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Post by wileyk209 on Jul 26, 2011 23:18:18 GMT -5
A while back, my friends from the Golden Age Cartoons Matthew Hunter and Jon Cooke made up a clever list of ideas for future Looney Tunes revivals. Seeing as WB also varies with how they treat the Scooby gang, I thought maybe I'd come up with a similar list of rules for the Scooby-Doo franchise (at least for later Warner Bros. Animation productions). And with "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo" having come out, I added a few new rules and updated some existing ones. Here is my list of rules if anyone's interested, and anyone reading this is welcome to suggest more!
- Don't go crazy with the references/parodies of classic Scooby-Doo shows; two or three light takes on the formula per cartoon is enough. ("Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated" is a semi-exception as it references previous shows and not the formula.)
- Not every cartoon needs the old doors-in-the-hallway gag, a pop song playing during a chase sequence, or the "...if it weren't for you meddling kids!" line.
- There are more characters besides Shaggy, Scooby or Daphne whom you can center a story around.
- Don't try to make the characters "hip" or "edgy", and don't have them spout pop culture references that'll be dated in a week or touting modern technology as an attempt to look more "updated" than the older shows did.
- Come up with new ideas; don't just recycle everything Hanna-Barbera ever did in the 1970s and 1980s.
- Base the characters' designs and clothes on the classic cartoons, without redesigning them into a different style (ala "What's New Scooby-Doo", "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" or "Be Cool Scooby-Doo").
- Any extreme changes to the franchise should be avoided (like "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue").
- Scooby-Doo may not be that bright, but he's not worthless as a character.
- Scooby can do more than just eat, be scared, and just stand there.
- Pay attention to timing. Not every Scooby-Doo cartoon needs to rocket along like it's on fast-forward, or go incredibly slow with the plot details.
- Make it actually be like a cartoon, like the original shows were. Don't just make it a hyper-realistic imitation of live-action (ala "What's New Scooby-Doo" or "Scooby-Doo, Mystery Incorporated.")
- The music should at least be in tune with the classic Scooby-Doo series, instead of simply using a generic action/drama synthesizer score.
- Fred isn't supposed to be a scatterbrained idiot; same with Daphne.
- Don't use guest stars, or reality TV or movie parodies as a crutch for a plot, i.e. some of the "What's New Scooby-Doo" episodes, or the WWE and KISS crossover movies.
- Don't use 3-D shading. Full-blown CGI should also be avoided most of the time. (The Lego projects are an exception, as they are tying in to a popular franchise that can be interesting in animation.)
- At least do some of the animation process in-house and create some employment for the talented folks who live in this country. There are some former 1980s Hanna-Barbera staff members still alive and working that could contribute greatly. Don't just write a script and ship it off to Korea (such as DongWoo A&E Co. Ltd. or Digital eMation Inc.)
- Use the classic Hanna-Barbera sound effects library more frequently. They helped enhance the antics of the shows back in the 1970s and 1980s. The franchise doesn't have to be "realistic" with the sound effects (i.e. "What's New Scooby-Doo" and some of the direct-to-video movies from around 2007-2009). Even the classic "Castle Thunder" sounds doesn't need to be avoided just because it's 80 years old; it has that classic haunted house sound and feel to it. The old Warner Bros./Looney Tunes sound effects should also be avoided if possible; they just don't work with Hanna-Barbera characters.
- Feel free to lampoon the old Scooby-Doo formula, but don't overdo it, and try to keep it fresh and funny (i.e. "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo").
- Characters don't need to talk non-stop; they can do things, too.
- You can be dramatic and scary, but don't go over the top, and don't rely on innuendos and/or excessive violence to keep the show going (like "Scooby-Doo, Mystery Incorporated.") Scooby-Doo is meant for FAMILY audiences...
- And when writing for Scooby-Doo, remember that the villain isn't always someone the gang met before.
Major offenders of this list include "What's New, Scooby-Doo?", the 2004-2009 direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies, "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" and "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo" (i.e. they broke many or all of these rules.)
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Post by Doo on Jul 27, 2011 8:06:17 GMT -5
- Feel free to lamthingy the old Scooby-Doo formula Intersting rules, wileyk209. Just one question, what is a lamthingy  ? |
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Post by wileyk209 on Jul 27, 2011 9:07:30 GMT -5
- Feel free to lamthingy the old Scooby-Doo formula Intersting rules, wileyk209. Just one question, what is a lamthingy ? Gak! That was supposed to be "lampoon." IDK what happened here! |
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Post by ScoobyAddict on Jul 27, 2011 9:08:11 GMT -5
Nice list if rules, wileyk209.
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Post by scoobnick on Jul 27, 2011 9:45:45 GMT -5
its lam-*expletive censored*, or lampshade. I would go further. if you're going to have romance in the series , involve everyone. give scooby a girlfriend so he has someone to dote on, like Daphne does with Fred. of course given how possessive velma was with shaggy, i don;t think thier relationship would work out anyway(and it didn't). The girlfriend should not be a damsel in distress, like Scooby Dee was, and should bring her own dynamic. she should be, above all, loyal to scooby and the gang, willing to listen to Velma whine about how much of a loner she is, have an excellent taste in fashion (to endear herself to Daphne), willing to listen to Fred's bad puns, and is willing to stuff Scooby and Shaggy to bursting with food. She should be smarter than scooby but not a genius, able to make contributions to cases and move them along but not solve them by herself.in short, be able to fit in nicely with the other members of the gang. Of course if you have read some of my other comments on here , you know who I have in mind for this, as she fits all the criteria I've mentioned.
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Post by UltimateScoobyFan on Jul 27, 2011 10:03:05 GMT -5
its lam-thingy, or lampshade. I would go further. if you're going to have romance in the series , involve everyone. give scooby a girlfriend so he has someone to dote on, like Daphne does with Fred. of course given how possessive velma was with shaggy, i don;t think thier relationship would work out anyway(and it didn't). The girlfriend should not be a damsel in distress, like Scooby Dee was, and should bring her own dynamic. she should be, above all, loyal to scooby and the gang, willing to listen to Velma whine about how much of a loner she is, have an excellent taste in fashion (to endear herself to Daphne), willing to listen to Fred's bad puns, and is willing to stuff Scooby and Shaggy to bursting with food. She should be smarter than scooby but not a genius, able to make contributions to cases and move them along but not solve them by herself.in short, be able to fit in nicely with the other members of the gang. Of course if you have read some of my other comments on here , you know who I have in mind for this, as she fits all the criteria I've mentioned. See, I disagree. Scooby is a dog, he doesn`t need a gf  Plus, I`m a big one on not wanting new gang members. And quite frankly, if the gang dates outside of the gang sadly, their signifigant others are going to want to hangout with them. Thus, new gang members! o.0 |
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Post by scoobnick on Jul 27, 2011 10:52:49 GMT -5
I understand your opposition to it, but if you look at many other famous cartoons such as Yogi Bear, Porky Pig, woody Woodpecker and Bugs Bunny, they all were given girlfriends. Yogis was Cindy Porky's was petunia, Woody's was Winnie, and Bugs' was honey and more recently Lola. There has been more than one reference made to the fact that the mystery machine can hold six, meaning that there is a potential for an additional member.as i stated in my last post, creating a girl dog who fits into all the criteria i mentioned would not impact the gang much at all. if you have watched the other scooby series, the size of the gang has fluctated between series ranging from 5 to 3 ( Scooby Shaggy and Scrappy in the late 70s) to 4 Daphne Shaggy and the two Dogs in the 80s). Scrappy never worked with the full gang, at least in the tv series he was in, but did work with them if you take the first movie as canon, and it didn't work out. any new addition would have to be an adult and would have to be female to keep the number of guys and girls even.besides, this series already brought out the idea that velma and shaggy could have a relationship, and how many of us were expecting that beforehand? so why cant scooby have one? i know that older fans wll bring up scooby dee, but i already addressed that in my last post. as long as it is done well, like rest of the series has been, you'll hardly notice. the five of them, as shown by the ending of the first season, hasn't been enough to stop pericles. adding a sixth member who can help keep the group together and focused on finding the remaining pieces of the disk and going after pericles, and eventually confronting Mr E, would in my mind be a great addition. 6 is the largest number the gang will ever be, since that is how much the van can hold.
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Post by ScoobyAddict on Aug 1, 2011 7:39:27 GMT -5
I wouldn't be a big fan of a 6th member being added to the gang. I'm not really into the whole relationship thing with Shaggy and Velma. I could also do without the Daphne/Fred romance. With that said, they have done a really good job with the series. Velma was a bit crazy when they did the Shaggy/Velma romance, but I guess that's because she didn't really know how to act. Those episodes were hard to watch for me, but not impossible. No matter what way they go, I will watch the show. I may not be happy about it, but I'll watch it.
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Post by wileyk209 on Feb 14, 2017 23:40:04 GMT -5
I am revising the rules, with the new ones highlighted in bold, especially with "Be Cool Scooby-Doo" going on now. Check them out!
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Post by jcb on Nov 25, 2017 18:52:20 GMT -5
Rules? I'm sorry, but there are no rules, nor should there be any rules for any creative work, including Scooby Doo. But when you actually create and write a SD series you first have to deal with what WB wants the new series to be - in my case with BCSD, they wanted a lighter, funnier version in contrast to SDMI, which is fine, but. from there, everyone has different ideas what defines a SD series - what elements HAVE to be there in order for it BE SD. It's totally subjective, of course, and you're handed a list from whoever happens to be the execs and producers in charge ("Monsters shouldn't talk, just growl!" "Dialogue is death!"). So before you even begin trying to come up with your "take" on the show, you've been boxed in and handed restrictions around which you must try to work. What you're calling "rules" are simply an individual's (or a group of individuals') subjective opinions and there are, understandably, a LOT of them for a property as important and valuable as SD - everyone is scared of messing up whatever magical formula exists that has allowed it to remain a beloved franchise for so long without really analyzing or thinking about what that formula IS or if one ever really existed at all. In the end, creativity by committee just never works. Of course, once you've created your version of the series, you'll have your own internal "rules" for how YOUR show works, but that's different - that's just keeping the tone and characters consistent.
And then there are the fans. EVERYONE has a different opinion about SD and most people's favorite SD show or what they define as SD is whatever series they grew up watching. They also tend to not want change, even though SD has been 50 years of constant change. You will NEVER please everyone, there's no point in trying to guess what people will like, so all you can do is try and make a show you are proud to have your name on. A show that YOU like. Sometimes that's even difficult to do if you get pushback from the studio and changes are made beyond your control.
So, maybe that's it, there is ONE rule: work as hard as you can to make a SD show of which you can be proud. If you pander to what you imagine the audience wants and even followed every single one of the OP's rules, that's no guarantee you will make a SD show anyone likes. It just makes you a cowardly hack writer who is bringing nothing original or creative to the table.
SD needs fewer rules. It needs fresh ideas and original approaches. Otherwise, there's no point in making any new series or movies. In fact, I've heard many people say it's time to put SD down. I disagree. BCSD got very strong reactions, both negative AND positive. I can't tell you how many people have written to let me know that Fred or Daphne was their favorite character and how amazing that is since they were always so bland or underwritten before. SDMI added something new to the way one can approach SD. BCSD also added something new. Not every series is going to be to everyone's taste, but, with each addition, each new idea or approach, the whole Scoobyverse gets richer and more interesting. The discussions become more passionate and fun. The DNA of SD is elastic and the fun of it is to push and pull on what the world and characters can do and be - to explore the possibilities. I believe we've only seen the tip of the iceberg, but it will take a LOT of people, both inside and outside the industry, opening their minds and forgetting about their "rules" for more truly great SD work to be created.
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Post by russm on Nov 26, 2017 14:54:14 GMT -5
Rules? I'm sorry, but there are no rules... The first rule of Scooby Doo rules is you do not talk about Scooby Doo rules! This can all be traced back to ancestral Scooby Snack on which the rules were first inscribed. Designed by wizards and build by Vikings this snack was brought to Earth from Krypton by Kara Zor-L (aka Power Girl) and was used to fasten her cape until if fell foul of the JLA's notorious 'no snacks during meetings' rule. The rule also forced Mystery Inc to leave as aside from Shaggy and Scooby leaving to follow the path of the snack both Velma and Daphne were often caught smuggling in chocolates, the final straw being the 'cookie batterang' incident which caused Batgirl to become briefly captured by the Condiment King when he used milk as one of weapons when he tried to rob a dairy. After than this history of the the snack becomes a bit fuzzy, some say Superman has buried it deep within the Fortress of Solitude, others that none other than Zeus took the snack and formed it into the pommel of Sword of Athena when it was forged as a replacement for the God Killer. More reliable sources indicate the Daphne accidentally ate it during a 70*s themed fondue party held at the batcave on becoming being distracted while watching Velma and Supergirl's 'Yooo-hoo, it's Snu Snu' stand-up routine. |
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Post by jcb on Nov 26, 2017 15:19:53 GMT -5
Rules? I'm sorry, but there are no rules... The first rule of Scooby Doo rules is you do not talk about Scooby Doo rules! This can all be traced back to ancestral Scooby Snack on which the rules were first inscribed. Designed by wizards and build by Vikings this snack was brought to Earth from Krypton by Kara Zor-L (aka Power Girl) and was used to fasten her cape until if fell foul of the JLA's notorious 'no snacks during meetings' rule. The rule also forced Mystery Inc to leave as aside from Shaggy and Scooby leaving to follow the path of the snack both Velma and Daphne were often caught smuggling in chocolates, the final straw being the 'cookie batterang' incident which caused Batgirl to become briefly captured by the Condiment King when he used milk as one of weapons when he tried to rob a dairy. After than this history of the the snack becomes a bit fuzzy, some say Superman has buried it deep within the Fortress of Solitude, others that none other than Zeus took the snack and formed it into the pommel of Sword of Athena when it was forged as a replacement for the God Killer. More reliable sources indicate the Daphne accidentally ate it during a 70*s themed fondue party held at the batcave on becoming being distracted while watching Velma and Supergirl's 'Yooo-hoo, it's Snu Snu' stand-up routine. Exactly! This is the final word on "rules" and SD. Anything else is just screaming into the void (a favorite hobby of mine). |
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Post by rightinthetockles on Nov 30, 2017 16:22:44 GMT -5
Lots of these rules are too general, and don't define a clear line. Please make definite statements and then elaborate so everything is perfectly clear, I don't approve of your rules at this point.
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Post by russm on Nov 30, 2017 17:38:53 GMT -5
Lots of these rules are too general, and don't define a clear line. Please make definite statements and then elaborate so everything is perfectly clear, I don't approve of your rules at this point. Nothing wrong with general rules and principals, this isn't maths or engineering. People are tossing ideas into the ring, it's a fuzzy messy process which isn't amenable to the level of formal specification. Observations and trends may be better way of thinking about them. |
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Post by scoobnick on Dec 1, 2017 2:03:04 GMT -5
rules? where we;re going, there are no rules! any series has to have a certain freedom to grow and shall we say, spread its wings. sometimes the bird will fly, other times it will crash on its beak. no two interpretations of scooby are the same, nor should they be.
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