Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! recreated a lot of classic memories for us fans, from recreating the gang with more three-dimensional, relatable personalities to giving us the origin of Scooby Snacks. But one of the things this show did best in my opinion is recreating old episodes in a fun, interesting way, without making them seem like we were simply watching a repeat. In today's article, I'd like to highlight some of the ways that the show recreated classic Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? mysteries with a new twist. Mystery 101 Though the episode was stylistically a bit different in setting, the premiere episode of Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! does bare a striking resemblance to the original series episode, "What the Hex Going On?" Firstly, the episode redesigned a lesser-known classic villain, The Ghost of Elias Kingston (the difference is contrasted in the two pictures above). Additionally, several references were made throughout the episode to the original episode and setting. For example, when the university dean is explaining how the institution was built, he mentions that the founder, Elias Kingston, built it over his mansion. This is clearly a direct reference to the Kingston Mansion/Manor, which is where the gang stayed with their friend Sharon in the original episode. I always thought it was cool that they decided to pick such a lesser-known/remembered episode, though I would presume it was probably due to this being Jon Colton Barry (the head writer)'s favorite episode of the show. He elaborates on this a bit in the interview I did with him on October 5, 2015, the day the show first premiered on television. I grew up watching reruns of the classic, original series the most. I've always kinda liked the first season episode "What the Hex Going On?" with the Ghost of Elias Kingston. It's a strange episode. Watching the original series as we were developing the new series made me see the odd choices the gang would make sometimes in the past. Sharon's Uncle Stuart has been suddenly turned into a decrepit, elderly man by a ghost and they decide to "watch" him overnight instead of rushing the poor guy to a hospital? Who knows how much damage is done to someone when they're magically aged 40 years? And exactly where did this guy learn such remarkable make-up skills that he could fool them even up close? I've never even seen a big Hollywood movie where "old age" make-up looks very convincing. Haha. I'm a huge fan of references and nostalgia myself, but what I like most about this series is that while it takes time to be nostalgic, and throws in those little nods to various series, it also knows when to add in a new spin on an old classic. The setting and situation is changed just enough where it doesn't feel repetitive or old and tired. Party Like It's 1899 "Party Like It's 1899" is definitely one of my favorites of the first season. While it's great seeing the gang in their original personalities, it was also fun to explore this "new" version of the gang a bit more and see how they would act in such a "murder mystery" type of situation. Besides this, it also reimagines one of my absolute favorite episodes, "Haunted House Hang-Up" in a really fun way. Throughout the years, I don't think we've ever actually seen the gang in a "murder mystery weekend" type setting before, even though that fits so well with the series (same argument I've had with how "A Christmas Carol" should have been parodied as it fits well with the tone of the show - which it finally was with "Scroogey Doo!" - but that's another topic). If I had to pick one villain from the original series that's underappreciated, it would definitely be the Headless Spectre. It's such a cool and spooky idea to have a ghost without a head (definitely spookier than the dreaded "sheet ghost" - quite literally just a guy with a sheet over his head, you can even see his legs! - which appears later on in the episode lol), so I'm glad this series gave him some love. The setting, again, was quite similar to the original haunted house setting, and we even see a few subtle nods to the original episode. One of my favorite things about this episode though is Daphne and Fred's characters - the "bumbling gloves" line had me chuckling for quite a while. Daphne's line "Yep, that's me, set for stun. Pew pew!" was admittedly a perfect line as well, especially upon rewatch after you get to know the character more. Where There's a Will, There's a Wraith While the previous two villains were a bit more unconventional choices, these two villains are ones probably every Scooby fan knows. In "Where There's a Will, There's a Wraith," the same basic plot from the original episode, "A Night of Fright is No Delight," follows. The gang is forced to spend the night in a supposedly haunted mansion after Scooby is written into a deceased colonel's will. However, a ghost quickly appears and the gang has to solve the mystery. One striking similarity from the original episode is that "Where There's a Will" has the surprise twist of there actually being two identical ghosts as well. Though I love the original of course, I actually find myself liking the new design slightly more. The skeleton hands and tattered sheets add a bit more spookiness to the ghosts' designs, in my opinion. Additionally, the borrowed idea of using the relatives like in the original episode makes "Where There's a Will" much more nostalgic, especially as a fan who's been watching Scooby since childhood. The twist of the suspect's name being Casper Cosgoode is a really fun callback to Cosgoode Creeps as well! While having the house burn down is a much more extreme ending, it was also a cool new way to wrap up the episode that referenced the money being worthless in the original episode. In Space This episode definitely deviated the most from its original episode, but in my opinion, it's also one of the best episodes of the series. This episode, entitled "In Space" (after the recurring gag of Fred using this phrase after every sentence her says), reimagines the classic "Spooky Space Kook" episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? The plot is as follows: "After mistakenly parking on a spaceship's loading dock, Fred and the gang are sent in space where a virus turning people into skull aliens is rapidly spreading. The gang has to figure a way to solve the mystery and avoid becoming contaminated with the alien virus." Pretty cool twist, considering the original episode just had the gang running around an abandoned airfield. This is one of things I love about Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! It can take something as simple as four teens and a dog running around an airfield and turn it into a creepy plot involving viruses that turn people into skull-headed aliens. According to a post made by JCB on the ScoobyAddicts forum, this episode was a request episode made by James Krenzke, who hoped to do an episode which referenced Ridley Scott's Alien film. Having seen that film, I must say that Krenzke and JCB did beautifully on this episode. The only thing I can honestly say I disliked was the constant repetition of Fred's "In Space" jokes. I found it funny the first few times, but it got a bit old after the first few times. Naughty or Ice This was another pretty good episode which called back to the classic "Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright." The same basic plot is kept intact: a caveman is found frozen in ice, but is thawed out and comes back to life. The twist with this one, though, is that in the Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! adaption of the episode, the caveman is an exhibit in the Blakes' Ice Hotel. I'd be lying, unfortunately, if I were to say that I loved this episode entirely. There were parts, like the bad ice puns and the Daphneism of the week, that I did not enjoy. From my perspective, Daphne blowing the vault didn't really make much sense, given it was her parents' hotel in the first place. Couldn't she have just asked them nicely to get her necklace back, rather than coming up with an elaborate plan and committing multiple illegal acts in the process, which ultimately got the gang thrown in jail? There were parts, however, that I absolutely loved. Shaggy and Scooby teaching the Ice Man to talk was definitely my favorite part of the whole episode. I was practically on the floor laughing when the Ice Man triumphantly announced "My name is Ice Man! My name is Ice Man!" Although I must admit it (though still amusing) it was kinda sad when Shaggy and Scooby tricked the monster and ran away! He worked so hard lol! Well, that about wraps up this article. Note that I didn't include some of the villains with simply had similarities to other previous villains, such as the Sea Monsters or the Ape Man. I believe JCB has said some of the villain references weren't intentional, though they went ahead and used them anyway despite the similarities. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and be sure to check back tomorrow for another new article!
5 Comments
Scoob16
3/22/2018 12:28:30 am
That was an amazing article!! I loved the callbacks to the classics in the show.
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Bigscoobydoofan
4/2/2021 12:37:50 pm
I. AM. MIND. BLOWN.
Reply
4/2/2021 04:10:49 pm
I think that may be the only suspect in Be Cool that wasn't be revealed previously (but I could be wrong)?
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Bigscoobydoofan
4/2/2021 04:17:06 pm
Josh Stanley! Leave a Reply. |
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