Okay, I think it’s time to leave the Aussie indie scene alone for a bit. And yet, I’m still going to be talking about something that’s close to home for me… just not as literally. As I’ve mentioned in reviews past, I grew up glued to Cartoon Network, and in many ways, I still am. When you’re responsible for the likes of Cartoon Cartoons, Adult Swim, Toonami and getting Run The Jewels to team up, you’ve more than earned your place in my heart. And part of that adoration is a respect, if not entirely being entertained by, classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Again, I’m much more familiar with the studio’s later work, but thanks to Boomerang, I had Scooby-Doo, Josie And The Pussycats, Hong Kong Phooey, Wacky Racers, and Captain Caveman in my media diet as a kid. I’m bringing all this up now because, holy hell, it feels like a film like this was made with an audience like myself in mind.
Beginning as an origin story for Mystery Inc., this is basically the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen of the Hanna-Barbera universe, teaming up Shaggy and Scooby with Dynomutt, going up against Dick Dastardly and Captain Caveman, and there’s oodles of background gags referencing other shows. It’s unashamedly fanservice, I admit that, but I like how the legwork done to make this universe cohesive. None of the appearances feel out-of-place, and by tying together how many canines show up in that canon, it ends up making for some pretty emotional moments to do with man’s best friend. Even more so than old-school animation junkies, dog lovers definitely should check this out.
The animation follows suit as a Hotel Transylvania-esque tribute to 2D animation, from the slapstick to the character designs to the hilarious showings of cartoon logic throughout. The opening credits sequence is a faithful recreation of the original Scooby-Doo intro, and it’s a solid lead-up to a film that is full of loving tribute to the classics. It finds a nice balance between referencing the old guard and self-aware ribbing reminiscent of the Raja Gosnell/James Gunn films, not to mention a solid array of references to modern technology and even a couple brainier quips. I laughed heartily at the Big Corn Syrup bit, and the ratio from then on is pretty tight.
There’s a bit of a sticking point in the voice cast, though, and that’s with Will Forte as Shaggy. Maybe it’s because I’m just so used to Matthew Lillard as the perfect voice for the role, but something about his register is a little too scratchy to work with either the quips or the emotional speeches he’s given. And what makes him stand out is that pretty much everyone else here works. The rest of Mystery Inc. is right on the money (Zac Efron as Fred is a particularly inspired choice), Mark Wahlberg and Ken Jeong as Blue Falcon and Dynomutt respectively are terrific (easily my favourite Jeong performance to date), and for as long as I live, I will never get tired of Frank Welker’s knack for animalistic vocal effects.
Outside of that one hang-up in the vocal booth, I can’t really find much fault with this. It’s a feature-length tribute to classic cartoons, both specific properties and the style therein, with a solid hit-to-miss ratio, good animation, and even some genuine emotionality behind it. With how much negative press this has gotten all year, I can’t guarantee that anyone else will like it as much as I do… but considering just how much I dug this, I’m not really in the mood to care about that right now.
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