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Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. New Season

Crap, I missed it again. I really wish they would put it up on On Demand.
 
I've been reflecting on what I said the other day about how Frank Welker's the only original Scooby-Doo cast member who's still playing the same role over 40 years later. Since I can sometimes be an obsessive list-maker, I wanted to compare the records of the five main characters and their portrayal histories -- limiting it to their "mainstream" portrayal (as teens in animation) and to "regular" actors (those who played the role for more than a brief period). So I'm leaving out A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (where they were preteens and every role was recast except Scooby) and the live-action movies, and a few one-shot portrayals.

Fred Jones: 1 regular portrayer
Frank Welker has been the only "mainstream" portrayer since the series began in 1969.

Scooby-Doo: 3
Originated by Don Messick in 1969
Scott Innes in DVD movies from 1998-2001 and in video games through 2006
Frank Welker 2002-present

Norbert "Shaggy" Rogers: 4
Originated by Casey Kasem in 1969
Scott Innes in movies from 1999-2001 and video games through 2009
Kasem returns 2002-9
Scott Menville in Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! 2005-9
Matthew Lillard from 2010-present (after playing the role in two live-action films)

Daphne Blake: 4
Originated by Indira Stefanianna Christopherson in 1969, first season only
Heather North Kenney from 1970-97
Mary Kay Bergman from 1998-2000
Grey DeLisle from 2001-present

Velma Dinkley: 5
Originated by Nicole Jaffee in 1969
Pat Stevens from 1976-79
Marla Frumkin from 1979-84
B. J. Ward from 1997-2001
Mindy Cohn from 2002-present

More detailed info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo#Voice_cast

It's an interesting list. I hadn't realized how recently DeLisle and Cohn took over as the girls; it seemed to me they'd been around for quite a while. I guess I didn't really get into Scooby-Doo much until the DVD movies from Warner Bros. in the past decade (since WB is a higher-quality studio than Hanna-Barbera ever was). And they have been with the roles for over a decade now. Indeed, for the past ten years, the only character whose regular portrayer has changed is Shaggy. By comparison, for most of the first three decades of the franchise, the only voice that wasn't stable was Velma's. Then there was a brief period in the late '90s and the start of the 2000s where a new cast took over, but they only lasted a few years before being displaced by the modern cast.

I guess there are two points of transition: in 1998, when Warner Bros. began producing the DVD movie series (after Turner had acquired both WB and Hanna-Barbera), and 2002, when Cartoon Network brought them back to TV with What's New, Scooby-Doo? So basically we have three casts for three eras -- the three-decade Hanna-Barbera era, the four-year WB direct-to-video era, and the decade-and-counting WB television era. Welker lasted through all three eras, and DeLisle started in the DTV era after Bergman's death, and was then kept in the new TV era. So basically the DTV era introduced a whole new cast besides Welker, with DeLisle coming aboard midway through, but just Innes and Ward were replaced when the franchise returned to TV. And then the TV cast took over the continuing DTV movies from that point onward.

I assume that the Scooby franchise will continue forward once Frank Welker finally retires. But it's hard to imagine it without his voice, and hard to see who could take his place.
 
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Okay, today's episode had just about the wildest twist yet about the solution to the mystery. I'm not sure it really makes sense, though:
If the gang was faking the mystery themselves as a trap for Mystery, Inc. Mark I, why did they continue to act out the scenario as though it were real even when they were alone, like in the climax? Did they figure they were being bugged or something?

Although the faked mystery did explain why their "improvised" trap in the doll factory worked so well.

That doll factory with all those creepy eyeless baby heads was the most disturbing visual I've seen in quite some time. Some kids are going to be having nightmares about that scene. I might have one myself. Yeeesh!

I wonder how many of the prisoners in the background were characters whom the gang has captured over the course of the series. You'd think it'd be dangerous for them to go there, since there's probably a whole wing of inmates who'd love to get revenge on "those meddling kids."
 
I thought the same thing about their reaction to the haunted robot being inconsistent-- I suppose, since Fred bugged his father, they could have been imagining themselves to be under counter-surveillance.

Still, that was a great sting operation against the original Mystery Incorporated. I especially liked the use of former supporting and guest characters, Hot Dog Water in particular. Now they've got the whole disk-- what will happen next?

I also got a kick out of the haunted orphanage across the street from the haunted doll factory. :rommie:
 
I was a little disappointed when the "operative" who took the disks turned out to be Marcie. I was hoping it would be Cassidy/Angel, and that her apparent death had been one more fakeout. Not sure how that would've worked, though.

Hmm... I'm still enjoying this show, but I have to think a lot of longtime Scooby-Doo fans must hate it these days, because it keeps bearing less and less resemblance to old-school Scooby-Doo. Of course, the fact that it isn't like old-school S-D is why I like it, but I'm sure that's not true of everyone.
 
Hmm... I'm still enjoying this show, but I have to think a lot of longtime Scooby-Doo fans must hate it these days, because it keeps bearing less and less resemblance to old-school Scooby-Doo. Of course, the fact that it isn't like old-school S-D is why I like it, but I'm sure that's not true of everyone.
I dunno, from what I've seen on other sites, some of the longtime fans dig Mystery Inc for doing its own thing but referencing the old stuff in clever ways.
 
i've been a fan of Scooby Doo since i was a kid and i love this series. also, i really enjoyed the team up with Tom, Tub and the other Scooby. i guess Moby being a sub is a logical...still, i had hopes a real whale was gonna show up at the end.
 
Wow, Mystery Inc. could teach some shows about how to move an arc along! It was fun to see all those characters come back for this outing. Pretty elaborate setup but you know Fred knows how to pull off a trap.

Kind of neat to see real world ideas like the Krampus and Nibiru (neither of which I had heard about before, educational!). Some of the first google image hits look quite dead on to this episode.

And the suggestive nature of Velma and HDW keeps rolling.

Also, as TV Tropes says, Word of God says Cassidy is dead.
https://twitter.com/kooltoecee

I'm still using classic VCR technology. :rommie:



Looking at my cable bill I wonder if you don't have the right idea.
 
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^^ Yeah, tell me about it.

I can't say I've ever been a huge fan of Scooby Doo, but I've been watching from the beginning. There have certainly been iterations that I didn't like at all, but I've liked most of it. And I think this show is the best version yet. It manages to distill all the best elements of previous versions while remaining faithful to the core concept. If you're going to reboot a show, this is the right way to do it-- by maintaining artistic integrity and using good writers who care about the source material.
 
Kind of neat to see real world ideas like the Krampus and Nibiru (neither of which I had heard about before, educational!).

I'm not sure "educational" is the right word, since all this Nibiru apocalypse-planet stuff is just another idiotic paranoid conspiracy theory. Frankly I'm rather disappointed to see it being used in the show. Fantasy concepts that are understood to be myth and folklore are one thing, but this is something that a lot of gullible people are actually conned into believing by charlatans. Not to mention that tying the Nibiru "prophecy" to an ancient treasure doesn't make sense since it only dates back to 1976.

Then again, I'm still hoping that's where they're going -- that the whole thing will be revealed to be the biggest, most elaborate supernatural hoax in Scooby-Doo history.


Also, as TV Tropes says, Word of God says Cassidy is dead.
https://twitter.com/kooltoecee

Oh. Well, while I'm impressed that the show can get away with killing characters, I will miss Cassidy.
 
Holy cow, it's crossover madness! The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Dr. Quest and Race, and Dr. Zin. Not only that, but while the original Blue Falcon was a pastiche of the Adam West Batman, this is a caricature of a Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns Batman. And having Dynomutt acting the same goofy way as always yet still being part of this ultraviolent crimefighting team gives him kind of a twisted quality too.

I would've rather seen a full-on Jonny Quest crossover; I was never that fond of Dynomutt. But I guess it's appropriate, since Dynomutt originated as part of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour in 1976. And, like Fred, Dynomutt was a Frank Welker role from the start and still is.

It's a bit shocking that Destroido bought out Quest Labs and subverted them for ee-vill. What happened to Dr. Quest and his team? Then again, if Mr. E could overpower Dr. Quest of all people, it gives him more weight as a villain.

I loved how Velma stood up to defend her turf to the Milleresque BF, not impressed or intimidated in the least. "You want a mystery solved and a villain unmasked here, you come to us!" And it was kinda awesome to see Shaggy man up to rescue Scooby, though the whole team suddenly becoming skilled combat operatives was a little over the top. (And I loved how proud Shaggy was of the fact that his "brilliant evasive flying" was just being a bad driver.)
 
todays episode was awesome. but like Christopher, i'm also wondering what happened with the Quest Labs buyout. i hope we get a Jonny Quest crossover before this season is done.
 
Wow, that was weird. The Frank Miller Blue Falcon was creepy, and DynoMutt was just... DynoMutt. I hope this is leading up to a Quest crossover. There has to be some follow up to the takeover of Quest labs, and where were Johnny and Hadji? They have to show up. Hopefully. And hopefully no more DynoMutt. :rommie:
 
Hmm... The scenes with Dr. Quest and Race at Quest Labs were set "five years ago," and Bandit was mentioned as well. So that would suggest that the familiar Jonny Quest team was already in place at that time, so if we saw them in the series present, Jonny and Hadji might be about the same age as the Mystery Inc. members.

The Blue Falcon's response to the team's name got me wondering. Is Mystery Incorporated an actual corporation? Can underage teens legally form a corporation? And if their club is not actually incorporated, is it appropriate for them to use that name?
 
I think you mean Speed Buggy (the talking car), not Speed Racer (the anime character). Speed Buggy already appeared in Scooby's dream-sequence episode last season, "Chapter 14: Mystery Solvers Club State Finals," along with Jabberjaw, Captain Caveman, and the Funky Phantom.
 
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