Happy Halloween everyone!
I know it's technically not Halloween, but I have been celebrating all month. And my favorite way to celebrate is showing and episodes of Scooby Doo to my children. They don't have the attention span to sit and watch a whole movie. I hope they do one day, because I personally liked the movies much more than the television series as a kid. I don't know if this was a "nineties kid" thing, but I was really into #sleuthing and could usually figure out who was behind the mask before it was revealed.
And, when I was first developing into the spooky chick that we know today, I preferred Courage, the Cowardly Dog as my "scary show with a dog." I think it's because the animation was closer to the other shows I was watching on Cartoon Network at the time. Also, the reusing of backgrounds also got on my nerves. To be fair, I hate when Disney does this too. I DO like the television show a lot more as an adult, because I do find them wonderfully nostalgic. But, I was much more of a "movie" child. The villain was usually harder to figure out, and sometimes they showed the monsters I know and love. My favorite Scooby Doo movies are the ones from before I was born. They were TV movies. I won't be discussing those simply because it feels like people don't really care about anything before 1980 based on individual page views. I want to have a week where I do talk about "vintage" horror and I am saving Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf for that period of time.
So, for today's night of Halloween, I thought I would discuss some of the more popular Scooby Doo movies. The ones that went straight to video when we were young.
Scooby Doo on Zombie Island
"Ghost Pirates, Ghost Soldiers, what's next?" Shaggy asks. Well, it's cat people. Not the 1942 film. The antagonists were kind of like were-cats!But these pagan-ish cat creature people are the remains of a group of settlers that worshiped a Cat God. They were attacked by Morgan Moonscar and his pirate crew.The pirates ordered them into a lake and they were all killed/eaten by alligators. The Cat God granted them immortality and the ability to kill the pirates. But, they were also cursed to turn into cat people. Every harvest moon they have to suck the life out of people. The first people to suffer the fate were a group of soldiers. So... good news for the tiki torch nerds, this is the only appropriate time to root for Confederate soldiers.
Scooby and the gang are aghast to find out zombies are in fact real. That's why I hold this in high regard. I feel like they actually did some research into that part of America. A lot of people in the south have some interesting beliefs America's collective interest in Zombies was due in large part to slavery/colonialism. So I thought it was really interesting that the filmmakers chose the personification of these horrible American traditions to be the Zombies.You know, instead of the actual bad guys! Wow, this film is pretty layered. Even the chasing of innocent people into 'gator infested waters was like, a thing. It's very sad but I feel it's a better way to explain that this sort of thing happened because the TRUE 'gator bait story will ruin your day.
I also liked seeing the gang grow up because the Scooby Doo kids had the worst case of arrested development. I remember being a kid and KNOWING that Fred and Daphne had something going on. I also knew, I just knew with NO proof that Fred was a jerk. So when I watched this movie I was very smug about my theory being #confirmed. Who was I smug to? I don't really know because I have like,10 total friend and only two from back then. Smug to myself? My grandparents? My diary? idk lol.
Voice wise, I think Billy West was an appropriate replacement for Casey Kasem, but Matthew Lillard was the obvious heir apparent. This is the second best movie. But. it's pretty neck and neck.
Scooby Doo & the Witches' Ghost
Ok? Honestly? Wig! This movie was a good mix of the charm of the television show and able to bring something new to the series. And woo chile, the drama! On screen and off. Remember how I said Casey Kasem was replaced? Well, it was actually because they wanted Kasem, a strict vegetarian to do some shilling for Burger King. Instead of compromising his morals, he left. I don't know why Billy West was replaced, but I feel like it was a mistake. Now, to the onscreen drama. Tim heckin' Curry was in this movie! He played Ben Ravenscoft. He was introduced as a counterpart and possible love interest for Velma, but it turns out he was like, super evil. We were led to believe Ben was looking fora spellbook. It was supposed to be the needed proof to exonerate his ancestor, who was believed to be a witch. Like, a bad witch, not a wiccan that minds their own business.The town of Oakhaven has been capitalizing on their witchy past, and Sara Ravenscroft's vengeful spirit. So it's not in the town's best interest to downplay Sara.
The gang uncovers that the witch's ghost was just some dude (as usual) using a truck to make the ghost fly. Then Scooby finds the book Ben was looking for. It wasn't a medical journal, it was a spellbook!
Welp, it turns out....She really was a bad witch, and the wiccans trapped her in the spellbook. So, Ben uses magic to release his ancestor, Sara. But Sarah wasn't interested in whatever stupid BS Ben wanted to do. She wanted to destroy the world. When Ben tried to put her ass back in the book, she said only a wiccan could do that. Luckily everyone's favorite girl crushes/bisexual awakenings The Hex Girls have Thorn, who is 1/16th wiccan. I'm like 1/16 sure that's not how being a wiccan actually works but, whatever.
Anyway she condemns the evil Sara Ravenscroft back to her book, Sara takes her dumb ass descendant with her. Everyone lives happily ever after. My favorite thing about this movie was The Hex Girls because I was starting to learn about music via church. I hoped one day that I would be able to play something besides the timbrel and the triangle! I thought it was cool to see women that had the style I aspired to have playing instruments. Now I can play a lot of stuff, and I'm above average at music theory! That's particularly amazing because I am abysmal in math, and a lot of Math is involved. I also liked that Sarah Ravenscroft was legit scary for a child. But not like, too scary that I would be uncomfortable showing it to kids. I think it's a cool way to incorporate a little American history AND explain that wiccans and evil witches are different things.
So, that's the two direct to video movies from my childhood! I prefer the movies that came before these ones, and kind of dislike everything that came after. Actually, that strange WWE movie was kind of lit, I saw it when I was getting an oil change, but I didn't get to see how it ended. I think I'm going to get the Batman crossover for my son, because he loves Batman! Outside of one era, I would love to talk about Scooby Doo. I guess you have to know a bit about me IRL to know why I'm not gonna rip on the new live action Scooby Doo thing going on. I know it's not exactly ~horror~, but I think it was a lot of people's introduction to horror tropes. I also feel like eventually, a reboot of Scooby Doo will happen and it will be *dark*, similar to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; or that other show y'all seem to like.
Which Scooby Doo movie is your favorite? Are you enjoying Niktober?
And, when I was first developing into the spooky chick that we know today, I preferred Courage, the Cowardly Dog as my "scary show with a dog." I think it's because the animation was closer to the other shows I was watching on Cartoon Network at the time. Also, the reusing of backgrounds also got on my nerves. To be fair, I hate when Disney does this too. I DO like the television show a lot more as an adult, because I do find them wonderfully nostalgic. But, I was much more of a "movie" child. The villain was usually harder to figure out, and sometimes they showed the monsters I know and love. My favorite Scooby Doo movies are the ones from before I was born. They were TV movies. I won't be discussing those simply because it feels like people don't really care about anything before 1980 based on individual page views. I want to have a week where I do talk about "vintage" horror and I am saving Scooby Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf for that period of time.
So, for today's night of Halloween, I thought I would discuss some of the more popular Scooby Doo movies. The ones that went straight to video when we were young.
Scooby Doo on Zombie Island
Scooby and the gang are aghast to find out zombies are in fact real. That's why I hold this in high regard. I feel like they actually did some research into that part of America. A lot of people in the south have some interesting beliefs America's collective interest in Zombies was due in large part to slavery/colonialism. So I thought it was really interesting that the filmmakers chose the personification of these horrible American traditions to be the Zombies.You know, instead of the actual bad guys! Wow, this film is pretty layered. Even the chasing of innocent people into 'gator infested waters was like, a thing. It's very sad but I feel it's a better way to explain that this sort of thing happened because the TRUE 'gator bait story will ruin your day.
I also liked seeing the gang grow up because the Scooby Doo kids had the worst case of arrested development. I remember being a kid and KNOWING that Fred and Daphne had something going on. I also knew, I just knew with NO proof that Fred was a jerk. So when I watched this movie I was very smug about my theory being #confirmed. Who was I smug to? I don't really know because I have like,10 total friend and only two from back then. Smug to myself? My grandparents? My diary? idk lol.
Voice wise, I think Billy West was an appropriate replacement for Casey Kasem, but Matthew Lillard was the obvious heir apparent. This is the second best movie. But. it's pretty neck and neck.
Scooby Doo & the Witches' Ghost
Ok? Honestly? Wig! This movie was a good mix of the charm of the television show and able to bring something new to the series. And woo chile, the drama! On screen and off. Remember how I said Casey Kasem was replaced? Well, it was actually because they wanted Kasem, a strict vegetarian to do some shilling for Burger King. Instead of compromising his morals, he left. I don't know why Billy West was replaced, but I feel like it was a mistake. Now, to the onscreen drama. Tim heckin' Curry was in this movie! He played Ben Ravenscoft. He was introduced as a counterpart and possible love interest for Velma, but it turns out he was like, super evil. We were led to believe Ben was looking fora spellbook. It was supposed to be the needed proof to exonerate his ancestor, who was believed to be a witch. Like, a bad witch, not a wiccan that minds their own business.The town of Oakhaven has been capitalizing on their witchy past, and Sara Ravenscroft's vengeful spirit. So it's not in the town's best interest to downplay Sara.
The gang uncovers that the witch's ghost was just some dude (as usual) using a truck to make the ghost fly. Then Scooby finds the book Ben was looking for. It wasn't a medical journal, it was a spellbook!
Welp, it turns out....She really was a bad witch, and the wiccans trapped her in the spellbook. So, Ben uses magic to release his ancestor, Sara. But Sarah wasn't interested in whatever stupid BS Ben wanted to do. She wanted to destroy the world. When Ben tried to put her ass back in the book, she said only a wiccan could do that. Luckily everyone's favorite girl crushes/bisexual awakenings The Hex Girls have Thorn, who is 1/16th wiccan. I'm like 1/16 sure that's not how being a wiccan actually works but, whatever.
Anyway she condemns the evil Sara Ravenscroft back to her book, Sara takes her dumb ass descendant with her. Everyone lives happily ever after. My favorite thing about this movie was The Hex Girls because I was starting to learn about music via church. I hoped one day that I would be able to play something besides the timbrel and the triangle! I thought it was cool to see women that had the style I aspired to have playing instruments. Now I can play a lot of stuff, and I'm above average at music theory! That's particularly amazing because I am abysmal in math, and a lot of Math is involved. I also liked that Sarah Ravenscroft was legit scary for a child. But not like, too scary that I would be uncomfortable showing it to kids. I think it's a cool way to incorporate a little American history AND explain that wiccans and evil witches are different things.
So, that's the two direct to video movies from my childhood! I prefer the movies that came before these ones, and kind of dislike everything that came after. Actually, that strange WWE movie was kind of lit, I saw it when I was getting an oil change, but I didn't get to see how it ended. I think I'm going to get the Batman crossover for my son, because he loves Batman! Outside of one era, I would love to talk about Scooby Doo. I guess you have to know a bit about me IRL to know why I'm not gonna rip on the new live action Scooby Doo thing going on. I know it's not exactly ~horror~, but I think it was a lot of people's introduction to horror tropes. I also feel like eventually, a reboot of Scooby Doo will happen and it will be *dark*, similar to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina; or that other show y'all seem to like.
Which Scooby Doo movie is your favorite? Are you enjoying Niktober?
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