Despite being a massive Scooby Doo fan for goodness knows how long, expectations were somehow not high for 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' prior to giving it a chance. The advertising in my mind was terrible and the animation style, one of the franchise's least appealing, was very off putting. Still gave it a chance as a fan of the franchise and of animation in general and there are films and shows that have bad advertising but turn out to be good.
"Party Like it's 1899" was one of the first 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' episodes seen when it first started airing on Boomerang, and it's also one of the episodes where particularly vivid memories come from when watching the show for the first time. Especially the villain. It was a good episode on that first watch, good enough to make me want to continue on watching the show. On rewatches overtime, "Party Like it's 1899" still is a good episode and one of the better and creepier early episodes.
It isn't a perfect episode. People are going to hate me about ragging on about the animation, but this was the one aspect that didn't impress me or improve. Apart from some creepy visuals and the character animation on the villain, the animation still looks scrappy and like being on some kind of acid trip. As much of a nit pick this is, and the Scooby Doo franchise has always been patchy in this regard, the accents are very fake sounding and affected.
There is so much to like about the atmosphere and story, but it is let down by the reveal, another common problem with the show. In that it is too obvious too early, with a case of there being something off about the perpetrator when first introduced (not many perpetrators had character flaws so overdone and too much of an act). Daphne is on the whole a major plus on the show and has been refreshing, but in this episode she is too underused and her material is not very interesting.
However, there is so much to recommend. The music has a great quirky energy and some creepiness when necessary. The mystery is never dull while also never hectic, and is a lot of fun and atmospheric, it is also not too predictable until the reveal. Liked its creepy atmosphere too, with the party setting reminding me a little of the early stages of 'The Scooby Doo Show's' "The Headless Horseman of Halloween".
Really liked the villain, one of the creepiest ones from 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' and like a callback in design to 'Scooby Doo Where are You's' "Haunted House Hang Up". Really liked even more so the quirky and genuinely funny humour (particularly standing out in the very smart writing), especially the bumbling gloves and invitations jokes. It was refreshing to see Shaggy and Scooby contributing to the mystery more and to see Velma still being in character. The supporting characters are suitably colourful, the villain of course being the best. Most of the voice acting is strong, more so the regulars than supporting.
Concluding, not great but a lot of fun. 7/10.
"Party Like it's 1899" was one of the first 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' episodes seen when it first started airing on Boomerang, and it's also one of the episodes where particularly vivid memories come from when watching the show for the first time. Especially the villain. It was a good episode on that first watch, good enough to make me want to continue on watching the show. On rewatches overtime, "Party Like it's 1899" still is a good episode and one of the better and creepier early episodes.
It isn't a perfect episode. People are going to hate me about ragging on about the animation, but this was the one aspect that didn't impress me or improve. Apart from some creepy visuals and the character animation on the villain, the animation still looks scrappy and like being on some kind of acid trip. As much of a nit pick this is, and the Scooby Doo franchise has always been patchy in this regard, the accents are very fake sounding and affected.
There is so much to like about the atmosphere and story, but it is let down by the reveal, another common problem with the show. In that it is too obvious too early, with a case of there being something off about the perpetrator when first introduced (not many perpetrators had character flaws so overdone and too much of an act). Daphne is on the whole a major plus on the show and has been refreshing, but in this episode she is too underused and her material is not very interesting.
However, there is so much to recommend. The music has a great quirky energy and some creepiness when necessary. The mystery is never dull while also never hectic, and is a lot of fun and atmospheric, it is also not too predictable until the reveal. Liked its creepy atmosphere too, with the party setting reminding me a little of the early stages of 'The Scooby Doo Show's' "The Headless Horseman of Halloween".
Really liked the villain, one of the creepiest ones from 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' and like a callback in design to 'Scooby Doo Where are You's' "Haunted House Hang Up". Really liked even more so the quirky and genuinely funny humour (particularly standing out in the very smart writing), especially the bumbling gloves and invitations jokes. It was refreshing to see Shaggy and Scooby contributing to the mystery more and to see Velma still being in character. The supporting characters are suitably colourful, the villain of course being the best. Most of the voice acting is strong, more so the regulars than supporting.
Concluding, not great but a lot of fun. 7/10.
