"A Frightened Hound Meets Demons Underground" was one of those appreciate rather than love episodes in primary school and in my early teens. Have always enjoyed it, but felt when younger that the humour and all the details and antics in the underground city were a little more interesting than the mystery, while finding the ending interesting and considering the demons scary but preferring other villains in 'The Scooby Doo Show'.
Through young adult eyes though, "A Frightened Hound Meets Demons Underground" fits in the category of episodes that went up in my estimations and fared better. It now feels like a more interesting episode, even if the underground city stuff still grabs my attention a little more. Though the mystery itself is a lot cleverer and more not what things initially seem than before, the ending also being even better than remembered. The demons have also grown on me.
Much is done right here and there is really not much wrong. Maybe the pace could have been tighter at times, with things getting going once the underground city is found.
Would have given the demons a little more to do other than flail the arms and hiss, their most eventful moment being in the cablecar.
However, although the finesse can be lacking in the drawing there is a good deal of atmosphere in the animation, the docks have a real eeriness and the underground city is vividly fun and scary, one of the show's most interesting settings with such great attention to detail. The music has a not too manic energy and reminds one fondly of the music for the original show while having enough of its own style. The theme song is still a classic. The writing has some endearingly goofy and amusing humour from Shaggy and Scooby while Sally has some nice lines. The intrigue is also there when the clues are being discovered.
Despite saying that the demons could have been utilised more, there is no doubt that they are still genuinely creepy. The hissing especially is one of the most unsettling noises of any villain from 'The Scooby Doo Show'. There are some very clever clues and the mystery is actually more complex than most episodes of 'The Scooby Doo Show' where nothing is obvious at all too early. The underground antics are great fun, especially in Shaggy and Scooby's later encounters with the demons. Have always liked the ending, the lead up to the revelation had tension and the revelation itself turned out to be one of the cleverest and least obvious ones of the show. It seemed simple at first but then lands another surprise on the viewer.
The gang are great, Shaggy and Scooby as always being the most interesting. Sally stood out of the human supporting characters, the others' appearances were too brief. As far as the voice acting goes, Don Messick and Casey Kasem have never been bettered or equalled since as Scooby and Shaggy (do like Matthew Lillard though), while Heather North is the definitive (and longest-serving) Daphne voice. John Stephenson is very effective, though he did tend to be typecast (he did this very well).
Concluding, very good episode that has grown on me. 8/10
Through young adult eyes though, "A Frightened Hound Meets Demons Underground" fits in the category of episodes that went up in my estimations and fared better. It now feels like a more interesting episode, even if the underground city stuff still grabs my attention a little more. Though the mystery itself is a lot cleverer and more not what things initially seem than before, the ending also being even better than remembered. The demons have also grown on me.
Much is done right here and there is really not much wrong. Maybe the pace could have been tighter at times, with things getting going once the underground city is found.
Would have given the demons a little more to do other than flail the arms and hiss, their most eventful moment being in the cablecar.
However, although the finesse can be lacking in the drawing there is a good deal of atmosphere in the animation, the docks have a real eeriness and the underground city is vividly fun and scary, one of the show's most interesting settings with such great attention to detail. The music has a not too manic energy and reminds one fondly of the music for the original show while having enough of its own style. The theme song is still a classic. The writing has some endearingly goofy and amusing humour from Shaggy and Scooby while Sally has some nice lines. The intrigue is also there when the clues are being discovered.
Despite saying that the demons could have been utilised more, there is no doubt that they are still genuinely creepy. The hissing especially is one of the most unsettling noises of any villain from 'The Scooby Doo Show'. There are some very clever clues and the mystery is actually more complex than most episodes of 'The Scooby Doo Show' where nothing is obvious at all too early. The underground antics are great fun, especially in Shaggy and Scooby's later encounters with the demons. Have always liked the ending, the lead up to the revelation had tension and the revelation itself turned out to be one of the cleverest and least obvious ones of the show. It seemed simple at first but then lands another surprise on the viewer.
The gang are great, Shaggy and Scooby as always being the most interesting. Sally stood out of the human supporting characters, the others' appearances were too brief. As far as the voice acting goes, Don Messick and Casey Kasem have never been bettered or equalled since as Scooby and Shaggy (do like Matthew Lillard though), while Heather North is the definitive (and longest-serving) Daphne voice. John Stephenson is very effective, though he did tend to be typecast (he did this very well).
Concluding, very good episode that has grown on me. 8/10
