Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. New Season

[bullethead]

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.

I get the feeling that the Niburu planet smashing thing is going to be revealed as a crazy story with some basis in fact, judging by today's episode. There's no way that they're going to pull the "it was a supernatural hoax like everything else was" after what happened at the end of this episode.

Spoiler: Speculation based on today's episode

According to a ghost at the end of the show, Nabiru/the planospheric seems to corrupt the talking animal into doing evil things for whatever reason. That's how that town sank into the sea.

There's also a prophecy that a dog will die... but since there's two dogs on the show now, we don't now who will die.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, I'm forced to agree... the show is pretty definitely revolving around something genuinely supernatural now, which is a big disappointment. I guess it is kind of an interesting arc/mythology in its way, well-handled for what it is, but I still agree with that ComicsAlliance essay I linked to a while back arguing eloquently that there shouldn't be genuinely supernatural phenomena in Scooby-Doo because it undermines the core themes of the franchise.

Good catch about there being a second dog.

 

[bullethead]

Yeah, I'm forced to agree... the show is pretty definitely revolving around something genuinely supernatural now, which is a big disappointment. I guess it is kind of an interesting arc/mythology in its way, well-handled for what it is, but I still agree with that ComicsAlliance essay I linked to a while back arguing eloquently that there shouldn't be genuinely supernatural phenomena in Scooby-Doo because it undermines the core themes of the franchise.

Good catch about there being a second dog.

Well, Scooby-Doo has done the supernatural well before with the first few direct to video movies, so I don't think the supernatural in and of itself undermines the core themes of the show unless they avoid the whole "we're looking for the truth" part of the story and unravel whatever mystery is going on with this whole "Nabiru" thing.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Vincent Van Ghoul! Can Scrappy be far behind? Seemed to be an homage to Vincent Price and Thriller in the monologue/soliloquy/whatever the right term is.

I just noticed that Velma's makeshift disc player is an homage to ET, pretty obvious but I didn't catch it originally.

Silly as it is the "It's Ah-vah-cah-dose" bit always amuses me. Especially since they usually call him "Av-a-cados" right after.

I think if Mystery Inc. was an anime there'd be crazy amounts of "fan service". Velma and Daphne's modesty remains for now.

 

[bullethead]

Vincent Van Ghoul! Can Scrappy be far behind? Seemed to be an homage to Vincent Price and Thriller in the monologue/soliloquy/whatever the right term is.

They showed a statue of Scrappy and Flim Flam in one episode of season 1. Supposedly Scrappy is something they agreed to "never speak about again".

I think if Mystery Inc. was an anime there'd be crazy amounts of "fan service". Velma and Daphne's modesty remains for now.

I dunno, if they got the Moretsu Pirates production crew they could do an equally modest show, since they managed to resist the temptation to do panty shots of girls in skirts floating in 0G and showed no breasts when the girls were changing into space suits.

 

[Christopher]

Vincent Van Ghoul! Can Scrappy be far behind?

Oh, I hadn't realized that the character (who's been seen in movies or in person in a half-dozen prior Mystery Inc. episodes) came from a previous incarnation of Scooby-Doo and was actually played by Vincent Price at the time: http://scoobydoo.wikia.com/wiki/Vincent_Van_Ghoul

Now I'm disappointed, since Maurice LaMarche's voice for VVG isn't much of a Vincent Price impression at all. He does a better Price as Walt (Mom's eldest son) on Futurama. But then, Scoobypedia says they needed permission from Vincent Price's estate to use the character, so maybe avoiding too close an impersonation is part of the deal.

Seemed to be an homage to Vincent Price and Thriller in the monologue/soliloquy/whatever the right term is.

Oh, you mean the play was an homage to Michael Jackson's Thriller? I've never seen that, so I didn't get why the play was being done as a rock opera.

I just noticed that Velma's makeshift disc player is an homage to ET, pretty obvious but I didn't catch it originally.

Yeah, I caught that too. I do have to wonder where Velma found a working Speak & Spell, though.

I think if Mystery Inc. was an anime there'd be crazy amounts of "fan service". Velma and Daphne's modesty remains for now.

Well, Daphne did get that shower scene in the library episode -- and was attacked by a tentacle monster while wearing only a bathrobe.

And I dunno, they do draw Velma's sweater pretty tight...


Anyway, speaking of which, I'm surprised there's been no followup on how smitten Shaggy was with Daphne after their hallucination-induced makeout session. I'd assumed that was going to be a new problem the characters would have to work through in subsequent episodes, but it's been forgotten.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Wow, you've never seen Thriller? It's worth a check on YouTube or whatever. Vincent Price has a voiceover which reminded me of this episode.

 

[Christopher]

I'm not a fan of Michael Jackson, musically or otherwise.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Fair enough. Here's just Vincent Price's recording of his audio, no music, and set to a time stamp with no Michael Jackson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgDSXlXkJv4&t=0m35s

 

[Christopher]

^Thanks for that. Vincent Price had such an awesome voice, though that was some of the most inept rhyming I've ever heard. It does explain a thing or two about Vincent Van Ghoul's narration in the episode, though.

 

[RJDiogenes]

So the pattern of the four detectives and a mascot goes pretty deep into the past. There must be lots of them over five hundred years, or however long it's been.

I still don't think we're necessarily seeing a genuine supernatural occurrence. They did do supernatural stories in some of the DVD movies, but this is a separate continuity and would be a major change after all these episodes. I'm betting on it being the biggest hoax ever.

 

[Hound of UIster]

I agree. The ghost of the dead monk and also the conquistador are likely fakes. Whoever is running the scam probably is associated with one of the past Mystery groups since they know about the Nibiru meme and the secret history of Crystal Cove. I think it's likely the current Mayor.

 

[bullethead]

So the pattern of the four detectives and a mascot goes pretty deep into the past. There must be lots of them over five hundred years, or however long it's been.

I still don't think we're necessarily seeing a genuine supernatural occurrence. They did do supernatural stories in some of the DVD movies, but this is a separate continuity and would be a major change after all these episodes. I'm betting on it being the biggest hoax ever.

I agree. The ghost of the dead monk and also the conquistador are likely fakes. Whoever is running the scam probably is associated with one of the past Mystery groups since they know about the Nibiru meme and the secret history of Crystal Cove. I think it's likely the current Mayor.

The only problem with that idea is that 1) the only group that has most of its members alive is Mr. E's group, 2) all the other groups and their groups are long dead (aside from that one crazy Darrow kid, who I think is dead), and 3) we've been given hints throughout the season that there's something going on with the the disc, because that curio guy with the hodag stopped in Crystal Cove because the cheese wheel with the disc piece in it told him to. Plus these dead people seem to know things that the previous mystery solving group doesn't, usually things that seem to be off the historical record, which makes me think that these ghosts are genuine unless Mystery Inc.-verse has its own version of the Shadow Broker who's been gathering facts for years in order to screw with yet another of the numerous mystery solving groups.

 

[Christopher]

I don't know what the Shadow Broker is, but it is possible that some group has been preserving this secret knowledge down through the centuries. And the curio-show guy claimed that the cheese "spoke" to him, but he could've been concealing the fact that someone told him to come. There could be some deeper conspiracy that's been manipulating the various mystery clubs down through the ages.

Anyway, what bugs me is the statement that the first Crystal Cove was destroyed 500 years ago. That would've been 1512. Europeans didn't set foot in what's now the state of California until 30 years after that, and the first permanent Spanish settlement there wasn't until 1697.

 

[bullethead]

I don't know what the Shadow Broker is, but it is possible that some group has been preserving this secret knowledge down through the centuries. And the curio-show guy claimed that the cheese "spoke" to him, but he could've been concealing the fact that someone told him to come. There could be some deeper conspiracy that's been manipulating the various mystery clubs down through the ages.

It's possible, although the show seems intent on showing that the disc pieces have some influence on the owners beyond what I'd normally attribute to greed.

Also, the Shadow Broker is a Mass Effect character who lurks in the shadows and usually has info on everyone and everything.

Anyway, what bugs me is the statement that the first Crystal Cove was destroyed 500 years ago. That would've been 1512. Europeans didn't set foot in what's now the state of California until 30 years after that, and the first permanent Spanish settlement there wasn't until 1697.

They could be rounding it up up for simplicity's sake or the Mystery Inc. universe is an alternate history type deal (which could explain some of the anachronistic styling in a show set in the present).

 

[Hound of UIster]

So the pattern of the four detectives and a mascot goes pretty deep into the past. There must be lots of them over five hundred years, or however long it's been.

I still don't think we're necessarily seeing a genuine supernatural occurrence. They did do supernatural stories in some of the DVD movies, but this is a separate continuity and would be a major change after all these episodes. I'm betting on it being the biggest hoax ever.

I agree. The ghost of the dead monk and also the conquistador are likely fakes. Whoever is running the scam probably is associated with one of the past Mystery groups since they know about the Nibiru meme and the secret history of Crystal Cove. I think it's likely the current Mayor.

The only problem with that idea is that 1) the only group that has most of its members alive is Mr. E's group, 2) all the other groups and their groups are long dead (aside from that one crazy Darrow kid, who I think is dead), and 3) we've been given hints throughout the season that there's something going on with the the disc, because that curio guy with the hodag stopped in Crystal Cove because the cheese wheel with the disc piece in it told him to. Plus these dead people seem to know things that the previous mystery solving group doesn't, usually things that seem to be off the historical record, which makes me think that these ghosts are genuine unless Mystery Inc.-verse has its own version of the Shadow Broker who's been gathering facts for years in order to screw with yet another of the numerous mystery solving groups.

Except of course none of the mysteries in this cartoon have turned out to be genuinely supernatural in nature. They are just weird or psuedo-science. The ComicsAlliance article and the creators of the show seem to be on the same track in that the central themes of this incarnation have been about the denial of superstition and that adults are mostly untrustworthy/evil/incompetent.

None of the sources for this "curse" have turned out to be trustworthy. A "ghost monk" in a show where all previous monsters have turned out to be fakes. A supposed journal on a ship where we know one unknown mysterious character has already been there. The supposed "curse" of the disc/treasure is just a long running gambit by either one of the existing antagonists or a new unknown one to divide and conquer the protagonists. My money is on the new female Mayor.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Heads up, Mystery Inc. is going to repeats next week. Good time to catch up on any you missed.

 

[Christopher]

Unfortunately that doesn't include "Art of Darkness," the one I missed.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Actually, we don't really know if any of the history that we heard from the ghost is real. They could be just dealing out BS folklore to support whatever the scam is.

Heads up, Mystery Inc. is going to repeats next week. Good time to catch up on any you missed.

Thanks. I will definitely be doing that.

 

[Eduardo]

So the pattern of the four detectives and a mascot goes pretty deep into the past. There must be lots of them over five hundred years, or however long it's been.

Having catched up with the series, I was wondering about all these incarnations:

We start with the Conquistadores, who originated the mystery (not a crime solving group).

Fraternitas Mysterium
Friar Serra, Three Male Monks, Porthos (donkey)

??????
Four Cowgirls, a Bull

??????
Two "Zorros", two female "Zorros", a skunk

THe Benevolent Lodge of Mystery
Oswald P. Hurlington, Frau Abigail Gluck, Unnamed Male, Unnamed Female, Mr. Peaches (orangutan)

The Mystery Fellowship
Cletus Darrow, Danny Darrow, two female Darrows, a cat

Mystery Incorporated I
Brad Chiles, Ricky Owens, Cassidy Williams, Judy Reeves, Professor Pericles (parrot)

Mystery Incorporated II
Fred Jones, Jr., Shaggy Rogers, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Scooby-Doo (dog).
We could add Hot Dog Water & Nova to this list.

Not sure in which order the two ??? (only hinted in the Night Terrors episodes) fall in the timeline.

There were pictures of the three predecessors to the Lodge in the Burlington Museum.