There are a lot of incredible Scooby-Doo villains out there, but there are also a lot of terrible villains. If you enjoy the classic person-in-a-mask format, I suppose you could fill the list from purely Scrappy shorts, but I tried to limit the amount of ones I pulled from the Scrappy shorts. While I don't particularly enjoy villains like Nazrat of the Jungle or the Strongman, I feel there were some costumes in other episodes that were far worse. We're going to switch it around this time and do the worst list first, and I will post the best list soon. 10. Rankor There are a lot of options that I debated putting here, and I hate to put such a cool-looking villain here. However, Rankor (from "Coast-to-Ghost") looks certainly do not match his behavior. He is one of the dumbest villains in the history of the franchise IMO. He inexplicably reports to some random monster club that couldn't have been too high-level given Weerd and Bogel are trying to get into it. Even worse, he goes into the Demon Chest by his own free will, and actually thanks the gang as they capture him by exclaiming "Thanks, you guys are real pals!" Given this is supposedly one of the 13 most horrible ghosts in the world, the bar for that title can't be too high lol. 9. Skeleton I do have a soft spot for this one because it's so bad that it's kinda funny, but the Skeleton from "The Spooky Fog" is one of the most low-effort Scooby-Doo villains you'll find lol. Not only is it obvious that it's just a guy wearing a cheap suit with bones painted on it, the skeleton's movements are not scary or menacing in any way. In his first appearance in the gif above, it looks like he's just taking his evening stroll through the cemetery lol. 8. Ghost of Juan Carlos I feel bad having this on here, because I do really like the episode, but I have always found the Ghost of Juan Carlos from "Don't Go Near the Fortress of Fear" to be really bad. He looks like just a normal guy in a general's outfit. In fact, I'd go as far as to argue there's nothing really ghostly about him at all. 7. Carnival Owner This will be the first of five villains from the Scrappy shorts. A consistent problem you'll notice that I have with the Scrappy shorts is that I feel Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy sometimes act like jerks who do something really rude to somebody else, then take no responsibility. I don't like how the carnival owner was made to be the villain, when the guys were the ones that screwed up and ate all the profits, then ran rather than apologize or pay for what they ate. 6. Chef I don't find the chef from "Scooby Gumbo" to be well-written in the slightest. He's not even really a villain, technically, he's just a guy with strict rules about animals that the guys antagonize. 5. Carl and Tony Besides the fact that "Ransom of Scooby Chief" leads us into the Scrappy short era, which I didn't care for, I just feel like they're not great villains in general. Rather than menacing or forceful like I feel like would have been good with a kidnapper plot, they just come off kind of whiney and annoying to me. 4. Doctor I think we can all agree that the doctor from "Scrappy's Birthday" was just a flat-out bad villain lol. The idea of a doctor becoming so enraged that he chases visitors around the hospital is completely ridiculous. 3. Museum Guard The reason the Museum Guard from "Scooby Dooby Guru" is here is due to the fact that his whole character is just one bad stereotype after another. I've gone into detail in my least favorite episodes/films list about how awful some of the stereotypes this character is written with are, notably the fact that he jumps on a random elephant and chases the gang around town, as well as the awful Indian voice impression that the voice actor does. 2. McGurk Brothers Unless the McGurk Brothers from "Hoedown Showdown" are intended as a meta-reference to how stereotypes are bad, these are hands-down some of the worst Scooby-Doo villains I've ever seen. Basically their entire personalities are just bad stereotypes of hillbillies. The fact that their feud with Shaggy's family is that one of them wants to date Shaggy's cousin, but she's not interested because he doesn't take baths, is quite possibly the worst villain motive of the entire franchise lol. 1. Sheet Ghost
For me, the Sheet Ghost from "Haunted House Hang-Up" is hands down the worst Scooby-Doo villain we've ever had. The fact that the sheet he's wearing is so short that you can clearly see his human legs and arms is ridiculous and funny. It's clear he put very little effort into his costume lol.
21 Comments
As I mentioned in the previous top 10 settings article, I didn't think "Worst Settings" would make a good companion article for this, since I can't think of any instances where I disliked an episode based on the setting alone. So instead of that, I used an idea suggested by Matt, a regular commenter on the blog, and decided to pick out 10 episodes where I feel the setting is great, but isn't talked about very often. It was genuinely pretty tough to try to condense my list into just 10, but it was a fun challenge nonetheless. I don't have an order for these, as I don't really have a sense for which of these settings are more underrated than another. I feel all of these are underrated. Theater of Doom I mentioned this one in the comments but it was not mentioned in the actual post. I honestly think the episode in general is very underrated. I love how atmospheric the episode is in the sense all 22 minutes either takes place on the tiny stage, or in the creepy backstage-like basement. Having such a focus location greatly enhanced the plot and the creepiness of the mystery, and I don't think this episode gets enough recognition for that. The Exterminator In general, I think The New Scooby-Doo Movies is underrated for its settings as a whole, but this is one of the episodes that really stands out to me for its setting. It's not talked about much as a haunted house episode, but the creepy house on the hill makes a great haunted house. I also particularly like the inclusion of the paintings. The fact that several of the paintings and statues (like the bird with the piggy bank, for example) can suddenly move and grab you at any time makes the setting even more spooky and disturbing. Scooby-Doo, Where's the Crew? I don't hear this one talked about very much, but the ship's setting is so dark and terrifying. I would argue that this episode is as dark as any of the season 2 episodes. The gang being trapped on a ship lost at sea with three ghouls is really creepy, since there's literally no way they can escape. The atmosphere of the whole episode feels really dark in a way that not a lot of Scooby episodes do. Scooby's Peep Hole Pandemonium For an episode that has a very odd title, it has a really good setting; arguably the best of any of the 7 or 11-minute shorts. In comparison to the other series, it's not among the all-time best settings in the franchise, but I like how reminiscent this feels of a classic Scooby-Doo haunted house. The way this episode is able to do that despite the very different tone of the series from the 1960s and 1970s is definitely notable, and deserves more recognition than it gets. The Hand of Horror On that same subject, "The Hand of Horror" is another underrated setting. The Von Gizmo Estate presents another example of a setting feeling very atmospheric and being developed very well despite the short runtime. The Weird Winds of Winona This is another underrated The New Scooby-Doo Movies setting. The fact that this town is completely abandoned makes it feel foreboding, both at the farmer's house and the town hall. Admittedly, the short bit we get in the caves at the end of the episode isn't anything special, since this series seems to overuse caves a bit in my opinion, but the other two settings aren't talked about enough IMO. Night on Haunted Mountain I don't really know if "underrated" is the right word to describe this setting, but I never really hear anyone talk about this setting. The gang venturing up the mountain feels quite ominous, and the old ship remains have a very creepy vibe to them. I especially like the bit at the end with the El Aguirre's ghost showing up. I honestly wish he would have gotten his own episode, because his design is so amazing! The Ghostly Creep from the Deep This is the second-to-last New Scooby-Doo Movies that will appear here. I really like the setting of the old inn here. The fact that it is abandoned and in the middle of a swamp obviously enhances the setting quite a bit, but I also like the level of detail put into the outside of the inn. The inn looks very run-down and like it hasn't been used in years, which bumps this up a couple levels further in its spooky factor. The Frickert Fracas This episode is underrated in general, but I feel like a large part of that is the setting. Maude Frickert's farm has a very dark, spooky feel to it, and it's very challenging to do that with a simplistic setting like a farm IMO. The fact that most of the episode takes place at night adds to the creepiness of it, since the gang is walking around in the dark in a cornfield, where anything could jump out at them at any time. The farm itself is done in a very atmospheric way that really pulls you in, unlike "The Ghost of the Red Baron" a few episodes later, which kinda falls flat in comparison. This episode did an amazing job of using the farm to its full potential. The Beast Is Awake in Bottomless Lake
I notice that the settings I like best create a dark and foreboding atmosphere, and this is one where I feel it's done really well. Similarly to "The Weird Winds of Winona," the town being basically abandoned and the whole thing taking place at night creates an atmosphere with a creepy vibe. Moreover, the Beast appearing seemingly everywhere amps up the terror even further, which I love. Also, this doesn't factor into my feelings on the setting, but it never fails to amuse me that Canada puts up a cheap wooden sign that says "Welcome to Canada" at the border. No other tourist information or a fancy sign at all, just a little wooden sign haha. It was tough to condense my list into ten settings, but I hope you enjoyed reading this list! If you have any settings that you feel are underrated, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! It's no secret at this point that Velma has been critically panned. Whether you love it or hate it, the majority of the fandom was not satisfied with this edgy adult reboot of the franchise. Now, Velma has wrapped up airing its first season and the fate of the show remains uncertain. Given I was one of those fans who disliked Velma, this feels like the perfect time to talk about the direction I would like the see the franchise go in the future. In the following article, I outlined three broad ideas I have for the future of the franchise, although I've included some concrete series premises amongst my discussion of these ideas. I organized it this way because I am honestly pretty open to new series ideas; honestly, it's the writing and character development that are most important to me.
1. A reboot that builds on Where Are You, but does not attempt to copy it One of the biggest complaints about Guess Who is that the show often played it too safe. It tried to replicate the tone of Where Are You exactly, but it couldn't quite capture that original magic. While Guess Who isn't my favorite series, I do kind of appreciate what it tried to do by bringing things back to the original tone. Guess Who's biggest fault for me was trying to force that tone to the point where many episodes were a bit stale. Although they are very different series, one way to interpret some people's dissatisfaction with the franchise as of late, is that the common theme betweenVelma and Guess Who is that both of them tried too hard to force a tone that didn't work. Expanding or taking inspiration from something is different than trying to force it. As amazing as Where Are You is, I don't think anybody would want 49 straight seasons of the exact same thing, because it would get old if there was no variety after a while. I think a reboot of Where Are You could work if it were done in a way that used the original tone, but created something new in the process of doing that. I thought Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! did a great job of using the same classic formula, and by adding a more humorous twist and developing the characters in interesting ways, the writers were able to create something engaging and different. Something like this that builds on an aspect of an old series, (whether it be Where Are You or not) but doesn't attempt to directly copy it, could be a good direction to go. For example, perhaps they create settings with a similarly dark feel to Where Are You, but show the gang members each developing as characters in different ways. There needs to be a unique defining characteristic of each series, otherwise there is no point in creating a new series if you are going to try to match the tone of a previous series exactly. 2. A mature show that does not overuse adult themes This is a broad umbrella, and I'll elaborate with some ideas for this later. One of my biggest issues with Velma is how overly try-hard the writers are about the humor. Although it is becoming more common in sitcoms for people to think of "mature" and "adult themes" as the same thing, I firmly believe that they do not have to be. I have never felt that a series needs to be super raunchy in order to for me to think of it as mature. "Adult themes" typically refers to sexual jokes, drug references, intense gore and violence, whereas mature shows can simply mean that a show is too dark for kids, or the themes might be too frightening for a younger audience. It's always been a bit perplexing to me that WB-Discovery has never looked at the overwhelming success of Zombie Island as something that would work consistently for the franchise. In my 15 years in the fandom, I've met very few fans who have a single bad thing to say about Zombie Island, and it's critically acclaimed even by folks who do not frequently watch the franchise. They could make another show with the mature tone of the Zombie Island era movies, and I think everybody would love it. Even if they made something dark not quite to that level of glory - take the Mystery Incorporated YouTube series from last year for example - I would love to see a show like that. There are clearly plenty of adult fans who still watch the franchise, and WB-Discovery knows this, otherwise they wouldn't keep referencing old stuff from the 1970s and 1980s that no young fans would recognize. Some specific, concrete ideas that would fit that tone could be a series like Wednesday. Wednesday and Velma are night and days in terms of quality. Wednesday manages to be a great mature reboot of the series that doesn't need to rely on sexual jokes, intense violence, and inappropriate humor as a crutch for bad writing. Simply having the gang solve the mystery of a serial killer in a Halloween costume of some sort could make a really good plot, especially if it was similar in tone to Zombie Island or even Mystery Incorporated (minus the romantic drama). Perhaps you could have it set at a boarding school, much like Wednesday, and have the gang meet each other through solving the mystery together. I would love to see a mature Scooby-Doo show in the vein of Wednesday. I also think this would be a great opportunity to create a universe where there is some shared lore from previous Scooby series. For example, recurring characters could show up, or aspects of the main characters from a certain iteration could be developed further. Another thing that I've talked about before on here that I disliked with Guess Who is the overuse of references, where they almost felt gimmicky. The best Easter Eggs for me are the ones that are tied tightly into the plot, rather than just "hey, there's a picture of Redbeard over there!" A mature reboot presents a great opportunity to create franchise lore based upon previous series and characterizations, rather than random references that aren't connected to anything. 3. Spinoff with Side Characters WB could also do a spin-off of some of the beloved side characters of the franchise. I've mentioned on here that I've written a Ghoul School coming-of-age fanfic for the girls in high school, and a Hex Girls fanfic about how they got started as a band. I think both of these things would make amazing TV shows as long as they stayed at least somewhat true to the original tone (looking at you, Return to Zombie Island). The Hex Girls show is long overdue in my opinion; I think everyone would like that as long as they kept the girls in-character from their previous appearances. Showing how they became a band seems like the most logical series to do, but you could do a number of different plots with the girls, such as getting them involved in some sort of supernatural mystery; the girls going up against a witch as they're exploring Wicca further; or they could even do a high school coming-of-age plot where the girls run into a mystery at their school. One could even argue that a spin-off featuring a gang member that actually keeps them true to their character would make an enjoyable show. I wrote another fanfic about Velma teaching at her sister Madelyn's school, Whirlen Merlin's, which is the vein of what I'm talking about here. I would like to see a show that actually develops the characters in a natural way that is consistent with what has been established over the past 50 years. Velma missed that mark by making the characters completely different than anything we'd seen before, and Guess Who also missed that mark by making the characters too stale. Especially at the beginning of the show, some of Fred, Daphne, and Velma's lines arguably could have been interchangeable and we probably wouldn't have even noticed. Another idea in that similar vein is a spinoff involving Scooby, or one of the gang's relatives. I'd especially love to see a show of Scooby solving mysteries with Scooby-Dum; I feel like that would be really wholesome and hilarious. The ideas are pretty endless for a new Scooby-Doo series, but these are ultimately the elements I most want to see in the next Scooby-Doo series after Mystery Pups. WB has had a history of kind of knee-jerk reactions to previous shows after the fact, and some of them have worked, and some of them haven't. The Be Cool writers have come out and said that WB told them they wanted a funny show after the dark, frightening tone of SDMI, but then they felt Be Cool didn't play it safe enough, so they created Guess Who. The preschool tone of Mystery Pups seems like a direct response to Velma being an adult show. I am pretty open-minded to new ideas; I think the most important aspects are good characterization, compelling mysteries, and an attempt to explore some new aspect of the franchise's formula that has not already been explored. There are so many incredible settings within Scooby-Doo! We've been doing a lot of settings polls on here recently, and I recently was thinking that it might be cool to come up with a list of my favorite settings of the entire franchise. I had never really thought deeply about what my favorite settings within Scooby-Doo are, so this was a really fun project to decide on my favoirtes. I've been doing a lot of favorite/least favorite lists lately, but for the settings, I'm not going to do a least favorite post. The reason for that being I don't really feel that I dislike any episodes based on setting alone (there's even that one Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! episode that takes place in a garbage dump that's pretty good lol). Usually, if I dislike an episode, it's because there are other elements that also were not so good, like the tone, the villain, the characterization, etc. Honorable Mention: The Secret of Shark Island This is one of the best hotel settings of the entire franchise, although we actually will have another hotel episode appear later on this list. The tone of the episode and the vibe of the hotel is super spooky, and it makes it even more foreboding that the gang is quite literally trapped on this isolated island due to flooding. 10. Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders Something about the setting of Roswell, New Mexico is just so peaceful to me. The gang exploring the small town feels very atmospheric and homely. The animation of this film is absolutely gorgeous and really brings you into the setting. I also love the scenes exploring Scorpion Ridge as Crystal and Amber are trying to take pictures. The fact that much of this movie takes place out in nature makes the film feel very Earthy and peaceful. 9. A Halloween Hassle at Dracula's Castle Like I mentioned in my favorite episodes post, I absolutely love how it feels like this episode is built around the setting by slowly taking us through the castle. This is easily my favorite castle setting in Scooby-Doo, which is a high bar because I tend to love nearly all the episodes with castle settings in general. The basement with the hidden passages and rooms that could cave in at any moment add an extra layer of creepiness to an already amazing castle. 8. The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race I don't usually particularly love racing settings, but this episode does the best job out of any episode making a very normal setting seem creepy. The race happening on a dark, foggy night creates a very unsettling tone, and the fact that the fog serves to allow the Phantom Racer to capture people without anyone seeing him makes it even more terrifying. Season 2 of The Scooby-Doo Show certainly had some dark episodes, and this is one of the two darkest settings of that season. 7. The Loch Ness Mess This feels like such a classic Scooby-Doo haunted house to me. Everything about this setting screams "Scooby-Doo." Uncle Nat's old house is super creepy, and while the lake isn't as creepy, I do feel that those scenes are quite atmospheric. As I believe I've mentioned before, the scene where the ghost with the lantern disappears into the night is one of the most memorable scenes of the franchise for me. While this is far from the darkest or most atmospheric episode out there, the reason this ranks so high to me is because the setting feels like it captures the essence of Scooby so well. It won't quite make this list, but shout out to "Wedding Bell Boos" for also capturing this New England atmosphere really well. 6. Night Terrors I was just talking about this with a few people in the comments for our poll this week, but I feel like "Night Terrors" is one of the best haunted house settings in the entire franchise. This episode transcends the traditional haunted house setting in the sense it's kind of framed as both a library and an old creepy house on a hill. However, I feel the plot helps create a super creepy setting that make this one just as much of a classic as some of the other haunted house settings. Horrifying things randomly happening throughout the episode make this setting feel absolutely nightmarish. In addition, the fact that even the gang has no idea what's going on until the last few minutes of the episode really helps build one of the most suspenseful and surreal atmospheres in the entire franchise. 5. Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats We have arrived at the other hotel episode and the other Scooby-Doo Show season 2 episode I mentioned earlier! This is one of the darkest episodes in the entire franchise in my opinion. The animators did an incredible job making the hotel backgrounds have a super spooky, dark feel to them. The whole plot of the gang wandering the halls of a dark hotel at night with a vampire on the loose is super creepy. Some of the scenes in particular, like the Lisa turning into a vampire scene, and the scene where the vampire calls Lisa from a dark room in the middle of the night, do a great job of constructing the creepy aesthetic in this episode. Speaking of dark episodes, shout out to "The Harum Scarum Sanitarium," which didn't quite make the cut for this list, but is another amazingly dark episode that really pulls you in with how foreboding the tone is. 4. Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers This is another one of those settings that just feels so authentically Scooby-ish. Uncle Beauregard's mansion has such a creepy atmosphere around it, and even the outside of the house when they're walking in the caves or woods feels super creepy. The old creaky floorboards and the fact that it's run down, as well as all the secret passages, really enhance the setting to me. This feels like one of the most classic Scooby-Doo haunted house settings out there, and that's a big feat given there are so many of them. 3. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island What else do I need to say? It's Zombie freaking Island lol. In seriousness though, the background animation in this film is easily better than any other film or movie out there, in my opinion. Mook Animation makes everything look very realistic and mature. The creepy setting of the island has a very unsettling feel to it, and of course, the setting is greatly enhanced by how dark the film is. 2. Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost Although you could argue it's slow to start, I love how the audience is gradually introduced to the setting during the slower exposition at the beginning of the film. I absolutely love the peaceful, relaxing feel that the setting of Oakhaven has, and it feels like that extra time was very well spent creating an atmosphere and letting the audience really become immersed in exploring the setting with the gang. 1. Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?
It will likely come as a surprise to people that this is above Zombie Island and Witch's Ghost lol. When coming up with my list, one of the first questions I asked myself to determine my all-time favorite setting was "which setting best captures the essence of Scooby-Doo?" While the settings Zombie Island and Witch's Ghost are immaculately done and arguably have the best animation of anything in the franchise, I feel like Captain Moody's house best captures the episode of a Scooby episode. Ever since seeing this episode for the first time when I was a kid, this feels like the most classic Scooby-Doo haunted house setting I can think of. It does the same thing as "A Halloween Hassle at Dracula's Castle" and Witch's Ghost where the episode's structure slowly leads you through the setting, which allows the audience to become more immersed in the setting. I love how creepy and dark the first quarter of the episode is, with the gang being lost and stumbling upon Captain Moody's house, then becoming trapped in the basement. The second quarter of the episode focuses mainly on the main floor, where we're introduced to Homer Pipsqueak and all his disguises, and the third quarter focuses on the top floor of the house where the bedrooms are. This episode is a perfect example of how to use a 43-minute runtime well, because it uses that runtime to gradually lead the audience through the house and slowly introduces you to the atmosphere. Some of my favorite episodes and films are the ones that give the plot space to build atmosphere, and this episode does it best in my opinion. In making this list, I found that episodes that slowly but steadily build atmosphere were among my favorites. Moreover, I also tended to gravitate towards episodes that completely immerse you in the setting, and this was an especially prevalent feeling for me when being immersed in the setting led to the episode/film feeling darker. Lastly, episodes that can only be described as feeling "authentically Scooby-ish" also tended to make this list quite a bit. I feel like "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?" is the best example of this because it perfectly represents all three of these phenomena. After ranking the Where Are You theme songs last week, I thought it might be fun to also do a quick post ranking the What's New, Scooby-Doo? theme song versions, since it's the only other Scooby-Doo theme song that has had multiple covers done of it at the time of posting this. 3. Anarbor Unlike the Where Are You theme songs, I don't dislike any of these; I just like the other two a bit better. This cover from Mystery Begins is a pretty solid adaptation of the theme song, but personally I prefer "You & I" from them. I find it amusing that WB keeps reusing this cover so much on all the DVD menus. Like I think I mentioned in a recent post, my head canon is that one of the WB executives jams to this in their bedroom every night, and is like "we have to use this in everything!" haha. 2. The Hex Girls The Hex Girls cover of this from "The Vampire Strikes Back" is great; nearly as good as the original Simple Plan version in my opinion. The cover sounds very consistent with the rest of The Hex Girls discography, and works very well in their style. 1. Simple Plan
'Nuff said lol. Although I like both the covers, the original will always be my favorite. This is such a classic and Simple Plan does an amazing job with it. The pop-rock feel of this feels so reminiscent of the early 2000s to me. This remains my favorite Scooby-Doo theme song of all-time. This post was much shorter than the Where Are You one, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! I think I mentioned it briefly in a comment section, but coming later this week, I'm planning to post my reviews of the first two episodes of Velma when they come out on Thursday. Regardless of how bad or good it is, I plan to review all 10 episodes within a day or two of when the episodes come out. I can't believe we're only days away from a new series! There have been quite a few different adaptations of the iconic Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? theme song over the years. By request, I'm going to rank them all for you here! I don't necessarily have a ton to say since I'm basically ranking the same song over a dozen times haha, but if for some reason I glossed over any aspect of the song you'd like to know my opinion about, you're welcome to ask in the comments1 Like with the other music post from Tuesday, I tried to find official versions of each of theme songs, but there weren't any official uploads for many of these, so I unfortunately will have to link some unofficial YouTube uploads here. 13. Guess Who Theme Song This is basically the Where Are You theme song, so I'm including it here. This is likely a hot take, but I am not a fan of this version. Someone left a comment a few months ago that said the theme song sounds like a "playground taunt against the guy who sang the original," and honestly, I kind of agree with that lol. Something about the guy's voice is sounds almost mocking and unpleasant to listen to. 12. Best Coast I want to start by saying even for these I've ranked lower, there's no version of the Where Are You theme song from here forward that I actively dislike. For this one, it's just kind of mediocre. Best Coast's vocals sound kind of generic, and the production isn't really anything special. 11. Legend of the Vampire Opening This is the last version I'm not a big fan of. The rock-inspired cover here sounds kind of generic and there isn't really anything special about it, especially compared to the others. 10. Legend of the Vampire - Velma's Cover Another version from Legend of the Vampire, but I like this one much better. I think Crystal Harris, the voice actress who was Velma's singing voice in this movie, who sounds great here. 9. Shaggy Fun fact if you didn't know, the 2002 live action Scooby-Doo film originally had a completely different opening that provides a backstory to why the gang started chasing the Luna Ghost. This opening includes a cover of the Where Are You theme song by the rapper Shaggy (not to be confused with the character of the same name haha). I think Shaggy's version sounds quite good here, and Shaggy's additional rap verses work well for what they are. 8. MxPx Surprisingly, I had actually never heard this before writing this post. I thought I had, but when I relistened to all these, I had no memory of this. In contrast to the generic sounding Legend of the Vampire rock cover, I think this sounds really good! It reminds me a bit of Simple Plan's What's New, Scooby-Doo? theme song, as it's in that same 2000s punk rock vein. I think their take on the song sounds really good! Besides the version I linked, there's also apparently the "10 hour extreme extended version" of this song lol. 7. B-52s I genuinely did not realize this version was the B-52s until now, but that's really cool! You may recognize the B-52s for their famous hit, "Love Shack." I quite like how they got famous singers to perform the Where Are You theme song for these four Zombie Island era movies. That's a concept that easily could have been cringey, but I think in all four cases, they fit in really well. I think their version sounds really good, and I like the production here. 6. Jennifer Love Hewitt Jennifer's cover of this sounds great! The electronic production works really well here, and gives it a kind of out-of-this-world feel, which fits well with Alien Invaders for obvious reasons haha. 5. Third Eye Blind I really like Third Eye Blind's version of the cover. I like the echoey sound of their voices, and it feels very reminiscent of the new wave music that was becoming popular in the 90s. 4. Scooby-Doo, I'm So Blue This version of the theme song in Trick or Treat, Scooby-Doo when the gang has no monsters to catch is absolutely hilarious! It was so funny watching the gang doing odd jobs around town haha. 3. Billy Ray Cyrus The original two will always be my favorites, but this is easily my favorite cover. I think Billy's voice sounds great here combined with the groovy retro instrumental. The production feels very 60s to me, and the twang in Billy's voice sounds really good combined with it. 2. Season 2 Version The higher-pitched vocals are a cool spin on the original, and I think George A. Robertson sounds really good. However, the classic season 1 version will always be my favorite out of pure nostalgia. I'm not going to rank the unused instrumental version, since it basically just became the score music for the title card, and it was used a couple times as background music in the series. Which leaves us with my #1 choice... 1. Season 1 Version I hope you enjoyed this article! It was fun going through all the different versions of the theme song, and as always, if you want to share your own rankings, I'd love to see them in the comments!
We've been doing a lot of rankings on here lately, but I love doing editorial articles as well (I would say the Analysis of Technology's Evolution in Scooby-Doo article and the Another Perspective on Fake vs. Real Monsters are among my favorite pieces I've written on here). For this post, I wanted to do something completely different and random that's kind of a mix of rankings and an editorial article. For those that don't know this about me...and you probably don't, because I think I've only mentioned it once in a comment section lol...besides Scooby, I'm also really into music. There are so many amazing songs in the Scooby-Doo franchise - The Hex Girls and the Where Are You chase songs being among my favorites - but I don't necessarily listen to those outside of watching the episodes they're in. There are several songs from Scooby-Doo that I will sometimes listen to outside of their respective episodes and films when I am listening to music. I thought it would be fun to outline those 12 songs here. I'll talk about them by ordering them from least favorite to favorite. 11. The Worst Day Ever by Simple Plan From: "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" - What's New, Scooby-Doo? This is one of three Simple Plan songs that I listen to outside of the respective episodes. Unlike some of the forthcoming artists, What's New, Scooby-Doo? introduced me to the band. Although many people call the pop-punk era cringey, I actually kind of like some stuff from that genre...Paramore, Bowling for Soup, Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte and Green Day come to mind. This is not one I listen to super frequently, but it's a nice track from Simple Plan and always makes me think of the episode whenever I listen to it. 10. Yikes by Jack Harlow From: SCOOB! soundtrack It's really neat to me how Jack Harlow appeared on a Scooby-Doo movie soundtrack right before he became famous. The song was released back in 2020 when he was outside freely (bonus points if you get that reference lol) before he released "What's Poppin" and "First Class," which are his most famous songs. I don't have much to say about this one other than the production is nice and quite spooky, and Jack sounds good here. It's not one I return to super often, but it is a good song and one I find myself listening to occasionally. It's also notable for being one of the only Scooby songs to have a bit of a risqué lyric, that being the random lyric about him driving the Mystery Machine while intoxicated lol. 9. I Fly by Galantis & Faouzia From: SCOOB! soundtrack This is the song that Blue Falcon plays right at the end of SCOOB! during the dance party. I'd never heard of Faouzia prior to this song, and my only exposure to Galantis was his collaboration with Sofia Carson. This is a really cute song, and while it's not necessarily one I'll listen to a lot, it's such a feel-good song that I'll listen to it on occasion. The upbeat production is great and Faouzia has a very powerful voice. 8. Thank You by Big Brovaz From: Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Soundtrack This is among the more obscure picks on this list, but I've found myself listening to this occasionally. This is the song played during the end credits in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Scooby-Doo soundtracks seem to have a knack for being full of great, feel-good songs, and this definitely falls in that category. It's a very smooth R&B sounding jam, and I think all of the members of Big Brovaz do a great job with making their vocals flow smoothly with the production. Also, fun fact, this is actually a cover of a Sly and the Family Stone song from 1969, the year Scooby came out. 7. A Donde Vas by Carolina Lao From: Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico I did a fun fact on this back in 2017, but if you don't remember it or weren't on the site back then, you may be surprised to find this out. You know that chase song in Spanish played during the pyramid chase in Monster of Mexico? It's actually a real song not made specifically for the film. It's on the debut album of Carolina Lao, an up-and-coming Spanish singer at the time. I believe this song was placed in the film to promote her album like they did with Lindsay Pagano and Simple Plan, and it would line up with that 2002-2003 time period where WB was doing that. I've been listening to this one often on lately, and I absolutely love her voice. The upbeat production and cheerful energy throughout the song make this one really enjoyable to listen to. This is definitely an underrated standout of Scooby-Doo chase songs, IMO. 6. You Don't Mean Anything by Simple Plan From: "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" - What's New, Scooby-Doo? Next up, we've got another Simple Plan track which is the chase song from "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman." This is another song that always reminds me of the chase scene from that episode whenever I listen to it. The first time I listened to this, I was surprised to discover that the version we hear in the episode is actually not the full song! There is bridge and another chorus that's cut off in the episode, but it made it on their album. I find it really neat how WB struck a deal with several up-and-coming artists (i.e. Simple Plan, Lindsay Pagano) during that early 2000s period to include them in an episode. It always felt very natural, and never felt forced in. 5. I'd Do Anything by Simple Plan From: "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine" - What's New, Scooby-Doo? This is the last of the Simple Plan songs that made my list, and it's my favorite of them. To me, this is quintessentially that early 2000s rock sound, and I absolutely love it. This reminds me so much of the chase scene in the episode whenever I hear it, and it remains a favorite of mine that I listen to semi-frequently. I also think it's really cool that this is the only Scooby-Doo chase song to be charting on the Billboard Hot 100 around the time when it was used in the episode. 4. Shining Star by Ruben Studdard From: Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Soundtrack I tried to find the official videos to link for all of these, but this one did not appear to have one, as you can probably tell by the image of the cartoon fish in the top left corner rather than a picture of Ruben lol. This is another smooth R&B jam that I love for how funky the production it is. I quite like Ruben's voice as well. Like the other Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed song that made my list, this is a cover of an Earth, Wind and Fire song of the same name from 1975. I've also got a bit of a fun anecdote to share with this one. Back when I was in college, my math professor would always play music for a few minutes before class while everyone was coming in. I've never heard any of these other songs out in public, but oddly, my math professor would play this song at least once every couple weeks before class. I have no idea why, or if he was a Scooby-Doo fan or not, but it was really surprising to hear this haha. 3. On Me by Thomas Rhett & Kane Brown featuring Ava Max From: SCOOB! Soundtrack This is another one from the SCOOB! soundtrack played during the end credits. While I consider myself pretty open in terms of music genre, I am generally not a fan of country. I enjoy "Be Like That" from Kane Brown and "Memory" to an extent, but I have not liked anything I've previously heard from Thomas Rhett. I have heard quite a few songs from Ava and have liked them. Surprisingly, Kane, Ava and Thomas have great chemistry together in the song. I will say it is a bit hard for me to tell Thomas and Kane's vocals apart due to the autotune haha, but overall I think their vocals sound great, and Ava's make a nice addition. The lyrics are once again very cute and feel good, and this is one I listen to more often than any of the previous ones. Also, fun fact if you didn't know, it appears there are two slightly different versions of this song. I was listening to the songs as I wrote my reviews up, and the music video version appears to make Ava's vocals at the end of chorus much quieter, whereas her vocals are the same volume throughout the whole chorus on the non music video version. 2. Summer Feelings - Lennon Stella & Charlie Puth From: SCOOB! Soundtrack This is the final song off the SCOOB! soundtrack that makes my list. It's the only song here I believe that didn't actually appear in a film or episode to any extent, but it was on the soundtrack. I'd previously only heard Lennon Stella on "Takeaway" (her collaboration with The Chainsmokers and Illenium), but I've heard a lot of Charlie Puth's music and like him as an artist. I think they sound great together, particularly in the final chorus. The production is very bubbly and atmospheric, and it works really well with their soft vocals. This is a standout in terms of Scooby-Doo soundtrack material IMO. 1. You & I by Anarbor
From: Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Soundtrack I've talked about how I like that pop-punk sound previously in this post with the Simple Plan songs, so it seems only fitting that the #1 song here is "You & I" by Anarbor. It's another obscure one that was played briefly during Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins when Scooby and Shaggy first meet each other (and it's also played during the end credits). This is the only song of the bunch where I have any comments about the music video, but this music video is so cute. You can tell the band really had a lot of fun dressing up as monsters and playing in an old spooky barn. To me, the best music videos are always the ones that either tell a story, or where you can really tell the artist/band is having fun. I'm honestly not much of a fan of music videos where the artist is just posing or mindlessly dancing around. It's the ones where you can really tell the artist was passionate about making it that are the most enjoyable for me, and this one certainly fit the bill. The tone of the song is so carefree and lighthearted that you can't help but love it. I really love Anarbor's vocals here...and clearly I'm not the only one, since WB has put their cover of What's New, Scooby-Doo? on pretty much every DVD menu since lol. My personal head canon is that one of the WB executives is up in their room full on head-banging to Anarbor's What's New, Scooby-Doo? cover every night lol. This was definitely an unorthodox post, but I hope you enjoyed reading it! I do have three more rankings posts written up that have been pre-written since October now (and I'll post them in the coming months), but I also don't want to get caught in the rut of having the monthly articles be rankings every single time. I plan to start doing some more editorial articles here at some point mixed in with rankings, just so there's a bit more of a balance than there has been lately. I really enjoyed writing this up and doing something different, so I'm excited to continue experimenting with different types of posts like this! :) It's that time of year once again where I love to snuggle up with a good winter Scooby-Doo episode as the weather's getting a bit colder. Since we did the Christmas specials last week, so I won't be including those episodes again, but I will include a list at the end combining my rankings of the winter and Christmas episodes. It's worth mentioning that I did previously review these back in 2016, but a few episodes have come out since then, and I didn't specifically rank the episodes in my original post. Given there are 25 episodes here, this is going to be a very long list, so here we go! 25. Scooby's Swiss Miss You may remember this one from being on my worst of the franchise list. This is the only winter episode I outright dislike. Even if they are weird, the other ones at least have some level of charm, whereas this one doesn't really have anything going for it. Not only are the antics are very Tom and Jerry like, but the poodle's relationship with the bulldog kinda creeps me out. I won't go into the whole explanation again since I just mentioned it in the Worst Scooby Content post, but the poodle saying "at least he can't run away!" to the bulldog as she's attempting to marry him while he's in crutches leaves me feeling very uncomfortable. I'm sure the writers thought it was funny, but ultimately it comes off as emotionally abusive and for that reason, I don't enjoy this episode. 24. Snow Job Too Small I love inheritance plotlines and this one works well, but this one has soured on me a bit since my last review of it. The Abominable Snowman has a super cool design, but his voice/roar...is not so cool haha. It sounds as if he's in some sort of pain lol. I felt while the episode had an excellent plot, there wasn't enough time to execute it. It's a bit rushed and I think it would have been a lot better had there been time to develop some of the elements of the mystery. The kid that they are helping with the inheritance, Wilbur, is also very annoying with how entitled he is. 23. Alaskan King Coward This is about the same level as the last short with me, since it's just them running away from some sort of prehistoric-looking ice monster for the whole episode. However, nostalgia elevates this one a little bit for me, because I have fond memories of watching it as a kid on my Nutcracker Scoob VHS tape. Actually, fun fact, this is the first Scrappy short I ever watched. 22. South Pole Vault I like this episode for how bizarre it is. The villain is an insane sea lion out for revenge, and some of the antics with the sea lions are truly hilarious. Dr. Carlin with his constant repetition of "millions and billions" is interesting to say the least haha. I really love the reveal as well, where the culprit says "let me out of here!" in a goofy voice while still wearing the sea lion costume. Despite that it's not winter-themed, I also will sometimes watch "Night of the Living Toys" with this one, since it deals with an elf and toys, so it feels somewhat related to Christmas. 21. Scooby-Doo and the Sky Town Cool School! This was a pretty average episode. Billy Dee's "Cool School" was a cute idea, but the villain was just alright. I felt the pterodactyl was much better done in "Scary Christmas" and "Hang in There, Scooby-Doo." The culprit was also extremely easy to figure out. 20. Caveman on the Half Pipe! I would say this episode is pretty middle of the road for Guess Who and I like the Where Are You episode that this reimagines ("Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright"). I like the episode well enough and Chloe was a good guest star, but I like the caveman in Where Are You a bit better. This episode was pretty average for Guess Who, and I didn't find it particularly memorable in any way. 19. Rocky Mountain Yiiiii! I enjoy this episode, although I would say "The Ghost of Bigfoot" does this concept a bit better. I thought the Ghost of Jeremiah Pratt was a decent villain, and I liked the setting of the ski lodge. This is one of the more middling winter episodes for me, but it's good for what it is and I still find myself watching it every year. 18. Scooby on Ice! I liked Tara quite a bit as a guest star. It was interesting that Simone appeared again for the fifth time, but I was surprised that this was her last appearance. I was a bit surprised that they chose to redesign two Where Are You villains for the two Guess Who winter episodes in a row. The old woman's Snow Devil legend seemed like a reimagining of Fu Lan Chi's legend, and I thought they did it well. I was surprised that they referenced Flim-Flam and the 13th ghosts in this episode. My only real complaint about this episode is that the trap scene went on for too long. It started near the 14 minute mark of the episode and went on for nearly five minutes before concluding. 17. Doom Service I really enjoyed this episode, although it doesn't particularly stick out as a winter episode to me. The Ghost of Ebenezer Overview was an interesting villain, in the sense that he just looked like a regular human. The setting of the hotel gave the episode a very creepy vibe. I enjoy how weird and quirky this episode is, especially with the lady walking her invisible dog. 16. More Fondue for Scooby-Doo This is an enjoyable Get a Clue episode. I enjoyed the plot of Shaggy and Scooby having to stop Phibes from attacking a global warming conference, while they have to flee from trained assassins. Misty's attack dog, Carla, is adorable lol. I don't really have a lot to say about this episode since it's pretty simplistic, but it's a lot of fun for what it is and I enjoy watching it every year. 15. The Nightmare Ghost of Psychic U! This is my favorite of the Guess Who Winter episodes. Whoopi is such a great guest star and seems really into her role. The creepy atmosphere of the gang being in an isolated mansion surrounded by a snowstorm really creates a spooky vibe here. The Nightmare Ghost is also one of my favorite villains of the series. He reminds me a lot of Slenderman, and even with that aside, his super long legs and arms still make him look terrifying. There were a lot of cute moments in this episode, and overall I find it to be very heartwarming. 14. A Scary Night with a Snow Beast Fright Of the ones I consider to be classic Scooby-Doo winter episodes, I would say this is my least favorite one. The plot is a bit less exciting than a lot of other Scooby-Doo Show episodes, although the scene in the caves and the dark atmosphere of the village is good. The Snow Beast's design is quite interesting and creative. 13. Be Cold, Scooby-Doo! I really enjoyed this episode. While I can't say I liked it quite as much as the Headless Snowman, Mr. Roundy was still a very cool villain. The repeated slapstick humor of the gang falling on the ice got a little old after a while, but otherwise, I thought the humor here was good as usual. Being a Boy Meets World fan, it was cool to see Will Friedle voice two characters, Dr. Mason and Eric. I thought it was really fun they named his character at the beginning Eric, given Eric is the name of the character he plays on Boy Meets World. 12. Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! Like I mentioned in my recent movie rankings, I've got a soft spot for this film. It was fun seeing Shaggy and Scooby have an adventure on their own here. Of Abominable Snowmen we've gotten, this is by far my favorite. The reference of Shaggy doing his "DJ voice" always makes me smile as well, given this was one of the final times Casey would voice Shaggy. 11. Naughty or Ice Some might not consider this episode to be winter-themed, but I count this as a winter episode since it takes place in an Ice Hotel. On the other hand, I do not count "Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright" as a winter episode, since the lakes are shown to be open lol. In my original review, I said I didn't really like Daphne's quirk of the week, but it's definitely grown on me, as has the whole episode. I really like this caveman, just as much as I like the caveman in "Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright." The scene where Shaggy and Scooby teach him how to speak English and he excitedly exclaims "My name is Ice Man!" is so cute haha. It makes me genuinely feel a little bad for him when it's revealed to all be a trick lol. 10. Uncle Scooby and Antarctica This episode has continued to grown on me over the years. The fish fiend is such a cool looking villain, and the idea of the gang being trapped in Antarctica is so cool. This is perhaps a hot take, but I would argue this is one of the darkest episodes of What's New, Scooby-Doo? Scooby helping out Little Pete the penguin was so cute, and I think Little Pete is one of my favorite animals that has followed Scooby around (since there's been a lot of them, between the frog from "Mamba Wamba and the Voodoo Hoodoo," the chick from "Jeepers, It's the Creeper," etc. lol). The idea of Dr. Zola freezing himself so he could see the future was also an interesting plot point. 9. Watt a Shocking Ghost! My favorite part of this episode was the 10,000 Volt Ghost himself, of course! He's arguably one of the coolest and most creative Scooby villains out there, and definitely deserves all the love he gets. I also really enjoy the darker atmosphere of this episode. This is another episode that has really grown on me in recent years. 8. Snow Place Like Home This episode is just good, silly fun and feels like a great representation of what A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is as a series. The gang staying at a haunted lodge was a fun plot, and I wish they would have spent a little more time in the lodge rather than half of the episode in the mines, but this episode is still a lot of fun for what it is. I also love the Ice Demon as a villain. 7. That's Snow Ghost I'm sure many of you are thinking that this is super low, and I agree lol. I wish I could have put this higher, because it's such a classic, but I like the other five a little bit better. It's interesting how so many of these winter episodes revolve around ski lodges, but I guess it's the most logical winter destination for teenagers haha. The Snow Ghost remains a classic among classics in terms of villains, and for very good reason. I would also argue that this is the first episode that sees the gang in life-threatening danger, as Velma nearly is sawed in half by the Snow Ghost when he ties her to a piece of wood that is heading towards a gigantic saw. 6. Doo Not Disturb This is an amazing episode! I love how this episode still had the trademark Be Cool humor, yet was able to create such a creepy, dark atmosphere. The Ghost of Mother is one of my favorite villains of the franchise for what a creepy idea it is. The setting of the gang being trapped in haunted hotel during a snowstorm only made it creepier. This episode is easily interchangeable with "Some Fred Time" as my favorite from Be Cool, Scooby-Doo depending on the day. 5. Night Terrors This is likely not one most people consider a winter episode, but there's snow here and I really like this episode, so I always make a point to watch this every year around Christmas. I've never seen The Shining, which this parodies, but I absolutely love this episode. I'll admit it took a little while to grow on me, as I found the episode extremely weird upon first watch, but after watching it a few times, I warmed up to it and I feel like the fantastical elements of the plot make it even better. The wolf (credited as "Fiend" in the end sequence) is such a creepy-looking villain, and I love the banshee's design as well. The whole idea of the gang being trapped in a creepy library with supernatural creatures is an immaculate Scooby plot. It makes me wish we had more episodes in creepy libraries lol. 4. Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend This remains one of my favorite winter episodes, mainly because I love the twist of Fred having the idea to set a trap immediately rather than waste time looking for clues. It's such an ingenious idea, because it actually kinda makes sense to just capture the person right away, rather than looking for clues and allowing them time to cause more trouble lol. Besides that, this is one of my favorite sports episodes, because it has an amazing villain and I feel the setting of the hockey arena is really well utilized. 3. There's No Creature Like Snow Creature This is an extremely hot take, but this sticks out to me more as a winter episode than "That's Snow Ghost" does. Despite being the season premiere, this episode perfectly captures the essence of What's New, Scooby-Doo? imo and starts the series off with an amazing plot and villain. It was a neat plot twist to have Fred unable to solve the mystery, which requires the others to step up and take initiative without their leader. Moreover, the Snow Creature is an amazing villain and arguably has the coolest design of any winter villains. 2. Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman I already loved this episode, but in recent years, this has grown on me even more and has become my favorite episode of the show. Simple Plan flawlessly fits into the gang and I really like how the plot is centered around them exploring this creepy, nearly-abandoned town. It's amazing to think that an Invisible Man had never been a villain before in Scooby, with the exception of the brief appearance of one in "A Halloween Hassle at Dracula's Castle," although he only appears for a few brief scenes that are less than 30 seconds. A truly flawless episode is that is a must-add to any winter episode list. 1. The Ghost of Bigfoot
Although "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" is flawless, I've got to go with a stone cold classic here from my favorite series, The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Ever since I was a kid, the first half of this episode with the gang running around in the middle of the night to escape Bigfoot is one of the most memorable scenes of this entire series for me. It's just such a fun, creepy plot to have the gang trying to escape a monster in an abandoned hotel in the middle of the night. Laurel and Hardy make great guest stars as well, and the fact that half of Fred's dialogue in this episode is reminding the gang to go skiing is really amusing to me lol. The only thing I dislike about this episode is Fred telling the girls that it's "too dangerous" for them to solve the mystery and abandoning them in the snow outside the mill. As promised, here's my combined list of the Christmas and winter episodes. You'll probably notice I like a lot of the Christmas episodes better than the winter episodes. 30. Scooby's Swiss Miss 29. Snow Job Too Small 28. Alaskan King Coward 27. South Pole Vault 26. Scooby-Doo and the Sky Town Cool School! 25. Caveman on the Half-Pipe! 24. Rocky Mountain Yiiiii! 23. Scooby on Ice! 22. Doom Service 21. Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays 20. More Fondue for Scooby-Doo 19. The Nightmare Ghost of Psychic U! 18. A Scary Night with a Snow Beast Fright 17. Be Cold, Scooby-Doo! 16. Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! 15. Scary Christmas 14. Naughty or Ice 13. Uncle Scooby and Antarctica 12. Watt a Shocking Ghost 11. Snow Place Like Home 10. That's Snow Ghost 9. Scroogey Doo 8. Doo Not Disturb 7. Night Terrors 6. Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend 5. A Scooby-Doo Christmas 4. There's No Creature Like Snow Creature 3. Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman 2. The Ghost of Bigfoot 1. The Nutcracker Scoob I hope you enjoyed this list, and if you want to share your personal rankings, I'd love to see them! Back in 2016, I wrote up a post giving my reviews of all the Christmas and winter Scooby-Doo episodes. However, I never specifically ranked them from least favorite to favorite, so I thought it might be fun to revisit those reviews and rank each of the episodes! I'm just going to stick with the Christmas episodes for this ranking, and I'll save the winter ones for next week! :) 5. Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays I honestly love all of these episodes so much that it's hard to choose one. When I think of Christmas episodes, this one is the least memorable of the five here, but it's by all means still very good. I thought the Sinister Snowman was a really cool villain, especially his ability to shapeshift! The ending with Santa is also very heartwarming. 4. Scary Christmas The comedy in this episode is top notch. Fred continually bringing the gang back to the "Big Sad Eyes Orphanage" was really random and hilarious. It was interesting how this episode's Daphneism allowed us to get to know her on a little more personal level too, since we discover her insecurities with having her birthday overshadowed by Christmas. Fred's fixation on not wanting to solve the pterodactyl mystery because it isn't Christmas related is also hilarious. Definitely a must-add to any holiday special marathon! 3. Scroogey Doo Before this episode came out, I'd wanted a Scooby-Doo episode that parodies A Christmas Carol for years. The story just fits so well with the Scooby-Doo formula. On top of that, A Flintstone Christmas Carol is one of my favorite Christmas specials of all time, so I always wanted a Scooby-Doo version of the story. I know we kind of got that with The Nutcracker Scoob, but I was really happy when Jon Colton Barry announced that he'd be doing a Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! adaptation of the Dickens tale. I really like how JCB and Tom Konkle wrote this story, where in addition to Scrooge being visited by the three ghosts, there is sort of a mystery around why Scrooge is the way he is, and why these ghosts are really visiting him. I thought they incorporated the style and absurdist nature of Be Cool very well into this classic story. Fred's grudge against raccoons and Scrooge worrying what would happen if he got menopause were my personal favorite jokes of the episode haha. 2. A Scooby-Doo Christmas This is such a classic episode and it was very close to being my favorite Christmas special. The Headless Snowman is a very creative villain. The ending is also super cute with Shaggy and Scooby giving each other presents. 1. The Nutcracker Scoob
Since I was a kid, this was always my favorite Scooby-Doo Christmas special. When I was younger, I remember when Cartoon Network used to play this every Christmas and I would always enjoy sitting down to watch it. Even though it's not a full-on adaption of A Christmas Carol, I love how this episode is kind of an amalgamation of that and The Nutcracker. That scene of Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy dressing up as elves is absolutely adorable. However, I think the most adorable scene of the episode is Snowball dancing at the end of the episode lol. I really liked the villain as well; they were very cool-looking! I hope you enjoyed reading these rankings. If you want to share your rankings for the Scooby-Doo Christmas episodes in the comments, I would love to see them! At long last, after ranking the movies and series, I've ranked all the Scooby specials! I don't feel any of them are super strong and the rankings were pretty easy to do unlike the series and movies, but nonetheless, I hope you enjoy my rankings. 11. Ghastly Goals This one earns its spot as dead last for not only a boring storyline, but also bad animation. As I mentioned in my recent post about my top 10 least favorite Scooby-Doo episodes, the plot felt very underdeveloped and it felt like they were really stretching the mystery. The animation also felt a bit lazy to me, as many of the crowd shots were just a blur of color, and the backgrounds were sometimes sloppily drawn during close-ups. 10. LEGO Scooby-Doo: Knight Time Terror This one was very middle-of-the-road for me. It's definitely a quality increase from Ghastly Goals, but the plot itself felt a bit underdeveloped and rushed. I liked Haunted Hollywood much better. There's honestly nothing more I really have to say about this one because it's just that mediocre haha. 9. Mecha Mutt Menace There was a bit of a noticeable quality drop from some of the earlier 2012 DTV specials and these 2013 ones, but this one isn't bad like Ghastly Goals by any means. I thought the Mecha Mutt was a decent villain and the plot of the gang being at the Space Station was neat. I did not care for Daphne being jealous of Fred, however, as that plot had just been in Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright, and as a result, it felt like overkill here. I liked the special overall though. 8. Spooky Scarecrow I liked this special well enough, but it's probably my least favorite Halloween episode of the selection we have so far. The plot about the witch casting a spell on a scarecrow to make it come to life was cool, but I kind of wish we would have gotten the witch as a villain as well of the scarecrow. This episode felt like it needed a little something extra, because I feel like this same plot has been done much better in "The Frickert Fracas," "A Scooby-Doo Halloween" and "Eating Crow." 7. Beach Beastie I know that some people feel this is the best of the DTV specials, and while I do agree it's quite good, I would say I like Spooky Games and Haunted Holidays a bit better. I really like how unique Aquazilla is as a villain, and I thought his shapeshifting abilities were used in a very cool way here. I liked the plot of the gang going to Fred's uncle's resort, and the fact that his uncle was voiced by Adam West! The plot of Scooby having a crush on a little dog was also cute. I also thought it was neat how they carried over plot points from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, like Fred's house and trap obsession. 6. Behind the Scenes Shorts I've always thought these were really cute. This was a neat idea on Cartoon Network's part to make these goofy little interviews. I've always been amused at the part in the sixth interview about Fred singing showboat to calm the gang lol. 5. Night of the Living Doo I've always found this one to be a bit weird, but in a good way. This was a cool parody of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, even though the culprit and monsters were very strange. It felt sort of like The Scooby-Doo Project in terms of its rough reused animation, but I think it worked very well for what it was. 4. Scooby-Doo! Spooky Games I really enjoyed this special! I liked the plot of the gang being invited to an Olympics-like game and having to solve the mystery of the giant statue Fortius coming to life. This was definitely among the more interesting and better quality DTV specials in my opinion. 3. Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays I still watch this special every Christmas, and I think it's my favorite of the DTV specials. This special also feels a bit darker than the others with the gang being locked in the creepy toy factory during the snowstorm. The Sinister Snowman was a super creepy villain, and it was neat how he could shapeshift. I also like how it's hinted the Santa Claus that showed up at the end may have been the real Santa. That was really cute. 2. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now? I did a full-length review of this here, but I thought the humor in the special was really good. Even though the animation was a bit strange mixed with live-action and I don't typically like that sort of thing, it worked well here. Even if there wasn't really any new information for a Scooby super fan like myself, the interviews with the writers and producers were really fun. The only thing I didn't really like about this special was the unnecessary Scrappy bashing, which felt out of place and very mean-spirited. 1. The Scooby-Doo Project
I think there are one or two people on here that have had this in their top 10 Scooby episodes ever. While I won't go quite that far, I did really like this special and think it's the best the franchise has to offer. It was super clever of them to make a parody of The Blair Witch Project, and I thought making it kind of a satire of the franchise worked really well. The humor was super clever here. Like Where Are You Now, even though the animation was a bit weird mixed with live-action elements, I thought it worked really well. It was quite intense that the special ended with the gang missing. That about does it for my special rankings! I'll be posting my ranking of every Scooby-Doo movies next month, but in the meantime, but if you happen to feel inspired to share yours in the comments, I'd love to see them! |
AuthorWildwindVampire Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|