Be Cool Scooby Doo...

 

This morning I watched two episodes of Be Cool, Scooby Doo! Because they were on.  Internet critics constantly bemoan the fate of many TV franchises for losing their way but … 

 .... while I was watching "New Doo?" I realised suddenly that interestingly Scooby Doo doesn’t seem to have waned in quality at all and continues to be unabatedly entertaining despite being over 50 years old now. 

Okay, there have been a few missteps but since Scrappy was sent to gaol at the end of one of the live action films and Scooby Dum was quietly retired the many series have slowly returned to form.  I can’t remember the names of the episodes I watched … one was set in a creepy hotel with overtones of Psycho and the Shining, whilst the other was about Hollywood studios recycling old films so often that their producers and writers were turning on them.   

There’s a lot of grown up satire here amongst the slapstick chases and frankly preposterous plots.  Scooby and Shaggy remain obsessed with food yet never suffer from obesity.  Velma is still a female nerd.  And Daphne is now obsessed with feng shui rather than Fred Jones.  One episode very nicely sent up Fred’s over controlling persona.  While other voice actors have gone, retired or staged a vegetarian walk out after being asked to advertise beef burgers … veteran voice actor Frank Welker is still voicing Fred after 51 years lending a nice sense of continuity to the series.

Since it is a cartoon and exists on a floating timeline the inter-relationships between the characters can be re-set and explored slightly differently with each new iteration of the show leaving the viewer feeling that they are still watching the same programme as in 1969 but updated for the modern day.  I’m not a die hard Scooby Doo fan but if it’s on I’ll watch it to see how it’s holding up and my conclusion is – very well.  The late Joe Ruby who died recently would be proud.