The New Scooby Doo Mysteries: "Nutcracker Scoob"

Premiered December 1, 1984.

“Like, bah humbag, the Ghost of Christmas Past is coming to haunt me!”
-Shaggy, playing Ebenezer Scrooge

It’s Christmas Eve and Scooby Doo (Don Messick), his nephew Scrappy (Messick) and their mystery-solving pals are helping an orphanage produce their Christmas pageant, which will feature performances of A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker ballet.

Mrs. Fezziwig, the owner of the home, is grateful for the gang’s help.  Tiny Tina, a resident of the orphanage, is excited when Fred (Frank Welker) helps her put the Nutcracker on top of the Christmas tree.

Their seasonal spirits are dampened when millionaire Winslow Nickelby (Welker) and his cat Snowball (Welker) arrive.  The orphanage used to belong to Nickelby and he intends to buy it back, which would leave the children with nowhere to live.

Mrs. Fezziwig refuses to sell, but Nickelby says he’ll take it over “one way or another.”  Fezziwig assures the kids she'll never sell their home to Nickelby.

Later, while Scooby and Shaggy (Casey Kasem) are rehearsing a scene from A Christmas Carol,  they’re interrupted by a “spirit” who calls itself the Ghost of Christmas Never!  The ghost chases the gang outside into the snow.

When they go back inside the orphanage, the gans discovers that the stage and all its holiday decor have been trashed.  Daphne (Heather North) finds a lapel pin in the wreckage that bears the inscription “WN.”  Everyone guesses that WN must stand for Winslow Nickelby and they decide to pay him a visit.

Scooby and friends overhear Nickelby say that his uncle left a valuable gem in the orphanage.  While Nickelby has no legal rights to the orphanage, he says that his “friend” will force the orphans to leave their home.  This leads Shaggy to believe Nickelby is “in cahoots” with the Ghost of Christmas Never.

The gang decides that the emerald is the key to discovering the identity of the ghost and saving the orphanage.  When they search for the emerald, they find the ghost instead!  The Ghost of Christmas Never disappears with the emerald, which makes solving the mystery at hand even more difficult.

Will Scooby and his friends solve the mystery and save Mrs. Fezziwig’s orphanage?  Is Nickelby connected to the Ghost of Christmas Never?  Will the ghost’s activities ruin the Christmas pageant?  Will Nickelby find the spirit of Christmas in his heart and let the children stay in the orphanage?

J.A. Morris says:

I mentioned in our recent review of this series’ Halloween episode that its regular cast only featured Scooby Doo, Shaggy, Daphne and Scrappy.  This episode includes Fred as a guest star, but not Velma.  So Velma fans, consider yourselves warned.

Just like the Halloween episode, “Nutcracker Scoob” is a typical episode of Scooby Doo, except that it takes place at Christmas.  Lots of Christmas episodes feature references to A Christmas Carol and music from The Nutcracker ballet.  This episode features both, you can't get much more Christas-y than that!

The stakes are upped a little bit too.  I don’t remember other Scooby villains who wanted to force orphans out of their home!  Perhaps that was added to make Winslow Nickelby even more Scrooge-ish.  Nickelby and the Ghost Of Christmas Never are good antagonists for the gang and the orphanage.

Speaking of Scrooge, this episode features lots of references to A Christmas Carol and other works by Charles Dickens. Fezziwig, the name of the orphanage’s owner, was young Scrooge’s mentor.  Tiny Tina is a good stand-in for Tiny Tim.   Nickelby takes his name from Nicholas Nickelby.  However, Nickelby does not get visited by three spirits, “Nutcracker Scoob” features only one ghost.

“Nutcracker Scoob” includes the usual Scooby Doo chase scenes, with the added fun of the Christmas setting.  That means the chases involve skis and horse-drawn sleighs!

I especially liked the sleigh that looks like the Mystery Machine.

Plus, the chases and other scenes are accompanied by holiday tunes like “Deck The Halls,” “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” and “Jingle Bells”

We try to avoid spoilers here, even for 35 year-old episodes.  I won’t spoil the detail the ending of “Nutcracker Scoob,” but since it was part of a Saturday morning animated series, and it’s a Christmas episode, I don’t think it’ll come as a shock that a happy holiday will be enjoyed by everyone before the episode is over.

It’s worth noting that this is the final episode of The New Scooby Doo Mysteries.  It’s also the last appearance of Fred (as a grownup) until 1998.

I enjoyed this Christmas episode, but I would’ve enjoyed it more if Velma had been around. Otherwise, “Nutcracker Scoob” has comedy, action, good villains and it should provide solid Yuletide entertainment for everyone.

 J.A. Morris’ rating:

3 candy canes.

Be Cool Scooby Doo : "Halloween"

Premiered September 27, 2017.

"Halloween isn’t about candy and dressing up as topical celebrities.  The ancient roots of the holiday are tied to the autumn equinox and the Gaelic harvest festivals."

"Is no one else bothered by the crass commercialization of Halloween?"
-Velma

"Like, I just noticed without candy as a distraction, Halloween is utterly terrifying and filled with disturbing imagery!"
-Shaggy

When Fred Jones (Frank Welker)  was a little boy, he went trick or treating at a house he had never seen before.

Fred (center) trick or treating as a young boy, dressed as his favorite detective.

The house was occupied by a witch who terrorized Fred.  He escaped and brought the police to the house...but it was nowhere to be seen, nor was the witch.  For the first time, Fred’s detective skills were unable to solve a mystery.

On Halloween eleven years later, Fred is visiting a town called Newtown with his friends Scooby Doo (Welker) Shaggy (Matthew Lillard),Velma (Kate Micucci) and Daphne (Grey Delisle).  Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne are all excited about costumes and candy.

Shaggy and Scooby dressed as a pocket and candy vending machine.

Velma is upset about the crass commercialization of Halloween and reminds her friends of its ancient Celtic origins. Since Velma isn’t dressing up, Daphne wears a “Zombie Velma” costume for Halloween to annoy her.

In contrast to his friends, Fred plans to skip the Halloween celebrations and stay in his hotel room.  His “failure” to solve the mystery of the disappearing witch house has taught him that Halloween is the one night when mysteries are impossible to solve.  However, Fred’s friends eventually talk him into joining them for trick or treating.

Shaggy and Scooby’s quest for candy leads them to a house in the woods.  Unfortunately, it’s the residence of a witch!  She chases the gang until Scoob and Shag create a diversion.

The witch scares the locals so much that Newtown’s Neighborhood Watch cancels Halloween.

Fred realizes the house (and the witch) is the same one he stumbled on in a different town eleven years earlier!  But how could the house move?   Velma recalls a Russian folk tale about a witch named Baba Yaga who lived in a house that had chicken legs which enabled it to move around.

When the gang returns to the house to search for clues, the house sprouts chicken legs and chases them once again!

Could this witch really be the Baba Yaga?  Can Halloween be saved from cancellation?  Will Fred finally solve the mystery that has haunted him for eleven years?

J.A. Morris says:

As you may have gathered by looking at the screencaps above, Be Cool, Scooby Doo featured redesigned versions of Scooby and friends.  In spite of these changes, the characterizations and the stories were very much in the spirit of earlier Scooby TV series.

"Halloween" is a very good holiday episode.  In addition to the usual seasonal trappings, Velma gives her friends (and the viewers) a lesson about the Celtic origins of Halloween.  I'm guessing her complaints about the "commercialization" of All Hallow's Eve are meant to remind us of the similar sentiments Charlie Brown expressed about Christmas.

Like most Scooby Doo episodes, we get a "monster of the week" and entertaining chase scenes.  Baba Yaga is a great antagonist and using a witch from Russian folklore is a nice touch.

The voice actors here are all A+ cartoon talents.  Frank Welker does great performing double duty as Fred and Scooby Doo.  It's worth noting that Scooby displays a much more varied vocabulary that we've heard in earlier incarnations.  He exclaims "the logic is impeccable" near the beginning of "Halloween."  That's a big leap from his usual "ruh roh!"

Matthew Lillard, who played Shaggy in the live action movies is also great as Scooby's best bud.  Velma is voiced by Kate Micucci, best known for her work in the comedy musical duo Garfunkel and Oates (and she's also voiced tons of other animated characters) is a great Velma.  Rounding out the cast, Grey Delisle has been voicing Daphne since 2001 and she instills Daphne with a little more sarcasm and depth than in earlier iterations.

However, one thing bothered me about this episode.  Velma mentions refers to Halloween as Samhain, the original Gaelic name for the occasion.  She pronounces it "Sam Hane."  This bugged me, because I believe Velma, the smartest and most resourceful member of the mystery gang,  would make an effort to research Samhain and pronounce it correctly.  It gives me the impression that the writers and producers didn't do their research on Samhain.

"Halloween" is a very enjoyable Scooby Doo episode that is recommended for every fan of Scoob and gang.  The mispronunciation of Samhain prevents me from giving it our highest rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

3 and a half jack o'lanterns.

RigbyMel says: 

"Halloween" is a fun episode of what looks to be a generally series.   Be Cool, Scooby Doo!  is the 12th incarnation of the franchise and has lots of meta-fun going on in it.   The characters may be redesigned, but their traits hew pretty closely to the original 1969 series, with perhaps a bit more of a comedic slant with gags going to all the characters, not just Shaggy and Scooby. 

Shaggy and Scooby take their trick-or-treat planning VERY seriously!

There are some great little in-jokes, like 11 year old Fred dressing up as his favorite Nordic detective.  I think I also spied a visual reference to The Creeper - a villain from the original series - in a scene involving kids out trick or treating.

The character redesign is fun rather than jarring in this series. 

Shaggy and Scooby's costumes and quest for candy were much appreciated as well and I really liked their attempt to fool the witch by promoting a fake cereal called "I Can't Believe It's Not The Fear Of Children."

I quite enjoyed this episode's references to Baba Yaga and to the Celtic origins of Halloween.   Unlike J.A. Morris, I am going to attribute Velma's mispronunciation of  "Samhain" to "reader vocabulary" (i.e., having read the word only and not being quite sure of how to pronounce it) and not hold it against her, or the show!

The central mystery of the witch traveling from town to town over the course of years and causing Halloween to be cancelled in each town visited rings interestingly in the current age of "trunk or treat" and generally spurious Halloween candy paranoia.

Shaggy and Scooby are disappointed they only collected a "mound" of candy, rather than a "mountain"

This is a super-fun Halloween episode with trick or treating, candy, witches, zombies, folklore (of the Celtic AND Russian variety) and the Scooby Gang.  It's well worth a look should you have the time and inclination. 

RigbyMel's rating:

4 jack o lanterns! 

The New Scooby Doo Mysteries: "A Halloween Hassle In Dracula's Castle"

Scooby Doo made his debut 50 years ago today (September 13, 1969).  In honor of the occasion, we're starting our Halloween reviews a bit earlier than usual this year.  Happy Birthday, Scoob!

Premiered October 27, 1984

On Halloween, Scooby Doo (Don Messick), Shaggy (Casey Kasem), Daphne (Heather North) and Scrappy Doo (Messick again) visit a costume shop.  Scooby and Shaggy are terrified when two space aliens arrive at the shop.  

Their fears are put to rest when the "aliens" unmask and reveal themselves to be Scooby’s old friends Velma (Marla Frumkin) and Fred (Frank Welker)!

The costume shop's owner (Hamilton Camp), who is wearing a Dracula costume, and his assistant (Phil Hartman), who’s dressed as Igor, overhear Scrappy mention that he and his friends are ghostbusters.

The owner tells Scooby that he's the shop's millionth customer.  The prize is an invitation to the town's best Halloween party, which is held at a spooky castle.

When they arrive, the Scooby gang is impressed with the very convincing costumes worn by the party-goers. 

Every is having a good time at the Halloween party, when suddenly, the party is crashed by the ghost of Dr. Van Helsing (Hartman again), Dracula’s old enemy.  The ghost attacks them with garlic gas, which repels vampires.  

When Van Helsing disappears, Dracula reveals to Scooby and friends that he is the REAL Count Dracula and that the other partygoers are also real monsters.  He reveals that he invited the gang to his party because he and his fellow monsters need their help in stopping the ghost of Dr. Van Helsing!  

Can Scooby and the gang find a way to capture Van Helsing’s ghost and save Halloween?  

J.A. Morris says:

This is a fun Scooby Doo cartoon made better by the Halloween setting and the presence of Dracula.  It was interesting to see the Lord Of Vampires portrayed in a (relatively) positive way.  And it was nice to see that even vampires, werewolves and mummies are afraid of ghosts (at least they are in this series).  

If you’re not familiar with this iteration of the Scooby Doo series, its regular cast consisted of Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne and Scrappy.  Velma and Fred made only occasional appearances, so  it’s nice to see the whole mystery gang reunited in this Halloween episode.

Other than that, it’s a typical episode of Scooby Doo.  We get chase scenes, Scooby and Shaggy acting gluttonous (and Scooby eating all the food!) and the gang works together to solve a mystery.

Like most episodes, “A Halloween Hassle” features solid voice work from the cast.  Don Messick, Casey Kasem and Frank Welker were the original voices of Scooby, Shaggy and Fred (respectively) and they’re as great as ever here.  Heather North was the second voice actor for Daphne and voiced her for thirty years.  North also delivers a good performance.  

“A Halloween Hassle At Dracula’s Castle” is no classic, but it’s a fun way to revisit these beloved characters during the Halloween “season.”  Recommended for all fans of Dracula and Scooby Doo.

J.A. Morris’ rating:

3 Jack O’Lanterns.

RigbyMel says: 

This mid-1980s installment of Scooby Doo is enjoyable because of its Hallween setting and the presence of "real" monsters like Dracula and the Wolfman, but it's definitely not a classic.     All Scooby Doo episodes tend to be pretty formulaic, which is part of their charm and the inclusion of our "real" monsters adds some spice to the formula, but somehow, it doesn't quite tie together for me, even as a Scooby fan of long standing.

I did appreciate that we got appearances by other "real" monsters like the Invisible Man,  the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Frankenstein's monster and as J.A. Morris mentions above, the voice work is great.  However, there's just a little bit too much going on with subplots involving amulets and magical transformations to make it completely satisfying, plus the low budget animation feels a bit lower budget than usual.

There is one scene that really amuses me where the gang rallies the monsters to fight back against the ghost's depredations,  Dracula and his wife (sadly, she's not named really) decide to drink some "red juice" to get their mojo going. 

Evidently, mentioning that vampires drink blood was not permitted for Saturday morning cartoons at the time.

It's also interesting to note that this mid-80s incarnation of the show features theme music that suggests Michael Jackson's "Thriller", which was a monster (pun intended) hit at the time.

Scrappy Doo is displeased about the only costume in the shop that fit him

If you're a fan of Scooby & his pals, plus classic monsters,  "A Halloween Hassle At Dracula's Castle" is fun to watch, but you probably won't need to watch it more than once, unless you're a kid.

RigbyMel's rating: 

2.5 jack o'lanterns