Ranking the New Scooby Doo Movies' settings

[matt]

This is not a ranking of how much I like an episode (though admittedly, that can't be taken out completely from the ranking because settings factor into that), but is ranked on how much I like the setting of each episode, and could also deal with the utilization of the setting. With all of that said, let's get into it

24. Mystery in Persia: Didn't feel like it gave me a good enough grasp of the palace setting and could've been utilized better

23. Caped Crusader Caper: Possibly the least distinct setting in the series. Good episode, but the setting is mostly just in the woods and a cave

22. The Spirit Spooked Sports Show: Mostly just a typical stadium setting, though still an interesting one

21. Ghostly Creep From the Deep: I like the lodge and the pirates ship, but again, there is just better in this series.

20. The Spooky Fog- The graveyard setting is cool, as is the jail setting, but the caves are pretty meh. Gets bonus points for the incorporation of the fog into the setting

19. Weird Winds of Winona- Pretty much the exact same as the Spooky Fog, just done a little bit better in my books

18. Ghost of the Red Baron- Quite a cool setting here. The cornfields, and the rural spooky airport make for a cool setting as well as a mill

17. The Haunted Candy Factory- Pretty cool one here as well

16. Ghastly Ghost Town- Not my favorite theme park setting here, but a unique one

15. Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner- Fantastic haunted mansion setting, would be higher if not for other similar settings also ahead of this one

14. A Good Medium is Rare- The mansion is cool, but the star of the show imo is the Magic Mansion which is a setting I've always loved

13. The Haunted Carnival- This one gets major bonus points for managing to make a liminal and creepy setting in broad daylight

12. Mystery of Haunted Island- Love the haunted mansion and the ship settings, but there are top ten entires which do better at both for me

11. Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair- Between the Haunted House attraction, the rotating house, and the toy store room, this one has some really cool settings, they just aren't necessarily the most fleshed out which is why this one misses the top ten

10. Wednesday is Missing- Love the Addams Family house

9. The Exterminator- Truly an excellent haunted mansion setting

8. Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall- One of my favorite castle settings and one of my favorite cave settings in one episode

7. Haunted Showboat- Love the showboat setting

6. Phantom of the Country Music Hall- I know I like this setting more than most, but it just really works for me as a stage setting

5. The Frickert Fracas- Imo, the best farm setting of the show
 
4. Ghost of Bigfoot- Similarly, this is the best ski resort setting of the show, especially with the secret passages

3. The Loch Ness Mess- This one has a nice double setting with the mansion and the lake setting

2. The Secret of Shark Island: A premier setting imo. My favorite hotel setting in the franchise

1. Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde: This one wins out of sheer quantity. There are so many different settings incorporated into the episode. Not to mention, I like the movie lot setting anyway

[Doo]

24. Mystery in Persia - as Matt said, the setting wasn't well utilized. It felt more like a Jeannie episode than a Scooby-Doo one.

23. Phantom of the Country Music Hall - that person (I think their name was Scooblius) on my blog made an excellent point about how the episode is one of the few that keeps the guest star within their element, and I don't think it works well.

22. The Haunted Showboat - the showboat setting was okay. Not my favorite.

21. The Caped Crusader Caper - I hate to put this so low, but I don't think the woods setting or the cave setting was very unique compared to some of the other episodes here.

20. Weird Winds of Winona - I liked the quaintness of Winona, but the caves were kinda boring.

19. Ghastly Ghost Town - fun little theme park setting even if it isn't my favorite.

18. Ghost of the Red Baron - I liked the cornfield/farm setting but there are better here.

17. The Haunted Candy Factory - very unique setting! There are better, though.

16. A Good Medium Is Rare - I like the mansion, but like Matt said I wish we would have gotten more time in the Magic Mansion!

15. The Spooky Fog - I enjoyed all the settings here! Wish we would have gotten more time in the graveyard/jailhouse and less time in the cave.

14. Ghostly Creep from the Deep - I liked the swamp setting and the lodge quite a bit!

13. The Frickert Fracas - awesome farm setting. The best farm setting of the show IMO.

12. The Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall - very nice castle setting. Best cave of the series as well IMO.

11. The Spirit Spooked Sports Show - amazing utilization of the school as the setting. The scenes on the field in the mist genuinely felt pretty creepy.

10. The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair - great variety of settings! The haunted house, car lot, Ms. Baker's home and the toy factory were all super cool.

9. Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hydes - now it's getting tough. I loved all the different movie sets. Another one that does a great job having a variety of settings, and does it slightly better than "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair."

8. The Haunted Carnival - This episode did an amazing job creating a creepy vibe in the carnival during the daytime.

7. Wednesday Is Missing - I love the Addams Family's home! Very spooky.

6. The Mystery of Haunted Island - perfect balance here between two amazing settings. I liked both the boat and the haunted house! Even the game scenes were decent.

5. The Ghost of Bigfoot - incredible ski resort and hotel setting. Love the chase between Bigfoot and the gang at night.

4. The Exterminator - super unique haunted house setting. All the different monsters coming out of the paintings made this as creepy as it was for me.

3. The Secret of Shark Island - this was very tough. Super creepy hotel setting.

2. The Loch Ness Mess - this felt like almost an impossible choice because it's between two haunted house settings I love. I really like the double setting here too.

1. Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner? - this one is one of the best haunted house settings of the franchise IMO. I especially enjoy the scenes upstairs in the gang's rooms and in the basement.

[matt]

Oct 2, 2022 19:49:12 GMT -5 Doo said:

23. Phantom of the Country Music Hall - that person (I think their name was Scooblius) on my blog made an excellent point about how the episode is one of the few that keeps the guest star within their element, and I don't think it works well.


1. Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner? - this one is one of the best haunted house settings of the franchise IMO. I especially enjoy the scenes upstairs in the gang's rooms and in the basement.

We already know each others thoughts on #23 as an episode itself, but I'm curious if you have any expanded thoughts on that in the discussion of settings. Especially because it is one of the few episodes in my mind where the guest star has very little impact on the setting because he is gone most of the episode with his main contributions to the setting being the singing through the vents which to me, feels like closer to like the Globetrotters in their element doing basketball tricks in their episodes

For number one, it had been a while since I watched it, so I watched it again last night after I saw how highly you ranked it, and I think if I were to do it again, I could rank it a few spots higher because it is an awesome haunted house

[Doo]

Oct 3, 2022 12:53:06 GMT -5 matt said:

Oct 2, 2022 19:49:12 GMT -5 Doo said:

23. Phantom of the Country Music Hall - that person (I think their name was Scooblius) on my blog made an excellent point about how the episode is one of the few that keeps the guest star within their element, and I don't think it works well.


1. Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner? - this one is one of the best haunted house settings of the franchise IMO. I especially enjoy the scenes upstairs in the gang's rooms and in the basement.

We already know each others thoughts on #23 as an episode itself, but I'm curious if you have any expanded thoughts on that in the discussion of settings. Especially because it is one of the few episodes in my mind where the guest star has very little impact on the setting because he is gone most of the episode with his main contributions to the setting being the singing through the vents which to me, feels like closer to like the Globetrotters in their element doing basketball tricks in their episodes

For number one, it had been a while since I watched it, so I watched it again last night after I saw how highly you ranked it, and I think if I were to do it again, I could rank it a few spots higher because it is an awesome haunted house

Sure! I just didn't feel the country music hall was very spooky tbh. I think it goes back to the villain presence thing. It didn't really feel like the villain had much presence, which in turn affected how I view the setting I guess. The basketball settings in the Harlem Globetrotters episodes didn't bother me too much since they weren't really a big part of most of the episodes. I don't think I would have liked it if they had a whole episode set on a basketball court, though.