Monthly Archives: February 2013

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Scooby Doo fanatic. It’s actually kind of sad. Putting that aside though, this week I decided to focus on the differences between the original Scooby Doo shows that began in 1969 compared to Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated that was released in 2010. Now since I grew up watching the original series, I’m going to say upfront that I am definitely biased.

This is me and Iwao Takemoto, who was a producer for Scooby Doo. And probably one of the highlights of my life. 🙂

Regarding the plot lines, the two shows are pretty similar. You’ve got your typical crime followed by a search for whoever did it. The newer show though added more to the backgrounds of the characters. They all have parents who don’t approve of their crime solving tendencies. I saw a commercial for it the other day and was just blown away. I got used to the idea that the kids had parents, but they just weren’t in the picture. It’s different to see them interact with their parents.

I guess my biggest problem with the series is the animation. It’s just weird. Now, the original had no A+ in the animation category, but the new series just looks weird. I also feel like the animators are going for a more retro approach. It just rubs me the wrong way. But like I said, I am extremely biased because I am in love with the original. I just don’t like that they completely changed how the characters interact or look. In the new series it actually goes into the relationship between Fred and Daphne and apparently they got engaged. Whereas, in the original you knew they were into each other but that was it, there was no onscreen romance. Another thing changed was Scooby’s role. I noticed that in the new series he talks much more than he has in any other series before this. One other thing that really got me was that they changed the name of their town. It was originally Coolsville and now it is Crystal Cove, you just can’t do that! Haha! On a positive note, the new series does keep Frank Welker as the voice for Fred (who was also the original voice of Fred and has been ever since) and he also has taken over Don Messick’s role as Scooby Doo. And Matthew Lillard, who voiced Shaggy in the live action film, has become the voice for him now in the animated show, which I think was a good choice because he sounds what someone would imagine Shaggy to sound like.

Overall, the moral of this blog is I don’t do well with change, especially to something as awesome as Scooby Doo, Where Are You? If I were a kid growing up with the new Scooby Doo I’d probably love it just as much as I did the original. So, if you’ve got some free time head on over to Cartoon Network of Boomerang and give each of these shows a watch. When it’s all said and done you really can’t go wrong with Scooby Doo. 😀

PS I just watched a clip, and apparently Shaggy and Velma are having some sort of secret relationship! Again, it just bothers me. I guess it’s a good thing, but now that’s making Scooby the awkward third wheel and they should definitely bring him in a friend, or even reintroduce Scrappy Doo! Sorry I’m just looking for clips and found this one! The second link is a full episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBKiLqkXDXM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPZq8s-XCRU

Also here is a classic clip from the original!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZzdS7JF3c

With the release of “Oz the Great and Powerful” around the corner, this week I’ve decided to take a look into “The Wizard of Oz”. Now you’re probably thinking “This girl is crazy, there aren’t any remakes!?” sorry but you’re wrong. 😀 There are so many different interpretations of L. Frank Baum’s interesting book. Most people know about the 1939 version starring Judy Garland, so I’ve decided this week to compare it with the 1978 version entitled “The Wiz”.

Now, both of these movies follow the same plot line, with some minor differences. They both have Dorothy, the witches, the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man. But the main difference is that The Wiz adds an African American influence to the mix.  Its producers had the goal of illustrating the African American experience in the Wizard of Oz. In the 1939 version Dorothy lived on a farm, but in the 1978 version Dorothy was a school teacher who lived in Harlem. Of course the differing backgrounds for each of the movies allowed for different renditions of the songs to be created. Personally I found this to be awesome. A lot of the Wizard of Oz remakes feature the same old songs from 1939. But The Wiz created new songs that are just as catchy as the original music.

From an acting perspective both are pretty good. I mean, I am very biased because growing up the Wizard of Oz was my favorite movie. But The Wiz starred Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, both of whom were/are very influential African American artists. In my opinion, nothing beats the original. But this remake is definitely worth your time. It is funny, energetic, and a bit quirky. Everyone should definitely see both of these movies. If you haven’t seen the Wizard of Oz, shame on you. Just kidding, but really you should see it. And everyone should watch The Wiz because it is also pretty cool too! Fun fact about the Wiz; this weekend at THON the Blue Band is going to play a song from the movie! And if you went to either the Temple or Wisconsin game it might sound familiar to you (it was part of the halftime show those weeks). Anyways, this blog isn’t too informative on the movie because I don’t want to give too much away. The Wiz is available on Netflix and if you really want to watch the Wizard of Oz it is probably on YouTube. You should definitely watch both of them! Here are some YouTube clips from each! 😀

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjyJ_ZUEMEw&feature=youtu.be&t=25s

This clip seriously gets me every time. It’s the song that Blue Band is doing. But it’s also just really funny to sit back and laugh at and the song is way too catchy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aopdD9Cu-So

And this scene is probably one of the most quoted by me. I have a tendency to shout it whenever it is raining! And it’s funny too.

top is uk, bottom us

This week, instead of focusing on movie remakes, I decided to take a look at TV remakes. In 2008, a production company out of the UK picked up a show titled “The Inbetweeners”. After 3 short seasons, the show was put on hiatus. This past year, MTV decided to make their own version of the same name. This was a bad choice for MTV because the show was dropped and cancelled after one season. The basic plot line is the story of a new kid who tries to fit in and ends up finding three new friends. His new friends are neither part of the cool kids nor part of the nerds, they are simply inbetweeners.

This show is a simple case of “the original was 10 times better than the remake”. For me, humor is so much funnier when it is in a British accent. The story line was original, as were the characters. The US version kind of killed it. The show’s producers didn’t even try to add their own touch to the show. A lot of the episodes had the same story lines as the UK version. A few episodes were different than the original, but most were the same story with different people and different accents. I felt like MTV picked up the show because they saw how well it was doing in the UK. They probably believed that by broadcasting the exact same thing in the US they would get extremely high ratings, but that was not the case. The UK version lasted for at least three seasons (it is unknown whether or not they are going to come back) and the US version lasted for approximately three months. Overall, the original was so much better. And again, the accents just added ten bonus points to the UK, for some reason it made all of the jokes a little classier. If you’re into crude comedies then this is definitely a show to watch and I recommend it. (and if you aren’t into that sorry, instead you should watch NCIS because it is awesome too! :D) The UK version is available on Netflix, and the US version is available on MTVs website. The UK version was also followed with a movie, which I have yet to see, but it must be good because it has become the UK’s top grossing comedy ever. So if you’re bored and looking for a chuckle you should definitely check it out (but if you can avoid the US version, it’s just bad). And that is my two cents regarding “The Inbetweeners”. 😀