Will they return to producing Scooby DTVs?

[vakanai]

And if so, at what capacity?

Since Zaslav took over they scrapped almost everything Scooby except the Velma show and the Krypto crossover - and I'm still convinced they wouldn't be releasing that if it hadn't already been leaked! Scooby Doo is one of the best and most reliable IPs WB owns, so unless Zazzy just has some personal vendetta going on I have to imagine they won't let the property go to waste. But...there's nothing to show any interest in starting up the DTV line again other than not shelving 'and Krypto too!' I worry we might not get another movie until two or three years from now. They axed Haunted Holidays, Haunted Highrise, Mystery Pups, and feels strongly like they were close to axing this one too except again I feel like the leak saved it. I feel like even when we do see Scooby again, it'll be with fewer and farther between appearances. Which is beyond bizarre to me considering how reliable successful these films and shows are. There's just the Adult Swim gross out humor take of Velma going for some reason, the one thing that honestly should have been axed instead of everything else. Just feels like the new head has no respect for the legacy or profits from Scooby. We were at a good place, getting 2 to 3 movies a year, quality of them imo had been picking up again after the rough patch with Return to ZI and 13th Ghost, we were getting a CG holiday special, there was a series coming for preschoolers like I'm on record having wished for (couple more years and my niece would be at the right age to share that with). And instead one guy came in and basically "Nope!"d it all away.

Are we going to see a return to them making these films? And if we're lucky enough for that, what's the odds of it not being some rare treat they release every other year or so?

[mattpricetime]

I'm more inclined to think they slowed the process back down. AT&T supercharged it, Discovery probably halted it and tried to figure what to them is a more financially fitting production/release schedule. I wouldn't expect a firm pattern to emerge for at least another year.

As we don't how many across all of Warner Bros Animation are still in production. How many were written off? How many that were written off are already paid back? How many things AT&T greenlit are still going to happen? Will all the series that are currently on their docket still be on it in a year? These are questions we simply don't know the answers to.

Personally though i hope for many many more Scooby films once the dust settles.

(edit: for those not aware what i mean but as of present WB's dtv animation slate has the Scooby ones, Tom and jerry ones, Looney tunes ones, DC ones, Mortal Kombat ones, Adult Swim ones. Plus the occasional ones off like the Living Dead one and the Babylon Five one. When you list them all out is that surprising budget cutter Zaslav said "hold the presses" to these people)

[Doo]

I agree that it will probably be another year or so before we hear anything about another Scooby DTV. This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I would honestly be okay with getting one movie a year (or even every two years) if it meant they didn't over-rely on crossovers so much. For the most part, I liked the crossovers, but with Guess Who and all the other movies being almost entirely crossovers, I was starting to get a bit burnt out on them.

[wileyk209]

Sept 9, 2023 8:55:10 GMT -5 Doo said:

I agree that it will probably be another year or so before we hear anything about another Scooby DTV. This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I would honestly be okay with getting one movie a year (or even every two years) if it meant they didn't over-rely on crossovers so much. For the most part, I liked the crossovers, but with Guess Who and all the other movies being almost entirely crossovers, I was starting to get a bit burnt out on them.

Yeah, they'd need a more unique kind of crossover. Given Warner Bros. Animation collaborated with Nickelodeon on "Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", I could see Warner teaming up with another company to cross over with a non-WB intellectual property. One thing I'd like to see them do is maybe WB Animation collaborating with WildBrain and do "Scooby-Doo Meets Inspector Gadget"; that would be a far more interesting idea for a Scooby-Doo crossover movie. Plus, with Frank Welker already on board as Scooby and Fred, he could reprise the roles of Dr. Claw, M.A.D. Cat and Brain!

Also, Warner Bros. Discovery is still going through some rough times, especially with that writers' strike, but at least they're getting revenue again thanks to their "Barbie" movie making over a billion dollars at the box-office.

[Ark]

I'm super confused about the direction of the franchise, but do keep in mind that Zaslav is trying to *sell licenses* of existent properties currently. WB has to pay creators, writers, animators, etc. for any new production even if they own the franchise. The Barbie film is a joint effort with Mattel, so WB doesn't have to front all the costs. I think this is why we're seeing a great deal of Scooby merch but very few new actual films. Also, the new Meets Scooby show didn't take off like they expected and Velma was a disaster. In terms of board games, we've gotten a CMON game, a HeroClix game, and a Munchkin game all very recently and all featuring Scrappy in some form. WB clearly knows that Scooby fans exist to such a large amount that three large but niche gaming companies have accepted licensing deals. This is very significant and shows that WB is really just trying to get a better feel for what their viewers want to watch into the future. Krypto may have been leaked on purpose to see how fans would take it and it seemed to be very well received and now it's getting a real release. Hopefully that will push things forward for what kind of films we want into the future. I believe it is important to support that release when it happens and hopefully WB already has ideas for what will be better received into the future. That live action show has been awful quiet in a non-disclosure sort of way, and who knows...?

[mattpricetime]

It would be interesting if they did license out properties to have alternate versions put out by other studios. But i'm not sure they'd full on do that.

However i do wonder as all these media companies continue to swallow each other up, the combined libraries of things they have zero use for is just going to keep going up. At what point does straight up selling off properties or spinning them off, become a way to get the company some quick cash? I feel like if a big company does that to a notable property (animated or otherwise) it will be a game changer.

[Ark]

Even just licensing out existing material saves the company a great deal of streaming and royalties costs (ie. Scooby on Fox's TubiTV). It certainly seems counterintuitive but it seems to be the case, at least while WB has dozens of billions of dollars of debt to catch up on. I'm not sure they'd ever give up full creative control, but more like how CW isn't a part of Warner anymore but they still do DC content (last I checked).

[mattpricetime]

The CW was a joint venture, so while WB had a lot of success of getting shows greenlit on the CW, it did require more hurdles than a network they completely owned. And let's not remiss the old WB vs Turner rivalry. Which isn't everyone else glad is no longer a thing.

It would be a very interesting experiment, but also doing so they could always force a branding on any such project to distinguish itself from actual WB produced content. At the same time though as all kinds of other businesses get bought out by each other. What other studios are there and what would they be wanting to license? Big companies have their own huge libraries of things they could do but don't do anything with. So you would think offers would come from outside the normal companies? Perhaps foreign animation studios would want a crack at some franchises?

All in all, an interesting subject. But i'll believe it more when i see it. I expect licenses more for other material rather than actual new animated series or movies are more likely.

[drtewksbury]

Who knows? But if they do, a feature length Bridgewater Triangle storyline would be a blast! From King Philip’s War until today — hit me with that dark New England Americana!