My Thoughts on the Scooby-Doo Franchise.

I watched some episodes when I was pretty young, but I didn’t know there were so many different series and variations. Then, I stopped for a couple of years, and recently, in the last few months, I watched What’s New, Scooby-Doo? and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. I liked the episodic nature and the ongoing story arc as well. Since then, I’ve also watched some movies and standalone episodes.

I absolutely loved the idea of a gang of five, especially with a talking dog. Fred and Daphne were hilarious to watch, and Velma wasn’t just a typical nerd. While I didn’t like the characterizations of the gang in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, they seemed pretty fine in What’s New, Scooby-Doo?. I also didn’t like the animation styles of some other series, so I couldn’t get into them. I watched the Daphne & Velma movie, and it was good—I loved their friendship. Overall, I liked the idea that there was actually foul play behind the paranormal incidents.

Sometimes, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy end up taking the majority of the plot, leaving the other three as side characters. At times, it didn’t even feel like they were all friends—more like Shaggy and Scooby were the only close ones. Daphne and Fred were constantly jealous of each other (either get together or don’t), and Velma was just doing her own thing. I would have liked to see more mystery-solving from all five of them together, as well as more friendship moments between different characters, like Velma & Fred or Fred & Shaggy. Scooby could have also been paired up with other members of the gang for a change. I think the relationships were handled better in Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays.

I prefer series where the whole gang is together and the story focuses on them. I think the last releases were Velma and Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!. Are there any upcoming releases? Are they making more animated or live-action films? Is there any upcoming series?