Fan Spotlight 2024 #2: Dzsasztin

Today at 10:30am EST officially marks 55 years of Scooby-Doo! Today's fan spotlight is Dzsasztin, a Scooby-Doo fan from Hungary who is a frequent commenter on this blog. Dzsasztin also is active on Scoobypedia, and enjoys making AMVs and fan edits on YouTube.

1. What is your name?
Hi everyone, my name is Dzsasztin, which is a rare name in my country, but it's basically the Hungarian spelling of the common english name, Justin.

2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo?
As a child I've seen some episodes of The Scooby-Doo Show on Cartoon Network, the first one I remember is "A Bum Steer For Scooby". The mystery solving theme and the nighttime setting in a cartoon really captured my attention. Later when I found out there are several incarnations of the series, it was really fun for me to notice how each iteration differs from one another.

3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why?
My favorite episode is "The Man in the Mirror", because back when Mystery Incorporated's final few episodes aired, I was really hyped and this one was especially cool, as I am a fan of both the mirror-world concept and secret codes, and the way Fred helped Velma with the code through the names of the places they went to was really clever in my mind. My favorite film is "Legend of the Phantosaur", the direction, the characterization and the storytelling are all at their best in that one.

4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online?
I've made youtube edits which may or may not tried too hard to be edgy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOZYB5xmN9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STAH6ilKA-s

Other than that, I collect data and edit the Scoobypedia sometimes, but I mostly just comment on the Scooby Snax blog.

5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby?
The best series is without a doubt Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, every other revival tries to get back to the basics and with good reason. As someone who has seen both What's New, Scooby-Doo? and The Scooby-Doo Show before ever seeing the original, I was blown away by how excellent and  distinct the SDWAY atmosphere is, something that was never properly recaptured. But the best era for me, is the early 2010s: this line of DTVs is my defining version of the gang and their dynamics.

6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday?
Mystery Incorporated sequel with the mystery school teased at the ending could be great, but I also really want at least a full season of episodes in the style of the 2010s specials, Spooky Games, Haunted Holidays, Mecha Mutt Menace etc.

7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future?
An adaptation of the Scooby Apocalypse comic would be neat. DC comics has a history of multipart animated movies based on their comics, I think Scooby Apocalypse in two movies could do the story justice.

8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why?
Fred is my man, his eternal enthusiasm towards mystery-solving is one of a kind, as a person who has a moral code, referred to in-series as his boy scout ethics, someone who takes charge when needed, but also ready to give it to others, being normal as a personality but also having a number of special interests that only come up at times (that he is equally enthusiastic about). I could really see myself in his shoes growing up.

9. What is your favorite villain? Why?
That title goes to Lena Dupree and Simone Lenoir, as a child, they were the villains who actually scared me.

10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise?
Vincent Van Ghoul. When I watch the made-for-TV movies right after 13 Ghosts, I actually miss him.

11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it?
I have a comic collection, a few figurines and my self-made Scooby Snack box, which usually has some cereal in it.

12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years?
The idea of young sleuths is appealing to people. The idea of young sleuths who actively hate and try to avoid investigating is still a unique concept to this day, that almost never happens, even though they tried to make a ton of Scooby copies, the way Shaggy and Scooby complement the other members of the gang is a rare dynamic, which works great if done right.

13. What is one fun fact about you in real life?
I have an orange ascot in my wardrobe that I used to wear in middle school, thinking it's a normal accessory to have. At one point others started to follow the trend, but mostly it was just me basing my life on cartoons.

14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here!
My friends asked me to play Fred in their Halloween cosplay group, without knowing just how much I love the franchise. In the end I recommended them specific episodes to help them get in their character and we roleplayed during the whole event! The hair spray I got couldn't convincingly make me a blonde, so I stayed a brunette, but hey, if Robbie Amell could pull it off...

Thanks so much to Dzsasztin for being today's fan spotlight! I hope you enjoyed getting to know him a little better and reading his post!