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The continued popularity of Scooby-Doo
As an unabashed Hanna-Barbera fanboy, I find the continued popularity of the Scooby-Doo franchise kind of baffling. What draws me to H-B is the stylish look the cartoons had early in the studio's existence (the animation is quite limited, yes, but the character designs and backgrounds are great) and, to a certain degree, the writing. Before it got seriously hokey, it wasn't high art, but it was funnier (not always that funny, but still) and more agreeable in spirit. (They were able to snag the Warner Bros. writer Michael Maltese, who did work his magic on The Quick Draw McGraw Show, at least)
The earlier incarnations of Scooby betray everything I like about H-B, and I always found them dull. I'm pretty sure my favorite incarnation of the series is A Pup Named Scooby-Doo - it at least has some energy to it. (I heard good things about Mystery Incorporated, but haven't watched it yet)
Comments
What I always loved about the newer Scooby incarnations is that they always always made sure to have multiple suspects so that you didn't immediately know that the villain was the guy that was introduced in the beginning and then never heard from again until the end.
I do kind of resent how Scooby's so vastly overshadowed H-B's other franchises - Warner Bros. owns them now, and they have a shit track record with animated properties in recent years. Scooby's one of the few their execs seem to get, so of course he gets a lot of focus over there.
Pretty sure like, almost nobody cares if a show "betrays" anything regarding the studio, since ya know, it's a separate thing from the rest off their output.
I always liked the original Scooby Doo, and A Pup Named and 13 Ghosts of. I even liked the little of What's New? I saw. I didn't like Mystery Incorporated though since it obsessed over relationship drama and tried to have an overall plot.
As for other Hanna Barbera things, I also liked them I think but I don't really remember since I was like five when I last saw them.
Regardless of that they sure made sure we don't like the new one though:
It still baffles me that Scooby makes up most of the H-B legacy these days outside of animation fandom for that reason, though.
Is there an "H-B legacy outside of animation fandom"? I've never come across anyone saying they're Hannah-Barbera fans, or even discussing the idea of Hannah-Barbera fandom. Admittedly that might just be my experience, but still, what little discussion I've seen of Scooby-Doo media is in the context of Scoody-Doo, not Hannah-Barbera properties in general.
I am a Hanna-Barbera fan!
I guess there isn't really a "legacy" outside of animation fandom and I'm being silly.