Scooby Doo-Mystery Incorporated Review

Scooby Doo is in my opinion the best of the original Hanna Barbera cartoons. It brought together lots of disparate thematic elements in a way other cartoons weren’t doing at the time. In a given Scooby Doo episode, you had mystery, adventure, and comedy. Compare this to Yogi Bear. Yogi Bear was based off vaudeville comedy where Booboo and Yogi would walk onto the scene, swap a few one liners and then walk off. There was no tension and no stakes. Nothing happened in most episodes, they just made puns. The Flintstones had a similar problem. It’s a cartoon version of the honey-mooners and it doesn’t work because the jokes that made 1950s adults laugh go right over children’s heads or make them roll their eyes.

I loved Scooby Doo as child because unlike most cartoons it took me seriously. It assumed I could handle hearing about things like crime and ghosts. Beyond all the slapstick I was given a plot and a mystery to solve, a simple mystery but a mystery none the less.

I watched it for most of my childhood and it still holds a special place in my heart. I’d seen a few of the reboots over the years like the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, Scooby Movies, and a Pup named Scooby Doo but they never amounted to much. Even as a child the reboots bored me because they didn’t have the same formula and I soon changed the channel.

I picked up the first season of Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated on a whim. Something mindless to watch while I was wasted on a Saturday night. But you know what? I loved it.

It was absolutely awesome. Now let me be clear on what I mean: This is not Avatar the Last Airbender or Batman TAS or The Simpsons. Nothing here is a work of genius or otherwise pushes the envelope of modern story telling.

What makes it special is: how often have you seen a reboot of a classic franchise and said: “Yes. This is better. This is the way you should do it.”

How many reboots can you say that about? Batman comes to mind, most of us like the darker modern Batman more than the campy 1960s one, but can you name any others?

This show is noteworthy purely because as a fan of the original, I’ll still stand up and say this show is an improvement on the original in every meaningful way and hence forth will be considered my standard for how you should adopt this franchise.

What do they do right? Well first off, the characters are more interesting than they used to be. Early American animation was usually low budget without much time and attention attached. Fred and Daphne were cardboard cut out characters, Velma was a virtual robot, and Shaggy and Scooby were your standard slapstick cartoon characters who just so happened to be stranded in a haunted house. In the new show, Fred is a borderline autistic character who struggles to relate to his friends but is absolutely obsessed with mysteries and making traps. It’s a thin characterization but his enthusiasm is so infectious that he becomes a likeable character. Velma has become more cynical and alone of the characters really has a believable character arc where she goes from wanting to date Shaggy to ultimately rejecting him and exploring a potentially lesbian relationship with a classmate. The show does a good job of fleshing out the city of Crystal Cove that they live in. The story is populated by funny and memorable characters with a surprising amount of hidden depth without sacrificing humor. The show also does a much better job of establishing who the gang is and how they each fit together into the group. The series shows us the character’s devotion to each other rather than telling us about it.

The story has been improved drastically. The original was essentially a monster of the day show and nothing that happened in any episode effected any other. This show has a full serial format. The narrative is introduced in bits and pieces over two seasons and is very well done. The narrative deals with a cursed treasure under the city and challenges the gang by slowly introducing supernatural villains toward the end of the saga. This is very well done (as opposed to previous versions that had supernatural foes in it) because by the time the first real ghost is introduced, we’ve grown accustomed to all the monsters being people in masks and the inclusion of supernatural elements is appropriately startling and challenges the gang’s abilities and their world view.

Without spoilers, the gang is living in the city of Crystal Cove and make up the high school’s Mystery Solvers club. You are introduced to an engaging cast of supporting characters who live in Crystal Cove and either help or attempt to stop the gang. The show does a great job of creating plot twists and character revelations where previously minor comedic characters can be revealed as serious helpers in solving the mystery or even as secret villains. The plot twists are set up well and rarely do you see them coming but they have enough foundation that you wonder how you missed them on subsequent watches.

Personally, I love the trope of the “town with a dark secret,” and the series does it very well. The secrets and the history is revealed in drips and pieces throughout both seasons. Initially the gang is contacted by a mysterious “benefactor” called Mr. E.

Mr. E regularly gives the gang tips and clues pointing them toward mysteries that he wants solved but his motivations aren’t clear. Over time it is revealed that there have been many Mystery Solver groups throughout the history of Crystal Cove, always four humans and an animal. These gangs seem to be intimately connected to the legendary cursed treasure under the city. The gang begins collecting keys that lead them to it, putting them in the cross hairs of powerful (and sometimes surprising) antagonists who also are seeking the treasure. The later part of the series introduces concepts like Babylonian mythology and occult theories like the Annunaki and Nibiru Collision.

The plot has lots of twists and turns with enemies becoming friends and some friends becoming enemies. The plot never feels formulaic and even in areas where you know what’s going to happen, the execution is often strong enough to keep your mind from wandering.

Again, this show is nothing revolutionary. It’s more like a class project that received a solid A+: a student demonstrating how well he’s mastered the techniques of visual storytelling and how well he can apply the fundamentals of plot twist and character development. Everything great about the show comes through the execution.

The show realizes it’s largely dependent on nostalgia and for Scooby Doo fans that’s a treat because the show knows how to tap into that nostalgia and fandom without it ever becoming intrusive. There are numerous references to older cases and some even become central plot points to new episodes. This is Scooby Doo for a new millennium and I don’t know if it could have been done better.

The later part of the series is played increasingly seriously. There are still lots of jokes but everyone starts to realize how dangerous the antagonists are and how disastrous finding the cursed treasure could be. Over time as they come to appreciate the stakes of the situation they find themselves in, the kids and Scooby start to evolve into genuinely heroic characters struggling to save their town and the people they love while still remaining faithful to their original characterization. Even Shaggy and Scooby often manage to overcome their cowardice and come to the rescue when the stakes get high enough. Their characterization is solid enough that their sudden heroism seems earned and impressive because we observe them overcoming their fears.

The show seems like its trying to be a “Hanna Barbera Cinematic Universe” and the gang are introduced to other characters like Dyno-mutt, the kids of Sealab, and references from Johnny Quest. At one point they even encounter Speed-buggy, Captain Cave-man, and the Funky Phantom from less successful Hanna-Barbera cartoons. This would normally render the show too cartoony to take seriously and sabotage the more serious narrative they spent two seasons developing but the episode actually dodges this bullet and comes up with an surprising solution where none was expected.

Now again I want to be clear, this is a fantastic Scooby Doo reboot. If you didn’t like the original Scooby Doo, you probably won’t like this much more. However if you’re a fan of Scooby Doo or just cartoons in general, you owe it to yourself to check this series out. Everything about it is solid and the craftsmanship sells the series.

Final Score 8/10