Did like Season 1 of 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' on the whole, it took a while to find its feet fully in terms of the plotting and some of the character writing but the energy and humour on the most part were great and there were plenty of cool villains. When though it hit its stride in the second half of the season, with its more consistent quality and higher number of great episodes, the season at its best was quite great despite the animation style never being to my taste (which sadly only saw marginal improvement in Season 2).
After a truly great start to a more settled and consistent Season 2, the hugely promising standard continues in "There Wolf". It isn't quite as good as the season premiere "Some Fred Time", which for me was a 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' high point, but it is still a fun, quirky and creepy effort. As far as any Scooby Doo mystery centered around werewolves go (the king of them still being 'Scooby Doo Where are You's' "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf"), "There Wolf" is better than most.
Beginning with the not so good things, despite being an improvement over Season 1, the animation quality still isn't to my taste. Too rushed and garish looking and too many of the characters are off model.
Felt too that the mime bit didn't work at all, it was not funny and it was obnoxious. Have loved Daphne's refreshingly quirky character writing and have loved how much she evolved over the franchise, but this is not one of her finest hours.
However, a lot is great. The best aspect is the villain, who is very cool and super creepy. When it comes to the franchise's werewolf villains, this one is up there with the most legitimately scary, with nothing coming over as goofy, and one of the best designed. Did enjoy the reveal as well, most of the show's reveal are blatantly obvious too early but this is one of the ones that had me stumped and kept me guessing all the way through.
Enjoyed the side characters personally, the main doctor's running joke being very funny and not over-milked or repetitive (a big issue with running jokes and something that 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' was prone to). The gang are well characterised and interact well, their care for Shaggy obvious, while the voice acting is great. The music is groovy and atmospheric and the mystery never lets go when it comes to the energy without being too relentless. The atmosphere is also strong and it never feels too simple or too complicated.
Concluding, very well done. 8/10.
After a truly great start to a more settled and consistent Season 2, the hugely promising standard continues in "There Wolf". It isn't quite as good as the season premiere "Some Fred Time", which for me was a 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' high point, but it is still a fun, quirky and creepy effort. As far as any Scooby Doo mystery centered around werewolves go (the king of them still being 'Scooby Doo Where are You's' "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf"), "There Wolf" is better than most.
Beginning with the not so good things, despite being an improvement over Season 1, the animation quality still isn't to my taste. Too rushed and garish looking and too many of the characters are off model.
Felt too that the mime bit didn't work at all, it was not funny and it was obnoxious. Have loved Daphne's refreshingly quirky character writing and have loved how much she evolved over the franchise, but this is not one of her finest hours.
However, a lot is great. The best aspect is the villain, who is very cool and super creepy. When it comes to the franchise's werewolf villains, this one is up there with the most legitimately scary, with nothing coming over as goofy, and one of the best designed. Did enjoy the reveal as well, most of the show's reveal are blatantly obvious too early but this is one of the ones that had me stumped and kept me guessing all the way through.
Enjoyed the side characters personally, the main doctor's running joke being very funny and not over-milked or repetitive (a big issue with running jokes and something that 'Be Cool Scooby Doo' was prone to). The gang are well characterised and interact well, their care for Shaggy obvious, while the voice acting is great. The music is groovy and atmospheric and the mystery never lets go when it comes to the energy without being too relentless. The atmosphere is also strong and it never feels too simple or too complicated.
Concluding, very well done. 8/10.
