I had originally planned to read this over the course of several days. However, I just couldn't help myself and I read the entire book in one sitting today. Overall, I absolutely loved the book and thought it was quite a fitting ending to this trilogy. It was definitely worth the two years of waiting. Although I will not reveal the culprit in this review, I will be discussing events that happen in the book throughout this review. If that's something that bothers you, I would recommend waiting to read this review. One of the biggest things I enjoyed about this trilogy is the solid characterizations of Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy. All of them have very three-dimensional personalities, and each characters' emotions are well-written. You can definitely feel the emotional struggle present for each of the characters throughout the book, whether it be Daphne's insecurities about her parents' divorce, Velma's desire to be liked by others, and Shaggy's trust issues about being open with others. I liked how Shaggy's character arc from Mystery Begins was borrowed, where he struggles to make friends. Speaking of theatrical movies, I also thought it was interesting that Velma's family was Latinx in this book, which sort of feels like it was carried over from SCOOB!. (I will admit it's been a long time since I've read the other two, so if there was a brief mention of it in a previous book, I may have forgotten about it.) I also thought it was an interesting touch that Velma and Daphne displayed brief overtones of jealousy towards one another. In Velma's chapter, she thinks “She twirled a lock of her perfect hair and stared off into the distance.” Later, in Daphne's chapter, she says “She twirled a lock of her perfect hair and stared off into the distance.” This part felt like a good representation of how it often is for people in high school. In high school, people often wish they were something more than they are, whether it be prettier, cooler, smarter...but the reality is, the other person is probably just as insecure about somebody else as you are about them. In high school, it's all kind of a popularity contest where everyone is trying to be the most well-liked (and social media has only made that worse). However, once you get out of high school, you begin to realize that maybe being the prettiest or the coolest, or whatever it may be, doesn't really matter all that much...it matters much more that you are unashamedly yourself. It may be a cheesy sentiment, but I feel like it's true, at least in my opinion. That being said, it was a nice little detail that really made it feel true to what high school is often like. On the same subject, while I've never really had any complaints about this series in the past, I have to be honest that I didn't really care for Velma pining over Fred. Granted, I'm absolutely not saying that these parts were poorly written or that they detracted from the plot in any way. I completely understand that as someone in my 20s, I'm not exactly the target audience for this young adult book series. I thought the romantic pieces were certainly better done than Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, where the Shaggy/Velma relationship felt toxic and overshadowed the plot. I'm just not into teenage-like romantic drama, even if it fit the genre well in this case. Something about the hopeless pining of "Does this person who I'm madly in love with even notice me?!?" does not appeal to me at all, because it feels unnecessarily dramatic and angsty. Even though I didn't like this piece, I wouldn't say it made me like the book any less, nor would I say Morgan did a bad job with it. I think she did quite a good job of keeping it at a minimum where it wasn't completely consuming the plot. If I'm honest, there's no way I would have enjoyed it because I guess I just find that sort of teenage romantic pining to be a bit cringey, such as Velma's comment "I dashed up the steps, cursing my heart for its insistence on beating double time whenever I saw him!" I know Taylor Swift told us to embrace the cringe, but how much cringe can one take? haha Even though Scooby didn't talk, I liked how his personality kind of came through too, when he gives Shaggy an excited look when he says "quibble" (mishearing it as "kibble"). It was a nice, subtle way to allow Scooby's personality to still shine through a little bit, and I appreciated it. The plot of the book felt more high-stakes than the previous books, especially in the sense that a character was murdered, and the culprit tries to kill Fred and Addie by trapping them in a fire. I already thought Morgan did a good job in the other two books with creating suspense and tying in horror elements, but Silas Mohl's ghost felt even creepier than both of them. The description of him having no face was quite creepy. In addition, the scene where the ghost confronts Velma in the woods and only whispers "shhh!" was incredibly vivid and terrifying. The writing perfectly described the imagery in a way that set the stage for a super creepy moment, which can be hard to do when it's not a visual piece of media, so I give Morgan major props for that. I also want to comment on what a great job Morgan did with including very snappy phrases in her writing. Among my favorites were "Sometimes Daphne was blinded by her Blake privilege - all that new money and fame," as well as "He was capitalism in action!" to describe Shaggy's father. Perhaps my favorite was "Lots of people got phone calls. Not my friends of me, of course, because nobody under the age of forty talks on phones." It's just such a sassy line (and a great social commentary about how phone calls are now seen as being only for old people) that I can't help but love it haha. Speaking of teenagers, do teens actually say "bee tee dub" instead of "by the way" now? I'm genuinely curious now given Fred said it in this book haha. Speaking of remaining "hip" amongst the youth, sadly, our Official Bougie Count stays at one. I was really hopeful they'd say it again, since it was said in the second book and I figured this book would be the best chance of updating it, but alas, it was not to be. I can only hope that someday someone will say "bougie" again in the franchise so I can update it lol. I liked that Shaggy got more of a part in this book than he had in the past two. Although we never got any part of the book from his perspective, he felt like much more of a main character, as opposed to the previous two books where his appearances were much lessened. His character arc with struggling with the fallout from his rich dad's company was also very intriguing.
The ending of this was certainly surprising, and I didn't expect the culprit to be who they were. I wasn't really upset by this, but I was surprised that the series kind of ended on a cliffhanger. I would have understood if it were left it open to reader interpretation, but it wasn't. It just ended on Daphne and Velma going to search for the map. I sort of wonder if this means another book was planned to wrap things up, but Scholastic pulled the plug before that could happen. I didn't really mind that it ended without us finding out what happened, but it felt quite abrupt and it surprised me, because I was expecting this book to wrap everything up. I wish we would have gotten to see how the overarching plot ended, given it was so prevalent throughout all three books. Although that part of the ending wasn't left open to reader interpretation, I will say I think it's really cool how the culprit claimed that they did not chase Velma in the woods. Given the culprit confessed to murder, there would be no reason for them not to confess to chasing somebody, so to me, it seems like maybe that was the real ghost of Silas Mohl. Looking back at the trilogy as a whole, I really enjoyed this series. The characterizations of the gang, especially Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby were really well done. Fred was quite unlikeable with his womanizing and toxic masculinity, but that's exactly what the book were going for. Even though I didn't like the character, I still thought the characterization was good. The villains were all great, and Morgan did an excellent job building suspense and horror all throughout this series. The other thing I really appreciated was how well Morgan pulled in various pieces of continuity from the franchise, and creatively interpreted it to fit the story. For example, Shaggy's cousin Jack was a likely nod to Dapper Jack from Shaggy's Showdown, they carried over Daphne's parents names and one of Shaggy's parents (although it's his mom instead of his dad) being a policeman from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Shaggy's dad's name is Samuel like in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Daphne's sisters names are carried over from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, etc. Morgan easily could just made up new names/details for all these people, so the fact that she took the time and connected all of these details from various incarnations of the franchise definitely deserves praise. I'm definitely sad this series has ended, but I think this made an amazing addition to the Scooby franchise.
2 Comments
A recent fun fact post talked about how "Scooby on Ice!" from Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? was not the first time that Tara Lipinski has done voice work for Scooby-Doo. Unbeknownst to most, she also voiced Grey in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode "Camp Comeoniwannascareya." This inspired me to do a deep dive project on all the guest stars from The New Scooby-Doo Movies and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? to discover if any of them had previously had roles as other characters on the show (and I was surprised to discover quite a few of them did!). This post highlights all the guest stars from these two series that have had previous roles in other episodes before or after their first appearance in the franchise. I included both real-life celebrities and voices of fictional characters, such as The Addams Family and Wonder Woman; however, I did not include ones that were extremely famous voice actors (for example, Casey Kasem plays Alexander of Josie and the Pussycats, so it's obvious he's had other roles in the show). Janet Waldo, most famous for voicing Jane Jetson, played both Grandmama Addams and Josie in The New Scooby-Doo Movies. However, she would later voice several notable characters in The Scooby-Doo Show, including Scooby-Dee from "The Chiller Diller Movie Thriller," Lisa Vanaugh from "Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats," and Arlene Wilcox from "To Switch a Witch." We probably all know that Don Knotts would go on to voice the groundskeeper in the video game, Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights. Jackie Joseph, who voiced Melody, went on to voice a very random Scooby-Doo character almost 20 years later...Velma's Aunt Thelma from "Scooby Dude." This one is perhaps more well-known, but Tim Conway would later go on to voice Fred's dad, Skip Jones, in Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy. He also voiced Professor Alexander Graham in the Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights video game. Moving on to the Guess Who guest stars, Rachel Kimsey voiced Wonder Woman. Later in the series, she'd also voice Marla and the chef from "A Fashion Nightmare!" If you thought Sandy Duncan and Cher were the only guest stars to have roles in both The New Scooby-Doo Movies and Guess Who, you would be wrong! Mark Hamill appeared as as himself in Guess Who, but he had previously voiced one of Jeannie's masters, Corey Anders, in "Mystery in Persia" of The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Mark Hamill previously voiced Snakebite Scruggs in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island; Steve in Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders; Shifty in Night of the Living Doo; Deacon, Babyface Boretti and the store owner in Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare; and Zip Elvin in Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness. Mark Hamill has also provided several voices of the side characters and villains in What's New Scooby-Doo?, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!. His What's New roles include Captain Guzman and Emperor Caesar Salidicus in "Pompeii and Circumstance," as well as Tommy's father in "A Scooby-Doo Christmas." He voiced Crybaby Clown and the Drill Sargeant from "The Night the Clown Cried" and "The Night the Clown Cried II: Tears of Doom" in SDMI, in addition to voicing General Stall in Be Cool, Scooby-Doo's "Area 51 Adjacent." Moreover, in Guess Who, he also voiced The Joker in "What a Night, for a Dark Knight!" and the Trickster in "One Minute Mysteries!". In addition to appearing as himself in Guess Who, George Takei also appeared as the White Wizard and Mr. Wang in SDMI. The Old Samurai in Scooby-Doo and Samurai Sword was also voiced by Takei. Malcolm McDowell had previously voiced the Sly Baron in Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness in 2015 before appearing in the first season of Guess Who. Ending right where we began, Tara Lipinski voiced Grey in "Camp Comeoniwannascareya" from What's New, Scooby-Doo?.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and learned something new about some of the guest stars! I'm treating this as a running list, and will update this post as guest stars from either of these shows make voice appearances in other episodes. I’m so excited that after two years of waiting, we’re finally getting the third Daphne & Velma novel today! However, there’s another thing I’m excited about today, and that is because of our fan spotlight! The fan spotlight for today is quite a unique one, because it is the very first one involving someone I know from my real life. What ended up happening is that unfortunately, a few of the people who had agreed to do a fan spotlight for this year weren’t able to send in their answers due to some personal circumstances. I was able to find replacements for all but one slot, which is when I got another idea. I thought it might be interesting to ask someone who isn’t a Scooby super fan like the previous 62 fan spotlights have been, but was a big Scooby fan in their childhood. That being said, I’m excited to introduce Avalon, our fan spotlight for today. Although Avalon isn’t the huge Scooby fan that most of us on this site are, she still casually watches some of the more mature iterations of Scooby on occasion in adulthood.
1. What is your name? Avalon 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I remember my dad recording a couple of old episodes of a series called What’s New Scooby Doo on a VHS tape. I don’t remember the titles, but I fell in love with the characters when watching the show. I’ve always loved a good mystery so that was probably also a plus for six-year-old me. I can remember getting really excited and asking my dad to look up when new episodes aired. Pretty soon, I was watching the series every week! My parents also started buying the movies on DVD whenever a new one would come out. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? My answer is probably different now from what was back in my childhood. As a kid, I think my favorite episode was whatever new episode had aired that week, haha. I really was head over heels for What’s New Scooby Doo for a while. Now that I’m older, I mainly enjoy the stuff that’s more mature, so like Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, and Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated. I don’t know if I have a favorite episode of either of those shows, because I enjoy the majority of the episodes. If I had to pick, I’d choose the Krampus one. The gang setting up the original Mystery Inc like that was iconic. Even the last episodes of both of the seasons weren’t as shocking as the reveal in that episode. For movies, I gotta go with Zombie Island. Even though it was rated PG, it’s super scary and I think there’s still a big appeal for all ages. The characters were so well-written. The villains actually felt like something that would come out of a horror movie! 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I didn't even realize there was a fandom until I was asked to do this, haha. I think that’s cool there are sites like this where people can talk about Scooby comfortably without judgment. It seems like there’s a societal stigma around people liking cartoons once they become teenagers. That’s unfortunate, because people should like whatever they want to like. There shouldn’t be shame in enjoying a cartoon as an adult. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? Like I touched on in question 3, Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated because I love how it has an appeal for adult fans. Whether you’re looking for comedy, romance, mystery, horror or drama, Mystery Incorporated has all of those aspects. Not only that, but they do it in a way that is appealing to a broad audience, even people who aren’t Scooby fans. I would love it if they made more Scooby shows in that style. I wouldn’t change anything about it. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? I was gonna say Zombie Island, but I was told there is already a sequel to that. I haven’t watched it, but I saw reviews online saying it was terrible and ruined the original so I’ll go with something different, lol. If they could do it without ruining the original, I’d like a sequel to Alien Invaders. That was another great movie that I remember fondly from my childhood. I’ve watched it a few times in adulthood too, and it deserves as much credit as Zombie Island does. Maybe they could come up with a plot where Crystal and Amber return and are chased by the government, or something like that? 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I would like them to go in a more mature direction like Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders or Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated. Those movies show that Scooby Doo can be written in a way that appeals to all ages. I’d think they would want to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible so they can get more viewers, and this seems like a great way to do that! I checked out Be Cool Scooby Doo recently too, and despite the weird designs, the humor is a lot more mature than you’d think. I love it. To be honest I think it’s more appealing to me than the adult cartoons I’ve seen it compared to, like Family Guy or American Dad or whatever. I usually don’t enjoy shows that make the edginess over the top just to be “shocking”, because it feels forced. The writing of Be Cool Scooby Doo was great so I wouldn’t mind if they went in this direction either. 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Daphne! She’s always been my favorite, even when I was younger. She might be clumsy or danger prone at times, but she’s so awesome and resourceful. I especially liked the quirkier personality they gave her in Be Cool Scooby Doo. Of the shows and movies I’ve seen, I think it’s the most dynamic and developed her character has ever been. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? Professor Pericles! He takes evil to the next level. I never would have thought I’d see characters be killed and electrocuted to death in a Scooby Doo cartoon. He is maniacal and heartless, and probably the most evil villain there has ever been in Scooby Doo. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? I love The Hex Girls! It’s sad they haven’t been in many Scooby episodes because they’re such awesome characters. This is embarrassing, but I idolized Thorn as a kid because she was so cool and badass, lol. They’ve also got a positive environmental message attached to their personalities, plus I suppose them being a rock band it fits into the feminist Riot Grrrl Movement that was popular in the 1990’s, so what more could you want? 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? I don’t have a collection anymore, but I had most of the DVDs as a kid and a Scooby Doo stuffed animal. My parents might still have them at home, but I’m not sure. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? I think it comes down to a couple of things. Scooby Doo has a broad appeal that is timeless. Even the newer shows like Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated and Be Cool Scooby Doo still focus on the core formula of the Scooby Doo gang solving mysteries. Although certain elements change in different series, like how Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated is darker, and Be Cool Scooby Doo is more focused on comedy, that same formula is still there. Scooby Doo also has something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for mystery, adventure, or comedy, Scooby has it all, and they’ve continued to include those elements for over 50 years. The fact that they keep making shows with these core elements makes parents who liked Scooby Doo as a kid want to introduce it to their children, so the cycle continues and Scooby Doo has become a household name. In fact, it would be odd if you hadn’t ever heard of the cartoon, and there aren't a lot of shows you can say that about. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? I just started my second year in college! I am currently studying Sociology. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! Thanks for having me! This was fun. Thanks so much to Avalon for being today’s fan spotlight! To be honest, I wasn’t sure how well the idea of asking someone who wasn’t currently a big Scooby fan would work, since I wasn’t sure if some of the questions could still be answered. However, I really enjoyed reading Avalon’s answers and it was really cool to see these questions answered from the perspective of someone who is a much more casual Scooby viewer. I hope you enjoyed reading this fan spotlight, and be sure to check back for another fan spotlight tomorrow! Some screenshots from Scooby-Doo and Krypto Too! have been posted on the Digital eMation Inc. homepage! The site shows that Scooby-Doo Meets Krypto (note the different title) was in production in 2021. Some characters including The Joker, Harley Quinn, Superman, and it appears many others as well. The villain appears to be Solomon Grundy, and he appears in both screenshots. Given this info, I'm really hopeful we'll still get this film!
Thanks to Scoobylover for finding this info! Five of the Scooby-Doo theme songs share the exact same general rhythmic structure. The New Scooby-Doo Movies, The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, The Richie Rich / Scooby-Doo Show, The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour, and The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show all have the same rhythm to them with a slightly different sound.
Thanks Drakosleuth for coming up with this fun fact! With us today, we have one of two fan spotlights from this year who are voice actors! Our fan spotlight for this lovely fifth day of September is Mystery5, who is a longtime commenter on this site. I’d like to give a big thank you to him for being today’s fan spotlight!
1. What is your name? Mystery5 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? From a very early age watching VHSes of Where are You? 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? Witch’s Ghost. Classic and fun. Can’t choose one episode there are so many good ones. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? Talking and befriending big Scooby fandom members (Ashton Hardy, Nikki of ScoobyAddicts, Alex of @scooby_news, etc.) 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? Where are You? and Guess Who? 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? More Guess Who episodes! They missed out on so many DC superheroes and celebrities. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? Similar to Guess Who (which is similar to the original Where are You). 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Velma. Her smarts, cuteness and her losing her glasses are all iconic tropes that make her epic. (Was shocked when they didn’t even use the typical version of the “lost glasses trope” in Be Cool!) 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? Good ol’ Creeper. (Not the Minecraft one though that’d be an interesting crossover. Lol) 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? Can’t choose. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? Not as big as I’d like it to be. Some VHSes, some DVDs, some action figures, a Scooby plush and other things here and there. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? The fact that the gang are known and loved by many generations and iconic gags/cliches/gimmicks associated to them. That the characters are also relatable and have their strengths and weaknesses. Shaggy and Scooby being helpful when trying to capture the villain (they must get some pension besides the Scooby Snacks LOL) but also being bottomless food pits and the humor of the gang/often the POV characters (though it’d be nice to give Fred, Daphne and Velma that sometime or another), Fred setting up traps but being oblivious to some situations, Daphne being resourceful but being danger prone, Velma being the brains but losing her glasses. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? Hmmm, I do voiceover acting professionally. Maybe someday will be in a Scooby production! 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! It’s this community of Scooby fans of all ages that makes it feel tight-knit and awesome. If you’re new, you’re welcome in with open arms! Comment your opinions on a post we’d love for you to join us if you haven’t already. Now that we've actually done the best baseball episode poll (instead of the "worst baseball episode" poll that I accidentally included in the original Sports Winner's Circle Poll on May 15), let's try this again haha. I know the last poll ended in a tie, but I imagine more votes will probably go to "The Unnatural" and prevent that. I can't wait to finally see what people's favorite sports episode is!
Here are the results from last week's poll: What is your favorite episode that takes place at a beach? Beach Beastie - 14 A Clue for Scooby-Doo - 12 Aloha, Scooby-Doo! - 12 The Secret of Shark Island - 7 Revenge of the Man Crab - 7 Some Fred Time - 5 A Creepy Tangle at the Bermuda Triangle - 4 Hassle in the Castle - 3 She Sees Sea Monsters by the Sea Shore - 3 The Curse of Half-Beard's Booty - 3 A Tiki Scare Is No Fair - 2 The Creepy Heap from the Deep - 2 Twenty Thousand Screams Under the Sea - 2 Long John Scrappy - 2 No Sharking Zone - 2 Reef Grief - 2 South Seas Scare - 0 Scooby Dude - 0 LEGO Scooby-Doo: Blowout Beach Bash - 0 Night of the Upsetting Shorts - 0 Happy Sunday! Our fan spotlight for today is Jacob Staggs, a big Scooby-Doo fan who is a frequent commenter on this blog and has some very unique perspectives on the franchise! Here’s Jacob’s fan spotlight:
1. What is your name? My name is Jacob Staggs. 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? I don't really remember anything in my life before I was three. The second movie I ever remember watching was Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers. The first time I saw this film I was hooked. Soon after, I started watching Scooby Doo, Where are You? on Cartoon Network every night except for the rare occasion where my Dad couldn't stomach the idea and would turn the channel. Soon after, I would watch episodes of the Scooby Doo Show. My first Scooby VHS tape was Creepiest Capers followed quickly by Boo Brothers and then Goes Hollywood. I continue to be a big fan of Scooby Doo to this day and here we are. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? My favorite episode is Hassle in the Castle. It always has been everything that I want out of a Scooby Doo episode. I love the ham sandwich scene. I love where Shaggy talks about the wind having a sense of humor. I really like Daphne in this episode. Her quote about trying to find her way out of the creepy inner sanctum is one of my highlights of the franchise. My favorite Scooby movie would be Scooby Goes Hollywood. I liked that they changed things up and made it meta. I love the tv parodies. My favorite thing about it however is that it is a musical with very catchy songs. I love Scooby's singing voice! 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I like leaving comments and having discussions on this very site! I consume a lot of information about Scooby Doo not just here but from Scoobypedia, Scooby Addicts, and more. I have reviewed Scooby Doo media in the past. I guess my involvement isn't really that big but I enjoy what involvement I do have. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? Series and era. My favorite series is definitely Scooby Doo, Where Are You? The reason is because it has the most nuance and variety of any Scooby Doo media. Shaggy and Scooby might be the bait, they might not, they might be the first to see the ghost, they might not. They might decide to trick the gang so they don't have to be bait but end up being bait anyway. There are four other reasons this is my favorite series: 1) I love the art style. It has never been topped. 2) Shaggy and Scooby's friendship. 3) The inclusion of very catchy pop songs was groundbreaking the year before with Archies. Scooby continued that which is no small feat considering a character being hit by an anvil was considered creative in 1970. 4) The Voice Acting - Sans Heather North, the voice acting in this series was phenomenal. My favorite era would be what I call the original era: 1969-1982 before Ruegger came in and started giving them last names, toning Scrappy down etc. 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? I would like a sequel to Reluctant Werewolf because it ended on a cliffhanger. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? In the future, I would like to see extreme experimentation going far one way or another, like Velma or Mystery Pups. I want to see it evolve in many ways and more often than not, drop the mystery format. Also, bring back Scrappy! I love Scrappy. Also, more musicals! 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Definitely Shaggy. Always has been. I relate to him. He likes to eat. I would be scared in those situations too. Using jokes to mask your fear makes a lot of sense. Kasem's vocals and that character design make for a killer combination. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? That is a tough one. I'd probably have to pick the Headless Specter because I really enjoy his laugh. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? If you mean not a member of the original gang, then it's Scrappy all of the way because I like his rambunctious personality and the care that he has for his uncle. Otherwise, it's probably Sadie Mayhem because she's entertaining and the best member of the Really Rottens. I also really like Flim Flam for the same reasons as Scrappy except I feel Flim Flam puts a little more thought behind his actions. 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? My Scooby Doo collection isn't very big. It mainly consists of Scooby Doo DVDs and VHS. I have a blue magnet with Scooby Doo on it that I really like. I'm very picky when it comes to collectibles. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? Dependability. It all comes back to Scooby Doo Where Are You which was a monumental hit. When you watch that show, you know what to expect but not exactly. The other thing is Shaggy and Scooby's friendship. That is one thing that is retained throughout the franchise. If you don't have that, you don't have Scooby Doo. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? I was born with a deviated septum so I can only breathe out of one side of my nose. 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! One of my favorite moments in the entire franchise is the Me and My Shadow Demon musical number. I have the clip on my phone and listen to it often. I would also like to thank you Wildwind for giving me the opportunity to do this. Thank you so much, Jacob, for being today’s fan spotlight! Be sure to check back tomorrow to meet another great Scooby fan! Eight years ago today, I published this site and blog to the Internet for the very first time. Every year on this day, I like to look back on the past year and reflect on all the things that have happened on the site.
Perhaps the biggest thing was doing an interview with Suzi Yoonessi, the director of Daphne & Velma, on the four-year anniversary of the film's original release date. It was so cool talking to her and hearing more about the creative process behind making the film. Daphne & Velma is such an underappreciated movie that so many Scooby fans haven't given enough of a chance to even watch, so it was amazing getting to talk to someone involved with the movie in such a prominent role. She was also nice enough to contribute a fun fact in May to celebrate the 400th week in a row of Monday fun facts. I'm incredibly grateful to have had the amazing opportunity to talk to her. Speaking of interviews, I also really enjoyed talking to Sandy Fries in April. It was amazing getting to hear Sandy's firsthand experience working with Joe Barbera. He and his assistant were so easy to work with and I really appreciated getting to hear about all his experiences working with Hanna-Barbera. Besides the interviews, one of my favorite things I did on the site this year had to be Voice Talent Appreciation Week. It was so much fun getting to see and discuss everybody's rankings! I also really enjoyed the couple of poll series that we did with the season premieres/finales, best season for villains, and the sports polls. Those were all so much fun, and I always enjoyed doing the averages/rankings in the comments for all of those. A huge thank you to Mr. Neither and Becker for suggesting those! Thank you so much to everyone on this blog for reading, posting comments, and simply being here. I've loved watching this blog evolve over the years, and I can honestly say it feels like it just continues to get better and better. Arguably, you all are a big part of this blog's success, and I can't thank you all enough for it. Here's to another amazing year of ScoobySnax.com! 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. |
AuthorWildwindVampire Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|