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Post by manbearpig on Feb 9, 2019 15:46:23 GMT -5
I didn't like this show. I know that it has dedicated fans and many people are very sentimental about it, but for me... it was painful to watch.
The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo series wasn't on my "must watch" list, as it seemed not very appealing to me - no Fred nor Velma, Scrappy Doo, the omnipresent supernatural... Nevertheless, I decided to finally watch it at the occasion of the release of The Curse of the 13th Ghost, to know the background of the movie. I tried to be neutral, but after a couple of episodes I couldn't. The show appeared to be campy, ridiculous, too infantile and the worst of all - not very Scooby Doo.
For me, the real Scooby Doo series is a very down to Earth thing, teaching children to be skeptical, to think for themselves, to rely on facts. It was also pretty much an introduction to crime and thriller fictions, I enjoy today. While watching this particular series I didn't feel like I was watching a Scooby Doo cartoon at all. Sure, it had most of earlier shows' characters, but it wasn't the same. It was fantastic, whimsical, magical... I don't feel Scooby Doo shows should be like this, that's also why I didn't enjoy The Samurai Sword and The Goblin King. Lots of people love 13 Ghosts for its darker atmosphere, but except for the opening sequence, I haven't found much more of it. I could even say that SDWAY and the SD Show were darker than this, despite having fake ghosts and monsters and the Gang hadn't such a serious mission as in the 13 Ghosts. The earlier shows' episodes had more tension due to the Gang's detective work and creepier backgrounds. The 13 Ghosts episodes were a just strig of annoying shenanigans mixed with songs, magic and the real paranormal activity, which depite of some monsters' scary design, wasn't particularly thrilling.
Of course there are also positives - the opening is very atmospheric, there are some nice gags (mostly the rubber duck stuff), the pilot episode was quite good and the series featured the best incarnation of Scrappy Doo ever, but that's all.
Anyway, I'm not surprised that the thing had low ratings at the time and was canceled. Maybe if it was a part of my childhood, like SDWAY and TSDS, I would like it for sentimental reasons, like many of you and I respect your opinions. But without these nostalgic glasses, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo doesn't work for me.
What are your thoughts? Maybe some of you agree with me? If so, leave a comment.
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Post by jonathanmuddlemore on Feb 9, 2019 16:32:54 GMT -5
Lots of people love 13 Ghosts for its darker atmosphere, but except for the opening sequence, I haven't found much more of it. I could even say that SDWAY and the SD Show were darker than this, despite having fake ghosts and monsters and the Gang hadn't such a serious mission as in the 13 Ghosts. The earlier shows' episodes had more tension due to the Gang's detective work and creepier backgrounds. The 13 Ghosts episodes were a just strig of annoying shenanigans mixed with songs, magic and the real paranormal activity, which depite of some monsters' scary design, wasn't particularly thrilling. The reputation 13 Ghosts has for being "darker" is baffling. It's pretty much just a regular Tom Ruegger show with occult trappings. It's like calling Freakazoid "gritty". The dark reputation is 100% just based on people vaguely remembering the opening title sequence and blanking on everything else.
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Post by manbearpig on Feb 9, 2019 17:44:32 GMT -5
Lots of people love 13 Ghosts for its darker atmosphere, but except for the opening sequence, I haven't found much more of it. The dark reputation is 100% just based on people vaguely remembering the opening title sequence and blanking on everything else. I would also add Vincent Price's Vincent Van Ghoul appearing from time to time with poetry or deus ex machina solution and we have a proper "dark" show.
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Post by jonathanmuddlemore on Feb 9, 2019 17:58:33 GMT -5
The dark reputation is 100% just based on people vaguely remembering the opening title sequence and blanking on everything else. I would also add Vincent Price's Vincent Van Ghoul appearing from time to time with poetry or deus ex machina solution and we have a proper "dark" show. It's kind of funny how often the show tries to get Van Ghoul out of the plot because of him being too overpowered. He's been brainwashed, turned to stone, banished to another dimension, unable to teleport, etc. Him losing his powers in the movie is one of the only plot points that feels like the original show.
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Post by scoobyfan27 on Feb 13, 2019 14:41:39 GMT -5
I AGREE!!! I am so HAPPY that the monster ended up being fake! In my opinion that’s what makes Scooby-Doo UNIQUE there are already so many shows out there with real monsters. I love the fact that Scooby-Doo breaks that mold and is DIFFERENT it’s sets it apart from other shows. I was very worried initially but relieved to find out that the monster was a man in a mask. To me that’s how Scooby-Doo should be. And also the original series was NEVER dark other than the intro the 13 ghost series was very goofy and didn’t even feel like a Scooby show. I hope they continue down this route. I am very satisfied with the movie! 9/10!!! 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
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Post by freako86 on Jun 10, 2019 14:50:24 GMT -5
I AGREE!!! I am so HAPPY that the monster ended up being fake! In my opinion that’s what makes Scooby-Doo UNIQUE there are already so many shows out there with real monsters. I love the fact that Scooby-Doo breaks that mold and is DIFFERENT it’s sets it apart from other shows. I was very worried initially but relieved to find out that the monster was a man in a mask. To me that’s how Scooby-Doo should be. And also the original series was NEVER dark other than the intro the 13 ghost series was very goofy and didn’t even feel like a Scooby show. I hope they continue down this route. I am very satisfied with the movie! 9/10!!! 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 I am sorry but though I liked the original show I like the Monsters and Ghosts being real premise that came with 13 Ghosts and other Scooby Doo movies. It gets dull always having the same premise over and over for every Scooby Doo thing.
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Post by scoobnick on Jun 13, 2019 9:20:52 GMT -5
i agre with freako. having the ghost turn out to be fake, just defeats the purpose of having a sequel to the series where ghosts and monsters are real. this was an opportunity to finish the series imo on a high note. instead it makes a mess of things when it didnt need to.
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Post by ShaphneLegacy27 on Jun 13, 2019 15:03:38 GMT -5
WB should just admit 13 Ghosts is a separate continuity from their own main timeline rather than trying reboot it to fit in it with their current timeline. I mean, they already explained what happened in the intro making Fred and Velma's roles meaningless. They had the opportunity to sell it in a two pack with the original 13 Ghosts series so new viewers could get caught up. It wouldn't have hurt to explain that all Scooby-Doo productions post 1988 are set in a multi-verse.
I mean, fans of the transitional version have decades of content while those who are into the Scooby, Scrappy, Shaggy and Daphne format only have three years of content, so it wouldn't hurt to re-visit that era if done right.
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Post by jonathanmuddlemore on Jun 13, 2019 16:43:51 GMT -5
WB should just admit 13 Ghosts is a separate continuity from their own main timeline rather than trying reboot it to fit in it with their current timeline. I mean, they already explained what happened in the intro making Fred and Velma's roles meaningless. They had the opportunity to sell it in a two pack with the original 13 Ghosts series so new viewers could get caught up. It wouldn't have hurt to explain that all Scooby-Doo productions post 1988 are set in a multi-verse. Why would they do that? No one besides a handful of people who post about Scooby online cares. You have to remember that the majority of people who buy Scooby products are parents who buy them for their children. Neither of those demographics care about continuity at all.
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Post by futurerocker on Jun 13, 2019 21:27:46 GMT -5
I agree with Jonathan! It's a very small majority of people who care about the idea of timelines and multiverse in this franchise. No reason for WB going out of there way to make separate universes or release a timeline with every single piece of Scooby media.
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Post by russm on Jun 14, 2019 7:00:41 GMT -5
From the point of view of story telling internal consistency and continuity are important, even for small children. Many years ago #1 daughter loved watching the Telletubbies (much the the annoyance of her mother who had to sit through it) As #1 daughter grew up she got bored with the Telletubbies and moved onto a show called the Tweenies (mostly because they had a dog called Doodles) But then to the dismay of her mother #1 daughter moved back to the Telletubbies. Why? Because #1 daughter was then old enough to understand and follow the story. So even for a 1-2 year old story is important. While Scooby Doo isn't Ibsen or Nabokov children aren't idiots and will notice things like continuity errors, even if they don't care much about them. Their interest is entertainment in the here and now, is it good, if so then happy days. WB's business here is to entertain children (and therefore parents will buy their stuff to keep their little darlings entertained), directly entertaining adults is not their core business.
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Post by ShaphneLegacy27 on Jun 14, 2019 11:40:18 GMT -5
Yet, a kid of today isn't going to be familiar with 13 Ghosts unless a parent buys them the complete set or if they have the Boomerang app. WB still bothered making a loose sequel.
Also, I think it's fair enough to consider Hanna-Barbera products under the kids and family category just like Disney and Pixar which are often categorized under kids and family.
Some things are just too detailed to be a "just for kids" thing. Heck, go look at SpongeBob which sometimes has adult themes.
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Post by russm on Jun 15, 2019 5:52:04 GMT -5
Yet, a kid of today isn't going to be familiar with 13 Ghosts unless a parent buys them the complete set or if they have the Boomerang app. WB still bothered making a loose sequel... ...Some things are just too detailed to be a "just for kids" thing. Heck, go look at SpongeBob which sometimes has adult themes. But, from what little I saw of the film (before I got fed up with the Fred/Daphne jealousy thing and turned it off, but I digress) it wasn't essential to know anything about 13 Ghosts as it was all explained in the movie. Sure you can tick a few of the nostalgia boxes but prior knowledge of the original 13 Ghosts wasn't required for a kid to watch the film. It is a skill to write a work for both kids and adults at the same time. You can have stuff there for the kids but also things for the adults, and do it in a way that will not be noticed or be a double entendre that kids will get one way and adults get the other.
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Post by Doo on Aug 14, 2019 20:56:06 GMT -5
Lots of people love 13 Ghosts for its darker atmosphere, but except for the opening sequence, I haven't found much more of it. I could even say that SDWAY and the SD Show were darker than this, despite having fake ghosts and monsters and the Gang hadn't such a serious mission as in the 13 Ghosts. The earlier shows' episodes had more tension due to the Gang's detective work and creepier backgrounds. The 13 Ghosts episodes were a just strig of annoying shenanigans mixed with songs, magic and the real paranormal activity, which depite of some monsters' scary design, wasn't particularly thrilling. The reputation 13 Ghosts has for being "darker" is baffling. It's pretty much just a regular Tom Ruegger show with occult trappings. It's like calling Freakazoid "gritty". The dark reputation is 100% just based on people vaguely remembering the opening title sequence and blanking on everything else. In rewatching these recently, I don't think this show really knew what it wanted to be. There are some genuinely creepy monsters and scenes throughout this series, but then we also get all the sing-a-longs and zany jokes like Shaggy microwaving his popcorn at 8 million degrees. I think this series would have been a bit stronger if it focused on one element or the other (preferably horror in my opinion, but you could argue either way) rather than trying to cram both horror and zany comedy in. There's definitely the foundation laid for the makings of a horror series here, but it gets sort of pushed to the back in favor of the zany antics, which I think arguably made the show not live up to the potential it could have.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2019 17:51:46 GMT -5
I'm starting to appreciate WB having Velma be always right now...as irritating as it can be...she has a point. Though I thought surely she would have been above doing what she did to Vincent and the rest of Mystery Inc. Why didn't she just apologize for her skepticism bringing everybody down and explain to Vincent that they both have different opinions on it...I mean...sure Velma's always right, but she's never been rude about it outside of Mystery Incorporated. Why make her WNSD counterpart rude too? That's just unnecessary. I don't mind her being sarcastic, but there's a line between rude and sarcastic.
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