User blog:A Spy in Concealment/My TV Show Review on The New Scooby-Doo Movies

My 5th post for here. And my 3rd review on a member of the Scooby-Doo franchise.

I had been intending on sharing it with you all here sooner, but I got so caught up in other things that, well...I just didn't get to it.

Anyway, today I'll be sharing with you guys my review on "The New Scooby-Doo Movies".

Here's the summary:

The Mystery Inc. gang, consisting of our favorite canine, Scooby-Doo (reprised by Don Messick), along with his teenaged human pals, Shaggy (reprised by Casey Kasem), Fred (reprised by Frank Welker), Daphne (reprised by Heather North), and Velma (reprised by Nicole Jaffe) continue to travel the globe, solving mysteries, and trying to catch ghosts and monsters.

''This time, however, the gang isn't without help. They meet up with several new friends. Some are famous celebrities, while others are characters from other shows and franchises.''

Before I get into what I think of this series, I'd like to say that it wasn't easy trying to watch every episode. It was mainly because, at the time I was reviewing this show, not all of the episodes were available for home video. I had to watch all 9 of the series' unavailable episodes via a free cartoon website.

I'm awfully happy that Warner Bros. was able to get 8 of the lost episodes available for home video recently, but...

Warner Bros.: I encourage you highly to get the Scooby-Doo and Addams Family episode "Wednesday is Missing" available for home video soon, because that episode was awesome!

Anyway...

This series was extremely enjoyable.

The addition of guest stars joining Scooby and the gang proved to be really fun, particularly because of the chemistry and growing friendship between the guest stars and Mystery Inc. Each and every guest star that appeared proved that they could mix perfectly with Scooby-Doo. I'd say that the best episodes are the ones where Scooby and friends are paired with comedians and comedic characters.

The voice acting from the cast was pretty well-done too, and so was the dialogue. As always, the performances of Kasem and Messick, as well as their comedic-timings and chemistry, was still as fun as ever. I can tell that the two of them must've been having quite a field day when their characters were paired with comedic guest stars, such as Jonathan Winters, and that the guest stars were having a great time in return. The only trouble is that, occasionally, some of the character voices got mixed up, particularly Daphne and Velma's voices.

Hanna-Barbera's special ability when it comes to animating with little budget was still as bright as ever. The animators were able to continue making the animation look professional and done perfectly for television viewing despite not lifting it to the level of other cartoons, such as Disney shorts starring Donald Duck. The only real nitpick I have concerning the animation is that there were some noticeably small errors in each episode.

The stories from each episode are still as intriguing and suspenseful as ever. A significant thing compared to the other two Scooby-Doo series I reviewed is that the villains (especially unmasked) were given more screen time and personality. Exclusively, the bothersome thing concerning the plotting is that, in a few episodes, there were some plot holes, which will leave one wondering "What the heck?"

To change the subject, the comedy aspect of the series was pretty great, just like the last 2 Scooby-Doo installments. Not only do Shaggy and Scooby continue to have a lot of the funniest moments and gags, but the ones used with the guest stars were likewise hilarious. I don't think anyone would ever find a moment that didn't make them laugh.

The music and scoring by Hoyt Curtin (who apparently made his debut with the Scooby franchise here) was pretty great too. He definitely know how to start his time as a composer to the franchise right thanks to his work on this installment, successfully succeeding "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" composers Bill Raleigh and David Mook.

Now if I have to pick one episode of the show I wasn't completely impressed with, it would be this one:

"The Weird Winds of Winona"

(Guest starring the cast of Speed Buggy and their characters)

The chemistry and teaming of Mystery Inc. with Speed Buggy and company was really fun, and the comedy it had was delightful. However, the plot of the episode was too simplistic, and the "Weird Winds" really weren't much of a threat.

I mean, how can anyone ever get spooked by wind? If anything, it would be more of a nuisance than a threat if all it does is cause tons of noise, and anyone besides the Mystery Inc. gang would get curious about what's causing it.

In the end, however, despite the lack of organization is some parts, "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" is still an amazing installment of the Scooby-Doo franchise. And hey, if any of you guys want to check out "The Weird Winds of Winona" for yourselves, be my guest.

So, I rate "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" a solid 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. It is exclusively because of the noticeably small errors in each episode, nothing else.