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Admittedly, I originally didn't plan to check this out right away, but I decided to check this out after a few people had recommended it to me. I must say, I was really pleasantly surprised about how great this was. The acting was excellent, the plot development was engaging, and they really did justice to the characters here. It felt almost like Scooby-Doo done in the style of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The following review is semi-spoiler free; this meaning that I do reference specific events that happened in the episode, but without ruining any part of the ending.  Starting off with the characters, I found them all to be really well written. One of people's main complaints about fan-made content is that the character personalities are completely different from the source material. While there was some creativity in expanding the characters beyond the scope of what's been explored in the franchise, all of the character development felt logical. None of the changes were out of place or shocking.  Shaggy's character was quite interesting. His portrayal as a misunderstood loner reminded me of how he's characterized in Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins. The scenes of him being bullied really made me feel for his character. Moreover, the plot point of him buying drugs for bullies in order to prevent further harassment is a fun twist on the popular notion that Shaggy is a stoner. While we're talking about this, I found it fascinating that Flim Flam is a drug dealer in this. My jaw dropped a little when Shaggy asked for the strongest drug he had, which is quickly revealed to be Flim Flam's signature Joy Juice. For those reading this that haven't watched the show, I realize this may make you think "what the heck is this crazy show?" However, I thought the decision to make Joy Juice a drug was quite an interesting way to include Flim Flam in the show, and it fit with the plot surprisingly well.  I thought the decision to go with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo's canon of Shaggy's father being a police was an excellent inclusion. It amused me when Shaggy's dad harped on Shaggy for using "zoinks," referring to it as a gibberish slang word. Given this show is a more mature, realistic interpretation of the franchise, I thought that little detail was good. As a random trivia tidbit, we find out that Shaggy is a Harry Potter fan. If you look closely, you can see Shaggy has Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone displayed in his bedroom.  The first note I have written for Fred is "woah, Fred is ripped!" haha. I thought they did a great job making Fred's character three-dimensional, showing that he has a lot of internal struggle around his parents' death. I was glad they avoided making him just stereotypical muscle-bound jock. I was amused he had his lawyer programmed in his phone as "Idiot Lawyer" lol. The one minor criticism I had with Fred, along with several other characters, is that they did not particularly look high school aged. I'm not sure how old the actor playing Fred is, but he looked to be about 25-30 years old, if I had to guess. Several other male high school students throughout the episode looked to be much older than high school age as well, particularly during the party scene. The instance of this that amused me the most is that there is a guy at the party who looks to be in his late 30s or 40s (picture included below). Either he just wanted an excuse to attend a high school party, or he's really not done well in his classes lol. That being said, I have nothing against this series in particular for it. It seems very common in media that people in their 20s are often cast as high school aged characters, and it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine. If a lot of famous Hollywood films have done this, I can't fault this series for it, and regardless, it didn't bother me overly much.  I thought the bond between Fred and Velma was really sweet, and I look forward to seeing how that develops. Speaking of which, I liked Velma's character overall, but I would have to say she's probably the character I enjoyed the least. It didn't feel like we got to see as much of her personality as we did with Fred, Daphne and Shaggy, but I could definitely see her growing on me. I found it interesting that her mom owns a book shop, and wondered if it was a reference to Dinkley's Mystery Books from Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Her mom being interested in the occult seemed to be a subtle nod to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.  Lastly, I would say Daphne is my favorite character. Don't get me wrong, she's very stuck up and bitchy, but the scene at the beginning with her mother was a clear window into why she acts the way she does. I was really happy this was included as the opening scene, as it was very direct and immediately explained to viewers why she's like this. Daphne's mom telling her “Envy is a simple and powerful tool, and it’s right at your disposal. Use it!" was extremely powerful to me, as it demonstrates her parents have put a lot of pressure on her, and made her feel like she needs to be the best at everything. Moreover, it shows that her mom has made her think that the way to make herself feel good is by putting others down. It's really heartbreaking, because you can tell that Daphne doesn't even realize how horrible these philosophies her mom is teaching her are. It's sort of hinted that Daphne wants to try to be a better person, as we see with her stopping Ophelia from drinking the spiked drink, which really makes you feel for Daphne and wish she could see how wrong her mother's ideals are.  There's not too much to say with Scooby since he's just a regular dog who doesn't talk, other than he's a cutie lol. Speaking of side characters, I liked that The Hex Girls were included. Their rendition of "Hex Girl" was decent. The principal was another interesting side character. I found his enthusiasm charming and hope we see him again at some point.  I really liked how they went for a darker, more serious tone with this series. The plot of the occult and the 13 Pillars seems like it's going to be super high stakes, and I'm excited to see how it plays out. The live-action demons looked super creepy, and I feel like they were even a little better than we saw in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. It was neat they had the Miner 49er and the Black Knight appear. The whole bit with Fred's nickname and his excited "you used the name!" line was adorable. I thought it was fun how they incorporated (no pun intended lol) a brief reference to Jonathan Jacobo. The backstory of a pterodactyl demon telling him to "cleanse the Earth" is terrifying!  Speaking of references, I thought this episode did a great job with including references to previous Scooby-Doo content. Asmodeous, Ben Ravencroft, and even Bucky (the deputy from "Dead Justice" in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated) were all unexpected inclusions here, and it was fun to see them pop up. We also learn Coolsville is once again in Ohio, as has been canon in other Scooby content. It was interesting they gender-swapped Van Ghoul as a priestess here, even if it was just a mention. I wonder if she'll appear in later episodes.  Without ruining anything, the ending was absolutely heart-stopping! I enjoyed this show so much more than I thought I would and I can't wait for the next episode. Honestly, if the upcoming Velma series is anything like this, I think I'll love it! The production was excellent and looked extremely professional. I believe WB has authorized this show, although it's not an officially licensed piece of media (unless I'm mistaken). According to a comment the crew for the series made on the YouTube video for this episode, this is apparently the only episode they've gotten filmed, as they currently do not have episode 2 funded yet.
I hope you enjoyed reading this review! If anybody else has seen this and wants to share their thoughts, I'd love to discuss it with you in the comments!
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 It is not just recent films that have included Scrappy-deprecating jokes; the Scooby-Doo! Spooky Coaster also includes a joke which bashes Scrappy. In 2018, when the ride was remodeled, a new part was added to the ride in which Shaggy says "you're a bad puppy!" to Scrappy, who is seen in his monster form from the first live action film.
 Here are the results from last week. I must say from people were saying in the comments, I'm a little surprised about the winner!
What is your favorite wrestling episode/film? Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery - 28 Wrestle Maniacs (What's New) - 24 Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Speed Demon - 13 All the wrestling episodes/films are awful, wrestling in general is awful, in fact, all sports are just plain awful - 11 Wrestle Maniacs (Pup) - 7  It's very rare that I ever self-promote on this blog, but those who follow also my fanfiction, I wanted to share some news. I have concluded writing my Hex Girls fanfic, Hexed, and just published the final chapter today. Although I didn't plan it, it worked out great that the last chapter was published on Earth Day, since the girls are eco-goths haha.
The fanfic is set in the year 2000; one year after the events of Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost, but before any of their other appearances in Scooby-Doo and Legend of the Vampire, What's New, Scooby-Doo?, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?. We never get to see how the girls go from being a small town group in Witch's Ghost to a world famous band in Legend of the Vampire, so I thought it would be fun to write a fanfic exploring that. The story begins with Thorn, Dusk and Luna attempting to make their first album and performing music around Oakhaven. However, the cheap venues they are forced to play in makes them want more. After the girls become discovered by a record label executive (Gus Boggs from the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode "In Fear of the Phantom"), it seems they might finally achieve their dream of becoming a famous band. However, they quickly realize that fame might not be what they thought after they get tangled up in a dangerous mystery involving a cursed object. There are 20 chapters in all. One of the most enjoyable parts of writing for me is including references to other content, especially Scooby content, so there are quite a few references to various Scooby media (and sometimes other pop culture references) sprinkled throughout the fanfic. One of my favorite things about writing this fanfic was the research. Without giving anything away, the girls begin traveling to a few different cities after they become discovered. I wanted this story to be as accurate as possible, so before writing each chapter, I spent hours researching each of the cities the girls visited to ensure the places the girls were going were accurate to how they actually were in 2000. This involved researching restaurants and hotels in those cities at the time, looking up the history of famous places and landmarks, and even looking up the tiniest details like exit numbers the girls would take, or "Did Starbucks sell muffins in 2000?" when the girls stopped for coffee before one of their shows. (For those wondering, the answer to that question is no; Starbucks didn't start serving breakfast until 2003). Although it was a lot of work, it was so rewarding to create a story that was historically and geographically accurate, and I'll really miss doing it. Moreover, this fanfic had a lot darker tone than previous fanfics I had written. I definitely am a fan of including humor in my stories. While this fanfic wasn't completely humorless, it was a lot more serious than previous works I'd written. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it at first, but I grew to really love the edgier tone. Without giving a spoiler, there's a pretty major twist towards the middle, which was probably one of my favorite chapters to write. The twist was in fact so shocking, it's made reviewers exclaim "Holy macaroni!" (to be fair, that was an actual review I got, which I appreciated haha). Although it took me a little while to get a rhythm for writing this fanfic, I would say it's probably my favorite thing I've written to date. If you're interested in checking out this fanfic, you can now read the completed story on Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own. As always since I like to have the creative freedom, this fanfic is rated T and may not be appropriate for very young audiences. However, I do want to note that none of the content is actually vulgar; I would call it more playfully edgy, like one of the girls (usually Dusk) swearing on occasion, or slightly mature jokes. Thank you for reading this far if you did (although maybe I don't need to say that, since only the ones who have read this far will see this lol) and I truly hope you enjoy this fanfic if you decide to check it out!  Great news for Guess Who fans, as WB has just announced that they will be releasing the complete second season on DVD this summer! The Season 2 DVD will released on June 28, 2022 in the United States. Canadian Scooby fans will have a bit more of a wait, as the second season will not be released on DVD in Canada until December 6, 2022. The DVD set will include all 26 episodes on four discs. The DVD will be $24.98 in the United States, and $29.98 in Canada. The official box art for the set can be seen above. I quite like the box art, but I must say Scooby looks like he may be in need of serious medical attention lol.
It's worth noting that "The Horrible Haunted Hospital of Dr. Phineas Phrag," and "The Last Inmate" are on the set in a different order than they aired in the United States. "The Movieland Monsters!" is also listed as "The TV and Movieland Monsters!" WB's press release for the set can be read below: It seems like everybody wants to be one of those meddling kids, so Scooby-Doo recruits a different pop culture icon to join the gang in every episode of Season 2 of Scooby Doo! and Guess Who? Get sleuthing with Scooby, Fred, Velma, Daphne and Shaggy because they’ll need all the help they can get if they want to solve these mind-boggling mysteries. So, who’s on board? Music icon Cher returns to the mystery-solving stage 50 years after her first team up with Scoob in The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Terry Bradshaw gets off the bench to tackle a case, Axl Rose will rock these monsters, and Jason Sudeikis will have these villains laughing out loud! Classic Scooby fans will love to see Sandy Duncan returning to team up with the Mystery Inc gang. And how about Kacey Musgraves, Tim Gunn, Jessica Biel, Macklemore and many more! See if you can solve the mystery of who will be joining the gang next! 1. The Horrible Haunted Hospital of Dr. Phineas Phrag! Celebrity guest: Kristen Schaal 2. The Phantom, the Talking Dog and the Hot Hot Hot Sauce! Celebrity guest: Kacey Musgraves 3. The Hot Dog Dog! Celebrity guest: Joey Chestnut 4. A Moveable Mystery! Celebrity guest: Gigi Hadid 5. The Feast of Dr. Frankenfooder! Celebrity guest: Alton Brown 6. A Fashion Nightmare! Celebrity guest: Tim Gunn 7. Scooby On Ice! Celebrity guest: Tara Lipinski 8. Caveman on the Half Pipe! Celebrity guest: Chloe Kim 9. The Crown Jewel of Boxing! Celebrity guest: Laila Ali 10. The Internet on Haunted House Hill! Celebrity guest: Liza Koshy 11. The 7th Inning Scare! Celebrity guest: Macklemore 12. The Dreaded Remake of Jekyll & Hyde! Celebrity guest: Sandy Duncan 13. The Last Inmate! Celebrity guest: Morgan Freeman 14. Lost Soles of Jungle River! Celebrity guest: Jason Sudeikis 15. The Tao of Scoob! Celebrity guest: Lucy Liu 16. Returning of the Key Ring! Celebrity guest: Sean Astin 17. Cher, Scooby and the Sargasso Sea! Celebrity guest: Cher 18. The Lost Mines of Kilimanjaro! Celebrity guest: Jessica Biel 19. The Legend of the Gold Microphone! Celebrity guest: Reverend Run 20. Total Jeopardy! Celebrity guest: Alex Trebek 21. Scooby-Doo and the Sky Town Cool School! Celebrity guest: Billy Dee Williams 22. Falling Star Man! Celebrity guest: Terry Bradshaw 23. Dark Diner of Route 66! Celebrity guest: Axl Rose 24. A Haunt of a Thousand Voices! Celebrity guests: Frank Welker, Kate Micucci, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin 25. Scooby-Doo, Dog Wonder! Celebrity guest: Dynomutt and Blue Falcon 26. The TV and Movieland Monsters! Celebrity guest: Carol Burnett  There are quite a number of continuity errors in "The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race," which Mr. Neither pointed out for today's fun fact!
When Car #78 is kidnapped by the Phantom Racer, it's sitting in the front of the pit at 11:30. Moreover, the re-painted cars suddenly revert to their original paint job at the end, where you can notably see car #78's number, which should be scratched out. Another minor animation issue is that Velma looks at Daphne and asks her if she was okay. However, this doesn't make sense, as she was with Daphne and Fred the whole time, and she should have asked Shaggy and Scooby this since they had just rejoined the group in a panic.  Happy Easter to everyone celebrating! Nothing goes better together than Easter and wrestling, am I right? haha I have to say I'm tempted to vote for the "wrestling in general is awful" option in this one since I really do not care for this particular sport haha.
I had to tally up the results for last week's poll a bit early (Friday) as I'm traveling out-of-state to visit family for Easter. I will add the Saturday votes to these results later, but it's very doubtful they will change anything given the huge gap, and there's usually just one or two votes on Saturdays. Which season of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo had the best villains overall? Season 1 - 37 Season 2 - 10 Season 3 - 2 Season 4 - 5  Daphne is the first gang member to be kidnapped, in the episode "Hassle in the Castle." Scooby was the second member of the gang to be kidnapped in "Decoy for a Dognapper"; Fred and Velma were kidnapped in "Go Away Ghost Ship" (along with Daphne), and Shaggy was first kidnapped in "Nowhere to Hyde." It's also worth noting that Fred was locked in a trunk in "Bedlam in the Big Top," which could be considered kidnapping.
 Michael Kurinsky, the production manager for the first SCOOB! film, posted some news about the upcoming holiday sequel on Twitter. Today, the first test screening for Scoob! Holiday Haunt with an outside audience today. However, Scoob! Holiday Haunt is still in-production, as this is just a work-in-progress screening for a draft of the film. In his post, Michael also revealed the title card for the upcoming film. Check it out in the picture above!
 Personally I don't count season 4 as a legitimate season, but I'm including it for those who do. Here are the results for last week's poll. I must say I'm a little surprised by the second WWE film being so high!
What is your favorite racing episode? The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race - 20 Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf - 16 Gentlemen, Start Your Monsters! - 16 Scooby-Doo and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon - 14 The Fast and the Wormious - 9 Weird Winds of Winona - 5 The Fastest Food Fiend! - 3 Pole to Pole - 1 All the racing episodes are awful, racing in general is awful, in fact, sports in general are just plain awful - 0 |
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