For today’s fan spotlight, I’d like to introduce you to Luigi! Luigi is a huge Scooby fan who is very active on the ScoobyAddicts forum, and is also a frequent editor of the Italian Scooby-Doo Wikipedia and Scoobypedia. 1. What is your name? Luigi (or some may know me as scoobylover on many forums like Scoobyaddicts) 2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? According to my grandma I started watching it when I was around 4-5 and immediately fell in love with it. I think the first series I watched was What’s New Scooby-Doo, tho I was too young to remember. 3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why? This is not gonna be an easy one. Let’s see.. I believe the one episode I keep on going back to is “All Fear The Freak”, I mean the plot twists and suspense in that episode are insane, worthy of the most intense drama series. Every time I rewatch it, it doesn’t even feel like I spent 20 minutes, it just draws you in immediately. In terms of movies, as much as I would want to mention “Zombie Island”, “Witch’s Ghost”, “Alien Invaders” or “Camp Scare” as my personal favourites I am also aware they’re pretty much everyone else’s too. So I’ll go for a highly underrated one. “Music of the Vampire” is simply one of the best animated and well-written movies of the DTV series. And this is coming from someone who does NOT like musicals. ALL the songs are soooo catchy and I probably know them by heart in two different languages by now. The story is a classic Scooby mystery and the gang interacts so much. I love the scenes when the gang is gathered in Van Helsing’s studio, it just gives me such a warm feeling. Then, of course, there’s the beautiful Shaggy and Scooby’s ode to friendship, Velma saving Daphne, Fred being the adorable himbo he is. Just a beautiful cozy movie overall. 4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online? I have been writing in the various forums (mainly Scoobyaddicts) for years, editing loads of pages for Scoobypedia, constantly looking for exclusive information for new shows and movies on social media but most importantly I’m pretty sure I can consider myself the most active Italian Scooby fan. If you jump on the Scooby-Doo Italian wikipedia pages, in fact, you will mainly be reading stuff I wrote. I’ve been editing those pages and kept them up to date since I owned a laptop for the first time. The Italian Scooby community needs me even more than you think. In fact, since a lot of DVD have never been published and barely any series are on streaming platforms I spent over 15 years collecting (in not so legal ways but for the sake of keeping the Italian Scooby dubs alive for posterity) all of the episodes and movies in Italian from the depth of the Internet. I have actually only completed the collection last year, after YEARS. I’m so proud of it. 5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? The Mystery Incorporated era is the best imo. It took the Scooby formula and mixed it with the best version of mystery, comedy and drama shows. And it works sooo well for Scooby I’m surprised they haven’t gone for it more than once. In terms of movies, I really can’t choose between the Mook era and the Abracadabra Doo/Camp Scare/Phantosaur era. Both are great, the first one offered us a reintroduction to the characters after years of not being on tv and it was so well done, the second one gave the franchise a well-needed breath of fresh air! 6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? Well, I know it is unlikely but having a third season for Mystery Incorporated would be great. But even better would be an adult animated adaptation for Scooby Apocalypse. I love the comics although in some parts it fell flat and repetitive. I think that could be fixed with an epic reimagined version of it with a huge quest to save humanity with The Walking Dead story arc undertones. It just can work!! I want it to be dark, gritty, edgy and crude and to explore the issues of morality surrounding the idea of the zombies being real people, hence whether they could be sacrificed or not. 7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future? I’m honestly pretty stoked for what’s to come already. For years I’ve been wanting an adult Scooby series and finally Velma could be the show I’ve been fantasising about. Also, I’m in the middle of reading the first Daphne & Velma novel and it is such a fun young adult mystery book that would cater to a much wider audience, and not just kids or adults. Maybe WB should go for that, just like they did for Mystery Inc.: keep the fun dynamics between the characters but add overarching elements for older kids and adults to enjoy. I have to say I’m concerned about the DTVs since they are prioritizing crossovers a lot, tho I’m aware that many have worked so well already (Kiss, Supernatural, WWE) but I would like to keep the focus on Scooby for a while since we’ve also just had Guess Who. Thankfully, they are also making one-off specials like The Scooby-Doo Reunion which seems like a fun sorta parodistic episode which means they are trying new things. That’s it, that’s what I want from Scooby from now on. Just experiment, discover new grounds and expand the characters and stories to the fullest. Oh and also, they should really start making spin-offs. The franchise is filled with iconic characters they could have exploited but nope.. still no Hex Girls spin-off :’((( 8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why? Well, since every iteration has a different version of each character, I would go for Be Cool Daphne, especially when she questioned gender roles (like wearing a beard) and promoted feminist ideology (I love rewatching the Salem episode and enjoy her bashing the mayor over and over again calling him an ignorant). But also, Zombie Island’s Daphne is such a badass, I love her. Almost as much as Sarah Michelle Geller’s Daphne. Also, I’m obsessed with Mystery Incorporated’s Velma. Some people complain about her being too mean to the gang or too desperate with Shaggy. What I see is a well-rounded character with flaws and insecurities who grows throughout the show.. and her sassiness is just iconic, let’s not forget it borrows a lot from her snappy personality from the classic show and takes it to an hilariously exaggerated extent. 9. What is your favorite villain? Why? It’s gotta be Cornfield Clem (from “Spooky Scarecrow”) since I’m obsessed by American Halloween vibes and I always wanted to experience a corn maze and scarecrows are the ultimate Halloween monsters! Everything about the special episode enraptures the Halloween spirit so perfectly. 10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise? Hex. Girls. The most iconic side characters, in any franchise, ever existed. They had the most badass introduction in “Witch’s Ghost” with Thorn getting such a complex background story. Also the whole concept of a Wiccan eco-punk goth band is insane.. like how do you even come up with that? They deserve their own spin-off and I will never stop saying that. Also… queer icons. What more would you possibly want from side characters? 11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it? Unfortunately, living in Italy I couldn’t get stuff like comics and toys that were exclusive for the American market and never got to my country. Though, before they discontinued it in Italy, I have many DVD releases, some random magazines bought here and there, but most importantly the “Misteri a 4 Zampe” book series. Started as an Italian rebranding for James Gelsey’s “Scooby-Doo Mysteries” books, the Italian translator continued the series by writing more books herself. Stories that are only available in Italian unfortunately but it perfectly suits the vibe of Gelsey’s series. Other than that, my physical collection is quite small. I do, however, have a predisposition to digital stuff, hence I have the biggest and most organised collection of Scooby media on a single external hard drive that I would shield with my life. Inside of it, there is every piece of Scooby media in the best quality available in both Italian and English, plus a lot of ads and bumpers that can be found around the net, most of the comics released (tho some rare old ones are missing) and some books. My most prized possession. 12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? Interesting question. In my opinion, Scooby-Doo’s concept is so malleable, the characters balance each other out but can also be pushed to the extreme and create the opposite effect by shaking up the dynamics within the friendships, plus the mystery and adventure are such easy reusable genres that can always create refreshing new stories. It’s just such an easy IP to explore and create new content around. 13. What is one fun fact about you in real life? Well, even though I moved away from Italy long ago, I still love rewatching Scooby dubbed in Italian, mostly because it is my mother tongue and I grew up with movies and episodes being in Italian. But also, because I have a passion for Italian dubbing, since we boast one of the most important and renowned voice over industry in the world. Every time I watch a new piece of Scooby media I’m alway fantasising which voice actor will dub them in the Italian version, hoping to hear my favourites when it comes out. This is one fun fact about me which explains why I mentioned Italy so many times :) 14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here! I’ll share another fun fact. I recently wrote an essay for one of my university classes (“Communication Ethics”) about the ethical implications of “turning a character gay”, which addresses the current debate on Velma’s sexuality in her new spin-off series from the side of the producers. I got an 8.2/10 for it, so in case you guys wanna check it out I’ll leave you the link here (the instructions for the assignment are also included after the reference list):
Thanks so much to Luigi for being today’s fan spotlight! Be sure to check back tomorrow to meet another amazing Scooby-Doo fan like him!
12 Comments
Becker
9/6/2021 10:01:01 am
I also want a darker take on a Scooby show. Too bad Velma sounds pretty bad so far
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Becker
9/6/2021 10:07:28 am
Also, I agree Music of the Vampire is underrated. It's a lot of fun
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Scoobylover
9/9/2021 01:59:32 pm
I’m actually really liking how Velma is shaping up so far. I don’t get why people are so hateful towards it
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Becker
9/9/2021 03:53:28 pm
It sounds like they made up weird random characters and tagged Scooby-Doo names onto them, it's awful imo
James Dixon
9/6/2021 10:59:38 am
I love all the different takes people have in these interviews.
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9/6/2021 07:58:50 pm
I've never cared for Music of the Vampire either. The songs and Shaggy/Scooby plot are cute, but I've never been a fan of the storyline.
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Scoobylover
9/9/2021 02:00:38 pm
Why is it terrible? Just wondering what people see that I don’t see
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Dott
9/6/2021 11:22:47 am
I love Cornfield Clem, too! Definitely an underrated monster. Also love to see another Daphne stan.
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Scoobylover
9/9/2021 02:01:04 pm
She deserves EVERYTHING.
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Scoobylover
9/9/2021 02:02:21 pm
Thank you so much for letting me be part of this. I had so much fun writing these answers 🥰🥰🥰
Reply
9/10/2021 09:49:42 am
Thank you so much for being one of the fan spotlights! It was a lot of fun getting to do these :)
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