wile_E2005 Reviews

Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map (2013 Video)

"A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" is back, and in Puppet Form!

[8/10 · 30 July 2013]

I really enjoyed this made-for-video production. As a longtime fan of "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo," I was a little nervous about it at first (because Warner Bros. Animation had screwed up before with "What's New, Scooby-Doo?", some of the made-for-video movies and "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!") but the movie had the charm of the 1988-1991 TV series, except it was done in puppets! You have Velma's same walk, Scooby turning into a rocket after eating Scooby snacks, goofy takes, the characters dancing to a rock song relating to the plot, and more. Though the Jim Henson Company/Muppet studio had no involvement, many Muppet performers including David Rudman, Matt Vogel, Eric Jacobson and Peter Linz all had a hand in performing the puppets, and they did a great job with it. For the most part, the puppets actually looked like characters right out of the show (except for Fred, Daphne and Shaggy having dots for eyes.) The puppet version of Young Velma reminded me quite a bit of Prairie Dawn from "Sesame Street" for some reason, and the evil parrot and Gnarlybeard puppet designs had "Classic Jim Henson monster" written all over them. Though there were a few things I did miss. Like the theme song and the show's groovy music, and the character Red Herring. Hopefully Warner will soon incorporate the latter into any future similar movies!

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

The best movie from Disney's dark era!

[10/10 · 31 January 2013]

With Walt Disney's death in 1966, and many of Disney's best animators gone (the nine old men either retired or died, and Don Bluth left with several other animators to open a competing studio), the Disney animation studio was going through hard times. They had a few good post-Walt stuff prior to the Disney Renaissance (like "Robin Hood," "The Rescuers" and even "The Fox and the Hound,") but for the most part the magic seemed to be disappearing. It also didn't help that their "The Black Cauldron" (which didn't resemble a Disney animated film very much) was a major failure. So a smaller crew, featuring four directors (including Burny Mattinson of "Mickey's Christmas Carol," and Ron Clements and John Musker, both of whom later went on to direct some memorable Disney animated features afterward), put together "The Great Mouse Detective" on a much smaller budget. Development took quite a while, but with the advancements on digital technology, the actual production only took a year! Also, it did very well at the box office and gained several positive reviews, which convinced Disney that their animated films had a future, and if it weren't for this film's success, we may not have had a Disney Renaissance! Aside from that, this is definitely Disney's best movie from their pre-Renaissance slump. You've got likable characters, great voice acting, a perfect music score (complete with theme tunes for each main character!), well-done animation and effects, and even a few songs for Disney tradition's sake! Vincent Price tends to steal the show with his excellent performance as Professor Ratigan (no wonder he got top billing!) I also enjoy Basil's ingenious thinking and over-the-top acting for a detective that can fit in the palm of your hand (I can't help but notice he almost looks like an anime character at times, the way he is designed.) Dr. Dawson and Olivia are also great characters, and Fidget is good at raging from downright creepy (his two horror-style jump-scare scenes) to your typical comical sidekick (what's not to love about a big-eyed one-legged bat that's unable to fly?) I also liked hearing Alan Young using his Scrooge McDuck voice for Mr. Flaversham. The songs are for the most part your standard Disney musical fare, but like I said, they're a lot of fun. Especially fun is Miss Kitty's "Let Me Be Good to You" musical number (that had to be a scene by Ron Clements and John Musker; they're known for crazy stuff like that, as seen in "Aladdin" and "The Princess and the Frog!") The animation also has a very classic look and feel to it, which is rare for a Disney movie of this era. It also uses computer animation much better than "The Black Cauldron" did, and the climactic scene at Big Ben was quite thrilling and enough to keep you at the edge of your seat! I guess you could say that not only did Basil and company save London, they also saved Disney's feature animation division!

There's also a fun use of Basil Rathbone's vocal performance as Sherlock Holmes (from a record version of "The Red-Headed League") during a shadowed cameo of the REAL Sherlock Holmes. Fun stuff for the Holmes fans, too!

The Halloween Tree (1993 TV Movie)

Oh my gosh! It's the Halloween Tree!

[8/10 · 10 October 2012]

Halloween has always been one of my most favorite times of year, ever since I was a kid. Now I'm 30, but I still love the holiday. You're never too old for Halloween... AND you're never too old for Halloween cartoons. Every year, I celebrate the holiday with watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," "Garfield's Halloween Adventure," "Halloween is Grinch Night," several Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" specials, "Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School," "Doug's Halloween Adventure," "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "The Halloween Tree." When I first decided to check it out, I thought it was going to be lame. Hanna-Barbera had really lost their touch by this time, and their cartoons would never be the same (the studio would have been dead by the end of 1994 if it weren't for their admittedly cool and creative "What a Cartoon" shorts from 1995-1997!) Now I'm glad I watched it. It has become a Halloween tradition of mine! True, it doesn't resemble your usual Hanna-Barbera cartoon in any way. Instead it feels more like Nelvana or Film Roman made it. (From what I read, Ray Bradbury wanted his animator friend Chuck Jones to bring it to life. I think a Chuck Jones version would have been even better!) But regardless, it's still fun. It helped me understand several Halloween origins and customs, and can be a bit creepy at times. Perfect! Leonard Nimoy does a great job voicing Mr. Moundshround, and Ray Bradbury does an equally great job narrating his story. The animation, like I said, isn't the usual Hanna-Barbera style you would expect. It's not totally perfect, but is still pretty good for a 1990s animated TV special, at times up to par with Walt Disney Television Animation's stuff of the time (then again, bad animation became increasingly rare in the 1990s, with a few exceptions like H-B's poorly-animated "Arabian Nights" TV movie from 1994!) John Debney's music is also really good, especially the haunting opening theme, though it does get a bit Disney-esque at times (there were times in the 1990s when H-B felt they needed to mimic Disney!) I'm watching it as I type this review, and it's helping put me in the Halloween mood more. "Oh my gosh!" look at the time. "Ready, set, go!"

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010–2013)

........Wow. Just wow.

[7/10 · 15 November 2011]

This is definitely not your usual Scooby-Doo. After a very cruel cartoon producer named Sander Schwartz came to Warner Bros. Animation and made that awful revival series known as "What's New Scooby-Doo" (and the studio followed up with the Loonatics version: "Shaggy and Scooby- Doo Get a Clue!"), I haven't trusted Warner Bros. Animation these days. So early last year when this new Scooby series and its sister show, "The Looney Tunes Show," were announced, I was skeptical, nervous they would screw it up all over again. But this review only focuses on the Scooby-Doo series (I will write another review about Looney Tunes as well.)

To start off, this is MUCH different from the past two shows. It's a lot better, too, though still not as good as the classic "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" This show is much darker, realistic and scarier, not to mention VIOLENT. There have been quite a few instance where the villain nearly murders someone (even coming close to killing the gang!), things are often breaking or blowing up, people actually die, there's a bit of visible blood, one episode even has a very graphic train wreck sequence! I am very surprised the show was rated TV-Y7-FV; if anything, it should be at least PG (like "The Looney Tunes Show" wound up with.) For once, the villains have often become much more scarier and menacing, even if most of the time they are not even real (like always!)

Additionally, the plots are still in most cases the usual "just a guy in disguise" format, with some lampooning (or none at all!) I do get a bit annoyed by how they still must always have to parody the meddling kids thing to death ("And I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling *insert random noun here*!") But, unlike "What's new Scooby-Doo?", this show also shows more about the characters. We get to see them with their families, at home, on a date, even at school! (Surprisingly, their high school actually ALLOWS SCOOBY-DOO INSIDE THE BUILDING!) The whole "Mr. E" thing was also a nice touch, and kept me hooked to the show (even if a mention isn't done until the end.)

Fred was initially dumbed-down here, practically to "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" levels! (They gave him that obsession with traps, he doesn't know how to work a record player, etc.) but he's improved with the second season. Daphne is still pretty much the same, and I enjoyed seeing her with her family or romance involving Fred. Velma has changed quite a bit, though. If you thought Velma's attitude was different in "What's New Scooby-Doo," here you will get quite a surprise. She had a crush on Shaggy (which he does not seem to return,) and is sometimes felt left out of the gang, and tends to have more of a devil-may-care attitude. She reminds me somewhat of Judy Funnie from "Doug." Shaggy and Scooby are pretty much the same, though. This series usually gives everyone a moment in the spotlight (unlike "What's New," which usually focused on Fred, Daphne and Velma, and the "Get a Clue" which just starred Shaggy and Scooby.) Sometimes the episodes will vary the focus on one character, sometimes the episode may be mostly about Fred, sometimes about Velma, sometimes about Daphne and her family, and we even got some pretty decent episodes about Scooby-Doo himself! Three of the best episodes so far for me was the one involving a dream sequence where Scooby-Doo teams up with the Funky Phantom, Captain Caveman, Speed Buggy and Jabberjaw to save the humans for their respective mystery-solving teams, as well as one episode featuring a return appearance by the Hex Girls (unlike their appearance in the disastrous What's New episode "The Vampire Strikes Back," this one is more faithful to their "Witch's Ghost" appearance), as well as one where Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are invited to dinner at the home of Vincent Van Ghoul (from "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo!")

The voices aren't too bad. Matthew Lillard's Shaggy still sounds good, and fits pretty well with this slightly younger Shaggy here; Grey DeLisle's Daphne still sounds the same since 2001, and Mindy Cohn's Velma still the same since 2002. Frank Welker's Scooby-Doo still at times sounds more like Brain from "Inspector Gadget" (I know, I compare it to Brain a lot) but I have gotten more used to it by now, and he can still voice Fred really well. In fact, in that crossover episode I mentioned, Frank Welker also reprises the role of Jabberjaw and does an excellent job with it! Being more "realistic," the use of the old Hanna-Barbera sound effects can vary wildly; some may have quite a few of them, some with a LOT (such as the crossover episode or the Dynomutt one), some with none at all. It seems to be more situational here, unlike with "What's New" and "Get a Clue's" more realism-driven scenarios.

Now to the animation. Even though they pretty much just write a script and then ship it off to Korea, the character designs aren't too bad. They have that "retro" look to them; in fact, it reminds me of the character redesigns utilized in the excellent 2001 Flintstones revival special "Flintstones on the Rocks." The gang is back in their classic 1969 outfits (big plus here!), with Velma wearing a couple of bows in her hair as well. Other characters also tend to have that 1970s H-B look to them, compared to the previous two shows which drew them in their typical WB "house" style.

Overall, a major step up for Scooby-Doo. It's still not as good as some of the made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies WB has been churning out since last year, though.

Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo (2009 Video)

It's "Zombie Island" all over again!

[8/10 · 19 February 2010]

Finally, for the first time in eight years, Warner Bros. Animation got off their backs and made a darker, more professional Scooby-Doo animated movie similar to their infamous "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island," their excellent "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost," the not-so-great "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" and the fun "Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase." I have been WAITING for this ever since "Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster" came out and simply went with the "What's New Scooby-Doo" animation style.

Story-wise, it is a shame they go back to fake supernatural creatures once again, after "Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King" and the "Samurai Sword" movie. But it's got plenty of suspense and jump-scenes like the original movies did, though. They also go with a somewhat original plot for once, too! The gang has already come across too many tiki monsters, mummies, pirate ghosts, snow monsters and samurai ghosts that it seemed the writers were beginning to run out of ideas. But they REALLY surprised us with this one. The inclusion of Velma having a sister was fun, as was Daphne getting jealous over Fred going gaga over the lovely female assistant. Speaking of Fred, he isn't as stupidly-portrayed as he was in the previous films, or even "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and "What's New, Scooby-Doo." Scooby-Doo also has quite a bit of dialogue too, and they cleverly parodied the old formula here as well (such as a danger-prone Fred, and Shaggy using ventriloquism on a wolf puppet to mimic the famous "meddling kids" line.) Voices aren't too bad either. Sure, Frank Welker's Scooby-Doo still sounds like Brain from "Inspector Gadget," but I've pretty much gotten used to it by now. As for Matthew Lillard, he's actually a pretty good Shaggy! Sure, he's not as good as Casey Kasem, but he's better than Billy West and Scott Innes, and definitely better than Scott Menville! It does sound a little strange hearing the live-action Shaggy's voice coming out of the animated Shaggy, but after a while I got used to it. He also managed to make Shaggy sound hip and young again! The sound effects are also similar to the early made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies, only limiting the classic H-B sound effects to the Scooby and Shaggy scenes or exaggerated comedy sequences. They even managed to use the classic haunted "Castle Thunder" sound as one of the magic-spell sound effects (ala "The Powerpuff Girls"), but the other thunder sounds are pretty much identical to the earlier made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies, too.

The animation is also very good, too. As I mentioned, it is in a much darker style now, but the Scooby gang is drawn as how they appeared in the early 1970s, complete with wearing their original outfits! It looks much better than the "What's New Scooby-Doo"-esquire style of the past movies.

Overall, this is definitely a step up from the last several Scooby-Doo movies. It seems they're finally going in the right direction. Not only that, this film didn't even end with a Hanna-Barbera logo like the others did, which is actually somewhat of a good thing because Hanna-Barbera didn't make this movie; Warner Bros. Cartoons did. Definitely recommended!

Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword (2008 Video)

Well, at least it's better than "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!"

[7/10 · 24 April 2009]

This may have a minor spoiler in it.

I was surprised that Termite Terrace was able to instantly churn out another new direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movie, especially since "Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King" only came out seven months ago! Usually the trend is a new Scooby-Doo movie every fall season, since 1998 when Warner Bros. Animation started the series with "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island." However, while this film was more enjoyable than the notorious "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" or even its predecessor "What's New, Scooby-Doo?", it wasn't as good as "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island," "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost" or even the previous "Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King." The plot isn't too bad, keeping real supernatural elements, but the plot is basically like a Japanese variation of "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost," complete with a phony samurai ghost at one point, followed by a real one near the end. It strays a little close to the line with the real ghost resembling a kind old man but wearing a mask of the monstrous face. But I REALLY like the dragon that Scooby and Shaggy visit at one point in the movie that teaches them to be samurais, partly because I really like friendly dragons, and partly because it's about time a real dragon was used in a Scooby-Doo cartoon (well, there's Matches from the Ghoul School movie, but he was a baby dragon). However, once again, there is not much originality with the movie, since the gang had already been to Japan (I know they did so on "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and "Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo"). I was still a little irked about seeing the dumbed-down Fred (ala "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and "What's New, Scooby-Doo?") and the fashion-paranoid Daphne (same as previously mentioned shows), but I thought it was hilarious when after Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne and Velma said their catchphrases ("Zoinks!" "Rikes!" "Jeepers!" and "Jinkies!", respectively), Fred moaned, "Dang! I STILL don't have a catchphrase!" But the thing is, I guess the writers forgot that Fred DID have a catchphrase in "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo"... "Let's split up, gang!" But it was still enough to make me laugh. The Scooby gang gets an equal amount of time, and there were more scenes of them together than the previous films, but there was still quite a bit of scenes with just Shaggy and Scooby, and a few scenes with just Fred, Daphne and Velma. But at least Scooby-Doo has gotten more screen time than in "Aloha Scooby-Doo" and various "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" episodes, since he's my favorite character.

Voices are decent, with Casey Kasem still being able to voice Shaggy (need I mention that terrible Scott Menville's Shaggy voice?) and Frank Welker pulling double-duty as Fred and Scooby-Doo. The latter sounds much like a combination of his Brain from "Inspector Gadget" and Scott Innes's Scooby-Doo voice, so at least he's getting a bit better.

As for sound effects, once again they haven't changed much since they started doing the direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies since 1998, only limiting the classic H-B sound effects to exaggerated comedy sequences or nearly any scene with Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. Maybe this H-B sound effect limitation worked just fine with the original made-for-video movies, but here it just sounds awkward, even though at least they've brought back the old Scooby teeth chattering noise, which "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and the 2004-2006 made-for-video movies never did. This also goes for the Haunted Mansion-esquire "Castle Thunder," which they still thought was too obsolete to use and instead recorded real thunder sounds (since the Samurai Ghost has the ability to generate lightning). I wonder if they came to my hometown to do so? (we had a particularly bad storm last summer that sounded exactly like the one in this film) But what annoys me about that is how the annoying "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" series used the old thunder sounds, but the made-for-video movies (which are WAY better than "Get a Clue!") don't bother.

And speaking of "Get a Clue," now on to the animation. The Scooby-Doo gang is still drawn in their typical "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" style, which is, I must admit, easier on the eyes than the crude animation/designs used on "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" TV series. Good thing those awkward character designs only stuck with that show! But I think they should try showing the characters in their original outfits like the newest Scooby-Doo comics usually do, or at least make up a new style, maybe combining their "What's New?" outfits with the ones they wore on "Zombie Island" to "Cyber Chase." Movements are fluid and realistic, and like the previous film, it is heavy with CGI effects.

But I do wish they'd start making them actually resemble "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost" in look and feel again. Though it looks like a Joe Barbera dedication is definitely out of the question now, they have continued the trend from all the other made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies made since 1998 and ended them with a Hanna-Barbera logo, even though this patently hasn't been true at all! (At least Bill and Joe were alive when "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost" were made.) In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they used that remake of the old 1970s Hanna-Barbera "box" logo to replace the still Scooby/H-B graphic at the end of the first four movies!

Overall, good to rent or catch on TV, but I'd only recommend buying if you're a hard-core Scooby-Doo fan. Besides that, it's definitely better to watch if you're sick of "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!"

The Mask (1994)

"...Jimmy, a Mask named Jim Carrey!"

[10/10 · 27 November 2008]

This film is a cult classic. Those six words are enough to describe the movie itself from my view.

I never really got into it when I was younger (maybe cause I never SAW it!) But then early this year, since I am a HUGE cartoon fan, I decided to check it out. And boy, did I miss out on a lot of fun, which I was finally able to be part of! For starters, THIS is the film where Jim Carrey's zany/goofy antics are absolutely perfect and in time with the movie he is starring in. This movie even made me like Jim Carrey a bit more (I previously saw him in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which was actually kinda good IMO). And it gave me my first glimpse of Cameron Diaz, which was appropriate since it was her debut film role as the beautiful miss Tina Carlyle. And was she ever sexy! Combine the Girl of "Red Hot Riding Hood," Jessica Rabbit, and Daphne from "Scooby-Doo," and you've got a great character with a great actress! Ben Stein was also great, too. I get a kick out of hearing his "boring" voice! The plot is one I can identify with. A social misfit that loves cartoons... almost kinda like ME! (Though I'm a bit more socially successful than Stanley Ipkiss was). And after a terrible day, he finds the ancient mask that transforms him into... THE MASK! From here on, it's classic cartoon bouncy/zany stuff whenever The Mask is lurking! Unfortunately, he is only the Mask for 30 minutes of the film, maybe because this was produced in 1994 and they didn't want to blow a lot of money with extensive use of CGI animation (Remember, CGI was state-of-the-art for its time back in 1994!) The Mask is able to whirl like the Tasmanian Devil, seduce like a Pepe Le Pew clone, carry many things up his sleeve, and just put a smile on your face.

The Mask's cartoony antics are very similar to (and reminiscent of) some of the great super-cartoony classics, such as the Tex Avery cartoons, some of Bob Clampett's best works, and "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo!" (Great show, BTW!) The CGI animation is state-of-the-art for its time (Shame this film didn't win the Oscar for best special effects!) Some of my favorite bits include the lines "It's party time! P-A-R-T... Y? Because I GOTTA!" and "I believe my friends are (on the guest list for the Coco Bongo club), perhaps you know them... Franklin, Grant and Jackson!" and "Let's ROCK THIS JOINT!" I also loved it when The Mask squeezed that little horn at the car, but the horn lets out a long verbal "AAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGAH!" as loud as a Chrysler air raid siren, as well as when he is asked by a punk if he's got the time, The Mask gets out a ticking clock and says "Look at THAT! It's exactly two seconds before I honk your nose and pull your underwear over your head!" This then results in The Mask's first wedgie! And his little balloon animal show... "For you sir... a French Poodle!" *BANG! Sputter...* "Sorry son, the dog was rabid, had to put it down!" And what about the Hey Pachuco musical number, and The Mask's "Oscar-winning performance" (complete with an animated applauding audience silhouette!) Personally, my all-time favorite part in this movie is when The Mask goes to the Coco Bongo nightclub, and among seeing the sexy Tina Carlyle, he bugs his eyes out, unfurls his tongue on the ground, pounds his heart through his chest, and then he MORPHS INTO A 'TOON WOLF AND HOWLS AT HER, THEN WOLF-WHISTLES AND BANGS HIS HEAD WITH A MALLET! That wolf scene is a thousand times better than any werewolf transformation I have ever seen on film!

Whew... glad I got all that out. Anyways, one of the best movies ever made. In the words of the green-faced living 'toon himself, The Mask is 'SSSSSSSSMOKIN!!!

Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King (2008 Video)

Back to real ghosts and monsters!

[6/10 · 27 September 2008]

This is the first post-Sander Schwartz Scooby-Doo made-for-video movie. And it's a good one, too! Because when Warner Bros. Animation originally began producing the made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies 10 years ago, starting with "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island," they broke away from the typical "fake ghost and monster" formula and broke new ground, using real ghosts and monsters. (This wasn't the first time they did so either, they did so back in the 1980s with "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo" and a few TV movies.) "Zombie Island" and the following "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost" (the best of the "real monster" movies) were much darker compared to the older Scooby-Doo cartoons. But when Sander Schwartz took over in 2002, he made them switch back to fake monsters and ghouls, the first two were good ("Legend of the Vampire" and "Monster of Mexico") which were practically like 70-minute episodes of "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?", and after that it would vary. They basically became 70-minute episodes of "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and typically focused on Fred and Daphne. But beginning with "Scooby-Doo in Where's My Mummy?" they began toying around with the old formula again, which somewhat became the norm for the later films, which started to get better over time. Now that Sander Schwartz is gone from Termite Terrace (thank god!) I guess they decided to experiment again. Bringing back real ghosts and monsters helped liven up this recent installment in the Scooby-Doo made-for-video series of movies! It also helped put a bit of creepiness back into the Scooby franchise, something that "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and the 2001-2007 made-for-video Scooby movies completely avoided. (Even the original "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" had quite a bit of creepiness in it, too.)

However, now it's on to reviewing the actual movie itself. Even though this was probably the umpteenth time they did a Scooby-Doo story that revolves around Halloween (such as "The Headless Horseman of Halloween," "To Switch a Witch," "A Scooby-Doo Halloween" and many others), I still enjoyed it, mainly because Halloween is my favorite holiday! And I really liked that fairy princess. I guess that proves not all real supernatural creatures in this movie have to be bad! The real ghouls and dark setting helped bring this movie up to "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost" level. As far as voices go, we still have the same voice cast from "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and the other past made-for-video movies. And I am so glad that Casey Kasem was still able to voice Shaggy, because I won't go into details on Scott Menville's crappy Shaggy voice in the "Get a Clue" series. Frank Welker has improved a little on his Scooby-Doo voice. It's starting to sound less like Brain from "Inspector Gadget" and more like Scott Innes's Scooby-Doo voice! It seems Mindy Cohn's Velma voice changed a little, and Grey DeLisle's Daphne voice hasn't changed a bit since 2001. The music is pretty good, too, with a bit of lively musical numbers by the monsters! At that part it seemed to remind me of "Scooby-Doo and the Boo Brothers." As far as the sound effects go, they haven't changed them much since 1998. They only use the classic H-B sound effects for exaggerated comedy scenes with Scooby, Shaggy, the goblin guards and Krudsky the Magician, similar to when Warner Bros. Animation was making the Cool Cat cartoons for WB/Seven Arts 40 years ago. And this may be a minor gripe, but the people at WB STILL haven't used the Haunted Castle Thunder sound effect like the classic Scooby-Doo cartoons did! This annoys me mainly because the crappy "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" series used it, so why not have the made-for-video movies use it? They're MUCH better than "Get a Clue!" Instead it sounds like they just sent the Foley editor into a real storm to record the thunder. But speaking of "Get a Clue," now on to the animation. The characters are thankfully not drawn in that ugly "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" style, and the animation is quite decent, though not as good as the animation in "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost." There are also extensive uses of CGI effects/animation in this movie, which I don't think the previous direct-to-video Scooby movies even attempted! And as far as the classic character personalities go, Scooby and Shaggy have never changed since 1969. Daphne did not complain at once about her hair or clothes in this film, and it was nice to see a more intelligent and serious version of Fred again (after dumbing him down in "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and "What's New, Scooby-Doo?"). Velma fainting at the sight of a real fairy was just hilarious! I'm surprised she didn't do that at the real monsters in the late-1990s made-for-video movies! My only main complaint about this movie is that they STILL didn't dedicate any of the recent Scooby-Doo movies, including this one, to Joseph Barbera! Since he died before this film was even thought up, it would've been nice to dedicate the movie to one of Scooby-Doo's creators. But nevertheless, they still insisted on using that zooming "1970s Hanna-Barbera" logo at the end, which is still completely inaccurate and has been since 1998, since Warner Bros. Animation produced the movie, and now that both Bill and Joe are gone, it makes no sense to have another company's logo (even if it's owned by WB) at the end of a WB movie! Imagine seeing it at the end of a Looney Tunes cartoon of the 1950s, and it'd be just as weird, if not weirder.

However, this is admittedly better than the 2004-2007 made-for-video Scooby movies, and it's WAY better than "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!" I highly recommend this one, especially if you loved the 1998-2001 Scooby-Doo movies!

Oh and P.S., the werewolf Scooby-Doo and Shaggy come across when first entering the monster world is AWESOME!

Enchanted (2007)

If you like classic Disney animation, this is for you!

[10/10 · 7 March 2008]

I saw this film tonight, and I have to admit, I totally loved it! Disney finally made a good movie, the first in several years. It is a loving tribute to the classic animated Disney movies, particularly the ones made from 1937-1959 and 1989-1999. If you are a big fan of those movies, you will love pointing out the little references they made to those films here (a pizzeria is called the "Bella Notte Restaurant," Robert Phillip's ball outfit resembling the Beast's suit) The animation seen at the beginning and the end, though it was obviously outsourced, was very good. It looked like classic Disney at its best! The whole plot with Giselle and Edward not understanding the harsh reality of modern New York City actually made for an interesting plot. My favorite part was when Giselle sang out the apartment window and attracted the pigeons, cockroaches, rats and other NYC pest animals to help tidy up the house ala "Snow White!" The chipmunk was rather amusing when he was in the real world, with his unintelligible high-pitched "real world" voice and pantomime. Overall, I highly recommend this film if you absolutely love the great animated Walt Disney Classics!

Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets (1999 Video)

Pretty good modern-day Inspector Gadget cartoon

[9/10 · 12 January 2008]

Obviously made to cash in on the crappy 1999 "Inspector Gadget" movie, this made-for-video cartoon is actually pretty good. The framing story is interesting (even though half of it is merely recycled animation from older episodes given new voices) and three classic episodes of the series are also shown here.

The new segments are pretty cool. Maurice LaMarche provides a decent Gadget voice (though it can't match Don Adams) and also voices Chief Quimby, while Cree Summer reprises the role of Penny (predating the 2006 "Robot Chicken" episode) and Frank Welker voicing Brain, Dr. Claw and M.A.D. Cat. There's some new animation of Inspector Gadget in the computer-filled laboratory from the episode "Gadget's Replacement" combined with old clips from said episode and several others, and he also contacts Penny and Brain and chats with Chief Quimby. However, the music in the new segments is not as good as the music from the actual series, but at least it's passable.

The three episodes include one from the first season and two from the infamous low-budget second season. They cut the safety tips for some strange reason, though. I would've liked to see those as well. The first-season episode included is "Prince of the Gypsies," and while it's rather decent, there were plenty of other episodes to choose from ("Eye of the Dragon" and "The Curse of the Pharaoh" particularly come to mind). The second season episodes include "The Capeman Cometh" and "Gadget's Gadgets," both of which feature the dreaded Corporal Capeman (the IG equivalent to Poochie the Dog!) The second season wasn't as good as the first, especially with the out-of-place music and Corporal Capeman and Penny's different voice.

However, I recommend this if you are an Inspector Gadget fan and if you can tough Corporal Capeman :P

Señorella and the Glass Huarache (1964)

Great final short from the original Warner Bros. Animation

[9/10 · 27 December 2007]

I first saw this short on the new Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 5 DVD set. It was the last short from the original Warner Bros. Animation studio before closing in 1963 and having DePatie-Freleng take over the Looney Tunes series. Coincidentally, this short actually DOES resemble a DePatie-Freleng cartoon! For one thing, it uses the "modernized" abstract Looney Tunes opening and closing sequence with the bizarre theme music that was used on all LT shorts from 1965 onward. The logo was originally intended for stylized one-shot cartoons from the original studio, the first two being "Now Hear This" (done in a totally-abstract, artistic style by Chuck Jones) and "Bartholomew Versus the Wheel" (drawn in a James Thuber-style and directed by Robert McKimson). This cartoon is somewhat stylized, but in a manner so it resembles the mid-to-late 1960s Pink Panther cartoons. Then again, many of the Warners' staff that worked on this cartoon went to work for DePatie-Freleng afterward, so it makes sense. This Mexican twist on the old Cinderella story is also rather amusing. Bill Lava's Mexican music works here instead of those crappy Speedy vs. Daffy cartoons he would later go on to score at DePatie-Freleng. The backgrounds look very UPA-ish and the thick-line drawings are pleasing to look at. I don't think Cartoon Network aired this very often when they were showing Looney Tunes. They might've been worried that it was politically incorrect and all that junk. However, this is one latter-day Looney Tunes short I highly recommend!

Speedy Ghost to Town (1967)

The dark era begins...

[4/10 · 11 December 2007]

This was the first cartoon made by Warner Bros. Animation when they reopened in 1967. And unfortunately, like Sander Schwartz's stint at WB Animation president from 2002 to 2007, the studio has never been the same. They mostly hired new staff members and very few veterans, and had Walter Lantz/Hanna-Barbera -director Alex Lovy direct the cartoons. He seemed to take the limited animation influence with him in these cartoons. Daffy is drawn severely off-model and looks very weird, and Speedy doesn't look as good, though at least he isn't drawn as badly as he was in 1968. The writing sounds like a bunch of kids wrote this short, with a highly-predictable ending. And other animation motions seem to resemble Hanna-Barbera or Filmation or UPA, and it comes out looking just plain low-budget. They even had Daffy do the old "bongo feet" thing when running off, just like the H-B characters do, and they also had some of the Hanna-Barbera sound effects used in it, looped over and over and only using a portion of H-B's vast sound FX library (sort of like when the studio would make "What's New Scooby-Doo?" in 2002), and Bill Lava's music sounds cheesy as well. But as I say, don't judge a book by this cover, and not all of the WB cartoons from this period were like this (only the Speedy vs. Daffy shorts). Luckily, they went and created Cool Cat, and that livened things up a bit.

Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (2007 Video)

At last, Sander Schwartz's last Scooby-Doo movie

[7/10 · 13 September 2007]

This was actually a pretty interesting movie. This was the last movie Joseph Barbera worked on, and it is thankfully the last one Sander Schwartz worked on. He was the one that ruined Scooby-Doo in 2002, and again in 2006. However, I'm quite happy to say that I liked this one. The "Pirates Ahoy" one was pretty good, despite being merely to cash into the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trend. When I first heard of this, I figured it was going to be another Snow Ghost/Creature/Demon terrorizing a ski lodge or something similar. But instead it has this mystical Indian thing about the snow monster, which is pretty unusual for the franchise. Also, Shaggy is thankfully voiced by Casey Kasem in this one instead of that Scott Menville like on "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!" But Frank Welker probably needs to practice voicing Scooby; he still makes him sound like Brain, the "Inspector Gadget" dog he voiced (now we need Cree "Penny" Summer as Velma and we'd be all set!) One thing that made this rather interesting was that it focused more on Shaggy and Scooby-Doo than the rest of the gang! It could be because of the "Get a Clue" series, though the animation is not done in that crude Flash style but in the "What's New Scooby-Doo" style used for the 2004-present made-for-video movies. It was pretty funny seeing Shaggy as a DJ (Casey Kasem is well-known for being a DJ actually!) The sound effects factor, they only used the classic H-B sound effects for exaggerated comedy sequences with Scooby and Shaggy. This is ironic, because when Warner Bros. Animation made the Cool Cat and Merlin the Magic Mouse cartoons back in 1967 to 1969, they relied on using the Hanna-Barbera sound effects a lot, even the same ones over and over! There weren't any thunderstorms here, so Castle Thunder wasn't used, let alone other storm SFX. Fred was still acting rather clueless like in "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" (I thought he was going to blame Red Herring on being the monster!) and it was nice to see his ascot at one part. I also enjoyed Daphne's complaining about going on another mystery. This also might be the last movie to use a Hanna-Barbera logo at the end, which will be good because H-B wasn't involved in producing the movie; Warner Bros. Animation did all the work. It's just as odd as seeing an H-B logo at the end of a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon! Because I saw this on Cartoon Network, the credits were too small and I couldn't tell if there was a Joe Barbera dedication, but it did dedicate the movie to Iwao Takamoto (the guy that designed the Scooby gang). It would've been nice to see a little animated bumper dedicating the movie to Joe Barbera before the H-B and WB closing logos, like on "Zombie Island" (they had Scooby feed some cats that he fought with earlier and dedicated it to Don Messick). However, I recommend this, especially if you want to see something different than "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!"

Chimp & Zee (1968)

A very strange but cool cartoon!

[8/10 · 29 August 2007]

By the 1960s, Warner Bros. Animation was starting to go downhill, and many of their cartoons would never be the same. This was especially true in 1967, after being closed for four years, they re-opened, but with a mostly-new staff of people whom never originally worked for Termite Terrace. Since then, the cartoons have been a mixed bag. Some of them were really good (the Cool Cat cartoons) and some of them were pretty bad (the Daffy vs. Speedy cartoons). This one is a one-shot cartoon that was most likely made to introduce a new series (so the WB staff could try and make a new Bugs Bunny this way). And you know something? This cartoon isn't even recognizable as a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies short! It has simple, limited animation, so limited that if it weren't for the occasional classic WB sound effects, it would almost look like this were a Hanna-Barbera cartoon! Carl Stalling was also unavailable to score the cartoons during this period, so they had Bill Lava do them instead. His music is actually quite listenable in this short, and very catchy! Mel Blanc, as always, does an outstanding performance with his voice work in this short, even though the character he mostly voiced was the crazy hunter here. This is actually quite recommended if you want to see a WB short that isn't what you expect it to be, and it's even better than the crappy 2002-2007 WB cartoons Sander Schwartz produced for TV!

No Smoking (1951)

"And the little man wins a big cigar!"

[10/10 · 28 April 2007]

But Goofy isn't that little man.

Turns out, Goofy, whom is a chain-smoker, has tried to quit but now wants to smoke again. He is doing anything for a cigar, cigarette, pipe, etc. with hilarious results.

This cartoon is probably banned from TV by now, and it's too bad, because this Disney cartoon is extremely funny! It seems to try and show how bad smoking could be, but here they don't show how it blackens your lungs or gives you cancer. That would make it funnier! The real fun begins at Goofy's office, where Goofy (called "George" here) is smoking tons of cigarettes as he chugs on them like a train. He decides to quit after having irritated eyes and tickling throats, but everyone else in his office still smokes. One guy even does the old tradition of passing out cigars in honor of being a father, but does not give one to Goofy! Then comes the race to try and get any tobacco-related product for him to light up. Many funny things occur, including Goofy fighting with a hobo to get a cigarette lying on the street, and he even grabs what LOOKS like a cigar but is really a pen, and even grabs a white pipe that's really part of a carnival shooting gallery (with the white ducks and pipes).

Then comes the funny part where Goofy/George asks an old banker for something to smoke, asking for "a cig, a f*g, a pipe, nail, weed, rope or chaw or cigar..." and gets an exploding cigar, which he still enjoys.

I think the Disney animators really made this short in order to get Walt Disney himself to quit smoking! But to no avail, since Disney continued smoking and died of lung cancer in 1966. But overall, I recommend this 100%, although some of it might gross you out.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998 Video)

The Scooby-Doo movie that started it all...

[6/10 · 16 February 2007]

By the early 1990s, the Scooby-Doo franchise was starting to wear thin. They were making "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo," which was absolutely brilliant! It made good jokes poking at the old formula, but people were beginning to grow tired of the old-school, outdated techniques that Hanna-Barbera was doing (limited animation, cheesy writing and music, their trademark Hanna-Barbera sound effects). So in 1994, with the success of the "Animaniacs" animated TV series, Hanna-Barbera decided to try and make an animated TV movie done in the same style as an old Warner Bros. cartoon, by upgrading to full animation, fully-orchestrated "Carl Stalling"-like music scores, doing the same comedy and gags that "Animaniacs" employed, and using all-new sound effects to make the cartoon blend in with the 1990s, in their TV movie "Arabian Nights." They decided to have Scooby-Doo and Shaggy appear in it, too. Unfortunately, that film was a disaster, and marked the end of an era for Hanna-Barhera. So, flash forward to 1998. Hanna-Barbera decided to breathe new life into the Scooby-Doo franchise, updating it in a better way than "Arabian Nights" tried to do. The actual production of the movie was outsourced over to Warner Bros. Animation, the studio most famous for creating Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of the Looney Tunes. But you won't find Chuck Jones's or Friz Freleng's or Bob Clampett's work here. WB made a more professional, dark, and more realistic Scooby-Doo animated feature! Since Shaggy was depicted eating meat, Casey Kasem (who is a vegetarian) refused to voice Shaggy, and will only voice him if Shaggy is a vegetarian, too. So Billy West does Shaggy's voice. I must admit, he does a pretty good Shaggy! Billy West is a great modern-day voice actor, supplying the voices for Fry, Stimpy the Cat, the Cheerios Honeybee and many other 'toons out there. But Don Messick, the original voice of Scooby-Doo, died before the film was put in production. It's really sad, cause Don did the best Scooby voice ever. So Scott Innes was hired to voice Scooby. I'm sorry to say it, but Scott can't do a really good Scooby-Doo. He makes him sound like Roger Rabbit. It doesn't match the quality that Don Messick's Scooby-Doo voice had. Velma is now voiced by veteran actress B.J. Ward, and does a good job at it, too. Velma went through many actress changes over the years, but Nicole Jaffe will always be the best Velma. Daphne's new voice makes her sound too perky. Frank Welker, however, returned to voice Fred, and he can still do the voice well. Here, Fred is actually very funny! I love it when he makes jokes on how they used to solve mysteries. "It's probably a hologram of a man in a pirate suit." "It's probably the gardener in disguise!" "That's just a mask"! Little does he know that the monsters are REAL! The commercials advertised it as, "THIS time, the monsters are real!" But they had real monsters on the show, before, back in the 1980s. Not just bad ones in "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo," but some GOOD monsters as well, like in "Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School." Here, the zombies are the good guys, but the werecats are not. Another thing here is the animation. Don't expect the second-rate animation you see on Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Warner Bros. Animation is doing it now, and they give it a more realistic, full-animated look that will be seen in all other Scooby-Doo movies WB produced after this. Fred and Daphne now got a wardrobe change, too. But it's still better than the clothes they wear on "What's New, Scooby-Doo." The music is no longer cartoon-style music. Here, it sounds more professionally-scored, sort of like a modern-day Disney film. But there is a downside to Termite Terrace producing the Scooby-Doo movies. They began phasing out the classic Hanna-Barbera sound effects that enhanced the older Scooby-Doo cartoons. Newer, digitally-recorded sound effects are now heard here, and the H-B SFX are now only used for sequences featuring Scooby and Shaggy in them. This also unfortunately carried out to "What's New, Scooby-Doo." The Mystery Machine was also changed, here. It is now a standard minivan with the classic colors added. In 2002, they brought back the old Mystery Machine, but with GPS equipment and computers and more modern junk. Anyways, this is the very first Scooby-Doo animated movie that Warner Bros. Animation produced, and they have taken over production on the Scooby franchise ever since. But this is a pretty good movie, actually. It's too bad most of the others were a bunch of crap, with a few exceptions (see my other comments for details). I recommend this, but only for those over eight years old.

Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006–2008)

Just Swhen I thought things couldn't get worse...

[3/10 · 3 February 2007]

I thought "What's New Scooby-Doo" was pretty bad (yes, I'm sorry to say I didn't like it), since Hanna-Barbera didn't produce it and it took a drastic step away from the old series. When I heard "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" was in the works, I thought it could be better. But when I saw a picture of how Scooby and Shaggy were going to appear, I knew this show was going to be bad, if not worse. I watched several episodes, and believe me, it is just yet another "Teen Titans" or "Loonatics Unleashed"-wannabe. No longer are Scooby and Shaggy going against people wearing masks of cool, creepy monsters that rob banks or have some other excuse. Now they are going after a typical super-villain whom wants to destroy the world. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo have become more brave, too. Also since Shaggy IS NOT going to be a vegetarian in this series, Casey Kasem (whom actually IS a vegetarian), the original voice of Shaggy, REFUSED to voice Shaggy. He would only voice Shaggy if he doesn't eat meat, and that was just a stupid corporate-done change to update the franchise, as if the Internet jokes weren't enough. So Scott Menville (whom previously voiced Red Herring on "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo") voices Shaggy here. Just as I thought, the voice is REALLY BAD! It makes Shaggy sound like a squeaky 10-year-old, and I must agree the voice definitely fits his new ugly look. However, Kasem DOES voice Shaggy's Uncle Albert, which is a sort of good thing. Scooby-Doo, on the other hand, does not ook that well. He seems to have been designed to look more like the CGI Scooby-Doo from the live-action movies. Also, Scooby's Frank Welker voice (need I mention Brain of "Inspector Gadget" again?) still hasn't improved. Robi, the robotic butler, is practically worse than Scrappy-Doo! He tries to be funny and does "comical" impressions and gives G.I. Joe-esquire safety tips ("Remember kids, don't stand under trees during a thunderstorm!"), but it just doesn't fit into a Scooby-Doo cartoon. The animation is atrocious, as you would expect. It is very flat and often lifeless, and the character designs seem to resemble the live-action Scooby-Doo movie versions but with dots for eyes and angular features. Again, the Hanna-Barbera sound effects are rarely used here. However, on a couple of episodes they use the "Castle thunder" thunderclaps during it, almost extensively! (Although they DO still use the newly-recorded thunder sound effects, too.) Scooby-Doo hasn't used the "Castle thunder" sound effects that much since 1991. But my question is, why use "Castle thunder" on "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue," while NOT use it on the direct-to-video movies or even on "What's New Scooby-Doo!" (Two episodes of WNSD used it, and it wasn't enough, unfortunately, and the sound was presented in terrible audio quality.) If WNSD and the DTV movies used it, then they might be better than this crappy cartoon. The day this show premiered, I watched the first episode, and it was SO bad I turned it off after only five minutes! To get my mind off of this poor show, I rented "Scooby-Doo, Pirates Ahoy!" which came out around the same time. And you know what? The "Pirates Ahoy" movie was actually BETTER than "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" (and even somewhat better than "What's New, Scooby-Doo!") And it looks like the new designs that the characters have isn't permanent to the franchise. The direct-to-video movies coming out while this show is being made use the regular character designs, thankfully. But, whether you loved or hated "What's New Scooby-Doo," I don't recommend it. But if you HATE the old series, you might like it for a change. Overall, this and "What's New Scooby-Doo" were the two worst incarnations of the Scooby-Doo franchise, until the new "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated" show began to come around...

A Muppet Family Christmas (1987 TV Movie)

A great Christmas special

[10/10 · 18 December 2006]

In my opinion, this ties with "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" for being the best Muppet Christmas special out there. I have a copy tapes off of Nickelodeon, so it's ALMOST uncut, but it's better than the DVD print out now.

You get to see many classic Muppets from the Muppet Show, with their original performers (Jim Henson, Richard Hunt, Frank Oz, and others). The show is also chock full of classic Sesame Street characters, too! Elmo is here, but thankfully, he has no lines. A bunch of rare, forgotten Sesame characters are here, too, including Simon Soundman (a guy who can make sound effects), Sherlock Hemlock (a Sherlock Holmes-wannabe), Forgetful Jones (a cowboy with bad memory), and even Guy Smiley! (OK, so he's not that forgotten, but he was retired when Jim Henson died.) :( But this is still a great way to see many old Muppets (just as "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street" is a great way to see Mr. Hooper).

Also, the live-action Muppet Babies are SO CUTE! Their voices are the same as on the "I'm Gonna Always Love You" song in "The Muppets Take Manhattan," but I prefer the cartoon voices for them better, even though the cartoon makes Gonzo sound like a girl. :P I also think that the REAL star of this special is Jerry Nelson, a talented veteran Muppet performer whom has worked with the Henson company since 1970. He gets to do many of his Muppet Show characters, including Robin the Frog, Emily Bear, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Camilla the Chicken, and Floyd Pepper. But he seems to be more well-known for his Sesame Street work, for this special also features Herry Monster, Count Von Count, Biff the Construction Worker, Fred the Wonder Horse, Simon Soundman, Sherlock Hemlock, and a few others. He also performed Gobo Fraggle on "Fraggle Rock." He seems to be a man of many voices, and he has also done announcers on those shows, too.

Anyways, I recommend it to all you Muppet and Sesame Street fans, but make sure you don't get the DVD or VHS version!

Bah Humduck!: A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006 Video)

OK, but Sander Schwartz has got to go!

[6/10 · 2 December 2006]

I rented this movie today. I thought it was OK, but the main problem was the company that produced it. Warner Bros. Animation hasn't been the same since 2002, when Sander Schwartz took over and ruined everything. The company mostly focused on cartoons featuring the DC superheroes ("Justice League Unlimited," "Teen Titans," "The Batman"), crude Flash-style cartoons that try to bring in humor ("Mucha Lucha," "Xiaolin Showdown"), and some other action shows. They also tried taking over production on Scooby-Doo, and totally killed the magic of the show with changing the voices and sound effects and animation style ("What's New, Scooby-Doo?," "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue," "Aloha Scooby-Doo"), and also completely changed Tom and Jerry (with "Tom and Jerry Tales," which looks even worse than the Gene Deitch and Chuck Jones T&J cartoons!). Despite turning out all this mediocre product, the studio tried a couple of times to produce Looney Tunes cartoons in the old spirit, with poor-quality shorts like "Museum Scream," "Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas," etc., and ultimately, "Looney Tunes: Back in Action." But when the latter flopped at box-office (hey, it was a bad idea, "Finding Nemo" was poisoning the other animated flicks of that year!), the future of Looney Tunes was at stake. Termite Terrace churned out "Baby Looney Tunes," "Duck Dodgers" and "Loonatics Unleashed," which are NOWHERE near the quality of the classics, even nowhere near the quality of the cheap late 1960s Warner-Seven Arts cartoons! This current addition to the Looney Tunes filmography, "Bah Humduck!," is the latest attempt by Warner Bros. Animation to do a Looney Tunes cartoon. The current staff at the animation department had no or barely enough experience with the classic (but near-obscure) Warner Bros. cartoon characters. Gossamer and Marvin the Martian and Hubie and Bertie and a few others are poorly drawn here, and the music is NO MATCH for Carl Stalling (or even Milt Franklyn.) Heck, even Bill Lava could do better music than that. If they wanted Carl Stalling-style, they could've hired Steven Bernstein, music composer for "Animaniacs" and "Pinky and the Brain," as well as the 1994 Animaniacs-esquire Hanna-Barbera special, "Arabian Nights." Also, Wile E. Coyote is always treated like that he is always silent or deaf or doesn't know how to talk, and that he can only use signs. I know Wile E. Coyote. He talked a couple of times. And you know what? I actually LIKED his voice! Mel Blanc gave him a great British-sounding voice that matched really well with him. But alas, Mel Blanc has gone, but there are many others out there. They could've hired Kevin Michael Richardson, whom voices Tech E. Coyote (who, unfortunately, sounds NOTHING like Wile E. Coyote!) Also, Billy West does a good Elmer, but a bad Bugs Bunny! I LOVE Billy West's Fry from "Futurama," as well as his Stimpy (but his Ren wasn't the best Ren voice though). Speedy Gonzales's voice is also really bad, too. He is designed in the same style as you see on most merchandising. The best Speedy Gonzales design out there was the 1955-1967 Speedy.

But anyways, it shows that the Looney Tunes are still struggling to make it into today's culture. If they do, and the quality improves or Sander Schwartz leaves the studio, it could lead into a Looney Tunes renaissance!

Last Clear Chance (1959)

Now why didn't Operation Lifesaver ever pick this up?

[9/10 · 11 October 2006]

For those who don't know, Operation Lifesaver is that company that is really into preventing train-car accidents. You might see their logo on some train locomotives. But Operation Lifesaver's from the early 70s, and this film was the 50s! This has a strong message about railroad crossing safety. They didn't have the striped gates back then; all they had were lights, bells, and occasional wig-wag signals.

The acting is kind of bad, and so is the overuse of stock footage.

However, you get to see a lot of neat classic Union Pacific trains (they're all diesel locomotives, since steam engines were obsolete back then and the electric locomotives didn't get popular until recently). I must admit, the train sound effects sound REALLY old. They use those old deep foghorn-like train horns. Those type of whistles got out of date in the mid-50s, and were replaced with the train horns you hear today (even if you live slightly far from the tracks, you can still sometimes hear train horns during the winter when all the leaves are down). They could've just recorded newer train sounds and used them there, so the trains don't sound so dated.

The classic cars and trucks used in this movie look really classy, too. You don't see many of THOSE driving around nowadays, do you? I also like the old stock music used here, too. It gives the movie a "sitcom" feel.

But we don't get to see the actual sequence of the train striking the car! We just see the train approaching, fade to black, and then silence. Then we see the wrecked car. They could've just added a big, grinding crashing sound during the silence, with metal crunching, glass breaking, the usual stuff heard when a train destroys a car. At least THAT would be more realistic.

But, I still love this cheesy, classic movie.

Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006 Video)

Better than I thought it would be

[6/10 · 3 October 2006]

I can honestly admit that I don't like "What's New Scooby-Doo" at all, as well as the direct-to-video Scooby movies from 2004 to the present. The last two direct-to-video Scooby movies were not that good. They mostly focused more on Fred, Daphne and Velma, rather than Scooby-Doo himself(who is actually my favorite character!). However, this movie is a slight improvement over the last two. It's still basically an extended-length episode of "What's New Scooby-Doo," but not much like "Aloha Scooby-Doo!" or "Scooby-Doo in Where's My Mummy." In this installment, Scooby-Doo is given more attention and screen time than the last two in the series! He also has plenty of dialogue, too. When I noticed this as I was watching, I couldn't believe it! The only flaw is, as usual, Frank Welker's Scooby-Doo voice (you know, like Brain from "Inspector Gadget!") I sure hope this isn't Casey Kasem's last time he does Shaggy's voice, what with Scott Menville (aka Robin from "Teen Titans," Larry and Steve from "Rugrats," etc.) starting to do a horrible Shaggy impersonation. However, it's not like Daphne, who sounds a bit like Vicky from "The Fairly Oddparents," and Mindy Cohn providing Velma's newer, slightly dark-sounding voice. However, I thought Fred's parents were pretty goofy (I loved the running gag with their camera flash temporarily blinding people!), and there was that crazy tour guide who reminded me of Ms. Frizzle from "The Magic School Bus." However, they STILL didn't use the old "Castle Thunder" sound effects, like the last three movies! I mean, they used it on a couple of episodes of "What's New Scooby-Doo" and on "Loonatics Unleashed," and since pirate movies tend to have thunderstorms in them, this would've been perfect for it! But I also enjoyed seeing references to classic Scooby villains (not Redbeard, thankfully, but Captain Cutler, the Ghost Clown and a werewolf from an older episode). Also, I am very grateful that they didn't use the gawd-awful new designs from "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue." That would've sucked! But I am still find it weird they keep using the old 70s Hanna-Barbera logo at the end of the movies. I will say it again: HANNA-BARBERA DID NOT PRODUCE THIS MOVIE! It was all TERMITE TERRACE! Nonetheless, if you liked "Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase" or are just a fan of the new series, you will like this then.

Scooby-Doo in Where's My Mummy? (2005 Video)

Average made-for-video Scooby-Doo outing but with a new kind of ending

[5/10 · 13 April 2006]

This might have a spoiler at the end.

I saw this film on TV, and for the first part I wasn't that impressed. For one thing, I was recovering from that horrible "Aloha Scooby-Doo," and another was that I wasn't a fan of "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" to begin with (in my opinion, it was nothing like a classic Scooby-Doo series, it was basically "Rocko's Modern Life" with the Scooby gang!) It started out like a basic 70-minute "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" episode, but taking place in Egypt, and besides, the Scooby-Doo gang had already come across mummies before, so this was sort of a remake of "Scooby-Doo and a Mummy Too" from 1969 and "Mummy Scares Best" from 2003. And this film only focused on Scooby-Doo (who is my favorite character in the franchise) for only half the film, other times it was just Fred and Daphne, or Scooby and Shaggy would just be in the background. The "Ascoobis" subplot was mildly amusing, even though Scooby still isn't saying much (probably as a tribute to the late Don Messick's great Scooby-Doo voice). As for the sound effects, they only use the classic Hanna-Barbera sound effects on a minor basis, mainly for exaggerated comedy scenes involving Scooby and Shaggy. WB has been doing this since 1998, and it unfortunately also carried over to "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" as well. But the ending, however, made up for the mediocre plot and sub-average animation: they found out that VELMA was the ghost! That was a nice surprise, and was a very nice exception to a now-tiring formula. I recommend this if you want to see a Scooby-Doo cartoon that does a major exception to the usual formulaic plots

Sugar and Spies (1966)

My favorite post-64 Road-Runner cartoon!

[10/10 · 23 March 2006]

Now, my favorite Road-Runner cartoon of all-time is "Adventures of the Road-Runner" and I also like a good amount of 1952-1964 entries in the series. However, the 1965-1966 Road-Runner cartoons (which were actually made at another studio rather than Warner Bros.) are sometimes lame, and occasionally good. This one is the best. It is a pretty funny parody of those old 60s spy movies and TV shows, down to the music (which is done by Walter Greene, rather than Carl Stalling, Milt Franklyn or even Bill Lava)! Here, Wile E. Coyote finds a spy kit, and then, wearing an old-fashioned spy costume (a trenchcoat and hat) tries to get the Road-Runner with sleeping gas, a timer bomb, and even an antique car rigged with James Bond-style equipment! Unlike the other ones I like, which were made at Warner Bros. Animation, this one was produced at DePatie-Freleng (the studio that did the "Pink Panther"), the company that animated Looney Tunes from 1964-1967 (and in 1981-1984, providing new animation for those Looney Tunes compilation films), and it uses the stylized but bizarre black-background WB titles with the swirling colored lines at the intro. Nonetheless, I love it and wholeheartedly recommend it to those who love cartoons that parody spy movies!

Skyscraper Caper (1968)

One of the better Daffy/Speedy cartoons

[7/10 · 23 March 2006]

This might have a spoiler in it, but I am not sure. Now, I am a HUGE Looney Tunes fan, and I enjoy most of the cartoons, but I found the Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales team-up a rather odd choice. However, this is one of the better entries from 1968. Rather than acting completely bitter and trying to get Speedy, Daffy relies on the fastest mouse in Mexico to help with his sleepwalking problem. Unfortunately, Speedy looks quite ugly at some points, and Daffy isn't always drawn on-model. The music, which is by Bill Lava, doesn't really sound like Looney Tunes music (it's more like Hanna-Barbera music) and the animation gets a bit choppy at times, but this is actually a bit enjoyable! However, this cartoon contains one of the many variants of the classic skyscraper-walking-and-avoiding-danger element, but it isn't used much here. Plus, during his big fall, Daffy breaks a clock tower, bounces on a flagpole, hangs on a window bar, etc, until Speedy rescues him. Plus, not only do we get the classic Warner Bros. sound effects, we also have plenty of Hanna-Barbera sounds added, too! ("Looney Tunes Back in Action" used a cross of WB and H-B sound FX, too.) Overall, an interesting film and you should see how different this Speedy/Daffy cartoon is!

Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988 TV Movie)

The last animated Scooby film to "star" Scrappy!

[9/10 · 8 February 2006]

Following up "Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School," the Hanna-Barbera studio churns out another made-for-TV Scooby-Doo movie for their "Hanna-Barbera Superstar" series, "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf!" This looks different from the two previous films, but that might be because they used a digital coloring system and some cheap computer graphics here. This film seems like a cross of "Scooby-Doo," "Fangface," "Wacky Races," "The Groovy Goolies" and "Drac Pack." It is a pretty funny spoof of those old werewolf films. However, Shaggy doesn't really look much like a real werewolf (the one that "retired" at the beginning of this film (as well as Scooby's wolf mask) looks more like the Wolfman from "Van Heisling"). Plus, in this film, Scrappy-Doo is a bit useful, and not as annoying as he is in his earlier appearances! However, we could have done without Shaggy's cheesy girlfriend and have Fred, Daphne and Velma with them. The animation is sometimes a bit corny, and the various monsters in it (Dracula, Frankenstein, Crunch and Brunch, the mummy and skeleton and slime monsters) might remind you of the cast of "The Groovy Goolies!" However, I LOVED some of the jokes in it, most of them coming from Dracula himself. This is actually quite enjoyable and much better than the newer Scooby cartoons!