Scooby-Doo, My Thanks to You!

Today, the final episodes of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated aired on Cartoon Network. Never before has a Scooby-Doo series or movie shown so much intelligence, drama, and style. Since the first season, I have been praising SD!MI to anyone who would listen. If you haven't seen this show, stop reading right now and go watch the first episode, "Beware the Beast from Below." I promise you, you will be hooked. Or, at least, intrigued.

In 1969, Hanna-Barbera's original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? cartoon won over audiences with it's silly humor and non-threatening monster mysteries, but even with its great character designs by Iwao Takamoto, its spooky backgrounds, and its memorable music (not to mention a theme song absolutely embedded in today's pop culture consciousness), ...Where Are You? was never lauded for being a high-quality program. The plots were formulaic and the animation was often sub-par, but there was something intangible and indescribable about the gang of meddling teenagers and their talking dog that captured the imagination. Perhaps it was the show's simplicity that added to its charm. It became so successful that H-B's later attempts to duplicate that magic formula with shows like Jabberjaw and The Funky Phantom were failures by comparison. And to be frank, even the later Scooby-Doo cartoons and movies failed to fully capture the essence of the original series.

Out of the subsequent iterations, every fan has his or her favorites. When I was coming along (I'm 24 now), I liked the live-action movies and the VHS tapes I had of Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, ...Zombie Island, ...the Witch's Ghost, ...the Alien Invaders. I even had a couple of entertaining Scooby-Doo Nintendo video games. But as the direct-to-video releases became progressively worse and each new cartoon series disappointed, my interest waned. I would seek out the episodes of the older series, but they never fully satisfied. They would either ditch members of the original gang, or add annoying new ones (like Scrappy-Doo and Flim Flam), or turn them all into kids (A Pup Named Scooby-Doo), or feature guest stars who are now old or dead (Sonny & Cher?).

All these superficial changes kept the franchise alive, but did little to advance the mythology of the characters. For years, certain mysteries hung over the original premise. Where exactly did these kids live? Coolsville, or elsewhere? Did they have parents? How come they never had to go to school? Were Fred and Daphne a couple? And what about Shaggy and Velma, for that matter? How was Scooby able to talk and why did everyone accept it as normal?

For years, I had been a Scooby-Doo fan who felt like the franchise had not yet fully lived up to its potential by avoiding these questions. And all too often, Scooby-Doo was cursed by the hand of network censors, forced into being extra cute and kid-friendly (Shaggy & Scooby Doo Get A Clue!). Any sense of peril or emotional drama was usually axed. Even as a kid, I never liked being talked down to like that. The versions of Scooby-Doo I always enjoyed most had that alluring dark atmosphere, tempered only by the innocence and heart of the main characters. Scooby-Doo! Mystery Inc. embraced that and took it to the next level by establishing a real setting and supporting cast, allowing for some romance, crafting an overarching mystery behind the old done-in-one-episode format, regularly homaging popular horror films, exploring both the rational and the supernatural, and mixing all of the classic Scooby-Doo elements into the show it was always meant to be.

This was the Scooby-Doo show that I always wanted and I'm so glad that it is now exists in its entirety. It not only began with high quality, but it maintained it throughout its 52 episode run. It respected the history of the characters, while gently ribbing them with self-aware, tongue-in-cheek humor. It culminated in a fantastic, expansive mystery, although from the very beginning all the clues were laid, pointing toward its inevitable end. It also gave the characters some very emotional and appropriate send-offs. This show is the ouroboros of Scooby-Doo: everything came full circle, and in that completion it finds eternity (or at least, syndication :-P). How many other shows end in such a way as to take you back to the very beginning?

It's a shame that Cartoon Network treated this series so shabbily during its run with fleeting air schedules and poor promotion. Even the finale was billed as "Another new episode, airing NOW" instead of something important. Maybe it's a blessing that it turned out to be more of a sleeper hit than a really popular series. No noticeable story meddling from the powers that be.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge Frank Welker, the only remaining original cast member in his role as Fred Jones, who also inherited the role of Scooby-Doo--the star, himself (made famous, of course, by the late Don Messick). Legend has it, Scooby-Doo was the role he first auditioned for all those years ago, but he got the part of Fred instead. Over time, he became the highest grossing Hollywood actor (next to only Samuel L. Jackson) by doing numerous human and animal voices, and now he's filled the role of Freddy and Scooby with much aplomb. He truly is a Voice Artist Supreme. An honorable mention also goes to Casey Kasem, the original Shaggy, who in this series played Shaggy's Dad. This series has employed an amazing voice cast, including the stellar work of Grey DeLisle (Daphne), Mindy Cohn (Velma), and live-action Scooby alumni Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) and Linda Cardellini (Hot Dog Water/Marcy), not to mention many surprising guest voices, like Lewis Black, Vivica A. Fox, and Harlan Ellison.

That's enough for this retrospective. I'm thinking about posting some specific episode reviews soon.
Thanks Scooby-Doo! Mystery Inc. for being totally awesome from start to finish! And thanks Scooby Gang for teaching us to always be curious and to be brave in the face of danger (even if we might be a little afraid at first!)

Shaggy: "Whoa! This place is, like, mega-creepy and scary! Is it too late to turn back?"
Scooby-Doo: "Yes! Way too late."
~"Through the Curtain"

Come what may, there's always another mystery to be solved. Who better to solve them with than our best friends?