My Thoughts: SCOOB! (2020)

As one of my favorite franchises ever, you can imagine how excited I was when they announced an animated Scooby-Doo film coming to theaters! Yes, we’ve had multiple animated direct-to-video Scooby-Doo films before, but never one that was intended for theatrical release or theatrical quality. I wasn’t too fond about Dax Shepard being involved in the writing and directing, but the fact that it was intended to be the first film in a Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe completely had me stoked!

Fast-forward through COVID-19 and Scoob! would no longer be released to theaters and would instead go directly to streaming. (It would later get a brief weekend theatrical release in North America in 2021, but that was it.) Did the film live up to my expectations? Read on to find out!

Caution: there will be spoilers ahead!

Continue reading “My Thoughts: SCOOB! (2020)”

My Thoughts: SCOOBY-DOO AND GUESS WHO? (2019-present)

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? is the thirteenth and most current television series in the Scooby-Doo franchise. What do I think of it? Read on to find out!

Continue reading “My Thoughts: SCOOBY-DOO AND GUESS WHO? (2019-present)”

Upcoming Animated Films in 2020

The new year is soon upon us, hence it’s time to take a look at next year’s selection of theatrical animated films! Bear in mind that these are only the animated films with verified US release dates and that any and all dates are subject to change at any time. Enjoy!

Continue reading “Upcoming Animated Films in 2020”

‘Scoob’ Teaser Trailer Debuts!

The teaser trailer for Warner Animation Group’s upcoming film, Scoob!, has been released!

What do you all think of the trailer? I’m glad to finally see an animated Scooby-Doo film released in theaters! I don’t know what to make of Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried, Gina Rodriguez, and Will Forte voicing the Mystery Inc. gang though.

Actress Heather North Dies at 71!

The actress, Heather North, has sadly passed away at the age of 71! Mrs. North (1945-2017) passed away on November 30, 2017, although her death wasn’t announced until December 19, 2017. While she has made live-action appearances such as in the 1971 Disney film, The Barefoot Executive, Mrs. North was best known as the voice of Daphne Blake for over 30 years in the Scooby-Doo franchise!

She first voiced Daphne in the second season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and continued voicing the character in The New Scooby-Doo Movies, The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show, The Scooby-Doo Show, and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo among other TV reincarnations. Her final voice performances as Daphne were in the direct-to-video films, Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire and Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico.

Jeepers, she shall be missed indeed!

My Top 13 Animated TV Shows That I Grew Up With

Wow, I haven’t done a Top 13 list since 2013! Well, it’s about time that I rectify that! Today, we’ll be looking at the top 13 animated television shows that I grew up with. Animated films have been a part of many of our childhoods, but animated television shows have also been there for us as well. That’s why I decided to make this list as I haven’t really talked much about animated TV shows on this blog yet.

FYI, my list may differ from many people’s list as I didn’t have cable growing up, so I didn’t grow up with many classic animated shows such as those from the Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, or Nickelodeon. Before I continue, let me make a couple of points:

1) The phrase, “grew up with”, is one that can have different meanings to different people. I’m defining it to refer to “TV shows that I was watching by the time I turned 13 years old”. So animated TV shows that I watched, but debuted after I turned 13, will NOT appear on this list. Neither will animated shows that debuted before I turned 13, but I didn’t start watching them until after I turned 13. In essence, this means that this is not a list of my favorite animated TV shows of all time, rather just a list of the ones I grew up watching.

2) How are these ranked? Well, I’ve ranked them via an average of how often I used to watch the show, how much I liked the show, and how much it impacted me. So it’s not primarily just in order of my favorites, but it takes those 3 qualifiers into consideration.

3) One show that I grew up with and was one of my favorites was Thomas the Tank Engine. The reason that it’s not on this list is that I’m not sure whether it would fall under the definition of “animation” or not. I know that now the show has a lot of animation in it, but when I used to watch it, it was mostly just live model trains with some eye movements here and there. Because of that, I don’t know whether this would be considered some non-traditional form of animation or just be live-action. So to keep things simple, it’s not on my list.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at my list! Why top 13? Well, why not?

Continue reading “My Top 13 Animated TV Shows That I Grew Up With”

Actress Lauren Bacall Dies At 89!

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As if the news of Robin Williams’ passing wasn’t enough to bear, the news reported that the iconic actress, Lauren Bacall, had died the very next day.

Continue reading “Actress Lauren Bacall Dies At 89!”

Actor Casey Kasem Dies At 82!

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It is with a sad, bereaved heart that I announce the death of the beloved DJ/music host/voice actor, Casey Kasem. Casey Kasem (1932-2014) died this Father’s Day after being hospitalized for a couple of weeks.

The man was known for hosting American countdown music shows as well as for his foray into voice acting, including voicing Robin in a few cartoons as well as a few Transformers in the animated series. But, his most famous role was that of the voice of Shaggy Rogers in many Scooby-Doo adaptations.

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This is someone whom I really loved and probably the first celebrity for whose death I’ll actually cry. Goodbye, Casey Kasem! We’re gonna miss you!

My Thoughts: SCOOBY-DOO! MUSIC OF THE VAMPIRE (2012)

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Well, let’s start off by saying that I am a HUGE fan of Scooby-Doo and its franchise! I love the original TV series, I love most of the other TV series that followed it and are still following it, and I love the direct-to-DVD films. (What do I think of the live-action films? Well, I prefer the Brian Levant TV duology over the Raja Gosnell theatrical duology; but that’s not really saying much for either of them.)

And the focus of today’s review is one of the newer direct-to-DVD movies, “Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire”! Now if you’re like me, the first thing that comes to your mind is, “HEY! Wait a minute! They already made a direct-to-DVD Scooby-Doo film involving a vampire, ‘Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire’! How can they be so unoriginal and use the same type of supernatural creature again?! Are they telling us the same story again?!” Continue reading “My Thoughts: SCOOBY-DOO! MUSIC OF THE VAMPIRE (2012)”