We Hate Movies - S6: Animation Damnation #24 - Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!

Episode Date: January 29, 2016

On this episode of Animation Damnation, the gang chats about the latest cartoon incarnation of the Scooby Gang, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! What's with Welker hogging all the roles? Why sex-up Velma? And is this actually good? PLUS: Fred introduces the gang to his angry, Korean War veteran of a father. The episode in question, "Mystery 101", originally aired October 5th, 2015. Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! stars Grey Griffin, Matthew Lillard, Kate Micucci, and the voice-ove lord almighty, Frank Welker!Unlock Exclusive Content!: http://www.patreon.com/wehatemovies See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, Eric, guess what? Uh, chicken butt, yes. Also, Frank Welker's all over this cartoon. Of course he is. I'm going to get it right out of way he's here he's doing two voices he plays the wheels on the mystery van he is making the creaks and cracks of the mystery mobile but he's also fred and scooby both of them he used to be just fred even he originated fred which you know that's a classic voice yeah no that's good for him

and now you know not to diminish his accomplishments the problem is there are two numerous exactly welcome to animation damnation i'm andrewp and Stephen Sadek and Eric Siska. We're talking about the latest incarnation of Scooby-Doo. It's called Be Cool, Scooby-Doo. Hey, hey, be cool, Scooby-Doo. Put that, put it down. Put that shit down.

Put that shit down. The episode in question is the pilot episode, Mystery 101, which aired, October the 5th, 2015. Yeah, put that shit down, Scooby-Doo. I wish that's what it was called. Shaggy only, dude. Oh, yeah. Be cool. Don't call the cops.

Dude, great Scooby-Doo spin-off. Shaggy and Scooby moved to Colorado and open a weed dispensary. Yes. That's what this should be. Imagine this is called Maintained Scooby-Doo. The original title. Hey, get in the chill-out tent, Scooby-Doo. Yeah, this is for obviously worst of 2015.

It's a new Scooby-Doo cartoon. By the way, in case you were wondering, there's been a million Scooby-Doo cartoons. It's kind of impressive. It's never stopped. Scooby-Doo's always been popular. I have, like, I have nephews who are, who love Scooby-Doo. And I'm like, how? Yeah.

That's the thing from the 70s about a bunch of hippies fucking hanging out with Don Knott's. What do you like about it? Well, see, I was, you know, growing up watching Scooby-Doo, I always, and I do remember some Don Nott's episodes. Oh, sure. Yeah, of course he was. Oh, my God. That was, that was the heyday. But apparently, I've probably watched 80s incarnations, maybe even 90s incarnations.

They were just wrong with it. You could gauge by the special guests. Yes. And or like if Scrappy Do is involved, Scrappy Doe is in vogue. I think like the late 70s into the early 80s. When Coke started happening, they're like, we need a fucking fast dog. Fast dog and fast dog. Man, I hate Scrappy Doe.

Of course. He sucks. He's the worst part of, uh, I only saw that first live action movie. Yeah. But Jesus Christ, when he takes some like super serum in that movie? Man, I have not seen it. I saw the first one in theaters and I thought it was fucking. Pugnant. I didn't go back for Monsters

Unleashed. You know, it's interesting to bring that up because somebody, Matthew Lillard, I think, was like I'm going to do all this cool research on this Scooby-Doo thing and like I'll meet with all the original cast. I'm going to smoke a bunch of weeds. Oh, sure.

Cirque, 2002, he meets Frank Welker and he goes into this golden palace and he's like, dude, what the fuck? He's like, voice acting, kid. Look into it. He's sad. and took his shit on that golden toilet I suspect exists.

Yeah, I mean, these people make serious money. That's what, and his agent was like, oh, you know, they're looking for a new shaggy. I know you did those movies, Matt. I'm just going to throw this in the garbage. No, you're not. Wait a sec, man. You know, he went right for it. And Bravo

for doing so. I would love to be a prolific voice actor. Absolutely. I'm not going to point any fingers or names around here, but I I had once in my line of day job work. Yes. Had worked with a voice actor.

And this was like more of a minor. This is nowhere near Frank Welker. Right. Yeah. Oh, I remember who you're talking about. And we're talking about $1,600 an hour. Yeah. That's not bad, man.

And that's like the low tier. And this dude was working from home where he had a booth. That's right. And he just would record that shit in his bathroom and send it to you. Imagine that life. Oh, yeah. Match in that life, man. So this is, I mean, every iteration of Scooby-Doo usually kind of, they'll usually change the setup, but not the character design or the animation style.

Like, it'll get revamped a little bit. Obviously, computers came in. That's kind of what makes Be Cool Scooby-Doo unique is overhauled animation style entirely. Now, Steve, we're very family guy-esque right now. I was just going to ask you, because that's where my suspicion was sort of pointing is that was the closest animation reference point, which is, you know what it is? It's the animation style that Family Guy takes when they are drawing parodies of things. Like if they were to draw a cutscene of Scooby-Doo, it would look like this show. Yeah, it's weird.

And everyone's pretty much the same. Fred's got the ass got Shaggy's outfits a little, pretty much the same. It's really interesting that they've always stuck with the like the 70s type of costume. Yeah. And the van looks exactly the same. That's what I was really. When it comes when it's rocking, right? Well, I was really worried.

Like, here's this new incarnation of Scooby-Doo. The mystery machine's going to be like some tricked out whatever in the hell SUV or something. Like Exhibit got his hands on it. Yeah, like he pimped its ride. Oh, wait, it's not 15 years ago. Where did you call from?

2001? The weird thing. So everybody's pretty much the same. Velma for some reason, and I think this is probably a movie influence, is super skinny. which is a big problem for me because Velma was always kind of like a just she was more of like a regular person

yes like a real the only representation of a real woman you could ever catch was Velma you know what it? Well it's interesting because like she's voiced by Kate McCoochee and I feel like they just kind of drew her to look more like Kate McCoochee's a small person yeah she's a small

tiny person but I'm pretty sure Fred Frank Walker is not six feet tall and really handsome or a dog Besides the dog and the stoner She was like a regular person She wasn't sexualized to the degree that Daphne was Which was just like

It's a lost cause guys It's gonna be sexualized forever Because I mean that was like kind of the point It was like the brains and she like you know She dressed sensibly and like just was like You know not exactly like you know a knockout Not a 10 if you want to call it that It's a sexualized draw

style. Yeah, she's very small. It's like, because I think because Linda Cardlini played her in the movie and like that Linda Cardlini was the fattest actress Hollywood allowed at that time, which is to say not at all. So this, this, this, this mystery 101, it's the pilot episode of this new show. And it's basically Velma is looking to get into college and she's going on an interview and there's like a ghost there that, this, that, and the other thing. And I was like, so are these? people employed like why is she seeking higher education is she trying to get out of the mystery game yeah what is that even about like we we're starting this reboot we boat oh man reboat i'd watch that show is the cast of reboot on a boat it would be great but they're starting this reboot with one of the key members like trying to jump ship to borrow a reboot phrase but what like she's trying to leave the game. It's weird. She's like, I'm tired of this shit. We've been solving Childus Mysteries for 40 years.

Now, she's putting down the joint and been like, dude, I got to get to college. I need a degree, man. Yeah, I can't eat those pink snowball cakes for dinner anymore. Sick and tired of it. And I'll just say it now, guys. This van smells like shit. Of course it does. And I'll say it. I'm not going to point any

fingers, but the dog isn't the only one pissing and shitting in there. Because they're also ostensibly homeless. Yeah, like it's just... Right, we're never hanging out at their house. Let's go occupy Wall Street, man. It solved the mystery of the missing protesters. Oh, my God.

Well, we're podcasting with Paul Ryan tonight. I just say they live a very friggin' lifestyle. Hey, man. Let's go take over that Oregon federal building, man. Oh, I like that they swing both ways. Oh, sure, dude. Listen, they'll take free housing wherever they can. They don't care what the cause is.

They should have enabled to light all those acres of land on fire, man. That's the people that want the free stuff the most are the libertarian. Yes. Well, it would be great if, like, the whole point of, like, Scooby-Doo was, like, they were this weird hippie cult and they were the idea is to run Freddie in like 79 you know what I mean

because he's like the good looking one you could put him on a poster dude he's the Manchurian candidate exactly it's like him and his wife his wife in quotation marks is Daphne right sure and then we're all just hanging out in the White House making all sorts of plans I like it everything's legal by 81 I'll tell you that much different America if Freddie got in

President Freddie would have fucking acknowledged AIDS long before a certain 80s president dude, I'll tell you that much. Probably. Jimmy Carter. So there's a ghost that's haunting this college campus. I'll say this about this cartoon. The, like, the crassness level of the comedy writing

is amped up just the slightest bit. And it's a little more like left of the dial kind of offbeat jokes here and they're like one of the running gags in the episode is Daphne has gone to like a puppet making warehouse or like a workshop rather and she's made puppets of all of them

and she's like making them all talk and it's like it's so absurd and something that character definitely doesn't normally do like in other iterations of Scooby-Doo and I was like okay I can get behind this. They're sort of acting it out like their aggressions like it's like a therapeutic

like therapeutic type of thing Right, right, right. Which, of course, therapy did not exist in the 70s. You just stuff that shit down. Yeah. Come on, Freddie. Just tie that ass cut a little tighter. The pain will go away.

That's the episode I want. It's everyone goes to Freddy's house for Thanksgiving. And, like, his, like, dad from Korea is there or who was in Korea. Oh, his Korean father. No, no. Well, I mean, the Korean animators that made him were kind of his father. but no like it's just like a real tense thing and everyone's just there and it's like what are you doing it's yourself Fred you got to get it back in the core

back on the program oh these are all your friends that you solve mysteries with huh you could solve a lot of mysteries like this dude talks to them but never parts his teeth how about this mystery the missing beer from my fridge you want to solve that one Freddy solve the mystery of the shrapnel in my ass. How about the mystery that your dad can't walk anymore? And this is a forgotten war? Have you pork in that redhead, Freddie?

You better be. So the way this whole thing makes any sense. Because if you are, I'll give you some high fives right now. But if you're not, I'll smack you upside the head. Get that lesbian out of my house. I'm not a lesbian. I was talking to the dog. I am a resbreed.

That is a beef that I have with this incarnation, though. Scooby is totally fluent in English. He's speaking like full sentences. It's not like the, you know, row, raggy. I think originally it was like they just got so high that they could think the dog was talking. Oh, do you think like we're watching this through a stone. gaze? Definitely. And this dog's just speaking English? But I mean, really when you

think about it, it's a stoned super team, right? Because you've got... Yeah. You've got Freddie who is like the face when the cops come, which is what you want. You want somebody to be able to talk to the cops. You wanted that friend who was stoic in the face of police adversity when you're high as a kite. Yeah, Daphne who had a lot of money, so she's totally...

She's lighting everybody up. And she also could afford, like, the cool devices to smoke it with. Like, you didn't have to make a fucking one hitter out of a Bick pen anymore. Shaggy's almost obviously self-explanatory. You can roll everything and bobb-de-blot totally. Oh, yeah, he can call anybody at any time.

Oh, yeah, do not worry about it. Velma will bring up some heady shit when you're nice in stone. It's like, oh, man, wow. Think about that. And she's the one that you're like, you know what? Shut up, Velma. I'm trying to watch fucking be good Scooby-Doo over here. And the best part is, you ever get high with a dog, man?

That's one of the best. Like, not getting a dog high, but like being high around a cool dog. now we're talking oh totally you're smoking up that pooch no you don't don't smoke up the dogs I hate when people do that they think it's so fucking funny and I just you know

it's unacceptable but yeah when that dog starts talking to you though oh dude you're in a good place so they classic Berkowitz trip they are kind of like yeah like Steve said a stone super team it's like Captain Planet like with their powers combined

it's the best night of smoking we in a van you've ever had is the mystery gang. Another beef I have with this is the physics is very cartoony. In terms of you could do anything, you know what I mean? You get hit on the head and nothing happens and, you know, that kind of a thing.

It's very like a looney tunes almost. Yeah, I do remember that classic episode of old Scooby-Doo where Fred rolled his ankle on the sidewalk. No, I mean like... I know what you mean. It's like, Scoob, it's pretty bad. Scoob, it's pretty bad. Oh, Scoop, get those crutches.

out of the closet man Fred's gonna be laid up for a couple weeks. No, it was more about like, Scooby-Doo is like a sitcom that was animated for almost no reason because like they didn't like it's just like regular 70s whatever. Yeah, that's true.

Didn't it also originally have a laugh track? Yes. Yeah, there was, right? I'm not misremembering. That's not here. Well, you can't have that in the modern era. So there's a ghost taunting this university. The dean is worried that, you know, this is going to harm their admission and whatnot.

So he enlist the mystery gang to solve this mystery. And there's some weird thing where it's like, all right, mystery gang. If you solve the mystery or the ghost on campus, your friend Velma gets in or something like that. Right. It's Kingston University, which is apparently better than Harvard or Yale. Sure. It would have to be. And the only way she can get in if she does the dean of favor. Yeah, tale older than time Well, yeah, I mean, really

Hey, baby, solve my mystery That'll get you All you got to do is go to the press, man Like, look, that's what's going on He needs me to do him a favor. Isn't this weird? Put it together. Look at it, look at it.

It's weird, right? Put it together. A newspaper, this dean tried to say That he'd let me into the school if I busted a ghost from his campus. If you know what I mean. The other thing, the mystery van is souped up, actually. Oh, it does, it has, like, lasers and shit.

And, like, Fred, like. Oh, I wasn't paying attention to that in the slightest. No, you never know. Fred was like, oh, let me just put the, let me put the security on it. And, like, the van turns into a crappy van, like, oh, you're right. You're right. I do remember that. He's like, oh, the best security scoob is, everyone thinking you're poor.

And it's like, wow, that's a pretty staunch message. I wasn't ready for that. I sometimes think, though, like, I'm glad my car kind of looks like a piece of shit. Sure. You know what I mean? I got some gaff tape on the bumper. It's cool. Sure.

Gives it a little character. No one's going to steal your CD player, that's for sure. Oh, mercy. Yeah, you know, I don't know. I'm kind of okay with this cartoon, and I'm sort of thinking of adding it to my current cartoon roster, which only consists of Star Wars. Rebels that I've been going through. When do you want to finish that hour out? How are you finding it?

Star Wars Rebels? Yeah, you enjoy it? I'm digging it, man. It's pretty good. I'm surprised. It's kind of nice because I've never gone really outside the movies with Star Wars. And like it's kind of nice to sort of swim around in that world but it's not the movies, but like you know that the movies are there at the same time. Like Vader's like kind of in it slightly, which is cool.

And yeah, they run into people here and there. Yeah, and then, you know, they kill stormtroopers and whatnot. It's fun. Is that, what's the, what's the animation like on that? It's like CGI and stuff? It's like CG3D type of stuff. Yeah, I'll tell you this. The people stuff is like, eh, but the aliens are like action stuff looks awesome.

Yeah. Because you got like stormtroopers, they're blocky anyway. The fighting stuff all looks awesome. It's, I feel like that show spends more time and money on stormtroopers than it does on any other character design. Like the stormtroopers look. awesome and all the space battles look awesome. But yeah I don't know. I guess if

we wanted to get into whether or not we were embarrassed because I mean they solved the mystery. They do solve the mystery. It is important because for a while Scooby-Doo started doing actual supernatural stuff like there would actually be monsters. That was like the end of it. Oh, it was a monster the whole time like really a monster.

Oh, is that right? Yeah. I've always just seen things with nefarious land developers. In like the 2000, early 2000 that was the thing. I was like what else can we do? What about a real monster? Oh man, so like they get into the occult and whatnot? Yeah, I think that you have like zombies and shit. So it's like, it's like Last Witch Hunter

Underworld type of shit. Yes, exactly. Some paranormal crimes. Freddy is wearing a very large leather jacket with a bunch of like cross knives in it and they're throwing it everybody. Oh shit, is he Hellblazer? Yes. They're sponsored by the Vatican. Wow.

We should visit one of those because Andrew, you're right, this is kind of Okay, this is fine. You know, maybe I'm just the oldest man in the world where I was just like, I've got to be the old thing I liked. But I don't know.

I do like the old schoolish character design. I do like... Yeah. It just, it kind of doesn't... I just... It's almost a sacrilege to see it changed a little bit. See, that's... I mean, I wasn't like a big Scooby-Doo guy.

I've seen it, but it's never meant anything to me. Like, I've probably seen 200 episodes of it. But to me, it's been like a big whatever. And what I found appealing about this is that comedy styling, like the comedic sensibility to this. The greatest example is the end of the episode, Daphne's kind of like hanging off the roof of this thing. And the puppet is there.

And Daphne has to decide whether or not to let the puppet go and grab onto the rope with two hands or like they could both fall. And she lets this puppet go. It's kind of like this amazing RIP Alan Rickman, like Hans falling from Nakatomi. The puppet falling in slow motion And then it cuts to this like Shot of the ground And the puppet just falls in real time

You know And it's just dead and it doesn't matter But like the gag of personifying The puppet as it falls I got a huge belly laugh out of it Oh belly laugh Wow Listen I was chuckling during this

Straight up chuckles I mean I found it to be You know like I didn't hate it Sure But I didn't care Yeah What are we doing? What are we doing with our lives?

Oh man, just watching Scooby-Doo. It's like watching the hourglass fall out of my life. It's most animation damnations, though, isn't it? Yeah. Some more than others, though. Some it's like, man, the bridge was right there. So does she get into school or what? She decides that she doesn't want to.

Like, they solve the mystery and he's like, you're accepted. And she's like, actually, I'm going to kick it back with my stoner friends for all eternity. Thank you very much. I'll never be employed. Don't worry. We got a TV show. Don't worry, everybody. We got a show.

Don't worry. They get it to the mystery van and Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper on motorcycles next to them. Like, let's move on to the next town, man. And then they have to uncover the mystery of who shotgun them. Dude, yeah, I guarantee you, like, one of these mysteries, like, you go in the wrong diner. It's like these four people, like, get his double triple cheeseburgers, man. And it's like, not today. What is the, they do a, there's a really heightened version of the classic Scooby-Doo chase scene in this episode.

Yeah. I mean, it's really, they're going all over the place in it for whatever reason. I don't remember what it exactly was, but I was like, that's a little too much. Just use doors. Yeah, the music's going and all the... Is this in the library? Yes, that's what it is, yeah. And it's just like, oh, brother.

There's like a huge action set piece in this library, chasing this ghost. But to your point, if you're going to start updating it, cut out the musical number, man. Nobody wants the musical chase scene. No one's ever a favorite part of that. Oh, right, and then like a bunch of books fall on them or something, it turns out a good message. It was some poor kid that wanted to go to school there. that's right it was like the janitor's son who worked at a like a gas station that they visited earlier in the episode oh the other huge laugh that i got in this was when they're all they separate like they do in every episode to go hunt for clues and shaggy and scooby of course come upon a vending machine and shaggy's like oh i'm just gonna get it scoob hang on and they smash cut to shaggy stuck inside the vending machine and then scooby's like well oh help you out shaggy and then like he reaches his hand out up and then it smash cuts and they're both

in there and then the ghost comes up and they're like oh well at least we're stuck in this vending machine and smash cut and the three of them are in the vending machine I thought it was very funny. The one thing though about these like kind of Simpson style family guy style jokes is the there's a gag with

Freddy's telling Scooby and Shaggy to go up into a bell tower or something and it takes for fucking ever because he's like are you telling me you want me and my friend here to do this? And like there's diagram, there's reenactors, there's the thing, it's just that like

old, that family guy style, like, let's fucking run it into the ground. Yeah, that I don't appreciate. That's, yeah, you're absolutely right. So, you know, while not a perfect cartoon, you know, if it comes on Netflix, maybe I'll pop on a few more episodes. But I was not as heartbroken as you are.

Well, I'm a loser, so there's a difference. Do you think, though, if Be Cool Scooby-Doo had some of the Harlem Globetrotters on you'd change you to? I've been entirely possible. Batman and Robin popped on? Only Adam West and Bert Ward, though. It couldn't be like, you know, Kevin Conroy and somebody else. It would have to be. Did you hear the news, by the way, that... Ben Affleck? What? They said, I guess Adam West said that him and Bert Ward are going to do an animated Batman movie. Oh, really? Yeah. I think... That's got to... You got to have... You got to have Scooby-Doo show up in that thing, then.

So, they're going to sound like they're 90 years old. Yeah. Listen, prove me wrong, animation. studio. I don't know. It's just something I read. It could be just fake internet mumbo jumbo. No, I think I've heard of that too. It was a thing where they were going to do it like as an anniversary or some such thing. Oh, so not like a... But would it be

a movie, do you think? It might be a short thing. I'm not sure. You know, I read a couple issues of that Batman 66. That was a lot of fun. It is fun. Because it's... Have you read it, Steve? I am not yet. It's Adam West Batman, including the corny jokes. Oh, really? In comic form?

That's interesting. Yeah. You know, yeah, I'd pick that up. If I bought single-issue comics, which I don't. Great covers by Michael Allred. My favorite, one of my favorite comic artists. There you go. Going out with a plug for Michael Allred.

And I'd like him to give me original art, which is not going to happen. Add some money. Yeah, please. Because this counts as an ad. By the way, you owe us money. WHM comes to collect. That's Animation Damnation for the month of January, gang. It was an episode of Beacon.

Cool Scooby-Doo, Mystery 101. Until next time, I'm Andrew Jupin. Stephen Seda. Eric Sisko. Take it easy.