Scooby-Doo Archives | Otaku No Culture

Scoob! Without the Doo?

* Spoiler Alert

It’s not tough to know what the minds behind Scoob! are up to in this reboot of a beloved franchise. This modern update is a mixed bag, designed with moments to appease long-time fans and have a plot for dog-lovers to enjoy. Plus, there are a few in-jokes that pays tribute to this series’ humble beginnings.

This film serves to reintroduce the gang and set up the fact other Hanna-Barbera properties can come in. I’m all for the shared universe and hope to see Space Ghost!

In what I miss is the completely supernatural angle of the gang busting ghosts. Hopefully later films will address this shortcoming, but as for bringing Blue Falcon and Dynomutt in, the idea is not new; they’ve teamed up before. The idea in this story is to explore man’s relationship with their beloved canine between different series. The same rule is applied for Dastardly, but where’s Muttley?

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Guess Who’s Coming to Scooby-Doo?

Scooby-Doo By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available on Boomerang
Broadcasting on Cartoon Network beginning July 8, 2019

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? is out and about! This new Cartoon Network series has two episodes available and I am hooked! I’m glad the experiment known as Be Cool Scooby-Doo is finished. The stories were okay but to reimagine the gang Calarts style was not for me. I’d rather rewatch A Pup Named Scooby-Doo instead. I can hear and appreciate the voices, but it did not flow well with the visuals.

The character designs and work by Iwao Takamoto defined everything I adored throughout the decades. I believe nostalgia plays an important factor in this franchise otherwise why bother? In what’s enjoyable with the new series is that it not only is it a light reimagining of the main characters Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby, but also the dynamics that defined many a show get a nudge too. That is, we see them react much like they did in What’s New Scooby-Doo?

Plus, this series is bringing the catalogue of past Hanna Barbera properties and celebrity friends they know, like Batman! The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972-4) was the most memorable and Guess Who? borrows from this run.

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It’s Scoobynatural! Reviews and Thoughts

Scooby-Doo By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

The CW’s Supernatural is a strange beast. I once truly loved the show, especially the super early years. When it decided to go meta, my interest faltered. I accepted the idea of their story being chronicled by a third party and the episode, “Changing Channels” was cute. However, the later seasons lacked a certain je ne sais quoi which original creator/producer Kripke imbued into the series. He remained as a producer, but with the control in other hands, the foundations were shaky. Not every mythological figure was nicely adapted for pop culture appropriation.

When the series went too crazy meta with “The French Mistake (season six),” I did not know if I should always tune in for the next episode. Some ideas were terrific, but others, like season ten’s “Fan Fiction” just went too far; enter the Scooby-pocalypse. Originally, I just did not know about this crossover with Scooby Doo, a beloved property from my youth. Mystery Incorporated easily rivals Supernatural for its grande scheme and does it right. With a nervous finger, I finally triggered the play on the PVR with this episode.

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Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated Season One and Season Two Review

Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated is the latest incarnation of the much beloved franchise that is willing to poke a little fun at itself.

Creators: Joe Ruby and Ken Spears
Producer/writer: Mitch Watson

Animation is no stranger to the horror genre and one of the most enduring cartoon icons associated with this crossover is Scooby-Doo. The cartoons that follow his capers made those spooks that went bump in the night not as terrible as it should be. The scares are only as real as Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby want it to be and by the episode’s end, they usually face up to it. The only thing they have to fear is fear itself.

And in the 40+ years since this franchise’s inception, nearly everyone has grown up watching at least one episode of this great dane buffooning his way into popular culture. The comedy relief Scooby provides take the edge out of nearly all of the frights that play out on network television. Unlike Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, this cartoon series gives younger viewers a campfire story they can comfortably fall asleep to.

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DC’s Scooby Doo Apocalypse is a Mixed Bag

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Scooby-Dooby-Doo, Where Are You?
We got some work to do now.
Scooby-Dooby-Doo, Where Are You?
We need some help from you now.
Come on Scooby-Doo, I see you… pretending you got a sliver
But you’re not fooling me, cause I can see, the way you shake and shiver.

And those are still the words I still hum along to whenever I tune into broadcasts of this fond classic cartoon from the 70’s. It had brief comic book runs by different companies putting their own spin on the tale and they were faithful to the animation, like Gold Key. When I discovered this fond cartoon, not a day in my life could go by without me catching a rerun or reading the Harvey Comics reprint. Woe befell me when I heard about DC comics reimagining of this franchise and after picking up the first issue to read, I strangely found myself enjoying this post-apocalyptic look of my favourite canine turned cyber-mutt.

No, Dynomutt has not been replaced but if later issues start affixing this Great Dane’s body with mechanical parts because he’s been hurt after his encounters with monsters (either attempting to run away or otherwise), I will cry foul. He wears a type of Google Glasses with holoprojectors to give him cartoon eyebrows and show how he’s feeling. What it does is to allow him and Shaggy to work together.

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Zoiks! It’s a Scooby-Doo and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery Review

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Gene Simmons is definitely one shrewd businessman. He knows how to market KISS and keep the band’s brand alive for more than 40 years. In that time, he’s made attempts into getting into acting (more so for himself) and for the group, comic books and various paraphernalia. Eventually that will lead into crossovers with popular characters for a particular era. Very few will remember their appearance in Marvel Comics‘ Howard the Duck. They made their own series with Image Comics and in some ways, they’ve returned to this realm of crossovers in their own animated special Scooby-Doo! & KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery.

This direct to DVD product is more about the band of musicians than the mystery solving gang. The in-jokes with supporting characters and objects that reference their songs are everywhere. The product placements to even fictional items are downright ridiculous. It’s hardly hilarious, but at least this one-off film does to KISS what the original 2012-13 Mystery Incorporated did to create an encompassing mythology that explains who this group is. They’re from a realm called Kissteria and they guard a mysterious Black Diamond that they carry with them on their tours. Although it doesn’t grant them powers, it is a key to a prison that must never be unlocked. The Scooby gang get involved in a mystery of a frantic Crimson Witch who looks like she should belong in a Power Rangers product. She’s looking for the gemstone so an evil Destroyer can be awakened. When Shaggy and Scooby meet her, the usual antics take place, and eventually the team will find answers to why she must have it.

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