Fan Spotlight 2024 #5: Alexandra Rutt

Today is the final day of Scooby's anniversary month, and we have one more fan spotlight to wrap things up. Our fan spotlight today is Alexandra Rutt, who used to run a Scooby Facebook group, and also has been a reader of this blog for a while.

1. What is your name?
Alexandra Rutt

2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo? 
Well, I’ve had two phases of being into Scooby-Doo. The first was when I was a kid. I remember when I graduated from Playhouse Disney to Cartoon Network, Scooby-Doo seemed intimidating to me because it was about monsters. The first episode I ever saw was Strange Encounters of a Scooby Kind. I remember my genuine surprise when the alien turned out to be a regular crook in disguise. I assumed this was a break from the typical supernatural encounter this gang of characters faces (especially given that the Scrappy-Doo intro featured real spooks). This rerun was followed by The Scary Sky Skeleton and by the end of this mystery, I realized that supernatural hoaxes were a typical outcome for this show. Still, I watched Scooby in various forms up until I hit middle school. The last episode I saw was Battle of the Humungonauts and I moved onto other interests. Aside from catching Samurai Sword on TV at the YMCA, I went seven years without watching Scooby again.

One night in 2017, I was at a family gathering and got into a confrontation. I was rightfully sent upstairs and, out of boredom, started flipping through the channels. It was there I came across Be Cool Scooby-Doo (specifically, Where’s There’s a Will, There’s a Wraith). It was like being reunited with childhood friends who had moved away. It made me realize that Scooby-Doo was such a big part of my childhood and there’s still so much of it that I haven’t seen yet. 7 years later and I have seen every Scooby episode, movie, and tv special there is. 

3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why?
You know, it might be weird to pick something so recent but my favorite movie is Trick or Treat, Scooby-Doo. I don’t know where to begin with this movie. Trick or Treat was such a breath of fresh air after a long run of hit or miss DTV films. There’s so much love and craft put into every frame of animation. Coco Diablo was a memorable character and her interactions with the gang were funny as hell. I wouldn’t mind seeing her become a semi-permanent member. This movie feels heavily influenced by Ren & Stimpy and Adventure Time, and that deranged style of comedy is a good fit for the gang. It leaves you constantly guessing what will happen next, even if the mystery is pretty obvious. If I have one complaint, Daphne’s arc and resolution was half-assed and felt like it was from a different movie. I wish there could’ve been more movies by this creative team but in a way, that makes this movie all the more special.  

I couldn’t pick just one favorite episode. My favorite episodes are The Backstage Rage, Mystery Solvers Club State Finals, and Doo Not Disturb. I picked these three because they all represent what I would like to see more of in Scooby. Doo Not Disturb has a well executed mystery with genuinely clever clues. Not much else to say other than that is surprisingly rare in this franchise lol. Mystery Solvers Club State Finals is a hilarious exploration of an overlooked aspect of the franchise: the various Scooby clones that HB produced. All of the weird HB characters are perfectly captured and much funnier than how they were originally depicted. A lot of the modern HB fanservice projects like Jellystone and Scoob have left me cold but this episode does the concept well. The Backstage Rage is one I wasn’t sure about including because it doesn’t have the same impact now that it did when I was a kid but this is a kid’s franchise so it deserves to be mentioned. This episode scared the shit out of me as a kid. The first half of this episode has such an unnerving quality. The shot of The Puppet Master standing by the door, and the music cue that plays underneath, still creeps me out which is impressive. Once it comes back from commercial break though, it becomes more of a typical Scooby episode.

4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online?
I’m not really involved in any sort of “fandom” anymore. I used to tweet with other Scooby fans, posted on ScoobyAddicts, and ran a HB fan group on Facebook but none of that interests me atm. I think the Scooby fandom has shrunk considerably from the Be Cool days (I’ll elaborate on that in a bit) and there’s not a lot of interesting discussion. I still have a very close relationship with James Dixon, who used to run Scoobypedia and now runs a separate Hanna-Barbera Wiki (I’ll tell him to link it in the comments).  

5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby? 
My favorite show is Where Are You and my favorite era is the Be Cool era. Even though it’s universally beloved and iconic among Scooby fans, I feel like WAY is somehow still underappreciated. It has such a different tone than any other cartoon before or since. The stiltedness of the dialogue and animation actually work in its favor. It gives certain episodes a feeling of unease and as a kid, that can feel very dreamlike and creepy. I wish the franchise kept going in that tonal direction instead of focusing more on comedy and strictly following the formula. 

But still, the best era for the show for me is 2015-2018. This is the era that made me a fan and there was such a sense of excitement among the fandom. Everyone was still riding the high of Mystery Incorporated and standout DTVs like Frankencreepy. To say nothing of the fact that we had a new Scooby series that was completely unlike anything before (with writers eager to promote themselves and discuss their creative process). And there was a growing anticipation for projects such as S.C.O.O.B. and Curse of the 13th Ghost. Speaking of growing, the fandom also felt like it was reaching new heights. There were multiple Scooby podcasts and newfound interest in the franchise’s behind the scenes history. Unfortunately, the overall mehness of Guess Who, the mixed reactions to Curse of the 13th Ghost and Scoob, and the outright panning of Return to Zombie Island really destroyed all that momentum. Most of those podcasts don’t even exist anymore and the DTVs seem to have permanently been put to rest. It’s a real shame. I hope I get to feel that sense of excitement again about future Scooby projects.

6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday? 
I would love to see some kind of follow up to Get a Clue. Mainly just to see Dr. Phibes or Robi return.

7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future?
I would like to see more respect given to the franchise’s varied and unique history, such as Scrappy and Get a Clue. However, I wouldn’t want to see it become self-indulgent and fanservice focused like other pop culture franchises. Something else I would like to see is creators who are more knowledgeable and passionate about the era of horror that influenced Where Are You. I’ve been doing some research into the horror genre in the 30s and 40s, and it's given me a greater appreciation for Where Are You and how it tries to emulate that tone. Long-forgotten tropes from that era are embedded in the DNA of the franchise. For example, did you know that actors in gorilla suit menacing damsels was a common cliche in movies back then? There were even actors like Charles Gemora and Steve Calvert who specialized in playing those roles. The creators of WAY would’ve grown up with those movies and used them as inspiration for Never Ape an Ape Man. Suddenly the premise of that episode makes a lot more sense. Forgive me for the tangent but I find stuff like this fascinating. 

8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why?
The character I continually find myself fascinated by is Fred. He’s a bit of a rorschach test. I remember watching the Gunn movies with my mom and remarking at how much of a douche they made him and responded “well that’s cuz he was always so pompous in the original”. What’s interesting about that statement is Fred didn’t really have much of a personality in his original incarnation (though he did occasionally get some “Women, am I right?” quips in The New Scooby Movies). To her, and likely Gunn as well, Fred was a symbol of male chauvinism unjustifiably claiming Velma’s rightful title of team leader. But to younger fans, Fred is a cuddly golden retriever himbo. A perfect boyfriend archetype. It certainly helps that he has become so tied to his iconic voice actor, Frank Welker. It’s easy to view them as being one and the same. And then there’s his ever changing level of intelligence. Be Cool!Fred is an authoritarian but still hyper competent and the second smartest member of the gang. MI!Fred shares this competency but is absolutely clueless on social interactions and fetishistically obsessed with the concept of traps (hmm). WNSD!Fred is dumb but still skilled at planning traps. Pup!Fred is a conspiracy theorist imbecile and Velma is the one who comes up with the traps. To say nothing of the occasional snide jokes, among viewers, about his fruity fashion sense and what that may imply about his sexuality (though obviously he’s subject to this less than Velma). There’s a lot of angles in which to explore the Fred Man and I have a blast seeing Frank Welker tackle them.

9. What is your favorite villain? Why?
This is going to be a weird answer but The Dandy Highwayman from Mystery Incorporated has always stuck out in my mind. He’s a unique take on the Scooby-Doo formula. A Scooby “monster” that is not monstrous at all aside from his seemingly supernatural powers. Instead, he’s a takeoff of romance novel cliches. A lot of modern Scooby monsters tend to just stomp around and loudly break stuff so it was cool to see an antagonist who is affable, charismatic, and more psychologically manipulative. And he still has a secret identity to be unmasked and a criminal scheme so he’s not a complete departure from the formula. 

10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise?
I LOVE Dr. Phibes. I understand people’s criticisms of Get a Clue as a series but Dr. Phibes is such a well-developed and funny character. DeLaurentis specifically tailored him to Jeff Bennett, a very underrated voice actor, and Bennett imbues the character with so much personality and even pathos. Professor Pericles was a similar character but, IN MY OPINION, he was flatter and not as compelling despite being taken more seriously and voiced by a more regarded actor. The animation on Phibes is also hilarious and lovingly done. He’s basically the real protagonist of the show. It should be called Dr. Phibes Gets a Clue.

11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it?
My Scooby “collection” is fairly scattershot. Just a few home videos, comics, and miscellaneous merch. What I do have that I am very proud of is several issues of Look-In Magazine from the 90s. This magazine featured exclusive two page stories featuring the 80s lineup of Daphne, Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy. The stories are mostly gag based but the art is gorgeous. It’s a shame more fans haven’t seen these stories but good for me since it’s easier to buy them lol. 

12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? 
It’s hard to pinpoint because Scooby’s longevity really is miraculous. What I think helped its initial success is that it was the first cartoon where the women were treated as equal to men and were an active part of the show (or at least Velma was lol). I also think Scooby benefitted from the massive boom in horror fandom that started in the 80s. Takamoto’s character designs are so iconic and Scooby is a top 5 lovable cartoon dog.

13. What is one fun fact about you in real life?
I actually used to work at the Cartoon Network Hotel! There wasn’t any Scooby stuff there though.

14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here!
I made this funny YouTube video a LONG time ago that I still think holds up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa0__syPaX8

Thanks to Alexandra for being our final fan spotlight this year! I've really enjoyed doing all the special posts on here this past month, between starting up the fan spotlights again,  the daily polls, and the couple of retrospective posts I've done. I hope you all have enjoyed the special posts for the anniversary month, and here's to hopefully many more years of Scooby-Doo!