 Last year around this time (ironically), I wrote a post entitled "Ah, the Memories," which discussed several classic Scooby-Doo VHS tapes that are rare and hard to find. This past weekend, I got to take another trip down memory lane when updating the List of Scooby-Doo Compilation Releases page. In a world where everything's at the touch of our fingertips, I'm sure the younger readers can't even imagine having to put a clunky tape into a VHS player to watch movies, but that's how we watched things when I was a kid! DVDs were just becoming a thing when I was in my early teens, and CD's were just beginning to replace cassette tapes. Now, even CDs are going out of style (or as my younger cousin so frankly puts it, "Everyone listens to music on their phones now. CDs are for old people!") and you rarely ever see a VHS tape anymore. I can assure you I'm not in my 80's, even if it sounds like it (I'm actually only in my 20's!), but I still find a lot of nostalgia in looking at some of these old VHS tapes. So without further ado, here are some of the rarest Scooby VHS tapes in the world!  Now this one brings me back! I remember seeing this VHS tape in a rummage sale and begging my parents to buy it. At the time, I hadn't seen any of The Richie Rich / Scooby-Doo Show other than a few episodes, so I really wanted this in my collection! Unfortunately, my parents didn't buy it and I still don't have it. I have thought about collecting Scooby-Doo VHS tapes just for the fun of it, though I'm a terrible collector in the sense that I don't want anything that's not practical. In other words, if I already have the episodes on another release, I wouldn't want to buy the VHS as it wouldn't be practical to do so (even if it would be cool to own a rare piece of Scooby merchandise). However, if I'm ever going to get another rare Scooby VHS, this would be the one to buy! This VHS actually has "Scooby at the Center of the World" on it, which has never been released on any other set to this date! I do find the cover art interesting however, as the swamp witch looks nothing like the one in the featured episode, or any Scooby episode for that matter. This VHS tape from 1990 includes the episodes "Swamp Witch," "Scooby's Desert Dilemma," "Mummy's the Word" and "Scooby at the Center of the World." These episodes are all from The Richie Rich / Scooby-Doo Show.  This 1990 VHS is a compilation set and includes episodes from Scooby-Doo, Snagglepuss and Snooper & Blabber. The only Scooby episode this one includes, however, is "Soggy Bog Scooby," a seven-minute Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show short, which I thought was an odd choice. Surely there are dozens of other Scooby episodes that would have been more fitting for the DVD than that, especially as the villain in that particular episode is a sea monster, not a ghost.  This one is another compilation set, this time featuring episodes of Scooby-Doo, Snagglepuss, and Augie Doggie & Doggie Daddy. The only Scooby episode featured on this set is "The Diabolical Disc Demon" from The Scooby-Doo Show. The cover seems a bit poorly designed IMO, as Doggie Daddy looks a bit awkward with his eyes completely closed. This VHS was released in 1991.  In part 1, I mentioned I couldn't find the cover art for Volume 2 of the Scooby and Scrappy-Doo VHS compilations. I did a lot of digging this weekend, and found a picture of it! This set includes the first three episodes that Scrappy was in, "The Scarab Lives," "The Night Ghoul of Wonderworld" and "Strange Encounters of a Scooby Kind," all from The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show. I couldn't find the year this was released, however.  I had previously mentioned that I also couldn't find any information on volume 3 of Scooby and Scrappy-Doo. Along with volume 2, I also found a site that had the cover art for volume 3! However, I couldn't find any info about the episodes included or the release date. Based on the cover, I would guess one of the episodes is probably "Scooby's Three Ding-A-Ling Circus" from The Richie Rich / Scooby-Doo Show. What I find interesting, however, is that those guys in the bottom left corner are actually villains from Richie Rich, not Scooby-Doo. It's been a loooooong time since I've watched any of those, but on a guess, I think they're from the episode "Robotnappers."(?)  We already talked about volume 4 in the original post, so I won't reiterate that information here. However, there's this lovely little VHS still to talk about. I'll be frank with you, this compilation set confuses me immensely. While the other sets are labeled with numbers, this set has no number. The scene in the cover art also never happened, and the villain on the cover was not a real villain in any episode. There also is no information regarding this VHS anywhere, other than a picture on Google Images. For sanity's sake, I referred to this as Volume 5 when adding it to the Compilation Sets page. One possible explanation for the lack of number is that it's volume 1, as the volume 1 in the original post was made by Kids Klassics, while all the other volumes were produced by Worldvision Enterprises. I honestly don't really know though, and that still doesn't explain the other oddities this particular set has. Tell me that's not the most confusing thing you've ever seen, lol.  "The Fiesta Host is an Aztec Ghost" included the titular episode from The Scooby-Doo Show. This set was released as part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars collection in 1989. I find it interesting that Shaggy is wearing his red shirt from The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo on the cover, even though he doesn't wear it in the episode.  It's the oldest Scooby-Doo VHS ever to be released! "Scooby-Doo" was the first of many Scooby VHS tapes to come, and featured "The No-Face Zombie Chase Case" from The Scooby-Doo Show. This set was released in 1986, and while initially titled just "Scooby-Doo," would later become known as Volume 1 as more volumes were released. Thanks to TriggeredWeegee, who sent me his picture of this VHS set to use on the site!  This golden oldie was also released in 1986, and was the second volume in the Scooby-Doo VHS compilation series. "High Rise Hair Raiser," the first episode of The Scooby-Doo Show is the only episode on the VHS tape.  The third (and I believe final) volume of the classic Scooby-Doo VHS compilation includes "The Headless Horseman of Halloween" from The Scooby-Doo Show. This tape was also released in 1986.
Well, I'm afraid that brings us to the end of our little rare VHS showcase post. I hope you enjoyed the walk down memory lane as much as I did! Who knows if there will be a part three, it all depends on if I'm able to find any more rare Scooby VHS tapes out there in the technology abyss! Unfortunately, I have none of these VHS tapes in my collection. In high school, I went through a phase where I thought it wasn't "cool" enough to like Scooby. Sadly, during this time, I told my parents that they were welcome to sell many of my Scooby VHS tapes. Though the episodes on the respective VHS tapes have all since been released on DVD, I still have a bit of regret that I didn't keep more of the old tapes. I still have Wedding Bell Boos, A Halloween Hassle in Dracula's Castle and Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Volume 1 in my collection today, and definitely never plan to sell them!
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 This past week, I just got a chance to watch the "Scoobynatural" crossover episode. Without exaggeration, I think I can safely say it was the best Scooby crossover to date!
Personally, I've always loved the more adult horror take that Zombie Island had on the series' classic formula. That's part of the reason I loved this crossover so much. It provided more of an adult look at Scooby than we've ever seen before, and in fact went a bit further than Zombie Island in that regard. The reimagining of "A Night of Fright is No Delight" was ingenious and fit so well with the darker tone of the episode. I absolutely adored all the references to the old episode, from the obvious bits such as the will reading or the cousins' death to the subtler nods like the drainpipe or the washing machine being used as a trap. The ghost's design was extra creepy, especially with the ability to use his chains as a weapon and the ghostly shriek it had! Never having watched Supernatural before, I still felt very at home with the series and characters and really enjoyed Sam, Dean and Castiel, especially Dean's amusing rivalry with Fred. The only thing I found a tiny bit annoying about this episode was Dean's constant pursuit of Daphne, though I was happy they didn't go too overboard with it like they did with her and Starchild in the KISS movie. Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how adorable it was that Dean wanted to maintain the gang's purity? I found that little storyline very cute, and honestly I even began agreeing with Dean when the gang had their little freak-out towards the end. I was like, aww, I want them to keep their innocence too lol! I'll admit, before I watched this crossover myself, I was surprised by the several comments I saw from fans wanting a whole series like this crossover. I initially figured that it was probably simply the typical fanboying/fangirling that you see with crossovers, but having seen it now myself, I would totally be interested in seeing a full Scooby series like this someday. I loved the level of darkness and maturity this crossover had, and if their goal was to make me want to see more, they definitely succeeded! I've even considered watching the rest of the Supernatural series now after this crossover. I hope someday that we'll see another crossover as good as this, because quite frankly, this was perfect! I was even genuinely creeped out by a few parts, especially the decapitated Cosgoode Creeps! After hearing my thoughts on this crossover, I'd be interested to hear what all of your thoughts were!  Whether you like the designs or not, you have to admit the writing was amazing in this series. While it only had a modest overaching premise, the idea of the series being about the gang's friendship with one another is one that the franchise has never fully explored, at least not to this extent. Though simplistic to a degree, the reasoning behind why the gang gravitated towards each other and became friends is an extraordinarily important narrative. That's why I think this series is worth your time, in addition to a few other variables. As I've mentioned throughout the various other articles I've posted for "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! Week", the three dimensionality and relatability of the characters really adds to the entertainment value of this series as well. One thing I felt this series did really well, however, was the comedy aspect. I for one love that sort of off-color and absurd humor, so naturally I enjoyed most of the jokes in this show. I also really appreciate how the humor worked into the tone of the series. In many cases, a lot of the jokes could not have been pulled off in any of the other previous series without a change in tone or writing. After all, in what other series have you seen Daphne have a feud with all sea creatures because she owed them $15 lol? Additionally, the humor was just off-color enough to be funny, but not too off-color as to go over the audience's head or be unfunny. There were certainly some jokes (like the ice jokes in "Naughty or Ice" or the crystal jokes in "Be Quiet, Scooby-Doo," for example) that I didn't enjoy as much, but there's something to be said for the fact that you're not always going to like every joke. I actually don't mind the addition of those unfunny jokes, because it shows that the series is trying to appeal to all types of humor. Most likely, the majority of people aren't going to find all the jokes funny, because we all have different senses of humor. That just goes to show that the series is really targeting all humor styles and audiences. Off of that point about targeting all audiences, that was another thing I thought this series did very well. Many of the jokes clearly weren't written for young children, but children could still find them funny as well as the adult fans. As an adult, I hate when it feels like shows are talking "down" to kids. Especially in this day and age, kids are a lot smarter than people give them credit for. It's always nice to see when the writers clearly have a wide audience range in mind when crafting the series, as it shows they're trying to appeal to all audiences and not just take the easy "This is a kids' show, so let's appeal to 4-10 year olds!" route. Obviously, this series is a departure from other incarnations due to both animation style and humor. However, the series does extraordinary well despite this. I'll disgracefully admit that I was initially one of the "WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO POOR SCOOBY?" people when the concept art was first released. As the series got closer, I decided it deserved a proper chance and I'm so glad that I gave it that. This series truly proves that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Even though I still disliked the animation when I first began watching the show, I became more and more acquainted with it as the show went on. Eventually, I began to not notice it as much, and towards the end of the series, even enjoyed the unique animation style. I think there's something to be said about the background settings as well. Even though the gang is designed a bit oddly upon first glance, all of the background art is done beautifully and with great attention to detail. Another thing I appreciated about this show is that even though it served as a more comedic incarnation of the franchise, it didn't let that comedy necessarily define it. Episodes like "In Space" and "Doo Not Disturb" really showcase how the series can go a bit darker in plot and tone, while still remaining comedic and silly. The series also took it upon itself to reimagine old episodes like "What the Hex is Going On?" and "Haunted House Hang Up," among others, and it was really interesting to see an updated version of those episodes in the mind of another writer. Overall, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! is a fun, silly show that deserves so much more credit than it gets. For those reading this post that haven't given the series a chance, I would highly recommend you watch at least a few episodes before officially saying you dislike it. Because the series is such a different adaptation from the series we've seen recently, it takes a bit to get used to. Obviously not everyone will like every single series out there, but I would bet that at least some people that haven't given the show a chance would really enjoy it if they allowed themselves to. That's it for this week's Be Cool, Scooby-Doo articles to celebrate the end of the show. I really hope you all enjoyed reading them as much as I did writing them! Just because the articles are over though, that doesn't mean the festivities stop! To conclude Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! Week, the show's head writer, Jon Colton Barry will be answering all of your questions about the show. Check back sometime later tomorrow to see his answers! In the meantime, if you have a question you would like to ask JCB that you haven't submitted yet, be sure to do so in the anonymous form in this post.   There were a lot of fantastic episodes in this series, but in this article, I'm going to highlight only the top 10 best episodes of the series. I'll admit, it was very challenging to pick favorites, but upon a lot of thought, these are the 10 I've picked.  10. I Scooby Dooby Do "I Scooby Dooby Do" takes the number 10 spot in this list. On its own, admittedly, this was a very average episode of Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! However, when you brought all the elements going on in this episode together, it made for a fantastic watch. The jokes were very spot-on and witty in this one. I particularly found myself amused with Fred's ascot joke, which honestly was perfect even without words. Shaggy's fear of giving his Best Man speech was a great addition to the plot, and Daphne's "views" on marriage are priceless! Speaking of Daphne, I loved the side-plot of the wedding dresses. It made her little freak-out moment with the Cliff Bride so much more hilarious (even though I must say she still looked super adorable in her wedding outfit!) My favorite part of the episode, though, was the bedroom scene, and the parents teaming up at the end so they could sabotage their kids' wedding together lol.  9. Mystery 101 Maybe this is too obvious of a choice, but the first episode still remains one of my favorites due to the humor in it, as well as the "reimagining" of the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? episode with Elias Kingston. The puppets are definitely one of the classic gags in this series, and Fred's unorthodox fear of widths was very humorous. I'd say my absolute favorite line of the episode, just since it was so unexpected (particularly not being familiar with the series' humor style yet), was Velma's quote "Relax, the odds of all of us being attacked and/or further educated are negligible!" I was reading my original review to this when I first watched it, and I found my comment here a bit interesting "Kate's voice really reminds me of Linda Cardellini playing Velma in the live action movies. I'm not sure that's what they were going for but I'm really liking it. It's funny, because I don't feel that way at all now having watched the full series. On a little side note, it's been really fun going back and re-reading all my reviews from the episodes on ScoobyAddicts these past few days!  8. Vote Velma "Vote Velma" is the cutting edge of political satire, hands down. Just the fact that the voters just want to hear random stuff and not actually relevant information, is both amusing because of the implied joke and because it's actually so true in real life! All of the interactions between the gang were very snappy and flowed really well, particular when they were talking to the other mayoral candidates. Velma's "one great truth" that she likes pancakes nearly had me on the floor laughing! It was amusing as well that Violet looked near identical to Velma, yet no one actually mentioned it. And finally, Velma's final comment in the episode was perfect! "Well, I would have liked to declare martial law!" is the best way to end an episode lol.  7. In Space Having watched the movie this episode was based off of (Ridley Scott's "Alien"), this really allowed me to enjoy this episode to its full potential. Turning the Space Kook into an alien virus where the infected become skull-headed aliens is such an amazing idea for a plot. Fred's "In Space" jokes were funny at first, but I'll admit this was the one part of the episode which became a bit old after a while. The addition of him saying it in Spanish ("En espacio!") at the end, however, did redeem the joke at least a little bit. This episode mainly stood out to me, however, because it got pretty dark compared to the other episodes. While I love the humor of this series, it was fun to have the series go a bit darker and explore the humor through the lens of a darker mystery. I won't ruin anything in case people haven't seen the episode, but I love how complex the mystery's solution was, especially compared to some of the other episodes in the series, which were a bit easier to solve. The little time warp gag where Shaggy and Scooby ran into the previously-caught monsters was a nice touch as well!  6. Party Like It's 1899 This one stood out to me because it placed the gang in different roles than we're used to seeing them in. I talk quite a bit about this episode in a different post, so I'll try not to repeat myself and just say that I enjoyed seeing the gang portray the unique and interesting characters at the murder mystery party. The addition of the Headless Count was also a cool one, especially when you consider how little-remembered the original Headless Spectre from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? was!  5. Night of the Upsetting Shorts Now that we're down to the top five, admittedly it got very tough to decide between my top 5 choices. All of these could easily be my favorite episodes for different reasons, and just because they each have such well-written plots! Though it was immensely challenging, I finally came up with an order. "Night of the Upsetting Shorts" comes in fifth on my list. The humor was so witty in this one! In fact I found myself laughing throughout the entire episode. Fred's "upsetting shorts" were hilarious, and it makes me want to see what JCB actually had in mind for the original shorts design. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, JCB mentioned on ScoobyAddicts that the design for Fred's shorts was supposed to be "even more upsetting," but WB changed the design at the last minute. Velma dressing like a grandma was hilarious, and the fact that she didn't really intend to definitely enhanced the comedy level. Shaggy pretending Daphne was his girlfriend, and that he was the leader of the gang for his grandma was quite amusing as well. But none of that compares to my favorite part of the episode, which was Fred's America swimsuit at the end of the episode lol.  4. Some Fred Time This was such a tough decision to put at #4! I want it to be #1, though the other three episodes beat it out just slightly. This episode made me laugh harder than any other episode in the series, and I'd go so far to say that it's one of the funniest episodes of the entire franchise. I wish I could list all the jokes I laughed really hard at, but it would probably take me several pages of typing to do so haha. The best jokes were the rich woman with her blinding diamond, Fred unmasking the "Vampire Werewolf Zombie Mummy Ghost from Outer Space" (pictured above) and especially him tackling the guy on the bike to unmask him! Fred pulling Velma's glasses off thinking they were a mask and his surprised look when saying "Velma Dinkley?!?" was definitely my biggest laugh-out-loud moment of the episode. The "no pictures" guy (can't remember his name at the moment) was also a memorable joke. Jokes aside, I loved how much the gang's bonding was shown in this episode. Without Fred, you could really see what the series was going for, in terms of focusing on the gang's friendship and how they each contribute something to the group. This episode also allowed for the gang's personalities to really shine, and was the first episode I could really strongly see what JCB was talking about with the "three-dimensional characters" overarching idea of the series.  3. World of Witchcraft This will probably sound silly, but this episode has such important message that really resonates with how I feel about the world. The only super memorable joke in this one (I feel kinda bad saying that, as there probably are some really good ones that I'm just not remembering at the moment) was Scooby's comment "logical, yet sociopathic!" which is probably my favorite line of Scooby's in the entire series. The sub-plot about Daphne standing up for witches, and more importantly, being herself despite the townspeople's suspiciousness is such an important message. Being myself and not caring about what other people think of me has always been something that is really important to me personally. It is SO important to just be you, even if people are critical, and I loved that this episode tackled such a cool and mature topic - or actually topics, as it tackled both prejudice and being yourself. That is such an important message in my opinion, especially in the day and age of social media where people are worried about being "cool" to others. Those two underlying messages are what made me place this episode as high as I did, though I did enjoy Lewis Black (who voiced Mr. E) as the mayor and the cool and unorthodox choice of villain.  2. Professor Huh? Parts 1 and 6 3/4 I just reviewed this one earlier this week, so I'll try to keep this bit short and not be repetitive. The reason these two episodes are placed way they are, is because I felt all the parallels and references to the past episodes were such a great way to wrap up the series.  1. Doo Not Disturb Taking the #1 spot in this list is "Doo Not Disturb!" This was definitely not a particularly funny episode, but just the fact of how creepy and dark it got made me fall in love with it immediately. In fact, JCB even said this episode was originally supposed to be much darker, but WB asked him to tone it down because it would be too scary for kids. To which my reaction was "I want darker anyway!" lol. The Ghost of Mother was sooo creepy, especially the little 15-second "ticking" warning before she appeared. As I mentioned in my top 10 villains post, I was practically yelling at my screen for Daphne to open the door in the scene where Mother is approaching Shaggy and Scooby haha. The dark plot of this episode definitely made this one my absolute favorite of the series.   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!  Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! Week Day 3: How the More Three-Dimensional Characters Can Apply to Our Lives3/20/2018  One of my favorite parts of Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! is how interesting and relatable the characters were. Though of course the previous versions of the gang were likable, I feel this series added a layer of three-dimensionality to their personalities. By doing so, it allowed them to be very relatable to us, the audience, and even more likable (at least in my opinion). Personally, I felt like I could relate certain aspects of my own personality to all 5 members of this updated version of the gang. In this article, I'll highlight how each member of this version of the gang has changed from their original characters, and how I feel like a bit of each of them relates to my own personality.  This updated version of Scooby is somewhat similar to the previous incarnations, but with a few distinct differences. Scooby still has his cowardly tendencies, but is a lot more witty in this version. He also only uses around 4 words per sentence, according to head writer Jon Colton Barry. In this version, Scooby is a lot more comedic than previously, and is often spot-on with most of his jokes. As someone who enjoys making people laugh, I can definitely see a bit of Scooby in myself. Even if I'm not quite as witty and spot-on as Scooby is, regardless I still always love to put a smile on other people's faces and try to do so especially if I can tell the person is having a bad day.  Shaggy is still his same cowardly, hungry self in this series, and you may struggle to find any conspicuous differences in his character. However, I would argue that he's more full of a childlike-type wonder in this series. This is particularly present when he's with Scooby; the two of them seem to find a lot of enjoyment in the little things. You see this in a lot of episodes in this show, though the example that most comes to mind is "Pizza O'Possum's." In this episode, Shaggy is so filled with childlike wonder that he actually goes back to his childhood arcade just to get a child's toy. I can definitely appreciate that quality in Shaggy. I still am very youthful even though I'm an adult, and still take a lot of pleasure in the little or whimsical things. I feel like I'll be one of those people that's still a kid at heart when I'm 80 lol.  In this series, Fred's character is closer than the original than it's been since...well, the original itself. Instead of being dimwitted and goofy as he's been since A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Fred is a natural born leader like he was in the original show. However, in this series, Fred is displayed as more of a control freak, and gets frustrated when life doesn't go his way. He likes order and expects everyone to follow him without hesitation. Fred is probably the character that I can identify with the least, but I do have some minor similarities with him. Although I'm very laid back generally, I sometimes will be slightly overprotective of my own work and don't like people messing it up with telling me first. I also can be slightly nitpicky on things I'm passionate about, particularly the Scooby franchise haha.  Velma remains the smartest character of the gang in this iteration, but notably has more tendencies towards know-it-all-ism. However, the one thing she doesn't necessarily know is how to be social. She is very awkward socially and does not have a lot of people skills. Though I don't have the social awkwardness Velma does, I'm also very intelligent and occasionally have to push down my know-it-all-ism. I also pay very close attention to detail, and (as I mentioned) can get nitpicky sometimes if things aren't correct.  Daphne is the most changed of any character in the series. Departing from the original damsel-in-distress character, Daphne is an eccentric nonconformist, and regularly does very odd things. She's also very outgoing and optimistic, and enjoys being a "cheerleader" of sorts. She enjoys cheering people up and seeing them happy. Despite her perceived "oddness," she is always very perky and cheery. Of all the characters, I identify with Daphne's personality the most. I am usually very cheerful and friendly, and tend to have a glass-half-full approach to life. I also love seeing everyone happy, so I act as a "cheerleader" of sorts when I see someone is down or clearly unhappy. Most prevalently, I have a very quirky personality and like Daphne, I totally own the fact that I do. I also don't really care what others think of me, as long as I'm happy with myself and who I am. I hope you enjoyed this article! I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels they can relate to this version of the gang. If you feel you relate to any or all of the gang, I'm interested to see how if you choose to share in the comments!   There were a lot of great villains in Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! So many, in fact, that it was quite tough to pick just 10 to cover for this post! Here is my top 10 list of villains from Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! that were the creepiest, best designed, or just super cool.  10. Pterodactyl This villain wasn't particularly spooky or scary, but it was quite an interesting choice of villain. This one just barely made the list, since it was such an unorthodox choice of villain in general, and even more so for a Christmas special. Admittedly though, his red eyes do make him look pretty menacing!  9. The Ghost of Archie Barnes Most likely, in a few years, this villain will probably be an easily forgotten one in this series for most people. However, I though this villain was really genuinely creepy and wanted to include him in this list. His facial expression, in this picture above especially, is just so spooky looking! Although to be honest, monsters/ghosts with no pupils always freak me out haha. Additionally, the fact that he doesn't talk at all throughout the entire episode definitely amps up the creepy level! His 'hissing' that sounds like a film projector solidifies how well designed and scary-sounding he is!  8. Skull Aliens I loved the Space Kook in the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? episode, though if I'm honest I like this version of him as much, if not slightly more. The whole premise of this episode, especially with the aliens being a 'virus', made for a super creepy plot in addition to the creepy Skull Aliens!  7. Madcap I'm not generally afraid of clowns, but this one certainly passes the test for me! The whole episode in itself had a very spooky setting, but the timeliness factor of it definitely made Madcap all the more frightening. If you don't remember, around the time this episode aired, there were actually real-life people dressing up in clown outfits and walking around town to scare people. I know Madcap, particularly in this position with his teeth out and mallet over his head, would definitely scare me if I ran into him in real life lol!  6. Swamp Beast This villain is just so well designed! The seaweed-ish swamp stuff hanging off of him makes him look super creepy, and the fact that some of it is falling off around his arms makes them look like skeleton arms! The glowing yellow eyes are also a nice touch! I do wish, however, that his voice would have been slightly creepier. It sounded a bit nasally, in my opinion, and took away from his otherwise spooky design.  5. The Grim Reaper I loved all 8 of the villains from around the world in "Mysteries on the Disorient Express," but the Grim Reaper was by far my favorite. I thought it was definitely a bold move for a Scooby series, especially considering that some kids might be really afraid by the literal representation of death. However, I thought this episode handled it really well, while still taking no liberties on making the Reaper any less creepy. The red eyes and skeleton-angel wings are an amazing touch to his design!  4. The Demon of Salem This villain gets major points in my book for just being plain unique. After all, how many times can you say you've seen a deer walking on its hind legs with bat wings haha? I'll highlight this further in my post on the episode coming later this week, but I really like this episode in general for having a really important lesson as an undertone. I'll also admit to finding the description of the villain a bit lame when I first read the episode summary, but he turned out to look really cool!  3. Headless Count I love the Count's glowing head! As I'll mention in an upcoming post in a few days, the Headless Spectre from the original Where Are You series is such an underappreciated villain. I love how this series redesigned him and made him even creepier than he was originally!  2. Professor Huh? It was a near impossible decision to pick between Professor Huh? and the next villain for #1! In the end, I decided to place Huh? as #2 in this list, though I just can't say enough about how awesome this villain is. The one-eye design and hand-puppet is super creepy, and even his trench coat adds to the spookiness a bit. My favorite part about his design, however, is the green hand on his head, which I took to mean an "unmasking" of sorts. That glowing hand is sooo spooky looking and awesome! My favorite part about Huh? is his randomness. I love that kind of "silly for the sake of being silly" kind of humor, so I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of his random comments. I'd say my favorite is "I am not a Canadian citizen!" and the fact that he enjoyed hot-gluing multi vitamins to secret armed forces base helicopters lol. I really found myself identifying with Daphne's comment where she states "I finally like your father!" As someone who has a slightly eccentric sense of humor, I really appreciate Professor Huh? and his nonsensical randomness. Honestly, it makes me want another episode devoted to the professor committing random and inexplicable crimes!  1. The Ghost of Mother As I said, it was nearly impossible to pick the #1 villain just because there are so many great ones in this series. Eventually, I decided that my absolute favorite villain in the series is the Ghost of Mother, who takes the #1 spot on this top 10 list. This episode in general was so creepy, and the fact that Mother never spoke made her even spookier. The 'rules' and odd behavior of the supporting characters in this episode definitely added to this for me. The ticking noise when Mother was about to come felt like some sort of horror movie! And on a final note, I'll admit that I was practically yelling at my screen when Daphne wouldn't let Shaggy and Scooby in as Mother was closing in on them. That scene was creepy and haunting in so many ways! I hope you all enjoyed this list, and if you feel inspired to share your own top 10 list of favorite villains, I'd love to read them! :)   One of the things many people asked for in the survey last week was for me to post more reviews on the blog. So, I thought, is there any better way to celebrate the series finale today than to post a review of the series finale? I do realize, however, that Boomerang did choose to air "Pizza O'Possum's / The Curse of Half-Beard's Booty" as the series finale, rather than "Professor Huh?". However, besides the fact that "Professor Huh?" wraps up the series more logically, head writer Jon Colton Barry also confirmed that it should have been aired as the series finale. Since I trust JCB fully, especially when we're talking about Boomerang and their wacky scheduling decisions, I've decided to observe "Professor Huh?" as the true series finale even though it aired differently in the US. Without further ado, here's my review of both parts of "Professor Huh?"  The episode starts off at a high-security prison. A prison guard is getting ready to feed the prisoners' the dinner they requested (along the way, we get to see several previously incarcerated BCSD villains). The prison guard is getting ready to feed a prisoner his meal request, which is what any normal person would request for dinner - a picture of the space station astronauts with the words "I DON'T HAVE DIMPLES!" written over it with orange marker, all garnished with a lime peel. Pretty standard request, right? Much to the prison guard's shock, the prisoner is not in his cell. He has escaped, while somehow getting a live llama (with a self-destructing note, I might add) into his isolated jail cell. The entire prison goes on lockdown, only to have the prisoner attack the prison ward. The rest of the episode starts like a standard episode - at least, at first it does. The gang is invited to a bank by the president Gary Moon. They are escorted to President Moon's office by his assistant, also named Gary Moon. After they get in to see President Moon, he reveals that he was not actually the one that hired them. To Fred's horror, the person who asked the gang to come was his old detective friend, Rose, whom he has since broken off contact with. Rose blackmails Fred with a nonsensical request that he must drop a Caesar salad into the ocean (very good threat by the way, I should try that with one of my enemies some time! lol), which prompts Rose to ask him if it makes him want to say "Huh?" Fred's face immediately turns gaunt, and he drives to the prison with the gang. The security guards are initially reluctant to let him in, but once he says that he is Fred Jones, they allow him to enter. The gang quickly finds out that the escaped prisoner is named Professor Huh?, and he is actually Fred's father. Fred explains that him and Rose had worked to solve the Professor Huh? case when they were kids, but eventually realized it was his own father committing the crimes. Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby wait outside for Fred, Daphne and Velma, but find a "conveniently placed pretzel stand" near the prison. They order two pretzels sandwiched between two larger pretzels, served on an even larger pretzel. (I'll admit I laughed pretty hard at this, though it actually sounds kind of good haha) The person who serves them appears to be a hand puppet, and gives them a man's sneaker instead of what they ordered. Shaggy and Scooby demand to speak to the manager, who reveals himself to be Professor Huh? (who is also connected to the hand puppet). As Shaggy and Scooby usually do, the cowardly duo run away from Huh? and hide in the Mystery Machine, hoping he didn't follow them.  The rest of the gang returns to the Mystery Machine to find a frightened Shaggy and Scooby. They say that they ran into a strange man with hand puppets who attacked them, which Fred identifies to be Professor Huh?. As they drive away, Huh? is revealed to be hiding in the back seat of the Mystery Machine. As the gang panics, Professor Huh? declares "I am not a Canadian citizen!" (One of the best lines from Huh? in the episode!) The gang confusedly asks "huh?" to which Fred says "exactly!" The gang stops the van and bails out, whilst they split up. Shaggy and Scooby go into a haircut salon, and Professor Huh? follows them. As usual, Shaggy and Scooby dress up to trick the villain, this time as hair stylists. Because Professor Huh? never does anything for a logical reason, he requests that Shaggy and Scooby shave his eyebrows off and put them on his shoulders with a Croissant. Shaggy and Scooby become confused and inform Huh? that they do not know how to do that. Professor Huh? shows them how, and actually removes their eyebrows with a Croissant (complete with razor sound effects, which I thought was an interesting touch) and puts them on their shoulders. In confusion, Shaggy and Scooby run out of the salon and realize Professor Huh? has tricked them and ran away. In one of the best moments of the first part, Shaggy and Scooby finally realize how it feels to be tricked and yell out in frustration.  Fred and the gang find Shaggy and Scooby and ask them if they are okay, to which they say "we don't know!" as they put their eyebrows back in their proper position on their faces. The gang finds a subway ticket in the back of the van from Fred's father, much to Fred's confusion, as Huh? doesn't leave clues, or do anything for any logical reason. Fred gives the example of the time Professor Huh? committed a crime against an armed forces base, where he inexplicably hot-glued multivitamins to all their helicopters. (Btw, that is an awesome sounding crime lol) The gang follows Huh? to the Subway station, where they run into him and he chases them singing the "Happy Birthday" song. The gang climbs on top the train, just as Professor Huh? nearly catches them and subsequently yells "baboon face!" in frustration when he is unable to catch up to them. The gang eventually loses Huh?, but quickly realizes that he was leaving them clues to go to the space station. When they finally arrive at the space station, the gang finds Huh? tampering with the security system. In a bold move, Fred handcuffs himself to Huh? twice (the first time he accidentally handcuffed Huh?'s pet llama). Rose appears with the police and accuses Fred of working with his father. Fred says that's ridiculous and the gang confirms that he would never help anyone commit an illegal act. Rose alludes to the fact that Fred is keeping a secret from them, prompting Fred to reveal that he chose to protect his father as a child. Despite that he had enough evidence to put his father in jail for his crimes, he covered up the proof. However, Rose found out about what Fred was doing and had his father arrested and thrown in prison. Rose claims that this is enough evidence to have the police arrest Fred and the gang, but before they can, the gang escapes with Professor Huh? on the space shuttle. ....and cue the suspenseful music to signify the end of part 1!  Part 2 picks up with Professor Huh? sitting by a fireplace, recapping to his audience the events of the previous part. He warns kids not to try this at home, but then shouts "TRY IT AT THE DENTIST'S OFFICE!" The gang is still in orbit with Professor Huh?, but Fred reminds them of the modifications he made to the Mystery Machine while they were "in space!" Fred sets the Mystery Machine to airplane mode, and programs it to come up and rescue them. The gang jumps out of the spaceship into the Mystery Machine, whilst Professor Huh? stays behind and kindly reminds them "That delivery took more than 30 minutes. That means my zebra is free!" The gang lands safely on the ground, leaving the fate of Huh? unknown as the rocket crashes and blows up. The gang goes incognito in the outfits of the team from "Grand Scam" and paint over the Mystery Machine with white paint. The police quickly realize what's going on and chase them, but Fred activates the new "split up" function of the Mystery Machine, which quite literally splits the Mystery Machine in half. The majority of the police chase Fred, per his ex-friend Rose's request, but one car chases Shaggy and Scooby. In an odd turn of events, Shaggy and Scooby end up behind the police car and pretend to be policemen. They pull the real policemen over, whilst taking a picture of them and then asking them if they had seen the people in the picture. The policemen dimwittedly believe the ruse, and Shaggy asks where they last saw themselves. The real police say they are right there, to which Shaggy answers "Good, then you couldn't have gotten very far!" before speeding away in the Mystery Machine. The policemen realize they have fallen for a trap, and one of them yells in frustration, claiming "it just came out."  Still fugitives from the law, the split-up gang runs into each other (literally) and the Mystery Machine comes back together. They become trapped by the police, but Fred drives off the bridge in order to escape. Rose and the police believe that the gang has met their demise. Unbeknownst to them, Fred had planned it that way all along and switches the Mystery Machine to "bottom feeder mode." While underwater, Velma realizes her phone is being tracked and begins to wonder if Rose is part of a conspiracy. Meanwhile, Fred reminds Daphne of her beef with all sea creatures (from "All Paws on Deck") and uses it to the gang's advantage. Daphne gets the sea creatures riled up, and they attack the police and military boats, allowing the gang to escape in the Mystery Machine while in helicopter mode. The scene switches to Rose and her gang entering the bank to see Gary Moon. Gary says he believes Rose is now committing illegal acts, and says he will have no part of it. Rose admits that she is committing illegal acts in order to frame Fred and the gang, so she can become the most successful mystery solver ever. The gang then comes out of a closet and catches Rose red-handed. Gary Moon reveals himself to actually be Fred in disguise, and the "Fred" that caught Rose was actually Shaggy in disguise. Oddly, Scooby is in the bottom half of Fred's costume as well (which looks unimaginably uncomfortable, as there's physically no way he could have existed in that costume lol). Velma and Daphne reveal that they are actually dressed up as each other, because they wanted to be part of the fun and felt left out.  The gang recorded Rose's confession on Fred's phone, but Rose grabs the phone from him and throws it out the window. Just when all seems lost, Professor Huh? drives the helicopter-mode Mystery Machine up to the window and gives Fred the phone, so he can clear his name. He also complains the potato chips are stale, despite that there aren't actually any potato chips in sight lol. Professor Huh? says he wants to turn himself in, but Fred uses his remote control to seal his father inside the van, and allows him to escape in the van. Rose and her group are tied up and taken into custody by police. The next morning, Fred goes out to his garage (his house is painted the colors of the Mystery Machine, which I found a stylistically interesting addition to the episode). He finds the Mystery Machine parked in the garage, and expects to find his dad waiting in the van for him. He opens the van, but instead finds Huh?'s llama with a note. The note reads, "I love you son. This note will self-destruct in 3, 2, 1." The llama then eats the note, leaving Fred no trace of the note or his father. End of series. Aww! Doesn't that get you right in the feels? </3 Admittedly, I was so sad when I watched this for the first time! I was totally like, "It can't end like this! It's supposed to be a happy ending!" lol. I absolutely loved this episode, and it was a great way to end the series. The dialogue was very witty in addition, which is one of the things I really loved about this show. Daphne's "That must be one bad llama to end up in here!" comment when she sees the llama in jail is priceless! The references to past episodes, in particular, were a really nice way to wrap the series up neatly. Easily my favorite part of the episode was Professor Huh? I love jokes that are just silly for no other reason than to be silly, so naturally Huh? was awesome. I love randomness too haha. Daphne's comment that she finally liked Fred's father was similar to the way I felt, as I have a bit of an eccentric sense of humor, so I tend to appreciate off-color jokes more. I wish, however, that Huh? would have been more random in part 2. His jokes were great in the first part, but in honesty, his jokes in the second part were kinda lame, other than the dentist's office and zebra ones. I heartily enjoy the idea of a villain committing random crimes for no logical reason haha. I thought the story arc with Rose was really clever as well, especially how it tied in to the season 1 finale and "Ghost in the Mystery Machine." As I mentioned, I loved the ending as well, but I felt it would have been stronger if it somehow tied back into the gang's friendship, as that's what the underlying plot of the series was. Overall, these two episodes were great and I absolutely adored them. I'll be optimistic here and end with saying that I hope they go down in Scooby history!   On November 29, 2017, fans felt a variety of emotions regarding the announcement of a new live-action movie, focusing solely on the two female members of Mystery Incorporated, Daphne and Velma. Many felt excited, for a new take on the franchise and for a film that had a sharper focus on the women main characters. Others were surprised, to see another live-action movie being put out with a brand new cast. Others were uncertain, about if this film would still be enjoyable even without the franchise's two central characters, Shaggy and Scooby, who have both appeared in every incarnation to date. Before I continue this article further, I should probably reaffirm that this entire post is simply reflective of my opinions, and I am in no way trying to convince you to agree with me anywhere in this post. You are more than welcome to disagree with my argument here, as the world would be very boring if we all agreed on everything like mindless robots. Over the last few weeks since the announcement of "Daphne & Velma," I have seen a very wide variety of opinions and feelings surrounding this film. Many are open to it and are looking forward to this potentially unique and different perspective on the franchise. Others, however, have already chosen to dismiss this movie as mere "feminist propaganda" and "preachy nonsense." This is not to say that anyone's arguments are wrong. We all are entitled to our own likes and dislikes, and in my nearly ten years now in the Scooby fandom, I've never met a Scooby fan that says they like every Scooby-Doo episode and movie ever created. There will always be certain aspects of things we don't like, as thankfully, we all have our own unique personalities, and thus have our own diverse opinions on what makes us enjoy or not enjoy certain things. I'd like to point out, however, that the widespread dislike which "Daphne & Velma" is already seeing less than two months after its initial announcement, is very similar to that of the dislike which "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo" received in its initial months, right after the original concept art was announced. Many of us, including myself, reacted negatively to our first look at the new series, along the lines of "WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO SCOOBY?!?" There are still numerous people who dislike "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" and find various aspects of it unappealing. What's important for us to remember though, is many of us did end up loving the witty, new take on the franchise which 'Be Cool' gave us. Many people, who initially hated the designs, and had objections to the show when it first was announced, now consider the show one of the funniest incarnations of Scooby-Doo to date. Although, it would be hypocritical not to note that there are some people who dislike 'Be Cool' (whether it was because they found the humor childish, the animation unappealing, etc.), but in my opinion, that is consistent with every show out there. Despite the widespread acclaim for "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated," some people even disliked that show due to their own personal tastes. "Daphne & Velma" is also seeing a similar type of dislike, and as with 'Be Cool,' the film has not yet been released for people to give it a chance. This reminds me of one particular comment, which I read online before the premiere of "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" As was consistent around the time before BCSD aired, this particular comment bashed the animation and claimed that the writers had "ruined" Scooby-Doo forever. Another person replied, simply putting in their two cents that they disliked the animation as well, but they still planned to give the show a fair chance. The original commenter replied back a few days before the show premiered, insisting that "I have given this show a chance already!" While I mean no offense to this person (and honestly don't even remember where I found the comment), by definition, it is literally impossible to give something a chance if you have never seen the show. Unfortunately, not everyone will give this film a fair chance, but I think this example does a good job illustrating how we sometimes don't give things a fair chance. If none of us had given "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" a chance, many of us wouldn't have ever gotten the chance to fall in love with it, and understand the gang in a more three-dimensional way. While I've highlighted the many similarities in the current dislike of "Daphne & Velma" and the previous concept art dislike of "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!", there is also a big difference as to why "Daphne & Velma" is already so widely dismissed by the Scooby fanbase. This particular issue is a bit tougher to tackle, as it has unfortunately become a somewhat charged political issue in our current world. However, as this blog is not a political debate forum, I will do my absolute best to make what I am writing as objective and non-biased as possible. It's somewhat interesting, to see how much the phrase "feminist-focused" has become synonymous with this movie. For those of you who aren't aware, that particular phrase actually originated from my original blog post about the film's announcement. I actually had intended to type "feminism-focused" here, as "feminist-focused" would mean the movie was entirely focused around feminists (which it's not). "Feminism-focused" is more representative of what the movie probably will be, as Blondie Girl Studios' previous filmmaking history (from what I've researched) simply includes films which have an underlying plot which revolves around mainly female characters. I should probably disclose here that part of the reason I am excited for this movie is because I consider myself a feminist. Before some of you start writing me angry comments about what a horrible person I am to dare to ever use that 'f' word in description of myself, I'd like to calmly and peacefully state something. While the next small piece of this article will discuss feminism in relationship to the dislike of the movie, it is simply to provide context to my argument and not to offend anyone. I have no intention of converting you into "fabulous feminists" like myself, and could really care less if you agree with me or not. I also have no intention of even being remotely preachy or convincing in this brief contextual discussion of feminism in relation to the film, and am only mentioning it as it directly relates to many people's objections to this film. One of the most common and resonating arguments is that "Daphne & Velma" is written by angry feminists who intend to "teach us a lesson." I've also heard comments claiming the film will be "man-shaming" and that the film will "lecture us" on how to be "good little feminists". While, as I mentioned, most of this article reflects my opinions only, if you take one fact away from this article, let it be this: all of these arguments are simply presumptions. No matter what your opinion on the film, none of these things have actually been confirmed at this point. This is not to say that inferences are always incorrect, and you can make many educated inferences that are most likely true. For example, the "S.C.O.O.B." movie was probably retitled and moved to 2020 because of a script rewrite or casting change. There are some inferences, however, that can be dangerous ones to make. Unfortunately, many people assume that all feminists actively protest for women's rights, shame men for their "lack of empathy" for women and their rights, and even that feminists seek to take out their personal hatred of males on poor, defenseless men. For sake of argument, here is the definition of feminism, according to the official Merriam-Webster dictionary. Feminism (n.): The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. Many people, unfortunately, confuse feminism for a much more radical form of feminism or even misandry (the hatred or despise of males). Interestingly enough, even radical feminism only has a very small portion of believers who joyfully shame or dislike men. To fulfill my promise to keep this discussion at a minimum, I'll stop here, but if you are interested in further researching the differences between regular feminism and radical feminism, this article from The Guardian does a very nice job doing so and explaining why the two are often confused.
To bring this discussion back to the movie, though it is certainly possible that feminism will be heavily focused on, we can and should not simply presume it will be. Let's also not forget that the only confirmation we've received here is that the film will present the main two female characters, Daphne and Velma, in a more "empowered" light. Hopefully, even if you disagree with what I said above (and that's perfectly okay!), you can at least agree that it is okay if men and women are treated equal in society (hopefully no one here wants to go back to the days before women had the rights to do basically anything). I could spend all day listing all the empowered male characters from films, so, if you agree with my above equality statement, you can probably agree that it should be okay to have empowered women characters in films as well. This article, admittedly, has dealt with some heavy and politically-charged topics. One realization which may shock you (and I hope, makes at least one person give the film a chance who wasn't going to before) is this is all that's been confirmed so far. Simply that Daphne and Velma will be more three-dimensional, empowered characters. No scary and bloodthirsty ax-wielding feminists out to shame you for life about how oppressed women are. For the sake of argument as well, I'll post the description of the film here. If you'd like a refresher, try to read this summary again, pretending that the information that the movie is 'feminism-focused' hasn't been announced. Before their eventual team-up with Scooby and the gang, bright and optimistic Daphne and whip-smart and analytical Velma are both mystery-solving teens who are best friends but have only met online — until now. Daphne has just transferred to Velma’s school, Ridge Valley High, a tech-savvy institute with all the latest gadgets provided by the school’s benefactor, tech billionaire Tobias Bloom. And while competition is fierce among the students for a coveted internship at Bloom Innovative, Daphne and Velma dig beyond all the gadgets and tech to investigate what is causing some of the brightest students in school to disappear — only to emerge again in a zombie-fied state. In reality, on its surface, how bad does that description sound? Probably not too horrible, most likely. Unfortunately, many of you probably already know how much the media likes to hype certain things up. The whole "everyone's going to be feminist and queer and preaching for a female-dominated world" is simply hyped up by certain articles like this, this, and especially this one, which in fact has a misleading clickbait page title (look at the article name in the top of the page tab) that it's been confirmed that Daphne and Velma are lesbians in the film (which is entirely false). Feminism has nothing to do with forcing everyone to be queer and lesbians, in fact, in my opinion it would be quite hypocritical to do so and these articles miss the point. My personal feminism beliefs are that everyone should simply be themselves and embrace their own unique identities. Forcing everyone to be gay makes no sense, and would be demeaning to those who don't have interest in the same sex. This entire article is not arguing that you should like the movie when it comes out. I'm simply suggesting that the movie deserves at least a chance, especially considering that we currently know nothing of the "empowered" Daphne and Velma, and don't even know if it will focus very heavily on feminism beyond some potential light undertones in the plot. If you've made it this far, I really appreciate you reading this article and at least giving me a chance to try to explain things from my perspective. I have been increasingly frustrated reading some of the comments about this film on the Internet, particularly that people are judging it so harshly before it has been released, over presumptions that may or may not even be true. I'm fully aware that "haters gonna hate" is pretty representative of the Internet today, and some people will be always be angry and immature in their criticisms of both films and other people. I hope though, that this article resonates with at least one person that read it, and at least some people realize how important it is to give something a chance. Never judge a book by its cover. Maybe the movie will be horrific and in a year we'll all be saying how terrible of an idea it was, but the film also could be amazing and inspiring. We will never truly know until we actually watch it. I know how wonderful and amazing you all are, so this maybe goes without saying, but I do have one small request. I love chatting with you all, and having interesting, deep discussions about our shared love of Scooby. You are more than welcome to disagree with me, and believe I am wrong in my opinions outlined in this post. You can even feel free to drop me an angry comment about what a horrible and disgusting person I am for being a feminist. However, while I try to make a point to reply to everyone's comments on here, please realize I will not reply to any comments which are direct personal attacks. You don't have to agree with me, but I simply request that you realize that we all have things which we believe in strongly, and this is something I believe in. And, if it helps anyone, my beliefs simply are that women should not be oppressed and should be equal societally to men, which by definition makes me a feminist. No protesting, no hatred, simply the belief that every human has the right to be respected and loved regardless of gender. Maybe this is a given, but I also would like to say that I immensely appreciate how amazing you all are, and that I even am able to make a post about a controversial issue such as this and feel comfortable doing so. The Internet can be a scary, angry place, but I'm thankful every day that you all make this such an awesome, friendly place to talk about Scooby. If you have any opinions or thoughts on this, please let me know in the comments! :)  "Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers" is such an amazing movie! From the location to the spooky music, everything about it is such a masterpiece! But, what made the movie so intriguing and wonderful is the multi-faceted and ever-tangled web of mysteries that were prevalent throughout the entire film. Over the years, I've mentioned to some fellow Scooby fans jokingly that I could literally write an entire article on my theories surrounding the mysteries and ghosts in this film...so that's exactly what I'm going to do!
I would imagine that many people view the mysteries in this film as "solved" like the ending of the film presents. What I find so interesting about this film, however, is that there are so many different ways you can interpret all the mysteries! There's of course the somewhat more simplistic view that the movie's ending alludes to (per Shaggy's comment, "I guess there aren't any real ghosts here at all!) - the Skull Ghost and the Headless Horseman were both the sheriff's witty and devious brother, the ghost in the attic was Farquard trying to steal the treasure, the "ghost" ape was simply a real ape which escaped from the circus, and the glowing-eyed wolf was possibly just a wolf that ran out of the forest coincidentally at the same time Beauregard's ghost appeared. The only ghost that this is unclear with, is Shaggy's Uncle Beauregard. It's certainly probable that the sheriff's brother is the ghost, hence the Beauregard costume in the closet, though his appearance at the end of the movie makes this somewhat unclear. Ever since I first watched the movie when I was in the third grade and about 8, I've admittedly always thought Uncle Beauregard's ghost was "real" and the sheriff maybe dressed up as him once or twice to take advantage of the legend. There were times where the sheriff undeniably could not have been the ghost, such as the time where he drove his bike through Shaggy's solid wall, which obviously, a human could not have done. He also tells Shaggy to "leave this place!" during this same scene. So by that line, his uncle also wants him to leave, and thus it hypothetically could have been the real ghost or the sheriff's brother any of the times he chased Shaggy and the dogs. However, there is one time where the ghost was almost positively the sheriff in disguise. When Shaggy and the dogs look for the next clue in the cemetery, you may remember that they accidentally drop the headstone hat on the ghost (and cause him to yell "ouch!"). Going by the fact that the ghost was able to pass through a solid wall in the previous bedroom scene, the headstone could not have hurt the real ghost, and would have likely gone through him. So thus, by this hypothesis, some of the appearances were the real ghost trying to scare Shaggy away, though other appearances were most likely the sheriff. However, it is very tough to tell in some scenes, such as the bridge one or some of the house ones, if the Uncle Beauregard which appeared was the real ghost or the sheriff in costume. The Skull Ghost is a really fun one to talk about, just because most people seem to presume that it was the sheriff's brother in all the appearances. However, if you look and listen closely, there are some differences in the Skull Ghost's physical appearance each time he shows up. The most prominent difference is that sometimes, the Skull Ghost is quite obviously a man in a suit with bones painted on. Other times, he seems to be made completely of real bones, and you can even hear his bones clanking against each other. You can see the side-by-side comparison I did of his appearances here. However, I'm not discounting the fact there that Hanna-Barbera just made an animation glitch here (as it's certainly been known to happen), but what I find particularly interesting about this is that this difference in appearances happens multiple times, but towards the end before they unmask the sheriff's brother, the Skull Ghost always appears in the black skeleton suit, while in the beginning few appearances, he is almost always the real-boned skeleton with a cape (which the sheriff's version of the ghost also doesn't have). My personal belief, because of this significant difference in appearance, which happens multiple times, is that the Skull Ghost was indeed real during the times in the beginning he appears without the black suit and with a cape. The only ghost which is obviously fake, in my opinion, is the Headless Horseman, who was proven to be a dummy/mannequin on a robot horse. However, if you're more creative and imaginative than me, I'm sure you could probably think up an awesome theory surrounding the Headless Horseman! There are so many cool hidden aspects of the mysteries in this film, it wouldn't surprise me if there was some special "clue" thrown into the movie to hint that horseman was supposedly "real." While we're talking about the Headless Horseman, let's get into the glowing-eyed wolf, which appeared with him at the beginning of the movie. There's unfortunately not too much to analyze about this particular "ghost"/creature, as it only appears at the very beginning of the film and for a brief 30 seconds, if even that. My opinion, which I'll admit is mainly based on how I think mystery movies should be as spooky, confusing and thought-inspiring as possible, is that the wolf is a "ghost" or some other supernatural creature, though again I have nothing to base that on other than my hopeful inner Scooby/movie nerd lol. What I do find interesting, however, is that no other Scooby sites list or even mention the wolf as a villain, or for that matter, at all, besides this one. I guess it just goes to show how unpopular of a villain he was, though I wish he would have showed up more in the movie! How cool would it have been to have a ghostly wolf running around the house in addition to all the other spirits? The ghost in the attic is another interesting one to discuss, as it's super ambiguous as to if it was Farquard, the Sheriff, or a real ghost. By real-life logic, it would have had to have been a real ghost, as a person couldn't have lived and dropped the 20+ feet from the attic to the ground floor. However, cartoon logic would obviously allow this, meaning it easily could have been Farquard or the Sheriff (more likely of the two Farquard, as he had the jewel which the ghost stole). But, the ghost didn't look or sound like Farquard, and you once again could hear bones clanking (bringing it back to my Skull Ghost theory), so hypothetically, the ghost in the attic could have been a real ghost who was after the treasure. The ape, who I believe Farquard called "Beebo" (or something to that affect) at the beginning of the film, is one of my favorite villains in this film! I love how un-self-aware/dimwitted he is, particularly his line "A ghost?" in reference to himself lol. It's never really proven otherwise, but I would claim that the ape was definitely a ghost. Farquard's comment at the beginning of the film that Uncle Beauregard shot the ape and had him stuffed, followed by the fact that the ape looks EXACTLY like the stuffed one Farquard shows everyone. The only argument I've heard against the ape being a ghost is that he is too timid to be a real spirit, as he is afraid of his spooky surroundings and the other ghosts. My only response to that is that ghosts can be quirky too haha! And before I end my discussion of the ape, I have to say that the ape's face when riding the mechanical horse at the end of the movie is soooo cute lol. This movie is such a cinematic masterpiece with so many amazing plot twists, spooky spirits, and well-developed mysteries which you can interpret in so many different, unique ways. The sophistication and intricacy in this film is what makes it one of my favorite Scooby movies of all-time to this date. If anyone has any thoughts on this film, whether it's in general or related to your perspective of the many unsolved mysteries this film has, please let me know in the comments and I'll be more than happy to discuss thoughts with you! |
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