Post by Solora Goldsun on Jul 2, 2011 13:04:51 GMT -5
Hey guys! It's Solora again! Remember my Ben 10 Rant? Well, it felt really good to get all of that out of my system. So, I've decided to do another one concerning the deterioration of one of the icons of my childhood, Scooby-Doo. Is the typing of such rants pointless? Probably. Is it sad that a Senior in High School is putting so much thought into the evolution of Saturday morning cartoons? Most likely. Do I care? Nope! Here goes!
I was around four years old when I was first exposed to Scooby-Doo, but I still remember the first episode I ever saw. It was "A Halloween Hassle in Dracula's Castle" from "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries". I fell completely in love with everyone and everything! I loved Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, Fred, Scrappy, everyone! (That's right, folks. I love Scrappy Doo.)
Naturally, being the little kid that I was, I got every Scooby Doo tape out of the library. I watched nearly every series from "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" to "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?". I watched all of the movies from "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" to "Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers". I met secondary characters ranging from Scooby-Dum (LOVE HIM) to the Harlem Globetrotters. It was comical, easy to follow, and imaginative. Even when the tone darkened in some of the movies, Scooby still kept his innocent charm while fighting against evil and chomping on Scooby Snax.
Then, when watching "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf", I saw something that sent me for a whirl: a trailer for a LIVE ACTION Scooby-Doo movie! I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to see it. I even went through a horrifying period where the movie was rated PG-13 and Mom refused to let me see it until the final rating was changed. Finally, my dad took me to see it.
It blew. Now that I think back, I knew that it was horrible when I first saw it. There was just something wrong with it. My childish mind only saw Scooby-Doo awesomeness at the time, but I still remember feeling a sense of anger and disappointment when the villain turned out to be Scrappy, one of my favorite characters. Even without Scrappy as the villain, the movie was horrible. Viewing it at an older age, I realized that Fred was a bit of a pervert, Velma was a whiner, and Daphne was...just not Daphne! Plus, there was the fact that Shaggy was choosing some GIRL over his best friend. The Shaggy that I grew up with would never go with a girl that stood between him and Scooby!
The second movie was a little better... Okay, no it wasn't. Velma wore leather, Fred was obsessed with popularity, Scooby and Shaggy went through an identity crisis, and Daphne...again...just didn't leave an impression.
Then, a new animated series came out called "What's New, Scooby Doo?". The theme song was catchy and it seemed to have everything that the other Scooby series had with a more modern twist. Well...it was better than the movies... But, I still had many issues with it. First of all, FRED HAS NO ASCOT! FRED HAS TO HAVE AN ASCOT! Second, Fred is a complete idiot in this series.
Come to think of it, most recent additions of Scooby have made Fred a moron. In "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo", no one can say that he was an Einstein. In the movies, he's a pretty-boy jock. In "What's New Scooby-Doo?", he's a total bimbo. In "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated"...*twitch*...I'll get to that in a minute... Anyway, Fred was originally a level-headed, down-to-earth, kind, cool leader. What happened?! In "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo", I could understand it because he was a kid. The idea of him starting off like that and learning from his mistakes over time is an interesting and believable concept. But to have him act like this at his age... Is it because he's blonde? I mean it. Are these people doing it because he's blonde? Because he's good looking? Because he's a guy? Isn't it possible to have ONE cool and collected guy character that isn't either a nerd or an emo?
Another thing that bugged me about "What's New Scooby-Doo?" is the fact that they tried to expand on the Scooby Snack joke. You know how Scooby would refuse to do something, eat a Scooby Snack, go "SCOOBY-DOO", and run off do do what he's supposed to? Well, this series added more to it. There was one where Scooby and Shaggy already had Scooby Snax, but were tempted anyway by the prospect of having milk to go with it. In another one, when Scooby was disguised as a girl, he didn't want a Scooby Snack because "He's off of carbs.". Really, people? Really?!
But..."What's New Scooby-Doo" is an epic masterpiece when compared to what came next. No, I'm not talking about "Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue!". That series isn't even worth mentioning. No...I'm talking about the abomination known as "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated".
As soon as I saw the premise of the show along with a design of the characters, I was horrified. Velma looks like...I don't know WHAT she looks like, but it isn't like Velma and Fred has a failed Elvis-type haircut. Also, in this series, people DON'T want them solving mysteries because it messes with the "tourist appeal" of the town. Most horrifying of all, Shaggy and Velma are a couple. Now, don't get me wrong. I was a major Shelma shipper before! What threw me was the fact that, apparently, Shaggy was keeping it a secret so that it wouldn't hurt Scooby's feelings... WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THAT?! Think about it! Shaggy has had many girlfriends before. Remember Crystal? Googie? Scooby was fine with them! I would think that he'd be thrilled at the prospect of his best friend dating another close friend.
Despite my misgivings, I decided to watch it, expecting the worst. I was completely right! I won't go into detail on how I watched each episode. I'll just give you a rundown on what's wrong with the whole series.
1. Velma: Oh. My. Gosh. Where do I begin? Let's just dig right in and say everything bluntly: In this series, Velma is a self-centered, b****y, smothering, psychotic girlfriend that is obsessed with Shaggy and is always trying to get him to choose her over Scooby. That's right, folks. Velma has gone from being a mild-mannered, smart, dry-humored character to being the girlfriend from Hell. Also, she seriously doesn't care about Scooby whatsoever! When Scooby was framed for a crime and taken away, she actually tried to use the opportunity to get closer to Shaggy during Scooby's absence! She is sarcastic, spiteful, and has absolutely NO good qualities about her.
2. Scooby: I want to punch the Scooby in this series. I mean it. I want to put this dog to sleep. He acts nothing like classic Scooby, often getting mad at Shaggy over trivial things like missing a movie marathon. When he found out about Shaggy's relationship with Velma, he ACTUALLY banded with her to force Shaggy to choose between them. One episode simply threw me. A robotic dog was attacking Crystal Cove. Scooby ran it over with a forklift. Afterward, he turned around, glared at the broken robot, and said "Bad dog. Play dead!". Also, did you notice anything wrong with those words besides the obvious WRONGNESS of them coming out of Scooby's mouth? How about the fact that they aren't: "Rad rog. Ray dead!" That's right, folks. Scooby talks like a normal person, only putting in the odd "R" once every few episodes.
3. Fred: He's a trap-obsessed, clueless, idiotic bimbo who is prone to moments of melodrama and complete obliviousness. His ascot becomes a regular object of conversation rather than a simple signature feature. He contributes NOTHING to the team except for his traps. Basic point: He SUCKS!
4. Daphne: Daphne is actually not too bad if you compare her to the other characters. Standing by herself, however, she doesn't have much going for her except for the fact that she's completely lovestruck when it comes to Fred. Remember when the Fred/Daphne relationship was something subtle that was often alluded to, but not shoved in your face? Remember when it left the mind open to so many possibilities? Yeah...I remember that too...
5. Shaggy: Honestly, Shaggy is the only person in the show that acts like his original self. The only problem is that, considering what he's surrounded by, he gets EATEN ALIVE! We get to see our favorite sandy-haired hippie suffer constant abuse from his best friend and his girlfriend, all the while trying to make things right and wondering what he did wrong. JEEZ! If I want to see a kicked puppy, I'll watch an ASPCA commercial. That'll give me my daily dose of depression, no problem...
6. Scooby Snax: Or, should I say, the lack thereof? There are no Scooby Snax in this series. Scooby and Shaggy like to snack on organic potato chips. Do I even NEED to say how wrong this is?!
7. The tone: While classic Scooby sometimes gave us a darker tone while still giving us that all-around "Scooby-Doo" feeling, this series gives us lots of dark stuff and no redemption. The monsters are somewhat frightening, the setting is often gritty and cast in red during certain scenes, and the addition of giving every Mystery Inc. member teen angst just ends with a thoroughly unrewarding experience. I got enough darkness and angst in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", thank you very much!
8. The motives: I just cannot buy the motives of the people who dress up in the monster outfits. In the original series, it was somewhat plausible. In this one, I just don't feel it. One woman created a deadly robot (yes, I use the robot-dog episode for reference a lot, but it was one of the worst) just because Velma wouldn't go out with her son.
So...yeah. Like many other series before and after, Scooby-Doo should have just stopped before now. It should have come to a nice conclusion with "A Pup Named Scooby Doo". That would have been a nice closure: ending with the gang's background story. But, nope! They had to squeeze every drop of dignity out of it! If I watch even a minute of "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated", I feel the need to cleanse myself with an entire episode of classic Scooby before I can do anything else!
If you truly love Scooby-Doo, take my advice and steer clear of anything coming after "A Pup Named Scooby Doo". And, if you do happen to watch an abomination, CLEANSE YOURSELF! If you don't, you may get rashes, stomachache, heartache, and brainache. Beware!!!
...Again, if you read that whole thing, kudos! Peace out! ^_^
I was around four years old when I was first exposed to Scooby-Doo, but I still remember the first episode I ever saw. It was "A Halloween Hassle in Dracula's Castle" from "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries". I fell completely in love with everyone and everything! I loved Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, Fred, Scrappy, everyone! (That's right, folks. I love Scrappy Doo.)
Naturally, being the little kid that I was, I got every Scooby Doo tape out of the library. I watched nearly every series from "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" to "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?". I watched all of the movies from "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" to "Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers". I met secondary characters ranging from Scooby-Dum (LOVE HIM) to the Harlem Globetrotters. It was comical, easy to follow, and imaginative. Even when the tone darkened in some of the movies, Scooby still kept his innocent charm while fighting against evil and chomping on Scooby Snax.
Then, when watching "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf", I saw something that sent me for a whirl: a trailer for a LIVE ACTION Scooby-Doo movie! I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to see it. I even went through a horrifying period where the movie was rated PG-13 and Mom refused to let me see it until the final rating was changed. Finally, my dad took me to see it.
It blew. Now that I think back, I knew that it was horrible when I first saw it. There was just something wrong with it. My childish mind only saw Scooby-Doo awesomeness at the time, but I still remember feeling a sense of anger and disappointment when the villain turned out to be Scrappy, one of my favorite characters. Even without Scrappy as the villain, the movie was horrible. Viewing it at an older age, I realized that Fred was a bit of a pervert, Velma was a whiner, and Daphne was...just not Daphne! Plus, there was the fact that Shaggy was choosing some GIRL over his best friend. The Shaggy that I grew up with would never go with a girl that stood between him and Scooby!
The second movie was a little better... Okay, no it wasn't. Velma wore leather, Fred was obsessed with popularity, Scooby and Shaggy went through an identity crisis, and Daphne...again...just didn't leave an impression.
Then, a new animated series came out called "What's New, Scooby Doo?". The theme song was catchy and it seemed to have everything that the other Scooby series had with a more modern twist. Well...it was better than the movies... But, I still had many issues with it. First of all, FRED HAS NO ASCOT! FRED HAS TO HAVE AN ASCOT! Second, Fred is a complete idiot in this series.
Come to think of it, most recent additions of Scooby have made Fred a moron. In "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo", no one can say that he was an Einstein. In the movies, he's a pretty-boy jock. In "What's New Scooby-Doo?", he's a total bimbo. In "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated"...*twitch*...I'll get to that in a minute... Anyway, Fred was originally a level-headed, down-to-earth, kind, cool leader. What happened?! In "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo", I could understand it because he was a kid. The idea of him starting off like that and learning from his mistakes over time is an interesting and believable concept. But to have him act like this at his age... Is it because he's blonde? I mean it. Are these people doing it because he's blonde? Because he's good looking? Because he's a guy? Isn't it possible to have ONE cool and collected guy character that isn't either a nerd or an emo?
Another thing that bugged me about "What's New Scooby-Doo?" is the fact that they tried to expand on the Scooby Snack joke. You know how Scooby would refuse to do something, eat a Scooby Snack, go "SCOOBY-DOO", and run off do do what he's supposed to? Well, this series added more to it. There was one where Scooby and Shaggy already had Scooby Snax, but were tempted anyway by the prospect of having milk to go with it. In another one, when Scooby was disguised as a girl, he didn't want a Scooby Snack because "He's off of carbs.". Really, people? Really?!
But..."What's New Scooby-Doo" is an epic masterpiece when compared to what came next. No, I'm not talking about "Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue!". That series isn't even worth mentioning. No...I'm talking about the abomination known as "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated".
As soon as I saw the premise of the show along with a design of the characters, I was horrified. Velma looks like...I don't know WHAT she looks like, but it isn't like Velma and Fred has a failed Elvis-type haircut. Also, in this series, people DON'T want them solving mysteries because it messes with the "tourist appeal" of the town. Most horrifying of all, Shaggy and Velma are a couple. Now, don't get me wrong. I was a major Shelma shipper before! What threw me was the fact that, apparently, Shaggy was keeping it a secret so that it wouldn't hurt Scooby's feelings... WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THAT?! Think about it! Shaggy has had many girlfriends before. Remember Crystal? Googie? Scooby was fine with them! I would think that he'd be thrilled at the prospect of his best friend dating another close friend.
Despite my misgivings, I decided to watch it, expecting the worst. I was completely right! I won't go into detail on how I watched each episode. I'll just give you a rundown on what's wrong with the whole series.
1. Velma: Oh. My. Gosh. Where do I begin? Let's just dig right in and say everything bluntly: In this series, Velma is a self-centered, b****y, smothering, psychotic girlfriend that is obsessed with Shaggy and is always trying to get him to choose her over Scooby. That's right, folks. Velma has gone from being a mild-mannered, smart, dry-humored character to being the girlfriend from Hell. Also, she seriously doesn't care about Scooby whatsoever! When Scooby was framed for a crime and taken away, she actually tried to use the opportunity to get closer to Shaggy during Scooby's absence! She is sarcastic, spiteful, and has absolutely NO good qualities about her.
2. Scooby: I want to punch the Scooby in this series. I mean it. I want to put this dog to sleep. He acts nothing like classic Scooby, often getting mad at Shaggy over trivial things like missing a movie marathon. When he found out about Shaggy's relationship with Velma, he ACTUALLY banded with her to force Shaggy to choose between them. One episode simply threw me. A robotic dog was attacking Crystal Cove. Scooby ran it over with a forklift. Afterward, he turned around, glared at the broken robot, and said "Bad dog. Play dead!". Also, did you notice anything wrong with those words besides the obvious WRONGNESS of them coming out of Scooby's mouth? How about the fact that they aren't: "Rad rog. Ray dead!" That's right, folks. Scooby talks like a normal person, only putting in the odd "R" once every few episodes.
3. Fred: He's a trap-obsessed, clueless, idiotic bimbo who is prone to moments of melodrama and complete obliviousness. His ascot becomes a regular object of conversation rather than a simple signature feature. He contributes NOTHING to the team except for his traps. Basic point: He SUCKS!
4. Daphne: Daphne is actually not too bad if you compare her to the other characters. Standing by herself, however, she doesn't have much going for her except for the fact that she's completely lovestruck when it comes to Fred. Remember when the Fred/Daphne relationship was something subtle that was often alluded to, but not shoved in your face? Remember when it left the mind open to so many possibilities? Yeah...I remember that too...
5. Shaggy: Honestly, Shaggy is the only person in the show that acts like his original self. The only problem is that, considering what he's surrounded by, he gets EATEN ALIVE! We get to see our favorite sandy-haired hippie suffer constant abuse from his best friend and his girlfriend, all the while trying to make things right and wondering what he did wrong. JEEZ! If I want to see a kicked puppy, I'll watch an ASPCA commercial. That'll give me my daily dose of depression, no problem...
6. Scooby Snax: Or, should I say, the lack thereof? There are no Scooby Snax in this series. Scooby and Shaggy like to snack on organic potato chips. Do I even NEED to say how wrong this is?!
7. The tone: While classic Scooby sometimes gave us a darker tone while still giving us that all-around "Scooby-Doo" feeling, this series gives us lots of dark stuff and no redemption. The monsters are somewhat frightening, the setting is often gritty and cast in red during certain scenes, and the addition of giving every Mystery Inc. member teen angst just ends with a thoroughly unrewarding experience. I got enough darkness and angst in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", thank you very much!
8. The motives: I just cannot buy the motives of the people who dress up in the monster outfits. In the original series, it was somewhat plausible. In this one, I just don't feel it. One woman created a deadly robot (yes, I use the robot-dog episode for reference a lot, but it was one of the worst) just because Velma wouldn't go out with her son.
So...yeah. Like many other series before and after, Scooby-Doo should have just stopped before now. It should have come to a nice conclusion with "A Pup Named Scooby Doo". That would have been a nice closure: ending with the gang's background story. But, nope! They had to squeeze every drop of dignity out of it! If I watch even a minute of "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated", I feel the need to cleanse myself with an entire episode of classic Scooby before I can do anything else!
If you truly love Scooby-Doo, take my advice and steer clear of anything coming after "A Pup Named Scooby Doo". And, if you do happen to watch an abomination, CLEANSE YOURSELF! If you don't, you may get rashes, stomachache, heartache, and brainache. Beware!!!
...Again, if you read that whole thing, kudos! Peace out! ^_^
NOAH NIXON 4 PRESIDENT
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