Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Cartoon Chronicles: Teen Sleuth Toons #7

No new entries in over 10 days? What have I been up to, you ask? I don't have to explain myself to you fsckers, so back the fsck off!! Just kidding. Actually, I've been working through some family issues. I don't want to put too many details out there, but some of you already know that one of my brothers is an ex-con who was released last April, only to go back into jail 2 months later. He's currently on trial. The whole situation is affecting my family in different ways, and it hit my mom the hardest. I witnessed something I wish I hadn't, and now I've got some serious reconciling to do with her. Everyone's okay, so don't waste your words of concern. Actually, scratch that. I soak pity up like a sponge. Throw some of those words of concern this way. And as you can see, I've retained my dry, unfunny sense of humor. This can only mean one thing... Scooby Doo, Where Are You? The first meddling kids, and the only Hanna Barbera franchise to have an animated series on TV every decade since the 1960s. They're everybody's favorite group of hippies in a large vehicle-- if you don't count Timothy Leary's cross-country bus treks. And yes, I'm aware that Leary reference went over my entire audience's heads. Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Norvil "Shaggy" Rogers, and their dog Scooby Doo used to travel around the continental United States in a van they called the Mystery Machine. Along the way, they would run across the occasional paranormal mystery, which always turned out to be a hoax set up by a criminal. You all know the story, right? Scooby had a multitude of spin-off series'. So many, in fact, I can only name a fraction of them. It's a rather large fraction, but a fraction nonetheless. An interesting note: The live-action film is the only on-screen medium in the Scooby franchise to simply be titled Scooby Doo. Everything else had a relatively lengthy title. Scooby Doo, Where Are You?; The New Scooby Doo Mysteries; The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo; What's New, Scooby Doo?; ect. Aside from the above-mentioned names, there were also "second tier" members of "the gang." Scrappy Doo, Scooby's nephew by an unknown sister, is a more familiar name from the second tier. From his introduction, he's appeared in every Scooby movie or series afterward until 1988. Scooby Dum, Scooby Doo's southern cousin, appeared quite a few times to bring more attention to Doo's speech impediment. Flim Flam was a young Tibetian boy who helped the gang capture 13 ghosts Scoob accidentally released from an ancient chest. Googie was Shaggy's girlfriend, who helped him overcome the werewolf's curse. I could go on like this for days, but then most of you stopped reading 2 paragraphs ago. Would I recommend it? Hell-freaking-yes. But don't take my word for it... [insert Reading Rainbow fanfare] Next Time: Speed Buggy. It stayed on TV for 10 freaking years. It has to be good! Much Love

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