Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! impressions

[mr3urious]

Since we've had a thread for Wabbit, I decided to make one for the latest incarnation of those meddling kids and their dog.

Even though this series isn't as good as its predecessor Mystery Incorporated, which really piled on the drama and nightmare fuel the further it went on, it holds its own rather well. Even though it's more comedic, it's not as meta as I'd hoped (as in, more focused on constantly making fun of itself rather than telling a story like the 1st live-action movie was), but there are running gags each episode, like with Daphne having a different fixation whether with puppets or fake beards or falconry. I also like the unique musical numbers during the chase scenes.

The characters do look weird with their big round white eyes save for Velma, but the look has been growing on me, especially with how expressive they can be. And speaking of Velma, I don't know why she was recast specifically for BCSD, as Mindy Cohn still voices her in the DTV movies.

 

[The Count]

If the plan is to make fun of themselves/exploit the troperisms for what they are, then, yeah, mission accomplished.

But I do have a few nitpicks.
1 Not sure why Velma was recast VA-wise, but it makes the series fall into the trap of having one voice actor providing the voice for multiple main cast characters with no true distinction between characters. It sounds like as if Velma and Daphne have the same voice "most" of the time. There are times when they can be distinguished, but that comes from knowing the characters personalities. Otherwise, as a blind viewer, I'd have no clue whether Daphne was speaking as Velma or viceversa. That's one of the things that bothered or annoyed me with Winx Club Season 4: Beyond Believix, most of the main fairy girls had the same-sounding voice and I couldn't tell which was which.

2 This falls into the "mission accomplished" category of poking fun of themselves... But with Daphne picking up a different random hobby in each episode, it feels as if they've basically said scriptwise, we have one member of the main cast yet we don't really know what to do with her, so let's just give her something to do that has nothing to do with the character's persona overall. Wanting to grow a beard/mustache? Really? Would the fashionable diva that is Daphne Blake really have done something like that?

I'll probably catch a few episodes if I'm watching TV and got no other options, but this series isn't really clicking with me. And here I thought it would be the bridge between the ending of Mystery Incorporated and the next series with them at Miskatonic (SP?) University uncovering some new super-arching story for the new Mr. E.

Meh. *Shrugs.
Mystery Incorporated, ruining Halloween since 1969.

 

[Drtooth]

The characters do look weird with their big round white eyes save for Velma, but the look has been growing on me, especially with how expressive they can be. And speaking of Velma, I don't know why she was recast specifically for BCSD, as Mindy Cohn still voices her in the DTV movies.

The funny thing is, Velma's new voice actress, Kate Miccuci (SP? The Garfunkle and Oats girl who was in Raising Hope as well as the voice of Sadie in Steven Universe) seems to be an official recast. If you're looking for another example of her as Velma, they had a series of shorts to promote the new Lego Scooby-Doo sets.

I noticed this when these things premiered and found it odd they were able to get all the other voice actors (especially Frank "very expensive voice actor and darn well worth it" Welker who's always been a part of Scooby), but Velma didn't sound like Mindy. I'm guessing that Kate replaced Mindy sometime in between the production of the last DTV's and the production of this show, only to be cast as Velma for these shorts as well. I have a hunch a couple DTV's down the line (and remember, we're working with 2-3 a year) Kate's going to be Velma's voice actress there as well.

And it's weird because I really liked Mindy's Velma, since she was the best sounding one since the original. But I do like Kate's interpretation.

Anyway, as for the show itself, I'm really digging it. Not as much as Mystery Inc, probably around as much as Pup named Scooby-Doo, but rewatching some What's New Scooby-Doos (they're all over Boomerang) I have to say I find Be Cool preferable. Some What's News are good, but others just feel kiddy, even for a kid's show.

The art style threw me when I saw the original designs, but they work better in animation. They have a sort of Family Guy vibe to them, strangely enough since John Veiner did a guest voice or two.

As for the show itself, I really enjoy it so far. I like the upgrade of a Gadgetmobile-esque Mystery Machine. It's a little more cartoony than the usual Scooby Fare in that aspect, but I think it paid off pretty well so far. he characters don't seem too different. At least, well... Daphne. There's that. I don't know what to make of her yet. Daphne was pretty much the least interesting character early on, but I think depending on the series she can hold her own as a character. She was never really my favorite of the group because Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma always seemed to do more and all she'd do is get caught in a trap or something. And in Pup they made her a self absorbed valley girl which works for that series, but not for much of anything else. Here they make her a smarter version of Lola Bunny from TLTS. And while I do like how her weird obsessions actually saved the day, I just found them...off. I dug the puppet one because of that weird parody of the grand sacrifice, as well as it being therapy for the rest of the group in that one scene. (Slams fist on desk!) THAT'S who she reminds me of. They replaced Daphne with Pinkie Pie!

Overall, I'm liking this series. I like how the self parody isn't as painful as the movie was, and yet the series doesn't go down the constant self parody route which is too easy at this point. I loved the baseball episode where Shaggy's fandom actually had him acting out of character because the team meant more to him than being a coward or eating. I think that was my favorite moment of the series so far.

And was that guy from the episode where they were filming a crime show supposed to be a parody of a character from Gargoyles? Haven't seen the show long enough to figure if it was or not.

 

[mr3urious]

In the obligatory Christmas episode, it's revealed that Daphne's birthday falls on the holiday, and she constantly drops not-so-obvious hints about remembering to celebrate it as the rest of the gang tries to solve the mystery of the day. And in the end, they all sing "Happy Birthday Daphne" over and over to the tune of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing", likely because this was produced before the copyright to the Happy Birthday song was declared invalid by the Supreme Court.

 

[Drtooth]

I really like how that episode was self-parody of other Christmas Scooby-Doo specials. This time, having Fred going out to seek one, and trying to find connections between a seemingly normal mystery with no holiday tie in. A real subtle way of mocking how everywhere they turn up is a mystery, and holiday themed episodes always have holiday themed mysteries. It's a contrivance, sure, but it's beautifully deconstructed here.

 

[snichols1973]

I didn't even know this existed until it aired today on Cartoon Network, but Scooby-Doo even exists in puppet form.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo!_Adventures:_The_Mystery_Map

Even though it's produced by Warner Bros./Hanna-Barbera, Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Map features the puppetry talents of Eric Jacobson, Matt Vogel, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Alice Dinnean, Peter Linz, David Rudman, and Paul McGinnis (with separate voice actors) and the Mystery Inc. characters are styled after their A Pup Named Scooby-Doo versions...

Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map (2013) (V)

 

[Drtooth]

I accidentally tune into Cupcake Wars last night, and Grey Griffin and Kate Micucci were there promoting Scooby-Doo something. All the cupcakes were Scooby-Doo themed. Didn't catch the whole thing, though.

I didn't even know this existed until it aired today on Cartoon Network, but Scooby-Doo even exists in puppet form.

That's a weird one. It's a weird puppet remake of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, and clearly Warner Bros thought it was a mistake and bury the special in an international first release, waiting almost a year to just dump the thing out on CN and home video release. Otherwise, it seems like this could have been the first in a series. I did quite enjoy it, but it just comes off as weird. We've seen CGI movie Scooby-Doo and now we have Lego Scooby-Doo, but Puppet Scooby-Doo doesn't really mesh.

 

[mr3urious]

I enjoyed the references to the Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" in yesterday's episode, though it wasn't a straight-up parody as everyone knew about the gremlin on the plane. There was even a good bit of peril with Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby dangling off the wing of the enormous plane as Daphne tries to fly it to safety with her obsession du jour.

 

[Drtooth]

If there's one episode I think was brilliant in the way it was executed, it has to be "Don't Scooby-Doo the Crime if you can't Scooby-Doo the Time."

Why?

Because, it's the first time that A) the ghost was revealed to be the actual guy the ghost was of and B) they wound up clearing him of his innocence. For a show that's supposed to be a comedic parody-ish version of the show, they managed to subvert the franchise's entire premise and without playing it for laughs either.

I'm glad that we're seeing more episodes via their new Saturday Morning Line up. It's a real shame this wasn't fitting on their schedule, especially considering Scooby-Doo is one of WB's big tentpole franchises.

 

[Erine81981]

To me this was a temped to make the show for a more kids audience but still a neat way of doing it. I at first didn't really like what the characters looked liked at first but I it has grown one me.

My favorite episode has been "Part Like It's 1899." I just love how Fred tries to help solve the mystery but no one believes him plus he keeps breaking character. It was so funny to see Fred try to play his character but only to stop and be punished every time he broke character.

What I wouldn't mind seeing is like relatives come into series like they been through the year. I wouldn't mind seeing Scooby Dum or Scrappy Doo or why not even some of Scooby's sisters or even the gang's relatives.