SCOOBY-DOO! MYSTERY INCORPORATED
Friendly Rating: Mostly for early elementary, but not too gag worthy.
Safety Rating: Could be scary for real little ones.
Quality Rating: Standard Scooby-Doo – mostly corny, occasionally genuinely funny.
New animated series premieres tonight on Cartoon Network at 7 p.m.
It’s always been hard to explain the enduring appeal of the whole Scooby-Doo thing. The show is corny, patently ridiculous and beyond inane at times, but the phrase “you meddling kids,” has become a part of the lexicon. We all know what Scooby snacks are.
This new updated version has the brainy Velma using technology in the quest to call out fake ghosts and monsters that her initial incarnation couldn’t have imagined. Also, we get to see the teens as real kids, facing real problems, like Daphne’s unrequited crush on Fred, and finally, we get to see the kids’ parents.
Does this make a better show? Hard to say. In the same way that the characters haven’t shed their early ’70s wardrobe, they haven’t entirely shed the old gender issues, as well. Yes, Daphne is a little brainier than she used to be, but she’s also set up as the damsel in distress more than once in this premiere episode, even proclaiming to Fred, “You saved me!”
Another new innovation is that there seems to be a running thread through the episodes, namely that the town of Crystal Cove has a long history of “para-normal” activity – and that the adults in the community have good reason to keep that going. Daphne finds a mysterious locket that we are later informed with reveal the real secret behind the town.
Harmless, mostly mindless fun, the new Scooby-Doo has its place, though not much more than that.
