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Post by Jinkies on Apr 9, 2020 12:37:54 GMT -5
Honestly, for such a long-running franchise, Scooby-Doo has one of the smallest fandoms I've ever been a part of. Even if we were in a slump comparable to the 1980's and 1990's, there should still be a sizable fanbase online. Especially in 2020, where kids who grew up with What's New, Mystery Inc. or Be Cool should be well past the age of joining social media. I personally think Scooby is just one of those properties where everyone knows and loves it, but don't actively participate in discussions about it. I mean... Outside of the Scooby-Doo subreddit, these forum boards, and Scoobypedia, I don't really know any places for Scooby-Doo fans to congregate, and the places I do know about aren't exactly buzzing with activity. That being said, I do agree that Curse of the 13th Ghost and Return to Zombie Island hyped up a lot of people, and then instantly tarnished any goodwill they had when they released, and have certainly lowered people's expectations for SCOOB. I wasn't even excited for SCOOB to begin with, since it's less of a Scooby-Doo movie and more of a Hanna-Barbera: Infinity War movie. Not to mention the voice actor controversy. How do you take a cast that's been doing their roles for years (and in Welker's case, since the very beginning) and just recast them all? And I'm very salty that they didn't give Velma or Shaggy a decent redesign. Those two haven't changed their gaudy outfits since the 1980's. And even then Shaggy's was just a palette swap (Red-shirt Shaggy) and Velma gained a white undershirt (Pup Velma). But the total failure of the last two movies gives me absolutely no hope that the people behind the franchise know what they're doing. And then on the comics side, they went and cancelled Scooby Apocalypse because the dude at WB in charge of licensing the HB properties to DC didn't like the direction DC was taking said properties? And wanted them to return Scooby to its "classic format"? God, WB is going to kill Scooby-Doo by trying to force it into being the 1969-1979 version for the rest of time. I agree with this whole thing. Scooby I think is one of those things that everyone loves, but not many people take active part in. It makes me sad, but I do think it is one of those things.
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Post by Retro Kartoonz on Apr 10, 2020 15:16:16 GMT -5
I agree. There isn't a whole lot that we can do either. It's just something that is what it is, and it's very frustrating.
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Post by Dyland on May 24, 2020 23:53:28 GMT -5
Coming from someone who's been a part of several online communities that have wayned hard or even died away completely *cough* TheRaider.net's forum *cough* I think the Scooby fan communities are doing great rn. I mean sure, perhaps there's not been as much anticipation/excitement over the most recent series' and movie as in years past, but topics ebb and flow all the time. Even Scooby-Doo. I agree on the consensus that Scooby-Doo is something everyone loves, and just not many people talk on and on about like some other fandoms. *cough* Sherlock *cough, cough* MLP *cough* I, myself, don't really subscribe to the whole streaming phenomenon (can't; slow rural internet), and thus don't/can't watch Guess Who. (Which I actually think looks really rad) And, I'm not a fan of the whole MCU/Cinematic Universe thing either... So Scoob! isn't really appealing either, IMHO. I'm sure I'm probably fairly in the minority on those two above points, but hey, maybe with the recent influx in streaming services and coronavirus theater cancellations people just have too much to juggle. Wasn't it Steve Jobs that said something to the effect of "we're designing our devices to compete with your time" when Apple first rolled out the iPad? Plus, I think it's jumping the gun a bit too quickly to compare the past few months to just as recently as 2019. If it was, say, 5 years of fandom drought then I'd think you're onto something. But, a year? I think everybody, consciously or subconsciously, is just waiting around for Hanna Barbara to do something amazing again. As noted, Return to Zombie Island and Curse of the 13th Ghost were amazing ideas that spiked the nostalgia - only to disappoint. Scoob! and Guess Who, each in their own way, are a break from the 'direction' Scooby had been going; what with the Apocalypse comics, MI & Be Cool, and the direct-to-video films seemingly all taking the series somewhere it's never been before. (either to fan appraise or chagrin) Scoob! is an outright reboot, cleaning the slate (and controversially re-casting all the roles), and Guess Who is a blatant nostalgic throw-back. I think we need another What's New sorta show - something that pleases just about everybody, and while doing new things, doesn't break from the flow of the recent past too much. What said show/game/film should be, I don't know. But I think, as with a lot of fandoms as of late, the fanbase has just kinda been built up into differing audiences; fans of different incarnations/eras/versions. And, once you've done that, you've painted yourself into a corner where nobody will be happy. *cough* Disney Star Wars *cough* And then people just stop talking about it. Man, I really need to get my throat checked.
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Post by russm on May 25, 2020 9:34:58 GMT -5
Plus, I think it's jumping the gun a bit too quickly to compare the past few months to just as recently as 2019. If it was, say, 5 years of fandom drought then I'd think you're onto something. But, a year? The problem is it has been misstep after misstep, poor decision upon poor decision, a pattern. It's not just a year, these projects will have been in the works for years. Just one meh movie well then that's expected from a long-running series but it looks like a systemic problem within WB's handling of the franchise, from the cancellation of Scooby Apocalypse, to their meddelling in Be Cool to (for me) the totally unengaging and forgettable Guess Who to the WWE crossover films, to... No, this is more than a year of poor content, this is a longer-term problem. I think we need another What's New sorta show - something that pleases just about everybody, and while doing new things, doesn't break from the flow of the recent past too much. What said show/game/film should be, I don't know. But I think, as with a lot of fandoms as of late, the fanbase has just kinda been built up into differing audiences; fans of different incarnations/eras/versions. And, once you've done that, you've painted yourself into a corner where nobody will be happy. *cough* Disney Star Wars *cough* And then people just stop talking about it. I agree but we won't get it, not unless WB passes the franchise off to someone else or gives HB true creative freedom AND a fresh writing team. As always it will be up to fans and FanFiction to do the job that the rights holder can't/won't do.
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Post by jonathanmuddlemore on May 25, 2020 9:51:47 GMT -5
I agree but we won't get it, not unless WB passes the franchise off to someone else or gives HB true creative freedom AND a fresh writing team. As always it will be up to fans and FanFiction to do the job that the rights holder can't/won't do. The author of Daphne & Velma: The Vanishing Girl did exactly this. That book is a mature and unique take on both the franchise and the titular characters. But the fandom, by and large, ignored that book while continuing to bitch about Shaggy & Scooby being given too much focus.
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Post by russm on May 25, 2020 12:38:47 GMT -5
I agree but we won't get it, not unless WB passes the franchise off to someone else or gives HB true creative freedom AND a fresh writing team. As always it will be up to fans and FanFiction to do the job that the rights holder can't/won't do. The author of Daphne & Velma: The Vanishing Girl did exactly this. That book is a mature and unique take on both the franchise and the titular characters. But the fandom, by and large, ignored that book while continuing to bitch about Shaggy & Scooby being given too much focus. Was looking at getting them on Audible, but the sample from book one is very short and has some sort of music in the background. Has anyone listened to the Audiobook version?
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Post by jonathanmuddlemore on May 25, 2020 13:11:36 GMT -5
The author of Daphne & Velma: The Vanishing Girl did exactly this. That book is a mature and unique take on both the franchise and the titular characters. But the fandom, by and large, ignored that book while continuing to bitch about Shaggy & Scooby being given too much focus. Was looking at getting them on Audible, but the sample from book one is very short and has some sort of music in the background. Has anyone listened to the Audiobook version? I have. I personally enjoyed it but I have a friend who thought the setup was confusing. They have two actress narrate, one for Daphne and one for Velma. The problem is that each chapter is only told from one of their POVs so whoever is narrating that chapter, ends up speaking for both characters.
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Post by russm on May 25, 2020 14:19:46 GMT -5
Was looking at getting them on Audible, but the sample from book one is very short and has some sort of music in the background. Has anyone listened to the Audiobook version? I have. I personally enjoyed it but I have a friend who thought the setup was confusing. They have two actress narrate, one for Daphne and one for Velma. The problem is that each chapter is only told from one of their POVs so whoever is narrating that chapter, ends up speaking for both characters. Better get them in dead-tree format then.
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Post by Dyland on May 25, 2020 15:04:29 GMT -5
The problem is it has been misstep after misstep, poor decision upon poor decision, a pattern. Agreed. Unfortunately, not really anything anybody can do about it but, as you suggested, make some fan works to please the un-entertained community in the meantime. We can always rewatch the old shows and movies, though! I, myself, have been re-playing some of the Learning Company games. (Love that the villain's different every time) Actually a bit challenging on the hardest difficulty - with all the red herring (no, not that one) clues thrown in. Maybe we're on the dawn of another 1990's. You know, when there were no new Scooby shows in forever, the direct-to-video films were fizzling out, and overall interest was just waning... until Turner started re-airing the classics (an unpredictable interest spike) re-introducing the classics to a new generation, and then we got some actually kick-tail content a la Zombie Island, Witch's Ghost, Alien Invaders, Cyber Chase, and even the return of some familiar voices (What's New and Legend of the Vampire)... which, Get a Clue ignoring, eventually led to Mystery Incorporated. Similar pattern to the late 70's early 80's where Scooby almost burnt out and Scrappy saved the franchise. History has a funny way of repeating itself. And every franchise has ups and downs. As for "passing the franchise off to someone else," why not just wait until the next bunch of creatives enter the scene. I don't know about you all, but I haven't exactly been very enthralled over popular entertainment this past decade or so. Movies, TV, music, gaming, etc. There have been a few stand-out gems, but overall, just a big decade of meh. And, if the 2010s started out awesome (SD:MI) and ended on a sour note (Return to ZI, Curse of 13th Ghost) hopefully this next decade will be a mirror flip. (Start out weak but end strong) Only time will tell.
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Post by jonathanmuddlemore on May 25, 2020 15:08:29 GMT -5
The problem is it has been misstep after misstep, poor decision upon poor decision, a pattern. Similar pattern to the late 70's early 80's where Scooby almost burnt out and Scrappy saved the franchise. Saved the franchise by turning it into a series of unrecognizable short films with most of the characters gone
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Post by russm on May 25, 2020 15:29:39 GMT -5
As for "passing the franchise off to someone else," why not just wait until the next bunch of creatives enter the scene... I was thinking of someone like Dynamite Entertainment (Red Sonja, Army of Darkness, Bararella, Vampirella), Archie (all of the Archie stuff), Image, Aftershock, hell bring it over the pond and give it to Rebellion (for that Judge Dredd/Scooby Doo Crossover you've always wanted). I would say DC but they've got their own problems at the moment (see the mess they are making with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy) but can't do any worse than WB.
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Post by ShaphneLegacy27 on May 25, 2020 16:06:09 GMT -5
WB just needs to sell the franchise along with the other HB properties to a new company who actually cares about them and isn't afraid to bring back Scrappy or other characters, change up the formula and officially end any form of Fraphne in all future productions. Just make a return to the original Where Are You? through 13 Ghosts canon.
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Post by jonathanmuddlemore on May 25, 2020 16:09:36 GMT -5
WB just needs to sell the franchise along with the other HB properties to a new company who actually cares about them and isn't afraid to bring back Scrappy or other characters, change up the formula and officially end any form of Fraphne in all future productions. 1) This is a terrible idea. Most companies barely do anything with the old cartoons they've acquired. When was the last time you've heard from the Terrytoons? 2) "officially end any form of Fraphne in all future productions" is the most moronic reason for a corporate merger I've ever heard.
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Post by ShaphneLegacy27 on May 25, 2020 16:16:16 GMT -5
WB just needs to sell the franchise along with the other HB properties to a new company who actually cares about them and isn't afraid to bring back Scrappy or other characters, change up the formula and officially end any form of Fraphne in all future productions. 2) "officially end any form of Fraphne in all future productions" is the most moronic reason for a corporate merger I've ever heard. I know they have toned down the relationships since Be Cool but WB is still pushing this pairing in video clips of Stage Fright like their minds can't let go of it.
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Post by jonathanmuddlemore on May 25, 2020 16:19:04 GMT -5
2) "officially end any form of Fraphne in all future productions" is the most moronic reason for a corporate merger I've ever heard. I know they have toned down the relationships since Be Cool but WB is still pushing this pairing in video clips of Stage Fright like their minds can't let go of it. Ann Sarnoff is at her boardroom table going "We need to add more Fraphne!" This is a scenario that makes sense and isn't stupid.
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