With us today on the eighth anniversary of this site is Andrei, a Scooby fan who is an active member on the ScoobyAddicts forum, and also used to contribute to TV.com (I remember that site fondly, and it’s too bad it went defunct). I’d like to give a big thanks to Andrei for being today’s fan spotlight, and without further ado, I’m excited to introduce you to him!
1. What is your name? My name is Andrei. Technically Andrew if you want it translated. I wanted a more Scooby-themed name for the Scooby Addicts board, so I went with something from Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue and the year I was born, hence hippyboy86. 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I am pretty sure I first discovered Scooby by watching re-runs of the shows on the Cartoon Network in 1994 I believe. This was the UK version of the network, which was also available across Europe at the time before other regional feeds appeared in due time. I think "Mine Your Own Business" and "A Tiki Scare is No Fair" were among the first episodes I watched. I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of the show immediately after seeing these episodes but I did stick around and checked out more of the Scooby stuff the channel had (as well as virtually every other show they aired over the years), and it kind of started growing on me. Now I don't remember exactly the moment I became addicted but these days, I watch pretty much everything Scooby related that comes out, at least as far as animated projects go. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? I don't think I can really pick a single favorite episode out of all the Scooby series. There are a few I enjoyed a lot and re-watch every once in a while. "What a Night for a Knight", "Jeepers it's the Creeper", "To Switch a Witch", "Vampire Bats & Scaredy Cats", "Happy Birthday Scooby-Doo'. But there's probably more I could include, not only from the classic eras but from more modern versions of the show as well. I usually find it kind of hard to make a top 10 or whatever list, not only for Scooby but other shows as well. The thing is I tend to enjoy most of the episodes and my opinion may change frequently depending on my mood. I just find it a hassle having to update such a list so often. I admire and respect those who come up with lists like these, including their reasoning and updating them every once in a while. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is probably the most frequent answer fans give to the favorite film question. And I kind of have to agree, it's probably the most entertaining animated Scooby movie. The story is pretty great and still holds up well, even knowing some of the plot twists doesn't really affect that much. It's darker than what came before and it really felt like the start of a new era of sorts for the franchise. In a way it was, since they've made new movies pretty much every year since then, though not all of the same quality. There are other movies I would consider close runners-up though, like The Witch's Ghost, Camp Scare, Scooby & Batman the Brave and the Bold, Straight Outta Nowhere. The TV movies from the 80s with Scrappy are also kind of fun, The Reluctant Werewolf is probably my top pick from those or it's at least the one I watched the most times, I think. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? Mainly I just talk about episodes and movies on the Scooby Addicts site. I also look for Scooby news and updates occasionally, I like being informed but also try and avoid spoilers, if that makes any sense. Posting news items like that is kind of fun, I do it on a couple more sites, not only for Scooby related news but other shows or movies I am interested in. There was also a now defunct website, TV.com, where I used to submit trivia and stuff to a bunch of shows, some of them Scooby shows but I don't think there's even an archived version of the site online anymore. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? I think each series has its moments but Where Are You or The Scooby Show from the 70s are probably the best which also set the tone for pretty much everything that came afterwards. So I'd probably have to stick with the original era, up until they introduced Scrappy. I don't have anything against the character, I'm a little surprised how hated he seems to be, but the original gang aspect and dynamic just seemed more fun. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? I wasn't too happy with how Curse of the 13th Ghost turned out so a remake of that one would be interesting to see. Similarly, as much as I love Zombie Island I wouldn't really want a direct sequel to it or anything, like they tried with Return to Zombie Island. Not exactly a sequel since it wouldn't necessarily continue the story, but having more movies with the same premise as Zombie Island could be fun. I mean, the gang investigating paranormal stuff for Daphne's show. A sequel to Cyber Chase could be fun given how much technology has evolved in the last two decades since the movie came out. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I don't really have that much imagination so I don't have many new ideas as to what the franchise should try. The classic mystery format with bad guys wearing masks seems to work best. Nothing against real monsters and the like, but I think solving a mystery might be more entertaining than catching a real ghost. Something like the original series, with a slightly darker tone like Mystery Inc. and the humor of Be Cool might be tricky to pull off, but would be interesting to see. Maybe cut back a little on the too random humor or slapstick comedy and don't rely on guest-stars too much (save those for the movies). Have some recurring characters every once in a while, but without the show being too serialized. Do some two-part stories occasionally, maybe as season finales, where you could allude to some of the stuff that happened previously, if that makes any sense. Something similar to how the 90s The Outer Limits show did their season finales. Just some pretty out there suggestions, I kind of doubt Scooby will get a show like this. Regardless, I am open to new, more unique takes on the franchise, like say Velma or Scooby & the Mystery Pups, and will check out at least a few episodes before trying to form an opinion on them. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Shaggy is probably my favorite human member of the gang. Something about him is just so endearing. Now I don't really agree with theories about him doing drugs or whatever, or the more recent memes about him having god-like powers but I do find them sort of amusing. But his laid-back nature, his friendship with Scooby and some of his ideas make him a pretty well-rounded character. Daphne would be a close second. I liked how they used her more than the others in the 80s, in most of the Scrappy episodes and kind of gave her more of a personality. She's usually just the attractive girl (no offense to Velma) and some of the sub-plots only revolve around her having a crush on characters introduced in each episode or movie. It's funny, I'm not really much of a shipper, but think Shaggy and Daphne are kind of a more interesting pairing. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? Again, I don't think I could pick just one villain. Without getting into some of the folks on Mystery Inc. which I feel would need a category of their own category, I could also pair them up like, favorites in terms of motivation, plan and lengths they would go to achieve their goals, would probably be the Vampire from "Vampire Bats & Scaredy Cats", the Red Skull, Ben Ravencroft, and from the recent movies Cutler Toe. Granted I didn't really care much for those movies but I liked how they tied things in Happy Halloween. Favorites more in terms of design alone would be the Spooky Space Kook, 10,000 Volt Ghost, the Creepy Heap from the Deep... the list could go on. Hanna-Barbera might have had very limited animation but they did provide some pretty cool looking stuff in their shows occasionally, and some of Scooby's villains are up there. These are just a few of my favorites, as I said most of the bad guys the Scooby Gang has crossed paths with over the years have been pretty entertaining. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? The Hex Girls come to mind as the most memorable recurring characters. It would be nice seeing them more often in the franchise though I also feel like they work better as supporting characters so I don't think a spin-off would be the best idea to bring them back. From their appearances so far, I think their debut in The Witch's Ghost movie is the best. I also liked Red Herring from A Pup Named Scooby but he was more of a running gag than a recurring character. I wouldn't mind seeing him again, though. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? Not really. I have a couple of the movies on DVD, and a few Scooby comic strips that were included in older Cartoon Network magazines and some older story books I think, as well as stickers and other minor collectibles like that. There's really not a whole lot of Scooby merchandise available over here, so I would have to import some. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? I think the show has a nice mix of elements in it, comedy, mystery solving and some slight horror stuff in it that makes it appealing. It's still mostly a comedy and some of the series in the franchise played with that more than the others. It's a fun show for the most part and unless it's a very serialized incarnation like say Mystery Inc., it's really easy to get into it. The appeal was probably noticed early on, given the many "clone" shows Hanna-Barbera produced over the years, but interestingly enough they still kept making new Scooby projects as well. The Scooby Gang still kind of outshined the others and is still more relevant today. Then there are the countless cross-overs Scooby had over the years, it's pretty amazing looking back how many celebrities or other fictional characters the Scooby Gang has crossed paths with. This also probably helped boost Scooby's popularity, or he helped boost the celebrity's popularity depending on your point of view. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? Not exactly fun but might surprise others - I am from Romania. I really only started learning English so I could watch Cartoon Network and actually understand what's happening in the shows. In school we started studying French as a foreign language in the 2nd grade, and the English in the 5th grade but I already knew a bunch of stuff by then. Obviously I found other instances where my English helped over the years not just watch cartoons, but that's how it all started. But I'll also probably never outgrow watching cartoons, either. And I won't claim my English is perfect but I think I manage alright. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! Thanks for considering me for this fan spotlight blog. It's nice getting to talk, even if only online, with other fans of this stuff. Hope readers will enjoy my answers above and don't find them too boring.
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Today’s fan spotlight has been a long time in the making, as it was originally one of the spotlights from last year, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. That’s why I’m even more excited that we were still able to do it this year! I’m excited to introduce you to Graig, a Scooby fan who has commented on this blog quite a bit and is also a member of the ScoobyAddicts forum. Through doing this fan spotlight, I also found out that both of us are big fans of a pop punk band named Hey Violet, which was really cool to discover!
Here’s Graig’s fan spotlight: 1. What is your name? I go by dooscoobert0220 on ScoobyAddicts but my real name is Graig. Hi! 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I wish I could remember but as far as I know I’ve been a fan of Scooby-Doo pretty much since birth. My parents would apparently put it on while I was in my crib and stuff. And it stuck. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? My favorite movie is definitely Zombie Island. Yes I am basic, I don’t even care. Everything about it comes together to make a thrilling, funny, scary, intense ride of a Scooby film and I honestly feel like they have never managed to combine all those elements so perfectly since, except for Witch’s Ghost (a close second fave of mine) but only almost because it’s not as scary. I genuinely don’t think I could pick a favorite episode. There’s too many and I still haven’t even seen them all. I will say my favorite series is Mystery Incorporated for - I feel like - obvious reasons. Sort of like Zombie Island, I love how it manages to balance all of these ideas and all of this ambition within while still making it feel true to Scooby as a franchise. It’s fantastic. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? Well, I’m a member of ScoobyAddicts and I frequent (the amazing) ScoonySnax blog, though it’s been a while since I was active on both, at the time of writing. I’m hoping to change that soon. I also follow a couple Scooby related Twitter accounts. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? Well, for series, as I said, Mystery Incorporated. Era though…I’m probably biased because it’s what I’ve grown up with (though still with plenty of the older stuff) but almost the entire post-2000 era has been pretty great. Show wise, I personally feel like there’s only one dud in Get A Clue (I’ve only watched a few episodes though and I’ve heard mixed things on Guess Who so I could be wrong) and the movies for the most part have been on the level of pretty great to absolutely amazing, with only one true dud (again in my opinion, though I get why some would think others are middling) in Return To Zombie Island. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? I will forever be bitter we didn’t get a Mystery Incorporated season 3 since they set one up with a perfect idea at the end of 2, so that for sure. Also I would kill for a Witch’s Ghost sequel because we simply don’t get enough Hex Girls content. Also, I love magic and witches. And I mean an actual sequel, not the fake sequel thing they’ve done. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I honestly don’t know. A bunch of things. It’d be cool if they went down a more child-horror oriented path, like the tone of Zombie Island but through a whole series. I feel like they’ve milked the comedy aspects of the series as much as possible so exploring the horror influence the series has would be really interesting. I am one of the few who is excited for the Velma series (if it still happens) because of its focus on an adult audience and willingness to try something new (especially since the other, toddler aimed show does not seem exciting) but it’d be great to see them balance the two like they’ve successfully been able to for over 50 years. I do think they need something fresh and new though. Also, this is kinda random but I have to mention it: An adaptation of Scooby Apocalypse would be pretty cool. It’d be great if they re-released the series again as well. Oh and bring back Scrappy. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Oof. I genuinely love them all for so many different reasons. If I had to pick I guess I would say Daphne. I love that even if she has a tendency to fall into danger, she still dives headfirst into the mysteries. She’s not letting the possibility of getting hurt stop her from going for it. And then she found ways to get better at avoiding danger and fight back and became an absolute bad***. I just really love her. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? The cat creatures from Zombie Island. Not only is their design terrifying but so is the idea of them - apparently friendly, accommodating hosts who need help but are actually manipulative energy vampires who have spent a long time draining and killing people for their own self-preservation because traumatic events, loss, grief and the desire for revenge lead them down a dark path. Insanely cool and creepy. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? The Hex Girls, hands down. I’m 90% sure they influenced a large portion of my music taste (I really love rock bands with female lead vocals, and I’m a fan of more women than men in general) and their style is insanely cool. We seriously deserve a spin-off following their witchy music exploits. Like, Charmed meets Scooby-Doo and Josie & the Pussycats. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? I do! It’s mostly made up of DVDs (55 and counting) but I also have a few games, some socks, a few toys and plushies as well as a small poster from the 2002 film signed by Matthew Lillard. That especially is one of my most prized possessions. I also have four PEZ’s of the gang and I’m only missing Daphne. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? That is a really interesting question. The concept in general is pretty timeless, everyone loves mysteries and there are a lot of ways to shake up the formula - as the franchise has proven. I think the characters might be the biggest part though. They’re funny, interesting and at the franchise’s best, well-written and relatable. Everyone can find something of themselves in the gang. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? I have two cats and I wanted to name the older one Scooby when we got him but he already had a name. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! I love talking about Scooby or anything else so feel free to message me on ScoobyAddicts (if you’re on there) if you wanna talk about something cool. A huge thank you to Graig for being today’s fan spotlight! I was really happy this was still able to work out even though it didn’t last year, and I hope you enjoyed reading his answers. Hi everyone! I’m really excited to be doing these fan spotlights again for the next 13 days, and so I can introduce you to 13 amazing Scooby fans! Kicking off our fan spotlights this year is Tom, who is an avid Scooby-Doo fan that discovered this site through the chronological timeline that SDF and I created together back in 2019. It was also super cool to learn that he’s a Whovian, given I’m an avid Doctor Who fan myself! Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to our first fan spotlight of this year!
1. What is your name? I just go by Tom, my real name. This comes from the days when I was in a Muppet online forum where they made the very good case that people were much more likely to be nice to someone named Tom or Bill or Jenny than to someone named GONZOSNOSE39. Of course, this was the days before Facebook where people constantly rage against their own friends and families. Also, as companies get more nosy, I've come to appreciate the need for anonymity. Still, I use my real name when I can, for a more personal touch. 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I would have been almost six years old in 1980, when (according to the wikis) "Scooby-Doo" went into daily rerun syndication, so I probably saw it first there. I was living in the Chicagoland area at the time, and a local station called WGN showed it. (Eventually WGN also had a sister cable station across the U.S. with a different schedule.) If I recall correctly, Mondays were "Where Are You"; Tuesdays and Wednesdays were NSDM split into two parts; Thursdays were "The Scooby-Doo Show"; and Friday was the first season of "Scrappy-Doo" (as the second season was just premiering on Saturday mornings at the same time). I loved it then and I love it now! The shows had the laugh track removed for the reruns, BTW, so it sounds odd to me now when I hear the laugh track restored. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? Tough call. "A Night of Fright is No Delight" is so iconic, especially those monster designs; the reveal of the villain is rather obvious, but it's so much fun otherwise. As for movies, I know that the '02 live-action movie isn't a favorite of a lot of Scooby fans, but it reawakened my Scooby fandom after years of it laying dormant, so that's a big selling point for me even now! 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I mainly visit this site. I found it a few years ago when I was curious if anyone had tried to compile all the Scooby productions into a single cohesive timeline. Your site has done so, and you're still making tweaks to it years later! I love that, and it's still my favorite place to visit on the site! I do check out the other articles, though, of course. I've visited some Scooby sites on other places like Facebook, but none of them have the fun and interactivity that this site does! 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? Hmm, another tough call. No one can deny the impact that "Where are You" has had on all future versions. "The Scooby-Doo Show" has my favorite theme; I sometimes find myself singing it softly to myself when I'm washing dishes or something. "Pup" brought a fresh new Tex Avery-like animation style to the franchise. I actually liked a lot of the updates to the show in "What's New." "Mystery Incorporated" has such a satisfying overall story arc. And I was reluctant to try "Be Cool," but it's arguably the funniest incarnation. Does that answer your question somewhere? :) 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? Hmm, I don't know. We've gotten a couple of long-awaited sequels that didn't live up to fans' expectations. On the other hand, "Guess Who" was a decent follow-up to NSDM. And "Spooky Games" acknowledged "Laff-a-Lympics." What's left? Maybe we could get a new visit with some of Scooby's relatives that we haven't seen in a long time, like Scooby-Dum or maybe even Yabba-Doo? Speaking of family members, see the next question. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? What I would most like is a movie or show that could finally redeem Scrappy-Doo. I didn't care for him that much, and (full disclosure) I actually thought it was funny that the '02 live-action movie finally acknowledged many fans' animosity towards the character in an official production. But it's been 20 years, and I'm so tired of every single production bringing things to a screeching halt with a prolonged "We hate Scrappy" or "we don't even remember him" joke. Okay, we get it already! Give him some credit, at least; he saved the show from cancellation, and he was a major part of the franchise for 9 years. Turn things around -- find a fresh new angle on the character that feels consistent with what we know, but also allows him to shine and be a hero and be likable again. Maybe even acknowledge how hard people have been on him so that he can engender some sympathy, and then have him triumph over it. If not, please just drop it and never bring Scrappy up again. The joke has been beaten to death at this point; let's all move on. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? When I was a kid, I would have easily answered Scooby or Shaggy. Most of the time, I would still probably say them. But Fred in "Mystery Incorporated" is my favorite version of that character, being funnier than he ever had before while also going on a huge emotional journey. Welker should have won an Emmy for that performance (it looks like at least he won a BTVA Television Voice Acting Award for it). 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? Sorry to sound like a broken record about "Mystery Incorporated," but Prof. Pericles is the most layered and interesting villain in the franchise. A lot of those early classic villains had great designs, though, including Space Kook and Charlie the Robot. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? OK, I'm stuck with another "Mystery Incorporated" answer. LOL! Fred's adoptive dad is one of the most layered and interesting characters, a compelling but sympathetic villain. Gary Cole did such a great job with the role. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? Alas, I don't really have many collections of anything anymore. I had a book called "Scooby-Doo in the Haunted House" by Horace J. Elias for a really long time, and I got much delight out of a "Scooby-Doo Mad Libs" book I had with Scooby trying to get water out of a fire hydrant on the cover. Sadly, I had to get rid of a lot of stuff from my childhood about 20 years ago at a garage sale when I was out of money, and although I'm doing better now, I haven't had much time to rebuild any collections. Lest I have my geek card completely revoked, I do like looking for odd bits of rare video and holding on to them. For instance, I recently came across an upload of a Scooby-Doo marathon from Cartoon Network in the mid-90's that someone put on the Internet Archive, so I downloaded that to make sure it's preserved. Hopefully that kind of thing counts for something! 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? The show is certainly funny, and the characters continue to resonate as writers find new angles to them. The character designs and voices are great, too. But I've often wondered why Scooby has endured more than most of the other entries in the Hanna-Barbera library. And I think that it comes down to that desire to overcome our fears, particularly in kids but also in adults. There's something very comforting about a show that constantly reminds us that our fears can be captured, unmasked, and robbed of their power over us. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? One of my other geeky interests is puppetry. I helped my parents with their church puppet shows for many years, and even ran my own church puppet team for six years myself! 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! I love the site and I look forward to meeting other fans. I hope the franchise and this site continue for many years to come! I’d like to give a huge thank you to Tom for participating in this fan spotlight, and for being such a big supporter of the blog over the years! I hope you enjoyed getting to know Tom a little better, and be sure to check back tomorrow to meet another amazing Scooby fan! Happy Scooby’s anniversary everyone! 52 years ago today, the very first episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! aired at 10:30am on CBS. Our final fan spotlight is on Joel, the administrator of the Planet Scooby website. Joel is also responsible for one of the first Scooby-Doo sites on the Internet, which he created way back in 1997 on his university’s web server. Though that website was taken down in 2003, Joel started the Planet Scooby website in 2019, where he makes weekly YouTube videos reviewing various episodes of Scooby-Doo.
Without further ado, I’m incredibly excited to introduce you to Joel through his answers to the questions below: 1. What is your name? Joel (aka Professor Joel) 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I was born in the mid-70s and I have three older brothers who are 7-10 years older than me. So they were watching Scooby-Doo from the get-go and my earliest memories were watching Scooby-Doo with them on Saturday mornings. What sealed the deal for me was that my parents were invited to the grand opening of a Hanna Barbera theme park called Canada’s Wonderland in 1981. They brought me back a Scooby-Doo toy that turned me into a super fan. I still have that toy and it sits at my office desk. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? My favourite Scooby-Doo episode is ‘A Night of Fright is No Delight’. I love the creepy gothic atmosphere, and the backstory that Scooby saved Colonel Sanders’ life and is up for an inheritance provided he spends the night in this creepy house. I also love the design for the Phantom Shadows. My favourite film would be Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. I was in my early twenties when that was released and there had been a lack of fresh Scooby-Doo content. It was exciting that they were bringing Scooby-Doo back, and I loved the horror element. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I have a YouTube channel where I review a new Scooby-Doo episode every week. I also have a website. I spend at least an hour a day on websites, social media accounts and YouTube, reading & watching content or chatting with Scooby fans. It’s so much fun. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? The Scooby-Doo Show season 2 is my favourite era. I’m still shocked it has never seen a full release on DVD or Bluray 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? That’s a difficult question to answer as we saw a couple of sequels that weren’t well received by the Scooby community with the 13 Ghost and Zombie Island sequel (I enjoyed them though). So much time had passed and Warner disposed of the supernatural aspect that many fans loved about these classics. I think for myself, I’d love to see another Scoobynatural episode crossover. I know the series Supernatural has run its course, but it would be fun if there was a Halloween special where they encountered the Scooby gang once more. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I’d like the series to go more gothic in its atmosphere and return the focus back to simple mysteries. I like Scooby-Doo best when the show is spooky, but remains relatively kid-friendly. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Not counting Scooby-Doo, I’d have to say Shaggy. His responses to situations always crack me up. I also found it funny he was always on the lookout for food. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? There’s so many fabulous villains to choose from, but if I could only choose one, I’d have to say the Space Kook. That far-out laugh still makes the hair on the back of my neck rise up.. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? The Hex-Girls. I always get a big smile on my face when they pop up. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? I do have a Scooby-Doo collection, although it’s not very focused. I’ve always seeked out old Scooby books and comics from the 70s so I have quite a few of those. Over the years I’ve acquired t-shirts, toys, stuffed animals, unofficial artwork, posters, video games, VHS tapes, board games, playmobil and lego sets. Seventy percent of my collection was given to me by friends and family as gifts so a lot of the items I have are sentimental. My most favourite item is a Scooby-Doo Colouring book that I bought in 2002. When I make a new friend, I get them to colour a page. It’s always fun to pull the book out and flip through it to remember all the great times I’ve had with friends over the years. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? That’s a tough question to answer. I feel like Scooby-Doo was lightning in a bottle in how all of these amazing characters, villains, spooky plots and silly humor came together and created the perfect storm for success. Hanna Barbera certainly tried to copy the formula multiple times, yet Scooby-Doo prevailed over Jabber Jaw, Captain Caveman and Josie and the Pussycats. Perhaps where Scooby stands out is that he’s consistently Scooby throughout the 50+ years. No matter how dark or silly the series gets, Scooby’s always going to be lovable, cowardly, and upbeat. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? I once won a year’s supply of M&Ms candy. Upon winning I imagined throwing a party where I’d fill the bathtub, sinks and lampshades with this glorious candy. But the prize only turned out to be 365 snack sized boxes of M&Ms. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! I want to thank WildwindVampire for featuring me in the fan spotlight. It’s a huge honor as I’ve been a big fan of the Scooby Snax website for so long! Thank you so much to Joel for participating as our final fan spotlight today, and for being such a huge supporter of the site for so long! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out his Planet Scooby website, where you can find his weekly episode reviews and a “mystery map” where you can geolocate all the real-life locations the gang has solved mysteries. I've really enjoyed doing these fan spotlights over the past 13 days. It's been so much fun getting to introduce you all to so many cool Scooby fans again this year, and I've been so happy that people have been enjoying these so much! Here's to another amazing year of Scooby :) Happy Sunday everyone! We have a bonus fan spotlight today, NettFox, who is active on the ScoobyAddicts forum and enjoys watching “making-of” Scooby-Doo videos.
1. What is your name? NettFox 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I grew up watching VHS Cassettes my parents had bought for me of Scooby-Doo. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? Not sure on favorite episode yet I can say my favorite film was Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. The sheer edgier and darker atmosphere and amazing animation gave me a standard for how to enjoy scooby doo past the comedic moments or mystery at hand. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I occasionally browse forums or watch reviews on Scooby-Doo lore. I enjoy digging up the “making of” findings that show how Scooby-Doo evolved. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? I would say it’s the first few DTV era of Scooby Doo movies that are a high peak for the franchise. It revitalized interest that allowed it to remain well enough in my memories and desire more like it. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? To be honest they did that and Return to Zombie Island wasn’t impressive. I guess now they could bring back a throwback to Reluctant Werewolf or Ghoul School and did away with the seemingly made retcons on saying some fantastical events weren’t real or such. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I’d like it if they remained whimsical on humor even if still engaged with the mysteries the Scooby Gang faces. Particularly like the early DTV movie era. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? I’d say it either be Shaggy or Scooby. Shaggy because of his humor and Scooby because I love dogs and Scooby is always gonna have a good place for being brave when needed or just funny to watch. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? Favorite villain is a tough choice. Possibly the ones in Zombie Island or Witch’s Ghost. Yet I won’t give away the mystery for any new fans still getting into it. As for villain designs I’d say the Tar Monster out of nostalgia. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? The Hex Girls! Seriously we need them to come back more in their classic designs. Or as more recurring characters. They were always a blast with their attitude and wit. Plus amazing tunes that I still can enjoy on repeat. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? Not so much a collection yet I do have a few Scooby doo plush or toys hanging around. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? I’d say it’s the familiarity of the formula of teen mystery solvers that just was best with the Scooby Gang. Others were made yet only a few came close to interesting as the old gang. Still I do appreciate seeing them being included in a shared universe. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? I’m definitely fond of preserving cartoon history as it’s made. I feel it’s important to archive all production notes or rough drafts or interview writers or creators on the process of their productions. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! I’d like to thank the Scooby Addicts forum for helping me get the chance to catch up and watch the latest incarnations of Scooby Doo media. I can only hope to share more or see more thrive when the next series drops online. Thanks so much to NettFox for being one of today’s fan spotlights! It’s hard to believe that in less than 24 hours, Scooby-Doo will have been on the air for 52 years! For one of our last fan spotlights of this year, I’d like to introduce you to Cameron! Cameron is a cattle rancher who is a big Scooby-Doo fan. Cameron runs his own social media page, @ScoobyandCam where he shares his Scooby collection and other Scooby-Doo related content. He’s also a co-host of the ScoobyAddicts Scooby Panels. Here’s Cameron’s fan spotlight:
1. What is your name? My name is Cameron Bates and I run an account called “Scooby-Doo & Cameron Too”. 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? When I was little, my mom would always turn on the ABC network and The Scooby-Doo Show would come on. She would let me watch Scooby-Doo when it came on from start to finish. She said I never wanted to finish other cartoons, like I did with Scooby. She even gave me a portable tv when I was a kid, that way I could tune into ABC in the mornings and watch Scooby. I told my family and friends that I loved Scooby-Doo, so from then on, everyone started buying Scooby-Doo merchandise for me left and right. I had Scooby themed birthday parties, Scooby toys, books, clothes, movies, cds, and much more. Honestly over my 23 years of living, I never stopped loving Scooby-Doo and that’s why I am still collecting till this day! 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? My favorite Scooby-Doo episode is “Vampire Bats & Scaredy Cats” from The Scooby-Doo Show! It’s my favorite episode, because Its such a dark/fun episode. You have an amazing story with spooky elements and I love how scary the vampire is. I also love this one, because we really get to see Scooby-Doo & Scooby-Dum work together to solve the mystery! My favorite film is Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase”. This is my favorite movie, because I grew up watching this all the time and I love how the gang get trapped in a video game. The story of them having to stop a virus while in the cyber world is just amazing! I also love how they interacted with their classic selves and how the old villains from the classic series came back! 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I run a social media page called “Scooby-Doo & Cameron Too”. My name is Cameron and I wanted to create an account that I could connect with other Scooby fans/lovers like myself to share news, projects and my Scooby-Doo collection. My pages are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube! I’m also a co-host on the Scooby Panels by Nikki Blake with Scooby Addicts! I’m very blessed to be apart of this community! 5. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? I would have to say that the 60s/70s era of “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” & “The Scooby-Doo Show” were the absolute best! They were the originals and they paved the foundation for the franchise of 50+ years of Scooby-Doo! 6. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? If I could make a sequel in the Scooby Universe, I would have to say a sequel to “Scooby-Doo and the Boo Brothers”. I think this would be cool to see Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy team up with the Boo brothers again to solve another mystery. Hopefully this time with the whole gang out in the country and make it fun and nostalgic for all of us fans to watch. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I would personally like the franchise to keep going at the rate they are going. I just want the Scooby-Doo franchise to stay safe and clean for the kids and for the whole family! 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? I would have to say Scooby-Doo is my favorite character, because he is just the must loyal, kind, and courageous cartoon dog that I have ever seen. Growing up with tons of cartoon dogs on the TV, Scooby has always stood out to me. I wish he was a real dog, so I could give him a big ole hug! 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? My favorite villain is Charlie The Haunted Robot from “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” season 1, episode 8 titled “Foul Play in Funland”. He is my favorite villain, because he was such a classic and he was being controlled by someone else to drive people away from the funland. That episode really showed how people are the true villains using masks, costumes or robots to do their dirty work. The setting of this episode with the colors and how they made it was just such a fun episode to watch. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? In my opinion the best recurring character was Scooby-Dum. Now I know he was part of the gang while they were traveling, but to me he didn’t get to stay for everything. I love Scooby-Dum, because i felt that he was so fun and pure and innocent. I love the relationship that Doo & Dum both had with each other. Each episode of the “The Scooby-Doo Show” and “Laff-A-Lympics” with Scooby-Dum I will forever cherish. I just hope they bring back that lovable Sherlock Holmes Dimwitted Mystery Solving Pooch again soon! 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? I do have a Scooby-Doo Collection! It’s very large and I am proud of it. I have been collecting ever since I was born. My mother started collecting stuff for me and then I took off and kept up with since I could walk. We would go to garage sales, estate sales, thrift shops, stores and look on EBay for Scooby items. I collect anything and everything Scooby-Doo licensed merchandise. I’m trying my best right now to become the World’s Largest Scooby-Doo Collector and I hope one day I can succeed with that! In my collection, I have some really cool pieces. I own a lot of cool Scooby-Doo Live Action Movie Props and stuff used in the movie. I also own some cool one of kind statues. My favorite piece by far is the Scooby-Doo Ride Along Mystery Machine. This Mystery Machine was Scott Innes and it was signed by him and it was also used on a TV Show called “Pawn Stars” which is big here in the South. It’s one of my prized possessions. I honestly just love collecting and it just comes natural to keep doing it! 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? I truly believe that keeping Scooby-Doo pure and clean all these 52 years has kept Scooby-Doo going strong to this day! When you watch Scooby-Doo there is no cussing, sex, or violence. It’s all good hearted fun with 4 teenagers and a talking dog. They are warm, kind, funny and always putting a smile on our face. I also think all the cool mysteries they solve has made them the best mystery solvers in the history of mystery solvers. When you turn on Scooby-Doo, it’s like all the worries of the world go away and you are right there with the gang to solve the mystery! He brings so much joy and excitement into my life and I know he does the same for millions of fans across the globe! 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? I am a cattle rancher in NorthEast Texas. When people ask me personally who I am and what I do with my life, I tell them that I live on a ranch. People don’t believe me and think that since I collect and love Scooby-Doo, I live in the city. Not true! I live out in the Country where I raise Cattle and Horses. I love my life and Scooby falls into well with balance. I work on my ranch in the mornings and collect Scooby-Doo by the evenings! 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! I would just like to say that I am truly blessed to be apart of the Scooby Community. When I started a couple of years ago with my page “Scooby-Doo & Cameron Too” I never thought in a million years to be surrounded by such amazing people with the love for Scooby-Doo & Mystery Inc. I appreciate ScoobySnax.com for this amazing fan spotlight edition and for asking me to be apart. I have really enjoyed this! If anyone loves Scooby-Doo, please feel free to find me on all Social Media Platforms by using the “@ScoobyandCam” username to find me. Please stop by and say Hello! Always love to connect with Scooby-Doo Fans!!! Thank you so much to Cameron for being today’s fan spotlight! Be sure to check back tomorrow for our final fan spotlight of the year! For today’s fan spotlight, we have the former administrator of Scoobypedia with us: James Dixon. James was the admin at Scoobypedia for 11 years, before recently stepping down in December 2020 to pursue another Grifkuba project. I’m excited to introduce you to James via his fan spotlight below:
1. What is your name? My name is James Dixon. I've also been known to use the FANDOM handle of Anythingspossibleforapossible aka Possible (for another certain fandom, I actually barely scraped the online surface of) and then TheAtomicLight when I eventually decided that the former handle wasn't for me anymore. 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? When I was young, I watched a handful of episodes from across the franchise that popped up on TV (all of which were pre-2001). I never at any point made a conscious decision to search for it on TV. What got my full attention, though, was when Zombie Island and Witch's Ghost came on TV. I thought they were both very well done, as dark as they were. And then on January 1, 2010, I made the big leap into the fandom and joined Scoobypedia, which led to me being put in charge until I left at the end of December 2020. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? I can't exactly nail down my favourite episode. I have a handful of episodes I like from each series. From the original series, I particularly like the moment in "Bedlam in the Big Top" when Shaggy and Scooby turned the tables on the Ghost Clown and used his own weapon against him, which was profoundly different from just accidentally knocking the ghost over. Another great episode I think is "Beware the Beast from Below," the first episode of Mystery Incorporated. It's a great departure from the silly tone of what had come before (despite still having some great jokes), and was a great template for the entire series of which, unfortunately, I don't think it always matched. Fred in particular was great to watch and he made a decision that he thought cost a teacher's life. As I said above, when I was younger Zombie Island and Witch's Ghost captured my attention more than anything else. Zombie Island is my favourite film of that era, and still is, because it was so fundamentally different. As a kid, I found it to be "edgy" in a sense, but it still holds up because everything about the series has been kept the same, but matured in a way that is still completely accessible. It's more serious, but not too serious that it doesn't know how to have fun when it needed to. The boundaries are being pushed further than before because it's made by new people with a new mindset pushing the boundaries further than they have ever been before and being 1997/1998, it was the perfect time. There's a three-dimensional quality that was never there before. The songs were also incredible; they were the perfect choices. I also really like Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster. While Zombie Island had upped the stakes, Loch Ness Monster is my favourite take on the more "traditional" version of Scooby-Doo, especially after Legend of the Vampire and Monster of Mexico, which were both dull tributes to the original series. With or without Loch Ness Monster, there would've been more DTVs, but Loch Ness Monster made the film series worthwhile again, at least for me. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? My real interest and love of the fandom grew when I found A Pup Named Scooby-Doo airing one morning on in the last week of December 2007 (yes, I have an acute memory of this, I guess because it quite possibly led to a life changing experience in becoming a part of the fandom). I was a casual viewer, but this time in my life I actively sought out to watch it and be mindful of when it was on. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? I'd like to give a shoutout to Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! It doesn't get as much love as it should. What's funny about that series is that it's quite literally every other series you've seen just with Scooby's name slapped on. It has elements of Inspector Gadget and Bill & Ted, and some other stuff. Despite the unusual character designs, the absences of Fred and the girls, and weird villains, none of this actually puts me off. I like what it brings to the table. I think a lot of it is because of the talent of voice actor Jeff Bennett. That series would not be as good without him. I've found the eras of SDMI and BCSD interesting to view as they've come and gone. They definitely sparked a lot of debates. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? What was so great about the new story of Zombie Island was that Daphne was the host of her own travel show that could've provided a convincing reason for Mystery Inc. to discover new mysteries and ghosts to track down. Instead, the creative team ignored that (along with Daphne intending to reveal to the world, along with Detective Neville's help, that the supernatural was real) and just had them conveniently stumble across a mystery. That's the biggest mistake they made. So, I would like to see (but never will) a return to that original concept in Zombie Island. That era would've been nice to see again, but after having seen Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island, possibly the worst Scooby-Doo film of all time, which was hellbent on retconning everything from the original, instead of being just being left alone, I know this would never be possible. Even though we all know that "Scooby-Doo is just for kids," Return to Zombie Island's press release was targeted towards the fans of the original film, but then the film itself is a kiddie b-movie spoof. The film is irredeemable as both a sequel and a film that stands on its own two feet. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I know what direction it shouldn't go in: Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? Scooby-Doo has only lasted as long as it has by taking chances to see what else can be done with the franchise. Even if some of those ideas don't turn out to be a good idea, they are still worth it. You could tell that Warner Bros. severely regretted Be Cool Scooby-Doo! when they made Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? as bland and boring as possible, apparently to satisfy old time fans who were upset with Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! But the problem is, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! makes up for its stiffness with a certain kind of charm and likability. So, what I think we should see in Scooby-Doo is more chances being taken with new story ideas and a better understanding of who each member of Mystery Inc. is. A lot of the times I feel the gang are only there to serve the mystery, unlike Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! which felt like the opposite. This is why I haven't liked seeing guest stars in recent years, because it feels like an excuse to avoid focus on the gang which is what the audience comes to see. You can get Mystery Inc. to meet as many guest stars as you'd like, but if the gang aren't remotely likable or interesting, then the guest stars don't mean anything. Like KISS or John Cena. This is why I'm cautiously optimistic about Velma. And if Velma does fail, then just try and doing something else new and see what happens there, instead of doing another Guess Who? The only more guest stars I'd like to see more of are other Hanna-Barbera characters. Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. have always been reluctant in having Scooby-Doo crossover with other Hanna-Barbera-created series as if it would change the fabric of time and space if Scooby-Doo solved a mystery with Jonny Quest, or Tom and Jerry. If you watch the Jonny Quest episode "The Curse of Anubis" and the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode "Scooby-Doo and a Mummy, Too," you could almost see them as being connected. What I found was the biggest missed opportunity with Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? is that there was only three HB-themed episodes; 2 in season 1, and 1 in season 2. In the new Jellystone! series, which I recommend to everyone, all you need to do is have a cameo of Scooby Snacks, that's all, and it broadens the universe just a bit more. I'd also like the comics to stop using stock art. You can call it original artwork if you want, but it's still amazingly talented artists to basically trace over WB's inherited art with the gang in several stock poses, which may be altered just a tad. It's 100% ineffective and turns all potentially great stories into terrible ones. If you look at the beautiful art Scott Jeralds used to do compared to what he does now, it's heartbreaking. For the first 10 years DC Comics were publishing Scooby comics they had the most wonderfully drawn artwork which helped the stories, then WB and DC realized that they either shouldn't be wasting good money on merchandise that fans are going to buy anyway or WB had a fear that fans wouldn't buy something they would be anyway unless each member of the gang had the same 2-3 stock poses in every panel of every comic which had started subtly around 2011, and became dominant at least around 2014. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? There is no easy answer to this. I don't want to just say Scooby & Scooby, but I like their observation of things. But I also really liked how Fred and Daphne were written in Be Cool. They both were suddenly filled with depth and character, although both of their character traits became somewhat problematic in the end. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? I liked Mr. E when he was an unseen figure who gave Mystery Inc. clues, despite being a potential threat. There should've been a bigger build up and done it at the end of season 1, instead of in the middle. When they randomly decided to reveal him sitting in that chair as this fat, hairy guy, it did nothing for me. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? I really liked it when Del Chillman was brought back a second time. Two times isn't enough! I'd also like more appearances of the Hex Girls. It's about time the Hex Girls had their own spin-off. The Hex Girls are Captain Planet and Jem combined, and those shows were huge hits, so doing a series about protecting the planet with rock and roll music seems like a no-brainer. Miyumi only appeared once and I really liked the new dynamic she brought to the gang, and I would love to see her again. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? My collection started off with DVDs of complete series (none of the single volume sets if possible), and in 2012 expanded to books, beginning with Jungle Jeopardy and a hardback of DC's Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! I've got several books now. I've also got the Blu-ray sets of Where Are You! and The New Scooby-Doo Movies (for the latter, I feel like WB were banking on at least one episode not being available for the promotional value). That would've been it for my collection, until last year I finally relented after several years and hunted down some Scooby-Doo Funko Pops. I have the whole gang, Scooby Dum, and Scrappy. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? I ask this myself many times. Everybody loves reading or watching fictional detectives whether they be Sherlock Holmes, Jessica Fletcher, or even Scooby-Doo. It's fun to watch these kids solve mysteries in the formulaic way they do, with all the tropes that have defined it along the years, particularly in those first two years of the original series. It's one of the biggest pop culture influences in entertainment. There's also genuine humour in what Shaggy and Scooby do. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? Last year, I started my Funko Pop collection. I was always impressed with how the Pops looked, but I wasn't certain it was something I really felt like I should buy and I didn't have the room. So, as I said above, I finally relented and bought my first two Pops, which included a sandwich-holding Scooby. Whether or not I had the space, it became kind of a fun hobby collecting them. For some reason I put a goal of 100 Pops in my head, and just this month of August, I finished that goal. It's weird that it's only been a year. I'm unofficially done with collecting them and now need to find the perfect display case for them all. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! I've moved on from Scoobypedia to a great new Hanna-Barbera-themed project that is growing in wonderful ways that I'm very grateful for having the opportunity to do so. We've been covering heaps already and we're not stopping until we have everything. And for Scooby fans, we already have all the series pages, including the upcoming Velma. Even though there's much more work to do because it's more than just dealing with Scooby, I'm actually loving it even more, and it's become very rewarding discovering things that the internet has yet to properly detail. I'll share the link when I feel it's in the right place to get more attention. Thank you so much again to James for being our fan spotlight today! I agreed with quite a few of his opinions, especially that Get a Clue is a bit overrated. Though the series was far different than any piece of Scooby media preceding it, I did appreciate it for what it was and it was quite enjoyable if you viewed it as separate from the rest of the franchise. I also couldn’t agree more with his point that experimentation within the franchise is often worth it, because it allows the franchise to grow. While I did enjoy Guess Who, I did feel it played it a bit too safe at times and I wouldn’t want every Scooby series to be like it. Be sure to check back tomorrow for another fan spotlight! For today’s fan spotlight, I’d like to introduce you to The Wandering Piney! The Wandering Piney is a Scooby-Doo fanfiction writer who has written two different Hex Girls themed stories, Occult Nights, and its sequel The Treasure of the Regal Hotel, both of which are super amazing and I would highly recommend both of them!
1. What is your name? The Wandering Piney 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I'm not exactly sure when, but my mom introduced Scooby-Doo to me and my younger brothers when we were little. I've always been fascinated by ghosts, cryptids, and monsters, so I guess my mom figured I'd enjoy the show. And for most of the youth, I did, and I owned several movies and episodes on VHS. Eventually, though I gradually lost interest sometime around when Goblin King got released, as that was the last "new" movie I remember seeing. I only got back into the franchise a few years ago after rewatching Witch's Ghost and Zombie Island. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? My favorite film is without a doubt Witch's Ghost. The Hex Girls, Tim Curry, the fall New England setting, the use of both real and fake monsters; what's not to love! Runners up are Zombie Island and Camp Scare. Picking a favorite episode is tough, and to be honest, I don't think I actually have one. I do enjoy the few episodes with the Hex Girls though, but I wouldn't call them my favorite episodes. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I'm mainly involved in the fandom through fanfiction. I've written two Hex Girls-focused fanfictions —Occult Nights, which is around 70k words, and my ongoing fic, The Treasure of the Regal Hotel, which currently sits at 85k words—that provide a lot more characterization and personality to the girls in a high-stakes adventure/mystery. I do have plans for fics focusing on the gang though I have no idea when I'll write them. I also read plenty of Scooby fanfics and interact with other writers and readers, which is how I've met a few other folks in the fandom. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? The best era is easily the late 90s/early 2000s DTVS (Zombie Island through Cyber Chase) with its great characterization of the gang, maturer stories, darker tones, beautiful animation, and great music. It also brought the franchise back from its several-year slump, and without them, we probably wouldn't see as much Scooby content as we do. Plus, it introduced us to the Hex Girls. Some runners-up would be the early 70s and some of the early 2010 DTVs like Camp Scare. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? With the way WB handled the recent sequels to Zombie Island and 13 Ghosts, I'd prefer they stay away from sequels for the foreseeable future. I'd rather see them focus on creating new, original stories and mysteries that wrap up nicely at the end. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I'd love to see a more mature take on the franchise. Take the overarching plot from SDMI, the characterization from the Zombie Island era, a few character traits from Be Cool, and delve into the various tropes and themes found in horror, science/science-fiction, mystery, and crime genres. Really make the viewer think about whether or not the monster is real or fake, or who the culprit is, and in some cases, let them draw their own conclusion. In a slightly more plausible scenario, I'd like to see WB take a break with the crossovers and guest stars. I doubt it'll happen anytime soon since apparently, Scooby films with guest stars/crossovers make more money than the non-crossover stuff. Oh, and a Hex Girls spinoff would be fantastic, though I don't trust anyone at WB to pull it off. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? A tough question given their characters can vary significantly with each iteration. Overall, I'd have to say Daphne is my favorite since she's had arguably the most character development out of any character in the franchise. Her growth during the 80s through What's New was quite fantastic. Fred, especially the late 90s and Be Cool versions of him, is my second favorite character. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? Ben Ravencroft. He's easily one of the most manipulative and scheming villains in the franchise; he was so good at being evil that he didn't even need a mask. Plus, he's voiced by Tim Curry. Runner-ups are the Freak of Crystal Cove, Space Kook, and the Woodsman from Camp Scare. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? The Hex Girls, no questions asked. I just love everything about them, especially Thorn, and I wouldn't have written two novel-length fanfics about them if I didn't. Arguably, they're what got me back into the franchise after my decade-long absence. I just wish there was more Hex Girls content out there. Runners-up would be Mayor Fred Jones Sr and Vincent Van Ghoul. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? Not at the moment, though I did preorder the new Hex Girls Funko Pops. When I was younger, I owned Witch's Ghost, Alien Invaders, and most of Where Are You on VHS, as well as a couple of video games and some miscellaneous toys. I don't know what happened to them though. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? People love a good mystery, especially if it involves the paranormal, and Scooby has provided tons of mysteries suitable for anyone of any age. Plus, you have a unique group of characters that anyone can relate to and a strong sense of family-friendly humor. The franchise is also quite adaptable, and the classic Scooby formula can easily be changed and tweaked to catch trends or explore new ideas, essentially providing something for everyone. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? One activity that Scooby-Doo partially inspired me to participate in is urban exploration or the exploration of abandoned places and buildings. I've seen and photographed many amazing places most people have forgotten and have even had articles and photos published in magazines on the subject. Some of the places I've explored look like they're straight out of a Scooby-Doo episode, including an abandoned hotel, airfield, mansion, military base, and asylum. I used to have a blog related to urban exploration, but I've been a bad blog owner and have neglected it. Maybe one day I'll fix it up and maintain it. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! Thanks so much for including me in the fan spotlights. This is a great way to meet Scooby fans. Keep up the great work with the blog. Thanks so much again to The Wandering Piney for participating as one of our fan spotlights! If you haven’t already, be sure to read his Hex Girls fanfiction, Occult Nights and The Treasure of the Regal Hotel! Both do include some language, violence and mature themes, so if there are some younger fans reading this, I would recommend maybe waiting a few years before checking this one out. Happy Thursday! Today our fan spotlight is Jayden Andrade, who is such a big Scooby fan that he can’t even remember how he got into Scooby, because it’s always been such a core part of his life. Jayden is also a frequent commenter on the blog.
1. What is your name? Jayden Andrade 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I honestly don’t even remember. I guess my parents just switched it on for me and instantly fell in love with it. Still watching it today. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? I love the Happy Birthday Scooby-Doo episode, thought it was a great episode to watch and loved how it was filmed by having the whole gang back together and celebrating Scooby. Favourite film would be either Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island or Witch’s Ghost. The reason for that is every time I watch it repeatedly it reminds me so much of my childhood, and reminds me why Scooby-Doo is the best show. 4. In what ways are you involved in the Scooby-Doo fandom? Reading and commenting on the ScoobySnax blog. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? Best series I would say is Mystery Incorporated and the old era. I would say Mystery incorporated as it had a good storyline throughout the two series and it related a lot to lots of older viewers too, which is fantastic. Then I would say the old era from like Scooby-Doo and Scrappy Doo to Pup Named, and I say this because I still watch them today and I never get sick and tired of watching them at all, which is a good thing. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? Series Sequel: I would like to see the 15 minutes episodes with Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy. Movie Sequel: Probably Witch’s Ghost (I think they could do something with that, so they could go back to Oakhaven and be friends with Ben’s mum or brother or a family relative, and then they go on a quest to find more about ghouls and stuff and then it turns out they needed the information to free Ben and then they do like a similar thing they did in Witch’s Ghost). Anyway, others I would like to see are probably Ghoul School, Alien Invaders and Boo Brothers. I think lots of those would be interesting to have sequels of. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? The direction I would like to see the franchise go in is for them to still do these series and movies as best as possible and hopefully taking our ideas that we’ve mentioned and making them into movies or episodes. I would also like them to try and make an adult Scooby-Doo, I mean that would be interesting. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Favourite member I would say is Scooby-Doo. I mean how could you not love him? 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? Don’t really have a favourite villain tbh. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? Best recurring I would say Scrappy but as he’s not in the franchise anymore I would say the Hex Girls. I mean I wish they did a TV show, they are literally my favourite guest stars to appear. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? I don’t have a collection. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? Personally, I think the amount of new episodes of Guess Who and new movies that are coming out have made the show really popular. If you take a look at Tom and Jerry they’ve only released a movie this year I think, and they haven’t I don’t think got anymore movies coming up which is a huge disappointment, as Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry are like childhood shows who go alongside each other. I think the amount of new movies that Scooby-Doo has are great as well. I mean we get a new movie like every year which is fantastic, as no one would ever forget Scooby-Doo because they’re always so regular. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? One fact is that I recently got a double distinction which I am super proud of. Thanks to Jayden for participating as today’s fan spotlight! Happy birthday! Well, maybe it’s not your birthday, but it’s today’s fan spotlight, Dott’s birthday! Dott is a big Scooby-Doo fan that’s active on Tumblr and Discord, as well as the ScoobyAddicts forum! She’s also created an incredible Scooby-Doo fashion Tumblr page documenting every single outfit the gang has ever worn, as well as a map logging every real-life location the gang has solved a mystery.
1. What is your name? My name's Dott! My handle most places is cometcrystal. 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I'm a latecomer. Unlike most origin stories I've heard, I didn't get into Scooby until much later in my life; my very first Scooby media was the 2002 live action. A friend of mine at the time showed it to me when I was in college. After that, I became interested in SDMI. Then it remained a lowkey interest of mine until a few years later when Scoob came out. I watched it the day it premiered, and then 13th Ghost on the same day, and that somehow spiraled into my Covid lockdown Scooby binge. It's now my current Favorite Thing (tm), and now that I'm done with all the shows and movies, I'm working on the comics! 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? My favorite movie is probably tied between Stage Fright and 13th Ghost. I just think they're neat; they're both Fred and Daphne-centric movies (my favorite characters), and they give me comforting, warm, fuzzy vibes. 13th Ghost was the movie that made me wanna watch more Scooby, so it's got a special place in my heart. And Stage Fright is just a wild ride all the way through. One of the funniest movies, IMO. As far as episodes, that's really hard to narrow down cause there's so many of them! I love the final few episodes of SDMI, and Party Like It's 1899 is a standout from BCSD. I also like any episode of TSDS with Scooby Dum in it, as well as the Addams Family episode of the New Movies. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I post quite a bit on Tumblr, I'm in a couple Scooby fandom Discord servers, and I'm on the ScoobyAddicts board from time to time, of course! I like to make GIFs sometimes, and I've written one or two short fanfics and made a couple AMVs. My favorite thing to do is analysis and headcanons. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? They've each got their own pros and cons, but as far as personal favorites go, most of my picks fit into the Modern era (2010 and beyond). SDMI and BCSD are the shows closest to my heart. One thing I like about the Scooby fandom is that everyone has their own favorite series/era, and you'll never hear the same specific answer twice! There's a lot of material to work with. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? I'd love a Ghoul School sequel! The Grimwood Ghouls are such cool characters. It'd be so great seeing the rest of the gang react to a bunch of spooky little ghouls running up to Shaggy and Scooby, and them not being scared at all. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I'm not sure! I'm happy just to be along for the ride. I enjoy watching them try different takes on the characters; the gang isn't the same as they were 50 years ago, and 50 years from today, they're not gonna be the same as right now, either. Part of the fun of Scooby is that it has the ability to evolve naturally and try new things. It'll always be around in one form or another. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Definitely Daphne. I like her because nobody seems to know what to do with her, whether it be in canon or fanon. It was harder for people to see her personality from the retro shows because all they remembered was "she's the pretty one and got kidnapped a lot" instead of how she was spunky and bright, and more clumsy and impulsive than kidnappable. She was even the leader of the gang in the 80's! So now she's got all these different characterizations, and I think that's super interesting. The one Daphne character trait that is essential to her, though, is that she's a firecracker (and is more reckless than you would assume). She's got a natural leader instinct, and her main drive as a character is to do SOMETHING, whether it be to prove herself, be free from whatever shackles she has, or just to try everything at least once. And I'm glad to see that most versions of her maintain those things. I could write an entire paper on her character. Maybe I should one day. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? My favorite monster is a tie between the Space Kook and Charlie the Robot. They're both just so lovable!! And my favorite straight-up villain is Mr. E. His entire story is SO interesting to me. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? Sorry, it's a tie again. Marcie Fleach and Scooby Dum! Marcie's an absolute icon, and Dum is a lovable goofball. I really wanna see them both come back one day. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? Boy, do I. I've got a corkboard with lots of enamel pins, and a shelf for my various figures and such. I also have a few shirts. We'll be here all day if I describe my entire collection, LOL But I do love collecting things. I'm like a dragon. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? The characters are pretty universal and timeless; you could put the gang just about anywhere, and it'd probably seem natural. Any group of 5 friends you can find has probably already figured out which member of the gang each of them is. And it's so easy to keep it going. The basic formula of the franchise can fit so well into so many situations. The possibilities are endless! 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? Scooby Doo is the first thing to make me wanna practice drawing in a while. I don't know if I'll continue practicing after I'm done with my current little project, but the fact that it made me wanna try at all is impressive. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! Every fandom has its rotten apples, but Scooby Doo's the first fandom I've been in for a while where I've just been able to chill out. Very glad to share an appreciation for Scooby with all the lovely people I've met! <3 While I'm at it, I'll plug my two ongoing Scooby projects. The first is my Scooby Doo Fashion blog, where I'm cataloguing every outfit the gang has worn. The second is my map logging every real life location the gang visits. If you couldn't tell, I'm a huge fan of collecting little details like that. They're both huge works in progress, but I'm still pretty proud of them! Thanks so much to Dott again for being today’s fan spotlight! Be sure to check back tomorrow to meet another cool new Scooby-Doo fan! |
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