Let's Watch This: An Episode of "What's New, Scooby-Doo?"

Well, it's time for me to talk about America's favorite Great Dane again. I've looked at two previous Scooby-Doo series on this blog: one was A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, which turned Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma into youngsters. The other was Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, which was an "edgy" Scooby-Doo show that prided itself on how it actually took itself seriously. In between these two shows, however, there was a little show called What's New, Scooby-Doo?.

Unlike other Scooby-doo productions, this show didn't have a "gimmick" (A Pup Named Scooby-Doo's making the characters kids, Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated's being all "dark" and "edgy", Be Cool, Scooby-Doo's totally redesigning the characters). It was just Scooby and the gang being themselves, basically just Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? in modern times. The show aired on Kids' WB from 2002 until 2006, with reruns airing on Cartoon Network. Every so often the show is rerun on Boomerang, which is how I re-discovered the show in 2015.

I guess the fact that the show doesn't have a "gimmick" is why you don't see this show talked about as much as other Scooby-Doo shows. However, it's one of my personal favorites, so today I'd like to do a review of one episode. Specifically, we'll be watching the episode "Big Appetite in Little Tokyo"...

Our episode begins on a rainy night in Tokyo, Japan. A guy by the name of Akina Onadera (I might've spelled his name wrong) is hard at work, only to be interrupted by a mysterious old man known as the Ancient One.

He actually prefers to be called the "Youth-Challenged One".

The Ancient One (voiced by Mako) is ticked off at Onadera because the new wharf that he's planning to build for his factory is "a threat to our simple way of life". "Things in this village have not changed for hundreds of years!" he says. "You can not hold back progress, Ancient One!" Onadera snaps, only for the Ancient One to threaten him by saying that a giant monster will destroy his factory.

Finally! The Scooby-Doo/Godzilla crossover that we've all been waiting for!

Then we cut to Velma Dinkley (Mindy Cohn) winning a science fair for her invention, Dogbot - a robotic dog. Sorry, Velma, but there's already a robot dog in the Hanna-Barbera library. Specifically, this guy -

I mean, sheesh, there are at least two episodes of Dynomutt's show where Scooby-Doo and his friends guest-starred. You'd think Velma would remember that.

Regardless, Dogbot is apparently cool enough to help Velma win first prize, which makes a boy named Elliot (Kimberly Brooks) who was also competing in the science fair very, very angry. He thinks that Velma's invention sucks, mainly because he's allergic to dogs and thinks that they are stupid. "Unlike some dogs, Dogbot is incapable of fear," Velma explains. Jeez, way to flip Scooby the bird, Velma. And not only does Dogbot not require food or sleep, he can provide it.

Professor Pomfreit (William Schallert), Velma's science teacher, tells her that as the first prize winner, Velma has won a trip for her and four of her closest friends to Tokyo so Mr. Onadera can check out Dogbot for himself.

"Velma, as the first prize winner of the science fair..."
"Uh, I'm over here, Mr. Pomfreit."
"You are? Huh. I think I might need new glasses..."

Soon Velma, Fred (Frank Welker as always), Scooby (also Frank Welker), Daphne (Grey Griffin) and Shaggy (Casey Kasem) are riding around Tokyo in a taxi, with Professor Pomfreit pointing out all the different landmarks - Mount Fuji, the Oshakusha Temple (I probably spelled that wrong, too), the old Takamota Movie Studio... Shaggy is exhausted, as he has jet lag. I'm only pointing this out because it's a plot point.

They all arrive at Mr. Onadera's factory, where he tells Velma that she's a role model for future robotics engineers. "Thank you, Mr. Onadera," Velma says, "But Dogbot is nothing compared to YOUR robotic marvels..."

Yes, clearly Dogbot is inferior to Mr. Onadera's... robotic pillows?

Then the Ancient One shows up again. "You chose to ignore my warnings, Mr. Onadera!" he shouts. "Now suffer the ancient curse!" The curse, specifically, is for Mr. Onadera to turn into a giant monster whenever he falls asleep and destroy his own factory. He blows some magic sand or whatever Mr. Onadera's way, but Velma tells Dogbot to whip up an extra-large teriyaki pizza that promptly shields Mr. Onadera and catches the sand in its crust. The Ancient One leaves, and Mr. Onadera gives some exposition. "Thanks to Velma, the only thing he cursed was that pizza!" Daphne points out.

Fred is so high as a kite right now...

There's just one problem - Shaggy has been fast asleep this whole time, and he's woken up by the pizza's magically flying around his face. I don't know why the pizza can fly. Must be a side effect of the magic curse-inducing dust.

"Like, I love magical flying pizza!"

Shaggy promptly scarfs down the pizza, much to everyone else's horror. "Shaggy ate the cursed pizza!" Fred exclaims, and hearing the word "cursed" of course makes Shaggy nervous. Mr. Onadera reassures Shaggy that the Ancient One isn't magic, just some crazy old man, and therefore the probability of Shaggy becoming Godzilla whenever he falls asleep is, in his own words, "slim". This does not make Shaggy feel better...

That night, Mr. Onadera lets the gang sleep in his guest house. Shaggy took the liberty of chaining his foot to the floor so that even if he DOES change into a monster, he won't be able to go anywhere. But just to be extra-safe, he's not going to fall asleep either.

"So, like, then I told Fred 'Dude, like, Daphne totally has the hots for me!', and
then Fred, like, he was all, like, 'No way! She has the hots for ME!' and then
I was all, like..."

Alas, the jet-lag does its thing and soon Shaggy is out like a light. We then cut to the streets of Tokyo being destroyed by a giant monster who bears a striking resemblance to Shaggy.

If only one of the villagers had some Scooby Snacks on them... then they could just say, "Giant monster, would you stop destroying Tokyo for a Scooby Snack?" and everything would be good.

It's really hard to make a giant monster who looks like Shaggy frightening.
Especially when their belly button is exposed.

The next morning, Shaggy and Scooby are woken up by Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Dogbot offering them breakfast in bed. Of course Scooby's all over that, but Shaggy says that he's not hungry - which even he is surprised by. Then a policewoman, Lieutenant Tanaka (Gwendoline Yeo), shows up and tells them that Shaggy destroyed their village in the form of a giant monster. Jeez, lady, at least give Shaggy a chance to change out of his pajamas before you start chewing him out. Shaggy protests that he chained himself to the floor, but as it turns out, the chain was bitten-through by razor-sharp teeth. "Zoinks! Like, I AM a monster!" Shaggy exclaims.

Later on, Shaggy and Scooby help themselves to some noodles as Fred, Daphne, and Velma try to figure out this mystery that they've got on their hands. "There's got to be a logical explanation for this..." Velma insists. Noticing a giant footprint nearby, Daphne asks, "What's the logical explanation for THAT?!"

Little-known fact about Shaggy - his foot size is a five-hundred. It makes shoe-shopping
for him very difficult.

Upon seeing the footprint, Shaggy yells, "ZOINKS!", which gets the attention of many of the village's residents. "HA! That IS the sound of the monster!" one man snaps. "The Ancient One put his curse on YOU! YOU destroyed our village!" Yeah, apparently the Ancient One and his putting a curse on somebody because he was all bent out of shape over their building a wharf is juts common knowledge in this town. On top of that, Lieutenant Tanaka shows up and announces that Shaggy is under arrest. Fortunately, the gang manages to escape by hitching a ride on the back of a bullet train. "Wow!" Fred says, "This is what I call rapid transit!" Daphne replies, "This is the bullet train, Freddy! And judging from my hair, I'd say we're going two hundred and ten miles an hour!" Because in this show, Daphne can't go one episode without making at least one comment about her hair and/or her clothes. Eventually, they all manage to climb inside the dining car, but alas, Lieutenant Tanaka shows up and grabs Shaggy. Fortunately, Daphne accidentally pulls the emergency brake, allowing them to get away.

Oh yeah, and there's also a Running Gag where Dogbot helps the gang somehow and they sing his praises, which makes Scooby feel bummed. He's dealt with this sort of thing before, and it turned out that the robot dog was evil, so I don't really blame him for being mad.

Fred reassures Shaggy that now that they're in Downtown Tokyo surrounded by hundreds of other people, there's no way that Lieutenant Tanaka will find him. "Four American tourists, a Great Dane, and a robot. Sure, Fred. We'll blend right in," Velma replies. And then, wouldn't you know it, Velma runs into Elliot. Remember him? Apparently, his folks took him to Japan as a consolation prize for not winning the Science Fair. To be a jerk, he decides to alert the police of Shaggy's presence, sending the gang on the run again. They try to disguise themselves as monks, but Elliot gives them away again.

"That's the worst Obi-Wan Kenobi costume that I've ever seen!"

Well, it's time for the once an episode "Chase sequence set to music" sequence. After the gang gets away, Velma says that they should get off the street before the police find them again. Shaggy points out a hotel that they can stay in for the night.

Once they're all checked in, Shaggy says that he'd prefer to sleep in a giant iron cage that the hotel just so happens to have in its lobby. The man at the front desk dubs this "highly unorthodox", but all it takes for him to let Shaggy sleep in there is for Daphne to seduce him. So Shaggy goes to sleep in the cage, and the others find out that their "rooms" are actually more like tiny compartments. "It's a Tokyo Tube Hotel, Freddy," Velma explains, "Where the economical meets the cramped."

I sure hope none of them are claustrophobic.

However, before any of them can get any sleep, they all hear a loud noise and rush out to the lobby to discover that Shaggy smashed his way out of the cage and is now rampaging through Tokyo as a giant monster.

"LIKE, SHAGGY CRUSH PUNY MEDDLING KIDS!"

Shagzilla tries to step on the gang, but Dogbot shields them and they run after him. "Shaggy sure runs a lot faster with twenty-foot legs!" Fred points out. Fortunately, the sun comes up, and soon they find Shaggy, human once again, fast asleep and hungry as per usual. He tells the others that they should turn him in, but of course they're not going to do that, because they're nice people as opposed to massive jerks who hate each other (coughcoughlikeintheawfulliveactionmoviescoughcough). Instead, Velma decides to call up Professor Pomfreit for help. He tells her they meet him at Oshakusha Temple. But uh-oh, Lieutenant Tanaka is listening in on their conversation!

Daphne uses black mascara and a stapler to disguise the gang as they bike to Oshakusha Temple, but alas, Lieutenant Tanaka recognizes them. Dogbot uses popcorn to discombobulate the police as the gang runs like heck. Well, at least Fred, Daphne and Velma do... Shaggy escapes via a rickshaw pulled by Dogbot. And he's starting to get sleepy. "Musn't sleep... turn into monster..." he moans as he drifts off to sleep...

When Shaggy wakes up, he discovers that he's become a giant monster, much to his horror. On the bright side, this time he's still sapient.

"And I JUST GOT these pants!"

He starts sobbing about how he's all alone, but then Velma, Fred, Daphne, Scooby, and Dogbot show up, and he assumes that they're all now giants. Turns out they're all just standing in a detailed model of Tokyo - they followed Dogbot to an abandoned movie studio. And Shaggy's not a monster, some guys just dressed him up like one while he was sleeping for some reason. And since Shaggy DIDN'T become a monster after falling asleep, this proves that he was not, in fact, the big ugly monster stomping around Tokyo every night since he arrived. Thus, they all head to Mr. Onadera's factory so they can figure out who ordered Dogbot to bring Shaggy to the studio in the first place.

"Jinkies! Why is Mr. Onadera running around the factory in his underwear?!"

At the factory, Velma notices that Elliot is also there, kissing up to Mr. Onadera. "Why that jinkin'..." she mutters, then Daphne suggests that maybe Elliot knows the truth about the monster. But before they can ask him, Shagzilla shows up again and they all make a run for it. Eventually, Scooby manages to take down the monster (with some help from Dogbot).

"Now let's see who's REALLY behind the attack of the fifty-foot Shaggy!" Velma announces before using some wasabi to, uh, melt the monster's face, revealing that the culprit is none other than Professor Pomfrit. She explains that she knew it was him because the monster didn't show up until HE did, and he decided to take advantage of the conflict between Mr. Onadera and the Ancient One to frame Shaggy. "When Shaggy ate the cursed pizza," she says, "Pomfrit rigged Dogbot to respond to HIS remote commands, and get the sleeping Shaggy away from the action, so we thought HE was the monster." Why did he do this? Well, apparently Pomfrit is jealous of Mr. Onadera's success. "Why is HE rich when I'M just an underpaid high-school teacher?!" he complains. However, on his way he at least apologizes to Velma for using her invention for his evil scheme.

When Mr. Onadera brings up the Ancient One, Lieutenant Tanaka claims that there's no such thing as "the Ancient One", which makes Shaggy assume that he's a spirit. Regardless, Mr. Onadera decides to build his new wharf somewhere else. Velma then gives Elliot to Dogbot - he finally has a dog that he won't be allergic to.

"That was really sweet of you, Velma," Daphne says, "But aren't you going to miss Dogbot?" "No. I may have given Dogbot a supersized brain," Velma replies, giving Scooby a hug, "But that just can't compete with Scooby-Doo's supersized heart." And so the episode ends with this adorable moment:

All together now: D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW...

WHAT'S THE VERDICT?

I'll admit that What's New, Scooby-Doo? isn't quite as ambitious as Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, but in my opinion it's a lot more fun. Scooby-Doo isn't supposed to be dark and edgy, just a fun romp with some meddling kids and a dog solving a mystery. It didn't go too "modern" or update things too much in order to make the show "with the times" or whatever. It didn't make any of the characters more annoying (Daphne's constant yammering about shopping and clothes can get pretty grating, but I'll gladly take that over Be Cool, Scooby-Doo's turning Daphne into a Pinkie Pie clone) or derail them into out-of-character jerks. And when the show is funny, it's genuinely funny. I definitely recommend checking the show out.

My next review is going to be of a film called Animals United. It's one of those "protect the environment and all of the animals that live in it" films. See you then.

Let's Watch This: An Episode of "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo"

Well, time to talk about America's favorite Great Dane again. Yes, we're taking a look at another Scooby-Doo show. This one is much better than Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (yeah, I said it). But first, I'd like to talk about just how this show came to be.

When the original version of Muppet Babies premiered in the 1980s, it started off a trend. A trend that is commonly referred to as "Spin-Off Babies". "Spin-Off Babies" is when you take cartoon characters and put 'em in a new show where they're children. Which is how we wound up with this...

And this...

And who can forget about THIS?

This trend has slowed down in more recent years, but it's still around. Did you know that Jake and the Neverland Pirates was originally going to be a cartoon about a younger Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies? No, really! In addition, We Bare Bears spawned a spinoff about the bears as cubs called We Baby Bears that apparently should be premiering sometime this year. And recently, a prequel series to the Madagascar films called Madagascar: A Little Wild premiered.

Will the trend ever go away? Beats me. It's probably only a matter of time before we get THIS:

But anyway, let's talk about the show that I'm actually going to be reviewing today. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo premiered in 1988. Generally regarded as being one of the better "Spin-Off Babies" shows, here Scooby is a puppy and Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma are children. I'm not sure how old, specifically, they're supposed to be (I think they attend Junior High, for what it's worth... but then, there's an episode of What's New, Scooby-Doo? where we get a flashback to when Velma was five, and the characters all have their designs from this show... does that mean Velma is five in this show? And if it is, why is she going to Junior High?).

Since I've heard so many good things about this show, I decided "What the heck? I'll give it a watch!" Today's episode is called "Lights... Camera... Monster". Because if you're doing an episode of a cartoon about the characters making a movie, it has to be called "Lights... Camera... [SOMETHING]". It's just common knowledge.

The episode starts off with a shot of the Coolsville Mall. Ah yes, I forgot to mention, in this show the characters live in a place called "Coolsville". Shaggy (Casey Kasem) gives some exposition: Fred (Carl Stevens) got a camera for his birthday and he wants to make a movie, and the others are helping him.

Did malls look like this back in the 1980s? Because I've never been
to a mall that looked like that.

Scooby (Don Messick) is going to be the star of the movie. "All right, get into your monster costume, Scooby, baby!" Fred tells him. Do you have to call him "Scooby, baby"? I find that very cringe-worthy. In fact, Fred spends much of this first scene acting like a stereotypical Hollywood director. I'm pretty sure that no Hollywood director has ever talked like this, however. I also find it kind of strange that the younger version of Shaggy has the exact same voice as the standard-aged version. Scooby's voice at least sounds higher, Shaggy's is identical. Did they tell Casey not to try and sound younger or something?

Anyhow, they film their movie, which is apparently about this big "mall monster", played by Scooby, who Shaggy and Daphne (Kellie Martin) have to stop. Daphne at one point says that "mall monsters" are a load of baloney, but Fred insists that they exist - he read so in the National Enquirer! One important thing you should know about this show is that it was one of the first attempts at giving Fred and Daphne actual personalities, since in the original show they were about as interesting as sandpaper. Fred is a moron who believes in the sort of obvious bullcrap you find in supermarket tabloids, and Daphne is vain, obsessed with fashion, and is also rich. These personalities would also be given to Fred and Daphne, albeit downplayed, in What's New, Scooby-Doo?.

What kind of hat is Daphne wearing? Even Shaggy looks weirded-out
by it.

Fred gets Daphne to be a bit more enthusiastic about being in this movie by pointing out that this is her chance to become a big-time Hollywood star. Indeed, in just a few decades they'll be making movies about you! Live action ones, starring Freddie Prince Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar! And they'll be awful, just FYI.

Fred shouts, "SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?" because you have to say that at least once in every Scooby-Doo production. This is the cue for what Fred thinks is Scooby in his "mall monster" costume to show up. Let me guess, that's not Scooby but in fact an actual mall monster, right?

Ee-yup. A few seconds after the mall monster shows up, Scooby emerges from a shop wearing... um, this.

"Rhould one of you rhelp me rhind my way to the auditions for Rheggietales?"

The monster announces that his name is "Stinkweed" (make up your own joke here, I've got nothing) and scares the pants off the gang, but fortunately Velma (Christina Lange) finds the button that summons the elevator and they're able to make their escape. Fred announces that he must get the monster on video as a security guard who looks like Magilla Gorilla tries to arrest Stinkweed (Michael Bell), only to be foiled by Stinkweed's, well, stink.

Seriously, look at him. He looks almost exactly like a human version
of Magilla Gorilla!

Stinkweed goes into a pet store called "Pets-4-Us", where he encounters a skunk who falls head over furry heels for him as he's swiping the cash register. Ten bucks says the skunk appearing and swooning over the monster is gonna be a running gag. Scooby and the gang chase him into a plant store. Inside, Scooby is swallowed whole by a sentient man-eating plant.

How exactly is this thing allowed to be sold in a plant store? Wouldn't
it be a bad idea to sell a sentient plant that eats humans to human customers?

Since the monster got away, Fred suggests, "Let's regroup, and THEN split-up!" As they're leaving, a woman watches them from over at the cashier desk. Now, for the sake of not giving away who the culprit is, I'm not gonna say that I think she's the culprit, but... I think there's a very good chance that she is.

Fred suggests that instead of a monster movie, they could make a movie about how they solve cases. Everyone else thinks this is a good idea. Then the show is interrupted by a special news bulletin (this is one of the show's best Running Gags). "FREDDY HAD A GOOD IDEA! IT'S A MIRACLE!" the anchorman shouts. Yeah, it's a good idea NOW, but just wait until they get Freddie Prince Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar involved...

Yes, I hate the live action Scooby-Doo movies and I am going to keep making fun of those.

After that, Scooby notices a poster for a movie starring Stinkweed - Stinkweed 10: The Smell Continues. The poster also says that you'll get to meet the film's star, Vincent Thorne. "Hey! He's the actor who plays Stinkweed!" says Fred. Apparently, Vincent Thorne is some sort of method-actor? Of course, I don't think method-actors would go so far as to steal from the cash register of a pet store...

Quick question: why is Velma barely saying anything? And how come most of her... what, four lines have been one word long? I know this younger version of Velma is supposed to be sort of shy, and I'm probably just complaining because Velma is my favorite Scooby-Doo character, but so far she hasn't really gotten much to do.

The next day, the gang heads back to the mall and interrogate Vincent Thorne. "How could you be so despicable?!" Daffy... uh, I mean Daphne demands. Fred praises Daphne for her performance - right before asking her to do it again because he didn't take off the lens cap. Vincent is all "I've been framed! Just because I play Stinkweed everyone thinks I'm the criminal running around doing all that evil stuff! I need you to clear my name!" He promises to pay them twenty-five dollars a day if they help him. Side note, I feel like this Vincent Thorne guy (pictured below) is supposed to be a caricature of some actor, but I can't put my finger on who... Tim Curry, maybe?

Why is Scooby just staring at the screen? Is he watching me?!

Scooby is so excited by the prospect of having twenty-five dollars a day that he faints, even though he's a dog and I don't know what dogs do with money. Then that woman from the plant store comes in and tells Vincent that she found the film "interesting". Suspicious, isn't it?

Then some French dude who just saw the movie comes in and tells Vincent that he thought it stunk (no pun intended). Vincent introduces him to the kids: it's a fellow actor named Greedy Lawrence (who names their kid "Greedy"? Seriously, who DOES that?). He apparently follows Vincent wherever the guy goes in the hopes of trying to make him look bad and take over his roles. Methinks somebody needs to get a life.

Daphne suggests that they follow Greedy Lawrence. They follow him onto the set of a commercial that he's doing for a restaurant, directed by who is most possibly THE MOST OVERWEIGHT CHARACTER IN ALL OF ANIMATION.

Garfield, Homer Simpson, and Peter Griffin should all carry around a picture for this guy. That way, whenever somebody gets after them for being fat, they can just show them a picture of this guy and say, "Hey, at least I don't look like THIS!"

The ungodly-fat director kicks Greedy off the project because he needs someone "who doesn't talk so funny" (way to insult the entire country of France, pal). Someone like, for example, Vincent Thorne. This makes Greedy MAD!

Scooby finds a motor home that I guess belongs to Greedy. "Okay, gang! Let's split-up!" Fred announces. "Freddy, split-up WHERE? It's a motor home," Daphne replies. For those who haven't gotten it by now, Fred is in this show a massive idiot. Scooby finds a clue - the cash register from the mall pet store. "Jinkies! Scooby found a clue! And I've actually gotten another line in this episode!" Velma exclaims.

Then the kids notice that woman from before walking onto the set of the commercial. Again, very superstitious. Before they can start wondering why she's there, Velma gets a call on the phone that she has in her briefcase.

"And they said carrying this phone around with us in my briefcase was
a dumb idea!"

The call turns out to be from Vincent, who found a big clue at the movie theater. Said clue turns out to be the monster, who chases the kids into a shoe store. "I got Thorne! Now it's YOUR TURN!" he snarls. Fortunately, the kids distract him by acting as though he's an employee and requesting that he get them some shoes. Yep, this is definitely something that Bugs Bunny would do.

One thing leads to another and they wind up knocking Stinkweed into a planter. And from out of that planter emerges that woman who totally isn't the culprit. Fred starts interrogating her, and she shouts that she's with the FBI and she's going to prove that Vincent Thorne is guilty. Quick question, did another animation studio take over after the monster grabbed Vincent? Because I couldn't help but notice that the characters' eyes are larger and the animation's gotten more, for lack of a better word, cartoony.

Anyhow, Daphne says that they've got enough evidence to prove that the monster is really Greedy Lawrence. "We do?" Scooby asks. Shaggy points out that they found the cash register from the pet store in his dressing room. "We did?" Scooby asks. Then Daphne says that he wants to get even with Mr. Thorne. "He does?" Scooby asks (seriously, Scooby, where have you been for the past few minutes?). Then Fred makes a comment about mall zombies because he's an idiot. The entire time that this is going on, meanwhile, Velma is writing things down on a notepad.

The woman says that the kids may be on to something and dashes off to tell her supervisors at the FBI. Yeah, I'm still pretty sure she's the culprit. Fred says that THEY should get back to the mystery, too - but first, Scooby wants a Scooby Snack. Glad to see his priorities are in-check. Fred and Daphne don't have any, but what luck! There's a Scooby Snack stand in the Food Court! Zhe odds, vhat are zhey?

After the Scooby Snack eating, Scooby smells something. Said something turns out to be Stinkweed, and he's got Greedy's shoes.

"This will make a great submission to America's Funniest Home Videos!"

Scooby sneezes, which blows the gang's cover. "Now you will see the wrath of Stinkweed!" Stinkweed shouts. Shaggy, while doing a bunch of wild-takes, replies, "Like, I've already seen that movie! Isn't that the one where Stinkweed meets the giant zucchinis?!" Stinkweed snaps, "NO! IT'S THE ONE WHERE I GET RID OF YOU PESKY KIDS!" I believe the phrase is "MEDDLING KIDS", Stinkweed.

Scooby gets out a boombox - because it's time for the episode's chase sequence and you can't have a chase sequence without a catchy song to play in the background! Stinkweed chases our heroes through the mall. Gags include them running up an escalator, reading a "YOU ARE HERE" sign, and having to pause the chase sequence so Daphne can do some shopping. Glad to see YOUR priorities are in-check too, Daphne.

There's also a brief scene where we see the kids dancing. Good dancers, they are not (though to be fair, they're KIDS).

This is called the "I Have No Idea What to Do With My Arms".

This is called the "I Can't Dance to Save My Life".

This is called the "I Think I'm Attempting to Be a Chicken Judging
From the Way I Have My Arms Positioned".

And this is called the "That One Kid From A Charlie Brown Christmas
Who Apparently Couldn't Think of a Dance".

Eventually, they're able to give Stinkweed the slip, and Velma is able to get this mystery figured out. And she's got a plan!

Stinkweed, while looking for the kids, finds himself on a movie set, where Fred announces that it's time for his "big scene" - they're filming his next movie, Return to Stinkweed Island.

There's a quick gag here where Velma gets out a watering can and waters
Stinkweed, resulting in him sprouting flowers. I don't know why I find that
so funny, I just DO.

The scene involves "Sergeant Scooby" saving Shaggy and Daphne from Stinkweed by beating him in a game of checkers. Afterwards, Fred tells Stinkweed that he did a good job, but he doesn't think it's what they want. So they do the scene again - but this time, they're in a forest and Scooby is "Scoob of the Jungle", and it's his job to make a cage fall down on top of Stinkweed. The cage falls... right next to Stinkweed. I don't know if this is the fault of Scooby or Fred, but either way, YOU HAD ONE JOB!

Fortunately, Scooby winds up knocking Stinkweed into a pond of quicksand. Instead of sinking into it, he just gets stuck. That's not how quicksand works (you SINK into it, you don't get stuck), but hey, why bring realism into a cartoon with a talking dog in it?

"Well, we've finally caught Stinkweed," Daphne tells the camera. "But do YOU know who he is?" Well, Daphne, if I had to guess, I'd say that it's that woman from before. You know, the one claiming to be an FBI agent? Or maybe it's Greedy. One of those two.

Fred's got footage of all the suspects on tape. Suspect Number One is Greedy Lawrence. Suspect Number Two is that woman claiming to be an FBI agent, whose name is apparently Jane Thirsdee or something. Suspect Number Three, according to Fred, is the local bully Red Herring. Oh yes, and Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo make a cameo.

Yogi also makes a cameo in another episode of the show, "The Story
Stick". Just thought I'd bring that up.

Then the woman and Greedy show up and say that neither of THEM are the monster. Huh. I was wrong about one of them being the culprit. I would probably make a pretty lousy detective. Velma pulls off Stinkweed's mask to reveal that the culprit is in fact... cue the drum roll... Vincent Thorne.

She began to suspect that it was him when she saw Stinkweed with Greedy's shoes. Why did Vincent do it? Well, he didn't want to make any more movies about Stinkweed. He HATES Stinkweed. He wanted to make Stinkweed look bad so that the studio would stop making Stinkweed movies - and get some free money at the same time. And he would've gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for those pesky kids and that pup, Scoob of the Jungle.

With the case solved, Fred can finally get started on making his NEXT movie. He offers Greedy the chance to star in it, but he's got to go to an important audition - an audition for a commercial for Scooby Snacks. The end.

WHAT'S THE VERDICT?

You know what? It was pretty good. Not GREAT, but I agree that it's one of the better "Spin-Off Babies" shows. The jokes are for the most part pretty funny, and the mystery actually managed to surprise me. My one complaint is that for the first chunk of the episode, Velma didn't have much to do. But that's admittedly a small thing.

Since writing this review, I've watched many more episodes of the show, and I'll tell you that this isn't "just watch one episode" show. It requires multiple viewings of multiple different episodes to really see why the show is so good. If you're a fan of Scooby-Doo, I would highly recommend giving it a watch. Don't just brush it off as being "not for you" simply because it's one of those "Spin-Off Babies" shows.

Before I end this post, I'd like to point out that this is my forty-eighth review on this blog. We're quickly approaching my fiftieth review, that's pretty big. And I posted my first review in December 2018 - if my math is correct, that's two years and five months! I still have to decide what my fiftieth review will be, but for now, I'll give you a teaser of the next one, my forty-ninth review...

Let's Watch This - An Episode of "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated"

Soooooooooo... let's talk about Scooby-Doo.

I'll be honest, while I was an average watcher of Scooby-Doo stuff when I was younger, I didn't really get into the show until 2015. That's when I began watching reruns of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and What's New, Scooby-Doo? on Boomerang.

Anyhow, over the years there's been a whole lotta versions of Scooby-Doo. He's been given the Spin-Off Babies treatment, he's visited Zombie Island, he's faced alien invaders, he competed in the 1977 Laff-a-Lympics, he's starred in two horrible live action films starring Matthew Lillard and an incredibly bored-sounding Linda Cardellini... he's done it all!

I'm not sure which incarnation of Scooby-Doo is the most popular of the bunch. But if I had to guess, I'd say that one of the most popular is Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

What, exactly, IS Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated? Well, it's a Scooby-Doo show that sucks all the fun out of watching Scooby and his friends solve mysteries and tries to take itself seriously. It's scary, it's got arcs, it's dark, it's not as comedic, and I think that's the main reason why so many people like it. They like that a Scooby-Doo show is actually being "deep" or some crap like that.

However, I have seen people that dislike the show. Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, who created the original show, dislike it because it's too dark and doesn't get the spirit of the franchise. Apparently, Scooby voice actor Scott Innes doesn't care much for it either. Where do I fall on the spectrum? Well, in the past I've watched a few episodes and honestly couldn't get into it. But hey, at least it gave us this:

Today, I'm going to give the show another try. This episode is called "Howl of the Fright Hound". Get out the Scooby Snax, because this Mystery Machine is taking us to visit a very, very different version of Scooby-Doo and his friends. Let's dive in, shall we?

The episode starts off with these three idiot guards at some sort of spooky prison place talking about coffee, and then one of the prisoners escapes. Specifically, a large dog (with its growls provided by Fred Tatasciore). The guards try to fight him, but they don't have any luck. Like, seriously, an entire SWAT Team comes in and it still manages to fight them off. What kind of dog is this?!

"Well, now, Brer Rabbit, I reckon I'll have ta ROAST YA!"

After that and the theme song, we cut to Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and Scooby at school. Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) is bored, Velma (Mindy Cohn) is annoyed because Scooby (Frank Welker) is hogging all of Shaggy's time. You see, a recurring plot in the show is that Shaggy and Velma are dating and as a result, Scooby and Velma are constantly fighting over him. Because apparently they can't share him.

While I'm ticking people off, I suppose I should mention that I think Matthew Lillard's Shaggy is awful. He doesn't sound anything like Casey Kasem. Just because he played Shaggy in the crappy live action movies doesn't mean that he was the right choice to do the character's voice. Scott Innes' Shaggy is much better.

And I know this is a personal thing, but I also hate Velma's design in this show.
What's with the hair boww?

"It's time you made a choice," Velma tells Shaggy. "Dog... or ME." Before Shaggy can reply, however, a robot spider shows up out of nowhere and starts messing up other students' cars (oh, the horror). "What IS that thing?!" Daphne (Grey Griffin) asks. That's a pretty good question, Daphne. Fred (Frank Welker, of course) announces that they've got a mystery on their hands, and to solve this mystery they'll need a TRAP! But then the robot spider suddenly stops, and... okay, seriously, take a look at this student that shows up. Just LOOK at him.

Ladies and gentlemen, THE UGLIEST NERD IN ALL OF ANIMATION.

So the fat nerd (voiced by Daryl Sabara) gets a wedgie from some jocks and tries to hit on Velma. You know, if you wanted Velma to have an Abhorrent Admirer, instead of inventing this kid you could have brought back the dweeb who had a thing for her in What's New, Scooby-Doo. Just saying.

Velma introduces her friends to the fat kid, whose name is Jason. They were in the Junior Robotics Club Together. Shaggy tells Jason to go suck an egg because HE'S her boyfriend and there's nothing he can do about it and right now they're gonna go solve a mystery or whatever. Velma is impressed by Shaggy's standing up to Jason, but Shaggy is more concerned with how hungry he is.

Shaggy and Velma dating is so weird. It's like if Jon Arbuckle hooked up with
Meg Griffin.

That night, Velma's mother (Frances Conroy) is driving a tour bus through their town. But then the evil dog from before appears and does its thing. Eventually the gang shows up and Daphne asks what happened to the tour bus. Fred replies, "Something... MYSTERIOUS!" Sheriff Patrick Warburton (I know the character has a name, but you know what, I'm calling him "Sheriff Patrick Warburton") announces that there was no mystery here, only a CRIME. Then he arrests Scooby because he and the tourists think that Scooby is the dog who attacked them, despite the fact that the evil dog that attacked them (which some guy got on video camera) is hidden in the shadows so it's hard to make out just how similar it looks to Scooby, and Shaggy and Daphne trying to vouch for his innocence. Scooby is driven off in the police car, and apparently he isn't even given a trial or anything. "I still can't believe it..." Fred says the next day. "Scooby-Doo, locked up like an animal!"

Now, you'd expect Velma to, I don't know, GIVE A CRAP that her boyfriend's dog is in prison. In fact, in any other Scooby-Doo production Velma likely would've been the most determined next to Shaggy to prove Scooby's innocence. But nope, instead Velma doesn't care at all and is trying to convince Shaggy to "move on to someone else" (as in, her). Daphne agrees with me and doesn't approve of this, but Velma just keeps on trying to make Shaggy forget about Scooby and get it on with her. Here's a suggestion, Mystery Incorporated Version of Velma: maybe the best way to get Shaggy to like you is NOT by being so unbelievably apathetic towards his being depressed that his dog was locked up over a crime that he was innocent of?

"Fred, who IS this horrible person, and what has she done with Velma?"

Then Velma tries to get Shaggy to cheer up by ACTING like Scooby, which was likely intended to be funny but it's not. Fred says that they're going to see Scooby at the Animal Asylumn For the Criminally Insane.

Otherwise known as "The Generic Spooky Place Seen in a Dozen Other Cartoons".

While they're exploring the place, a monkey tries to attack them, then a GIRAFFE (I am not kidding) is threatened by a guard with a taser. Scooby is very happy to see Shaggy. Shaggy announces that somehow he will get Scooby out of there, even if he has to, uh, "bite this joint right open".

Also located in this Animal Asylumn is an evil talking parrot (Udo Kier). Here's a screencap of him:

"Oh, I know I'm not a pretty birdy, but I used to be quite a looker... a STAR..."

Apparently, this parrot belonged to the "original" Mystery Incorporated (this is another recurring theme in the show, the characters are trying to figure out what happened to them). A guard warns them that even though the parrot's brain is small, he's still very intelligent - he's so intelligent, in fact, that he's somehow been able to duct-tape the guard's stun gun to his hand! The parrot acts all evil and threatening and warns Fred, Daphne, Velma and Scooby to "beware of those closest to you". Considering how unlikable Velma's been acting, perhaps that's his way of advising Shaggy to beware of HER. But then he adds, "I'm specifically talking to you, Frederick...", so I guess not.

After they leave the Jail For Insane Animals, Fred says that someone has set Scooby up - and they need to return to the scene of the crime to find out WHY. They head back to the bus and find "a robotic circuit-leg-joint". Shaggy says that should be enough proof that Scooby is innocent and that the thing that attacked the tourists was in fact a robot, but Fred says that they still need to know who built it. Velma thinks it's Jason (remember him?), so they all go to his house to ask him a few questions.

This is Jason's mother. I guess ugliness runs in the family...

As it turns out, Jason is so obsessed with Velma that his room looks like a SHRINE dedicated to her. Seriously, look at this:

This kid seriously needs some professional help...

He introduces Velma to his online nerd friends, then invites her out on a double-date. To make things even creepier, he suggests that they go on said double-date with one of his online nerd friends and his SOCK PUPPET. I did not make that up. One of Jason's online nerd friends is dating a sock puppet. With artificial intelligence. Which does not make it any less frightening.

In fact, given the appearance of that thing, that just makes it even MORE frightening.

After... well, THAT, they start interrogating Jason about the robot dog, which initially makes Jason upset, then he gets mad, dubs Velma "evil", and throws her and her friends out. After the others leave, they're suddenly attacked by the evil robot dog, who attempts to eat Daphne. They manage to knock him out of the Mystery Machine, but it continues to pursue them.

They go to Sheriff Patrick Warburton and tell him that the robot dog who attacked the tourists attacked them and that Scooby is innocent, but of course Sheriff Patrick Warburton doesn't believe them. Even after he get a call from the Animal Asylum, which is under attack from some sort of "fright hound", he doesn't believe them. "If we don't get to Scooby quick," Shaggy exclaims, "Like, that robot WILL!"

Why does the Animal Asylum suddenly look like a gingerbread house?

Indeed, the robot dog (which now looks like something out of that Five Nights at Freddy's game) is after Scooby, but Shaggy rescues him. They all drive off in the Mystery Machine, but they run out of gas in front of a creepy abandoned factory. Fred suggests that they hide in there, claiming, "We'll be safer around the dangerous machinery!" Okay, that line was kinda funny, so there's that.

Alas, Dynomutt's Evil Counterpart finds them and manages to corner Velma and Shaggy. Velma then decides to ask Shaggy IF HE'S MADE UP HIS MIND ABOUT THE "SCOOBY OR VELMA" QUESTION SHE ASKED EARLIER. Seriously, what is wrong with this girl?

Fortunately, they are rescued by Scooby in a forklift. He fights the robot dog, and eventually they manage to trap it in a net, but it escapes because the climax just hasn't been dragged out for long enough. But it winds up on a conveyor belt and torched and smashed and stuff! So it's defeated NOW, right? Well, no, it's still up and ready to attack the gang... and then, finally, Scooby defeats it. Thank God.

Sheriff Patrick Warburton shows up and Daphne tells him that they solved the mystery. And the culprit is... Jason's mom (who's voiced by Jessica Walter, by the way). I gotta admit, I did not see that coming.

"All this just so you could get me to date your son?! You're insane, lady!"

Jason's mom was ticked off at how they treated Jason at school, and decided to create a robot dog to destroy Mystery Inc. Jason is depressed because now Velma will never be his girlfriend, but Velma tells him they can still be friends. He's cool with that.

Then Shaggy decides to dump Velma. He claims that being away from Scooby made him realize that he's not ready for a girlfriend, but they can still be friends. Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm guessing he's just too nice to come out and say that he's REALLY dumping Velma because she's an unlikable person who didn't give a rat's tail when her boyfriend's dog was thrown in an animal asylum for a crime that he didn't commit. Oh, and then we get this:

Please tell me that isn't the real Yogi, and that it's actually just another bear
who shares Yogi's fashion sense. Please, PLEASE don't tell me that in this show
Yogi is just a violent animal. Ruining Velma and the Funky Phantom (don't ask)
was bad enough, please don't ruin Yogi too.

And the episode ends with the revelation that the evil parrot from before escaped, and Velma gets a text message from some guy named "Mr. E" - "follow the parrot".

So, that was Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. And I'm not seeing the appeal. Taking a show that was mainly focused on being, you know, FUN AND LIGHT-HEARTED and making it some sort of horror cartoon does not sound like a good idea to me. It's like making a horror movie about the Banana Splits. Oh, wait...

And WHY is Velma so unbelievably unlikable here? I know I probably shouldn't be surprised since she's apparently also very unlikable in other episodes of the show, but she seriously doesn't care at all that her boyfriend's dog has been locked up and said boyfriend is upset about it?! Shaggy was right to dump her. It honestly makes me wonder of Mindy Cohn complained about the way her character was being written.

If you like it, that's fine. As for me, I'll stick with the Scooby-Doo stuff that's actually fun to watch as opposed to needlessly dark and cynical.

Thus ends another edition of "Let's Watch This". Next time we take a trip back in time to the days of Kids' WB, looking at a show about what a magical place the world is. Grab that remote control and change the channel to Channel Umptee-3, everyone.