Uh. So, I guess there's a rabid fanbase of adult fans of Scooby Doo, which, you know, I really like Superman, so, no stones shall I throw. I was just never a big Scooby Doo fan, even as a kid. I mean, it was what was *on* in the few hours I was allowed to watch TV as a kid, so I watched it, but I didn't take to it. Nor did I get onboard with the live action movies from a couple of decades ago. Basically - I am out of the Scooby loop.
But... this year Hanna Barbera/ WB Animation released Happy Halloween, Scooby Doo! (2020), an animated movie featuring the voice talent of Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson as herself/ Elvira. I gathered from something I read that she didn't just wander in, do a joke, and disappear again, so I paid to rent the film.
As I mentioned, there's a rabid adult fanbase of Scoob-o-philes, and I was kind of curious how they felt about this movie. The Scooby Doo I remember had the bland Fred and Daphne, Velma trying to keep things together, and Shag and Scoob as two slackers who had no business in the monster-chasing business and made dangerously large sandwiches. The new take looks like classic Scoob, but Fred is... dumb? I couldn't figure it out. Daphne is... insane? and the other three felt like how I remember them. And, honestly, Scooby Doo himself was deeply back burnered, which is not how I remember the show working.
Elvira was allowed to be more or less a PG version of herself, and they went weird with some bits I can see Peterson finding pretty funny. Bill Nye also plays a sort of Q role for the team, air dropping them a new mystery machine.
Well, according to what I saw online, the adult fans hate this take. Which - sure. Key characters are out of character, even with the fan-base approved voice cast.
The movie is kind of weird, structurally - from including a Batman villain, to an extended road chase that just keeps going.
Anyway, I probably enjoyed it more as an Elvira movie than as a Scooby Doo movie - and actually understand if fans are weirded out by their favorite characters acting out of character. See: my confusion about recent DC Comics movies. I'm not sure I've ever really been much of one for the Scooby Doo formula, but it was interesting/ weird to see the characters looking the same but (especially Fred and Daphne) updated to be more like modern animated characters. Not sure it worked - but it was something to ponder.
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