This Had Better Not Suck

I'm relaxing on a Sunday morning, drinking my coffee, surfing the net, and watching old Scooby-Doo episodes. Scooby-Doo has always been my favorite cartoon, because I guess I've always liked mysteries and creepy things, even as a little kid. Scooby-Doo was the scariest thing I was allowed to watch for quite some time, so I have a special affinity towards it. I even (yes currently) have a Scooby-Doo lunch box that looks like the Mystery Machine. My co-workers just indulge me and look the other way.

Over the years, there have been some horrible and unforgivable mistakes made with my beloved cartoon. Mistakes like Scrappy. Mistakes like the live action movies, to include the newest straight-to-landfill "the gang in high school" travesty. "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo" was equally offensive, along with "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo". (why do they always turn beloved characters into babies? Muppet Babies...Looney Toon babies...ick) There was a brief series of shorts in 1999 that parodied "The Blair Witch Project" that was outstanding. I made little stick Scoobies that I hung up. It was fantastic. Soon after, they brought out the new cartoon movies like "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island". It was actually good. My hopes had been raised, but then they produced some bad movies in that series, and I once again had to feel the sting of disappointment.

Now they are trying again...for the 11th time, if you can believe that. Tomorrow is the premier of "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated". I'm anxious to see if they screw it up again. The teaser makes me nervous. For some reason, they can't just update the story lines and clothing, but keep everything else relatively the same. The gang has a weird angular appearance now, and Fred's chin is Bruce Campbell big. Velma's hairstyle is updated to look almost cute. The whole design has a very "Samurai Jack" kind of feel to it that makes me kind of wince, because I liked the rounded look they've always had. The angular thing is way too trendy.

So, I'm going to give it a chance and desperately hope that I'm not disappointed. I can't handle another Scrappy disaster, so they better get this one right. My inner child is at stake here.