first two live-action films. The show even featured Linda Cardellini, who played Velma in the live-action films, in a supporting role as Velma’s rival Marcie Fleach AKA Hot Dog Water. The show ran for 2 seasons consisting of 52 episodes and concluded exactly three years after it premiered on April 5th, 2013. It was then followed by Be Cool, Scooby-Doo, which premiered on October 5th, 2015. It was the third entry of the series to attempt a new art style, which many have often compared to the long-running animated sitcom Family Guy, and it went for a more comedic tone compared to its immediate predecessor. It was the first series where Velma was voiced by Garfunkel and Oates’ Kate Micucci, who took over the role from Mindy Cohn, who had been voicing the character since What’s New, Scooby-Doo. However, the show had a rather interesting release schedule. While the first 20 episodes aired on Cartoon Network, the remaining 6 episodes of the first season aired on Boomerang. After that, the show moved to Boomerang for its second season; however, only its final 11 episodes aired on TV while the first 15 were released via Boomerang’s on-demand service. The show officially concluded on March 18th, 2018 after 52 episodes.

Matthew Lillard and Frank Welker in Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! (2015)
Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! (2015-2018)
This brings us to the most recent incarnation of the franchise, Scooby-Doo and Guess Who. It first premiered on Boomerang’s streaming service app on June 27th, 2019, although it would also be shown on Cartoon Network on July 9th. The show follows the same format as The New Scooby-Doo Movies by having the Mystery Inc gang join forces with a special celebrity guest star to solve mysteries. At the time of this post’s publication, some of its most notable guests have included Weird Al Yankovic, Penn and Teller, and even a few fictional characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Steve Urkel from the classic 90’s sitcom Family Matters. Unlike its spiritual predecessor, however, this show’s episodes are only a half-hour long instead of a full hour. The first season of 13 episodes concluded on September 19th, 2019, and a second season of 13 episodes has been confirmed for a currently undetermined release date, although the first of these new episodes (which guest-starred Whoopi Goldberg) did premiere on September 24th via Boomerang’s Italian network. And so, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes this little retrospective covering the Scooby-Doo franchise’s extensive run on television. Since 1969, there have been 13 major animated series based around the Mystery Inc gang. And while these beloved characters have undergone quite a few changes over the decades in the franchise’s efforts to freshen up its formula, whether by showing them as kids or by introducing new characters to the cast, the core elements of the franchise have always been consistent throughout. Because of this, it is quite arguably one of the greatest examples of a franchise that can successfully appeal to any generation; there aren’t many franchises out there who can lay claim to the prospect of maintaining a relevant role in the pop-cultural zeitgeist like Scooby-Doo has.

Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin, Penn Jillette, Fred Tatasciore, Teller, Frank Welker, and Kate Micucci in The Cursed Cabinet of Professor Madds Markson! (2019)
Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2019-present)
PART 2 – Scooby-Doo Animated Features

Like I said in the intro, I won’t be able to cover every single animated feature that has come from the Scooby-Doo franchise simply because it would take too long to go through them all. And while there were a few that I watched when I was younger thanks to them repeatedly airing on Cartoon Network, like 2003’s Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire and 2004’s Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster, I decided to limit it to the four that are arguably the most well-known of the 33 direct-to-video films that have been made since 1998.

SCOOBY-DOO ON ZOMBIE ISLAND (1998)

Mary Kay Bergman, Scott Innes, B.J. Ward, Frank Welker, and Billy West in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)

We start things off, of course, with what is arguably the most popular installment of the Scooby-Doo films, 1998’s Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, in which the gang heads to a mysterious island on the bayou that’s haunted by the ghost of an old pirate and his zombified crew. Thanks to the franchise’s resurgence in the 90’s thanks to syndicated re-runs, this became the first in a long line of direct-to-video feature-length Scooby-Doo films that still runs to this very day. Like I said, this film was that big of a hit for the franchise, and while I’ll admit that my recent viewing of it was the first time that I ever watched it in full, I can clearly see why it has always been so fondly remembered. For one thing, the film boasts some excellent animation, which I know is saying something considering how Hanna-Barbera productions have always been rather infamous for some of their cost-cutting techniques (e.g. reused backgrounds, limited animation, etc.). By comparison, Zombie Island’s animation was outsourced to a Japanese studio, Mook Animation, and the crew was given more time than usual to work on it, resulting in some incredibly atmospheric animation that perfectly matches the film’s bayou setting. And thanks to how it sets up a new standard for the franchise by having a darker storyline where the monsters weren’t just costumed criminals, Zombie Island ends up being one of the best-written installments of the franchise. Plus, while the film did get quite a bit of flak at the time for being too scary for younger audiences, nowadays I’d argue that it’s quite tame despite its premise. Because of all this, I’d argue that Zombie Island is the franchise equivalent of the Batman franchise’s 1993 cult classic, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. In other words, Zombie Island is so well-made that it could’ve easily been upgraded to a full-on theatrical release, and even if it ended up being a commercial dud like Mask of the Phantasm admittedly was when it was first released, I bet that it probably would’ve spawned the same kind of dedicated cult following. And yet, Zombie Island clearly didn’t need a theatrical release to become a bona fide cult classic.

Rating: 4.5/5

Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island (2019)

(It’s also worth noting that this film ended up getting a sequel in 2019, Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island. However, to keep this retrospective from going on too long, we won’t be looking at it today… plus, based on what I’ve read, this one isn’t exactly popular amongst fans of the original for various reasons that range from a controversial retcon to a considerable tonal shift).

SCOOBY-DOO AND THE WITCH’S GHOST (1999)

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999)

Thanks to the success of Zombie Island, a second direct-to-video feature was put into production to come out the following year, Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost. However, whereas the filmmakers were able to work on Zombie Island without any direct influence from the studio, it wasn’t the same case with Witch’s Ghost, namely through the hiring of different writers whose original ending saw the titular ‘Witch’s Ghost’ revealed to be a fake. And yet, despite both this and the decision to tone things down after the darker proceedings of Zombie Island, the core crew was able to work around this by having a real ghost at the end so that they could maintain the ‘realistic monsters’ approach of its predecessor. With all this in mind, Witch’s Ghost is another solid installment in the series and once again features some excellent animation. It may not necessarily be as well-polished or atmospheric as its immediate predecessor, but as a native New Englander, I do appreciate how the film perfectly captures the beauty of the region in the fall. This one also has some fun supporting players headlined by Tim Curry as a popular horror novelist who asks the Mystery Inc gang to accompany him to his hometown in Massachusetts, which is supposedly haunted by the ghost of his Wiccan ancestor. The film is also notable for the introduction of the Hex Girls, an eco-Goth band who would end up becoming major fan-favorites and recurring characters in the franchise with appearances in some future direct-to-video features and shows like What’s New Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated. And so, despite the setback of the original crew having to deal with new writers that weren’t as familiar with their methods, Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost is another delightfully dark and entertaining adventure with the gang. While it may not be ‘as good’ as its immediate predecessor, this one does just enough to maintain its more mature and atmospheric style.    

Rating: 4/5

SCOOBY-DOO AND THE ALIEN INVADERS (2000)

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)

The title for this one says it all as the Mystery Inc gang comes across a bunch of aliens while they’re stranded in New Mexico. And luckily for the crew that had been responsible for these initial direct-to-video features, the production of Alien Invaders was a lot more like Zombie Island rather than Witch’s Ghost in that they were able to work on it without any major demands from the studio. However, it is worth noting that, of the direct-to-video features we’ve discussed so far, Alien Invaders is perhaps the most light-hearted of the bunch. While the titular aliens are excellently designed and the film still does a decent job of maintaining the solid animation style of its predecessors, its overall proceedings feel much more in line with the traditional atmosphere of the franchise’s past incarnations. It’s also easily the most straight-forward of the bunch in terms of its script and doesn’t pull any major punches except for one major reveal near the end regarding two of its new characters. Overall, though, that doesn’t stop the film from being another entertaining adventure with the Mystery Inc gang since I do feel that its lighter and arguably more comedic tone matches the typical campy nature of classic sci-fi B-films. The film even sees Shaggy and Scooby get to have their own love interests when they meet a photographer named Crystal and her dog Amber. Granted, the two of them do turn out to be aliens at the end, but it’s rather nice to see Shaggy and Scooby get to partake in a romantic subplot since that’s not the kind of storyline that they usually get involved in when it comes to this franchise. And so, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders ends up being quite a lot of fun. While those who prefer the truly atmospheric and haunting style of Zombie Island might be disappointed by how this film ends up going back to the traditional antics of a typical Scooby-Doo mystery, I’d argue that there’s nothing wrong with that classic Scooby-Doo vibe.

Rating: 4/5

SCOOBY-DOO AND THE CYBER CHASE (2001)

Grey Griffin, Scott Innes, Gary Anthony Sturgis, B.J. Ward, and Frank Welker in Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)

I can safely say that the last of the direct-to-video Scooby-Doo features that we’ll be looking at today, Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, is the one that I’ve watched the most out of these four. Simply put, the fact that this film revolved around the Mystery Inc gang getting transported into a video game instantly made it appealing to me when I was younger since I’m just as passionate about video games as I am with films. However, I should note that, for the crew that had been working on these direct-to-video features, this was, unfortunately, another case like Witch’s Ghost where they were severely hindered by studio interference. Just like that film, they had to deal with the studio bringing in a new writer who had no experience with the franchise and delivered a script that the crew was vastly underwhelmed by. And because of this, Cyber Chase was ultimately the final entry of the series that the core crew behind Zombie Island was personally responsible for; with that in mind, I can see why some may consider this to be the weakest of the first four direct-to-video features. Not only is the main villain, the Phantom Virus, an incredibly passive antagonist, but the plot itself is even more basic in its execution than Alien Invaders. This one also happens to have the weakest animation out of these four films. While I wouldn’t call it ‘terrible’, I also wouldn’t be surprised if some people thought that this was just an extended episode of What’s New, Scooby-Doo (ironically, though, this is the only entry of the four that’s been given a Blu-Ray release). At the very least, there are a few worthwhile moments here and there, especially towards the end when the gang meets up with their digital doppelgangers since the game that they’re in is based on their adventures. And so, because of this, I still find this to be an entertaining outing despite its various shortcomings. We may be far removed from the quality of Zombie Island at this point, but for those like me who grew up with this one, I’d say that it’s still a decent watch even if it isn’t quite as good as its predecessors.

Rating: 3/5

PART 3- Scooby-Doo Live-Action Films

Matthew Lillard and Neil Fanning in Scooby-Doo (2002)

Once again, I want to preface this next section of the retrospective by noting that I’ll only be covering the first two live-action Scooby-Doo films since they were the ones that were released in theaters (that and they’re the only ones of these that I’ve seen) while the others were direct-to-video releases. In 2009, there was a prequel, Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins, which was then followed by a sequel in 2010, Scooby-Doo: Curse of the Lake Monster. There was also a spin-off that was released in 2018, Daphne and Velma, which focused solely on the titular duo.

SCOOBY-DOO (2002)

Matthew Lillard, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, and Freddie Prinze Jr. in Scooby-Doo (2002)

After being in the works since the mid-’90s, a live-action Scooby-Doo film finally came to fruition in the early 2000s under the direction of Raja Gosnell, a long-time editor in the industry who has worked on everything from the Home Alone films (he would end up directing the Macaulay Culkin-less third installment in 1997) to Mrs. Doubtfire. But perhaps the most interesting member of the film’s crew is one of its writers, James Gunn. Yes, more than a decade before he became known as the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Scooby-Doo served as one of Gunn’s first major outings as a screenwriter. Originally, the plan was to have the film be a dark parody of the franchise that would be based around many of the classic fan theories about the original show, such as Shaggy being a stoner and Velma being a closeted lesbian. In other words, this version of the film would’ve very much been in line with the kind of projects that Gunn would become known for. And yet, while Gunn has since gone on to state that an R-rated cut of the film does exist, it was ultimately toned down to a more family-friendly PG rating. That said, though, several of the intended adult jokes can still be found in the film, resulting in a fascinating hybrid that, while technically geared towards kids, still wants to have something there for the adults (e.g. Shaggy finds a new love interest (Isla Fisher), whose name is Mary Jane. His response? “Like, that is my favorite name!”). However, this didn’t stop the film from garnering a mixed-to-negative reaction from both critics and fans of the franchise; thus, nowadays many tend to view it as one of the prime examples of a lackluster live-action adaptation of a popular animated franchise along with the likes of Alvin and the Chipmunks and Yogi Bear. And yet, while I fully recognize that this may just be my nostalgia talking since I watched this one quite a lot when I was growing up, I’d argue that there are some genuinely good things in this film and a lot of it has to do with the main cast. Say what you will about the rest of the film, but I think most would agree that the casting of the Mystery Inc gang was quite perfect.

While the 2003 Looney Tunes film Back in Action poked fun at his performance by having his animated counterpart accuse him of making him sound “like a total space cadet”, Matthew Lillard nails the role of Shaggy to the point where, as noted earlier, it led to him officially taking on the role from Casey Kasem after his retirement. Meanwhile, Linda Cardellini is an equally pitch-perfect choice for Velma as is Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred. And when it comes to casting Daphne, who gets a great character update here where she evolves from being more than just the damsel in distress, you honestly can’t go wrong with Buffy the Vampire Slayer herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar. Pair this with some solidly funny lines here and there and some delightfully quirky production design and you have a film that I’m not afraid to admit that I still enjoy even after all this time. Now don’t get me wrong, this is far from being a flawless flick. Is it incredibly cheesy in that early 2000’s family film kind of way? Yeah. Is it rather confused as to what kind of film it wants to be, potentially alienating both sides of its target audience in the process? Yeah, especially since it strays heavily from the franchise’s well-established formula by opening with the gang splitting up a la Zombie Island. And unlike that film, where the gang disbanded on completely amicable terms, this film’s split ends up being far more bitter by comparison. Ultimately, though, while I do understand why this film doesn’t exactly have the best reputation amongst longtime fans of the franchise, it still manages to be a lot of fun. All in all, it’s a perfectly undemanding popcorn flick that, thanks to its reasonably short run-time, never ends up overstaying its welcome. And as far as being one of those infamous live-action adaptations of a popular cartoon, I’d argue that it’s far from being one of the worst to come from that genre.   

Rating: 4/5

SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED (2004)

Matthew Lillard, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Neil Fanning in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)

While the first live-action Scooby-Doo film wasn’t exactly a critical darling, it was still a sizable hit at the box-office, grossing over $275 million worldwide. Thus, a sequel was promptly put into production, reteaming the main leads with director Raja Gosnell and writer James Gunn. And instead of a plot that was fully intent on satirizing the franchise, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed features a far more traditional Scooby-Doo plot as the gang deals with a mysterious masked figure who’s been bringing all the monsters that they’ve caught in the past to life. It’s also worth noting that this sequel does away with a lot of the adult jokes that were left over from its predecessor’s R-rated origins, resulting in a more generally light-hearted adventure. However, this also means that a lot of the lowbrow humor that was in the first film is even more common here. And yet, this is another case where I’m fine with that, for the most part, because the film ends up being just as fun as its predecessor. Just like before, a lot of this has to do with the lead quartet of Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini continuing to prove why they were perfectly cast in their respective roles. And because this one doesn’t revolve around the gang splitting up, their overall dynamic is even better than it was in the first film. Plus, the film also has a genuinely heartwarming subplot in which Shaggy and Scooby try to prove that they’re more than just a pair of screw-ups. And so, while I once again want to make it clear that this is by no means a ‘masterpiece’, Scooby-Doo 2 is just as much of a fun and easygoing popcorn flick as its predecessor. Those who were turned off by the first film’s major deviations from the franchise’s formula may find this one to be more enjoyable as a classic Scooby-Doo adventure thanks to its ‘back to basics’ approach. And really, one of the reasons why I can’t bring myself to rag on these films too much is because, in a lot of ways, they were largely responsible for making me a fan of the Scooby-Doo franchise and these characters.   

Rating: 4/5

And that concludes this big retrospective on the Scooby-Doo franchise when it comes to its extensive history on television and a selection of its most notable cinematic outings. As always, thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own personal experiences with this historic franchise. And yes, you can expect a review of the franchise’s newest cinematic adventure, Scoob, sometime soon.