User blog:A Spy in Concealment/My TV Show Review on What's New Scooby-Doo?

Yo, what's up, peoples?

This is your friendly reviewer and contributor to this group here with his 6th blog post.

And, like Zoinks, I'm making my 4th review on a member of the Scooby-Doo franchise.

The franchise installment I'm sharing my thoughts with you guys on today is "What's New Scooby-Doo?"

Here's the summary of this series:

In this modern take of the series, Scooby and his teenaged pals, Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy, once again travel the world, solving mysteries, and trapping "ghosts" and "monsters".

This time, however, their cases take place in that of the 21st century, and they've upgraded themselves with it.

First off, I would definitely like to say that I'm really happy with how faithful this Scooby-Doo series was to the original 1960s and 70s installments. In my opinion, the production team did a perfect job of following what made the originals so special and capturing the spirit of it all, while also kicking things up a notch.

For instance, the animation for this series was spectacularly done. I mean, sure, it may not be as brightly colored as the classic predecessors I previously reviewed, but it was still technically acconplished and worked in a really fun way. As a modern successor of the originals I reviewed, it likewise had the feeling of a comic on screen.

The storytelling of each episode, like its predecessors, proved to be intriguing as ever. With every mystery, there would be unpredictable twists and turns that could immediately stupefy audiences. And, even though the ghosts and monsters would turn out to be people wearing costumes in the long run, the writers apparently had an astounding ability to not make things obvious.

The series's music was likewise really fun, having a definite modern-esque about it that fit this updating perfectly. The best music moments in particular are the use of classic or original songs for the chase sequences, as well as the show's theme song.

The comedy aspect, like the Scooby-Doo shows I reviewed before, was still as spritely as ever. When you look closely, you can tell that the production team not only stuck closely with the style of the originals, but also incorporated some of their own flair into the mix.

Finally, it all comes down to the performances of the cast, as well as the characters.

Reprising their roles of Fred and Shaggy, Frank Welker and Casey Kasem did an amazing job at showing the world that they still got it. One thing I will admit, though, is that Kasem did sound like he was becoming too old for the role of Shaggy through his voice along, but other than that, he was still as wonderful as ever portraying the character. Fred may have also been a bit of a dope at times throughout the series, but when it came to solving mysteries and catching bad guys, he still proved himself to be a courageous and smart leader.

Out of the two performers, though, I was absolutely amazed by Welker's portrayal of Scooby-Doo himself. Filling in for the late Don Messick, Welker did a marvelous job at capturing the spirit of the character while making the character his own at the same time. Not only that, the voice chemistry between him and Casem was able to capture why the two characters are so fun together.

The new additions of Mindy Cohn and Grey DeLisle as Velma and Daphne were likewise top notch. Cohn was able to capture an all-out sense of nostalgia through her voice portrayal of Velma, as well as incorporate the spirit of the character from the previous installments while even bringing in something of her own.

The character upgrading of Daphne, and the performance of DeLisle, are the elements of the cast and characters that I can't help but commend the most. I love that Daphne was upgraded from being a danger-prone and damsel-in-distress to a girl who's brave, smart, and knows what to do in the face of danger. Grey DeLisle also performed her character with such spunk, style, and humor that one might say that she's the best portrayer of Daphne yet.

Additionally, I admire the fact that the production team took the time to give the supporting characters of each episode personality and dimension, with their voice portrayers bringing their own flair into them. Whether they were either friends or enemies of the Mystery Inc. gang, or suspects, I loved how the supporting characters weren't bland or something like that.

In the end, "What's New Scooby-Doo?" proved itself to be an excellent successor and modern-updating to the classic series I previously reviewed, with a large thanks going towards it being faithful to the old while bringing some new flair.

So, I rate "What's New Scooby-Doo?" a complete five out of five stars.