Fan Spotlight 2022 Day 3: Andrei

With us today on the eighth anniversary of this site is Andrei, a Scooby fan who is an active member on the ScoobyAddicts forum, and also used to contribute to TV.com (I remember that site fondly, and it’s too bad it went defunct). I’d like to give a big thanks to Andrei for being today’s fan spotlight, and without further ado, I’m excited to introduce you to him!

1. What is your name?
My name is Andrei. Technically Andrew if you want it translated. I wanted a more Scooby-themed name for the Scooby Addicts board, so I went with something from Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue and the year I was born, hence hippyboy86.

2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo?
I am pretty sure I first discovered Scooby by watching re-runs of the shows on the Cartoon Network in 1994 I believe. This was the UK version of the network, which was also available across Europe at the time before other regional feeds appeared in due time. I think "Mine Your Own Business" and "A Tiki Scare is No Fair" were among the first episodes I watched. I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of the show immediately after seeing these episodes but I did stick around and checked out more of the Scooby stuff the channel had (as well as virtually every other show they aired over the years), and it kind of started growing on me. Now I don't remember exactly the moment I became addicted but these days, I watch pretty much everything Scooby related that comes out, at least as far as animated projects go.

3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why?
I don't think I can really pick a single favorite episode out of all the Scooby series. There are a few I enjoyed a lot and re-watch every once in a while. "What a Night for a Knight", "Jeepers it's the Creeper", "To Switch a Witch", "Vampire Bats & Scaredy Cats", "Happy Birthday Scooby-Doo'. But there's probably more I could include, not only from the classic eras but from more modern versions of the show as well. I usually find it kind of hard to make a top 10 or whatever list, not only for Scooby but other shows as well. The thing is I tend to enjoy most of the episodes and my opinion may change frequently depending on my mood. I just find it a hassle having to update such a list so often. I admire and respect those who come up with lists like these, including their reasoning and updating them every once in a while.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is probably the most frequent answer fans give to the favorite film question. And I kind of have to agree, it's probably the most entertaining animated Scooby movie. The story is pretty great and still holds up well, even knowing some of the plot twists doesn't really affect that much. It's darker than what came before and it really felt like the start of a new era of sorts for the franchise. In a way it was, since they've made new movies pretty much every year since then, though not all of the same quality.

There are other movies I would consider close runners-up though, like The Witch's Ghost, Camp Scare, Scooby & Batman the Brave and the Bold, Straight Outta Nowhere. The TV movies from the 80s with Scrappy are also kind of fun, The Reluctant Werewolf is probably my top pick from those or it's at least the one I watched the most times, I think.

4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online?
Mainly I just talk about episodes and movies on the Scooby Addicts site. I also look for Scooby news and updates occasionally, I like being informed but also try and avoid spoilers, if that makes any sense. Posting news items like that is kind of fun, I do it on a couple more sites, not only for Scooby related news but other shows or movies I am interested in. There was also a now defunct website, TV.com, where I used to submit trivia and stuff to a bunch of shows, some of them Scooby shows but I don't think there's even an archived version of the site online anymore.

5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby?
I think each series has its moments but Where Are You or The Scooby Show from the 70s are probably the best which also set the tone for pretty much everything that came afterwards. So I'd probably have to stick with the original era, up until they introduced Scrappy. I don't have anything against the character, I'm a little surprised how hated he seems to be, but the original gang aspect and dynamic just seemed more fun.

6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday?
I wasn't too happy with how Curse of the 13th Ghost turned out so a remake of that one would be interesting to see. Similarly, as much as I love Zombie Island I wouldn't really want a direct sequel to it or anything, like they tried with Return to Zombie Island. Not exactly a sequel since it wouldn't necessarily continue the story, but having more movies with the same premise as Zombie Island could be fun. I mean, the gang investigating paranormal stuff for Daphne's show. A sequel to Cyber Chase could be fun given how much technology has evolved in the last two decades since the movie came out.

7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future?
I don't really have that much imagination so I don't have many new ideas as to what the franchise should try. The classic mystery format with bad guys wearing masks seems to work best. Nothing against real monsters and the like, but I think solving a mystery might be more entertaining than catching a real ghost. Something like the original series, with a slightly darker tone like Mystery Inc. and the humor of Be Cool might be tricky to pull off, but would be interesting to see. Maybe cut back a little on the too random humor or slapstick comedy and don't rely on guest-stars too much (save those for the movies). Have some recurring characters every once in a while, but without the show being too serialized. Do some two-part stories occasionally, maybe as season finales, where you could allude to some of the stuff that happened previously, if that makes any sense. Something similar to how the 90s The Outer Limits show did their season finales. Just some pretty out there suggestions, I kind of doubt Scooby will get a show like this.

Regardless, I am open to new, more unique takes on the franchise, like say Velma or Scooby & the Mystery Pups, and will check out at least a few episodes before trying to form an opinion on them.

8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why?
Shaggy is probably my favorite human member of the gang. Something about him is just so endearing. Now I don't really agree with theories about him doing drugs or whatever, or the more recent memes about him having god-like powers but I do find them sort of amusing. But his laid-back nature, his friendship with Scooby and some of his ideas make him a pretty well-rounded character. Daphne would be a close second. I liked how they used her more than the others in the 80s, in most of the Scrappy episodes and kind of gave her more of a personality. She's usually just the attractive girl (no offense to Velma) and some of the sub-plots only revolve around her having a crush on characters introduced in each episode or movie. It's funny, I'm not really much of a shipper, but think Shaggy and Daphne are kind of a more interesting pairing.

9. What is your favorite villain? Why?
Again, I don't think I could pick just one villain. Without getting into some of the folks on Mystery Inc. which I feel would need a category of their own category, I could also pair them up like, favorites in terms of motivation, plan and lengths they would go to achieve their goals, would probably be the Vampire from "Vampire Bats & Scaredy Cats", the Red Skull, Ben Ravencroft, and from the recent movies Cutler Toe. Granted I didn't really care much for those movies but I liked how they tied things in Happy Halloween.

Favorites more in terms of design alone would be the Spooky Space Kook, 10,000 Volt Ghost, the Creepy Heap from the Deep... the list could go on. Hanna-Barbera might have had very limited animation but they did provide some pretty cool looking stuff in their shows occasionally, and some of Scooby's villains are up there.

These are just a few of my favorites, as I said most of the bad guys the Scooby Gang has crossed paths with over the years have been pretty entertaining.

10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise?
The Hex Girls come to mind as the most memorable recurring characters. It would be nice seeing them more often in the franchise though I also feel like they work better as supporting characters so I don't think a spin-off would be the best idea to bring them back. From their appearances so far, I think their debut in The Witch's Ghost movie is the best.

I also liked Red Herring from A Pup Named Scooby but he was more of a running gag than a recurring character. I wouldn't mind seeing him again, though.

11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it?
Not really. I have a couple of the movies on DVD, and a few Scooby comic strips that were included in older Cartoon Network magazines and some older story books I think, as well as stickers and other minor collectibles like that. There's really not a whole lot of Scooby merchandise available over here, so I would have to import some.

12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? 
I think the show has a nice mix of elements in it, comedy, mystery solving and some slight horror stuff in it that makes it appealing. It's still mostly a comedy and some of the series in the franchise played with that more than the others. It's a fun show for the most part and unless it's a very serialized incarnation like say Mystery Inc., it's really easy to get into it. The appeal was probably noticed early on, given the many "clone" shows Hanna-Barbera produced over the years, but interestingly enough they still kept making new Scooby projects as well. The Scooby Gang still kind of outshined the others and is still more relevant today.

Then there are the countless cross-overs Scooby had over the years, it's pretty amazing looking back how many celebrities or other fictional characters the Scooby Gang has crossed paths with. This also probably helped boost Scooby's popularity, or he helped boost the celebrity's popularity depending on your point of view.

13. What is one fun fact about you in real life?
Not exactly fun but might surprise others - I am from Romania. I really only started learning English so I could watch Cartoon Network and actually understand what's happening in the shows. In school we started studying French as a foreign language in the 2nd grade, and the English in the 5th grade but I already knew a bunch of stuff by then. Obviously I found other instances where my English helped over the years not just watch cartoons, but that's how it all started. But I'll also probably never outgrow watching cartoons, either. And I won't claim my English is perfect but I think I manage alright.

14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here!
Thanks for considering me for this fan spotlight blog. It's nice getting to talk, even if only online, with other fans of this stuff. Hope readers will enjoy my answers above and don't find them too boring.

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