Western Animation - Discuss American, Canadian, and European cartoons here (or just bitch about wokeshit, I guess)

[Basic Blond Boy]

Scooby is such a mishandled property. One thing I dislike about modern installments (even before Velma, which I never bothered watching) is A) a tendency to reduce characters to flat archetypes, or in some cases try to force square pegs into round holes (as far back as the Cyber Chase they were trying to make Daphne kick ass), B) the tendency to, instead of trying to make controversial characters and eras work, instead reduce them to in-jokes (Scrappy is the biggest victim of this... I never even understood the hate for the puppy).....

James Gunn really destroyed the IP long term. The live action films were raunchy parodies of Scooby Doo that ended up making the brand way to self-conscious. He played a big role in making Scrappy the joke character he is today by making him annoying and having him pee on Daphne after being revealed as the main villain of Scooby-Doo 1. He also went hard on many other elements such as strong girl Daphne and gay Velma.

Since his films, Scooby has drifted more and more into being a giant in-joke in a similar fashion to Disney needing to spell out every feminist criticism post Shrek. Outside of adaptations like Mystery Incorporated, the entire series seems to take pleasure in belittling itself.

It doesn't help when crossovers like the one with Batman the Brave and the Bold (which is mostly a good movie BTW) tend to clearly favor the Batman side and make the Scooby Gang a third wheel.

WB makes 1 Scooby film a year and only seems to green light other properties if Scooby is attached. The same can be said for Batman and animated DC films, as there are examples like Justice League Dark where the writing team clearly wanted to just write the magic users, but had to shoehorn Batman into it. In saying this, it is clear the staff is burnt out and want to write other IPs such as Courage, so they shoehorn Scooby into it to gain approval.

 

[A Grey Cat]

Classic Scooby was the best and honestly I kinda like the idea that Shaggy manned up enough that he would actually be wlling to teach a school full of monsters (its amazing he doesn't bring this up later when Daphne is wanting to see real monsters in Zombie Island).

the continuty has been all over the place with this franchise. everything from 1969-1999 existing in one timeline, then zombie island in 99 started a new timeline that picked up after the 69 show ignoring everything else, then along came what's new which is another alt timeline really this series has more alt timelines than john carpenter's Halloween

One thing I've always wondered because of that movie by the way.... I don't know much about Plastic Man, so is he actually okay with just telling people his real name and backstory like he is in that movie?

the dude is insane and nuttier than squirell shit. Batman's contengecny plan for if he ever turns evil? Pray that he doesnt. But yeah as far as i know the guy doesnt care who knows cause he doesnt care about much of anything.

The franchise for me died when they officially lezed out velma. It happened SO close to after Joe Ruby and Ken spears died I'm convinced whoever wrote it was waiting for them to die just so the could mock the creators of so beloved an icon even in death.



in lighter news remember witch's ghost? Also a great scooby Movie to watch this time of year.

Im legit heartbroken tim curry can't even voice act anymore due to his stroke and when he dies it'll be like losing tony jay all over again. Even in animation you can just see the passion and emotion he's pouring into this role. Ben Ravencroft goes from a charming new england author to a crazed looney and Curry pulls both off with gusto.

Supposedly he put so much of his heart and soul into the line "hear my cry bring back one who cannot die." Because it symbolizes scooby perfectly. He's been around for 50 years and even after all his ups and downs (especially recently) he's become just as iconic a staple of pop culture as mickey mouse or the superhero. The dark age of animation, the direct to video era, the 2002 movie and it's sequels, really anytime hes done in live action, even happy halloween and velma couldn;t kill this pup off nothing short of animation as a whole dying as a medium will.

 

[A Wumpa Fruit]

I just watched the Amazing Digital Circus. It was okay. Kind of annoying but not so annoying that I had to skip through it like other indie pilots. It also appeals to my autistic enjoyment of bright colors and low-poly 3D assets.

On a more general note, I really wish this trend of having characters talk way too much would die off. It happens in all media, though. I don't know who is to blame for it, but I find myself getting irritated when a character says much, much, MUCH more than is needed because diarrhea-of-the-mouth = funny.

Personally I liked ENA more than Digital Circus, too bad that two of the voice actors are fucking dirty degenerates...what´s with this web series about digital/Y2K aesthetics that their crew is made of crazy people and pedos?

 

[anustart76]

Also didnt watch Guess Who? but it's clear it tried to bring back the OG nostalgia with designs and crossovers but i heard it ended being very mediocre and forced.

I only watched the Batman episode, but it was really good. They managed to get Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and Joker, and actually managed to keep Batman serious and the gang their typical silly selves without making the whole thing feel awkward.

 

[Demon Lord Gamo]

Personally I liked ENA more than Digital Circus, too bad that two of the voice actors are fucking dirty degenerates...what´s with this web series about digital/Y2K aesthetics that their crew is made of crazy people and pedos?

*sperg rant incoming*

Anything that broadly looks like Hazbin Hotel and the like always has crazies and troons written all over it. In addition, this is yet another piece of media whose premise is based entirely on taking something that is for children (in this case an edutainment software) and introducing horror elements to it, like FNAF and Poppy Playtime. You know it's going to attract a fanbase of tween girls and womanchildren whose only care is:

1) Writing cringy fan fiction and songs,
2) Fierce debate over deep lore built around a children's game,
3) Incessant prattle about the sexuality of every last character (rest assured that none are straight whatsoever),

and worst of all,

4) Publicly declare their degenerate need to fuck every male character somehow, especially the ringmaster with the unnerving floating dentures.

To top it off, the creator is a fucking transvestite, which immediately marks this series as being haram. Its sole redeeming quality is the design of the main character, the jester lady, which already has loads of degenerate art out, and may serve to singlehandedly revitalize the "clussy" meme. And as anyone knows, "clussy" is always top tier.

*sperg rant finished*

 

[TheDataHorder]

Scooby and Shaggy get a clue but that has nothing to do with the scooby formula at all

to this day i will never understand what the fuck was going though the show runners minds when they decied to give scooby fucking superpowers.

-snip-

oh come on! i actually liked the damn thing! christ its ruined for me now.

it feels like every piece of media is created or infected by a troon or something.

 

[skykiii]

in lighter news remember witch's ghost? Also a great scooby Movie to watch this time of year.

I watched both Zombie Island and Witch's Ghost last year and I honestly like the latter more. That said I think its kind of a case of Zombie Island gets a bit overhyped so maybe I was subconsciously knocking points because of that (one of my unfortunate failings that I can't turn off).

James Gunn really destroyed the IP long term. The live action films were raunchy parodies of Scooby Doo that ended up making the brand way to self-conscious. He played a big role in making Scrappy the joke character he is today by making him annoying and having him pee on Daphne after being revealed as the main villain of Scooby-Doo 1. He also went hard on many other elements such as strong girl Daphne and gay Velma.

I didn't like the first live-action movie (never saw the second) but to be honest some of these things have been problems even before James Gunn. I mean Zombie Island itself was sold on the tagline "this time the monsters are real!" and contains a lot of self-reference.

That said I actually trace it back to A Pup Named Scooby Doo, which was the first incarnation to really push "comedy" and to be full of self-referential humor. At least it had catchy music to make up for it ("Spirit of Rock n' Roll" is a personal favorite), the irony being that even as a kid I always preferred adult Scooby over puppy Scooby (and I've met kids who feel the same way).

 

[Niggerphobe]

if y’all could make a indie show what would y’all use to drive away the degens/troons

 

[Castoreum]

Personally I liked ENA more than Digital Circus, too bad that two of the voice actors are fucking dirty degenerates...what´s with this web series about digital/Y2K aesthetics that their crew is made of crazy people and pedos?

Indie or not, that's just the entertainment industry in general, tbh

Zoomers have a romanticized view of the 90s and 00s, so it's a popular trend in media right now. Popular things attract degenerates because it creates an easy way to talk to their targets. "Hey, little boy. I heard you like Deltarune/Bluey/etc."

With modern media, a large majority of viewers seem to be okay with conflating a cartoon character's personality with the person that voices them. Streaming makes it easier for viewers to form parasocial relationships with voice actors, which gives the illusion of popularity (friendship). Thus the attention is on them and neither the character nor the art form of animation.

There's an allure to being able to hide your ugly mug behind a cartoon character. People have been doing it forever with cosplay and roleplaying. It's makes it easy for creeps to hide and is an easier (lazier) path to popularity than acting in film/on stage or creating something yourself.

 

[Demon Lord Gamo]

to this day i will never understand what the fuck was going though the show runners minds when they decied to give scooby fucking superpowers.

oh come on! i actually liked the damn thing! christ its ruined for me now.

it feels like every piece of media is created or infected by a troon or something.

Hold on, since when did I say snip? Or is that a formatting error in quoting my post?

 

[Papa stink]

if y’all could make a indie show what would y’all use to drive away the degens/troons

Troons will always fuse themselves to any fandom and force their headcannons, the only way to stop them from doing so is to have the characters in the show declare TTD. Coomers can never be driven away, there will always be people pornsick enough to lust after anything even if it's a grain of sand.

 

[Castoreum]

if y’all could make a indie show what would y’all use to drive away the degens/troons

I don't think you can drive away degens/troons. The whole point of their existence is that they find things where they're not welcome and corrupt them.

 

[DOUBLE_WHEEL]

I imagine his "deep, passionate" love towards anime

He can't have that great of a love for it if he gets Akira Toriyama confused with Go Nagai, this was why I stopped watching him. If you can't get something this simple right then you'll get much more important things wrong.

if y’all could make a indie show what would y’all use to drive away the degens/troons

Violence, but to be serious they'd probably ignore any works I'd make because of my opinions unless they do that reclaiming thing they do with people like Lovecraft.

 

[Coolio55]

if y’all could make a indie show what would y’all use to drive away the degens/troons

I'd try and insert something unpaletable to them. Not enough to arouse suspicion but enough to ward them away.
Then again, they'll still probably insert themselves. Just with a big asterisk that those specific parts are bad.

 

[TVB]

He can't have that great of a love for it if he gets Akira Toriyama confused with Go Nagai, this was why I stopped watching him. If you can't get something this simple right then you'll get much more important things wrong.

That's the thing, like with most YouTubers that do their shitty essay videos, they cannot even do actual research, but just use their own "trust me bro" mentallity

 

[KingofSomething]

Troons will always fuse themselves to any fandom and force their headcannons, the only way to stop them from doing so is to have the characters in the show declare TTD. Coomers can never be driven away, there will always be people pornsick enough to lust after anything even if it's a grain of sand.

I don't think you can drive away degens/troons. The whole point of their existence is that they find things where they're not welcome and corrupt them.

I remember when people tried to force Samus Aran into being a trans icon over literally nothing. There's no way to stop this unless you do what @Papa stink says and even then they would probably insert themselves into it out of spite like they did for Earthworm Jim because Doug doesn't respect pronouns. This isn't really a fight you can win if they're particularly motivated

 

[Coolio55]

I remember when people tried to force Samus Aran into being a trans icon over literally nothing. There's no way to stop this unless you do what @Papa stink says and even then they would probably insert themselves into it out of spite like they did for Earthworm Jim because Doug doesn't respect pronouns. This isn't really a fight you can win if they're particularly motivated

How did Wikipedia end up resolving that PR nightmare anyway?
I recall tons of bans and editors sweating bullets over it.

 

[fartsnstuf]

To top it off, the creator is a fucking transvestite, which immediately marks this series as being haram.

not that i don't believe you in this current landscape of the world, but proof?

 

[Anonitolia]

-snip-

You had me until the clussy shit.
Head out of the gutter, dude.

 

[KingofSomething]

I would say that for anyone who likes Scooby-Doo and hasn't seen Be Cool Scooby-Doo, they need to give it a shot. Art style aside I honestly think it's one of the funniest iterations I've seen. It's also a bit of call back to earlier times where they brought back the chase scene musical numbers and referencing old villains. Daphne might be a deal breaker for some since they made her wackier than she normally is, but I enjoy her and I think they leaned into the fact that the franchise doesn't really know what to do with her and kept giving her new gimmicks

How did Wikipedia end up resolving that PR nightmare anyway?
I recall tons of bans and editors sweating bullets over it.

I don't rightly recall, but I assume an official statement from Nintendo or one of the Metroid creators made them change gears. But I did a quick look through the edit history and watching them take shots at each other is pretty funny