Fascinating update of an old series, with nicely stylized contemporary animation stylings, and some real comedy.
In the most recent, most innovative re-casting of the Scooby Do phenomenon, Mystery Incorporated, most of the individual stories remain in the classic mode, but with twists concerning the character development of the gang. We won't get into that, but we will note the twist that series as a whole takes.
The series is actually constructed around what is now known as a 'story arc,' a meta-narrative tying the individual stories together. And here's where things get a little strange: The meta-narrative at last reveals what appears to be a supernatural phenomenon – the Evil Entity – motivating the series as a whole. Most reviewers seem to agree that this is borrowed from the Cthulu mythos originating in the writings of fantasy cult figure, H. P. Lovecraft. To be honest, I was never able to wade through Lovecraft's dense and florid prose, so I don't know this, but I do know that Lovecraft's cult is fairly large for a writer unknown beyond the genre readership, and has always included many aspiring young fantasy writers.
It should be noted that, although I think most readers at least initially read Lovecraft as a fantasy/horror writer, and none seems to deny purely fantasy elements to his texts, there does appear to be a kind of science fiction element to the Cthulu mythos; although the Old Ones appear to us as gods, or demonic forces, they are actually rather long lived aliens, possibly from another dimension or a parallel universe.
And, as it so happens, it is revealed in the final scenes concluding the Mystery Incorporated series that the explanation of what the Scooby gang has experienced, and of its final, happy result, is to be found in the 'alternative time-lines' made possible thanks to the contemporary 'multiverse' theory! And who should reveal this, but no less a respected a figure of real-world science fiction than writer Harlan Ellison – yes, himself represented in cartoon form, with his own voice dubbed over it. (Fortunately, he remarks, he himself is such a genius that he has been able to remember all the different time-lines his alternative selves have lived through in their respective universes This willing self-parody is apparently entirely in keeping with his public personality.)
We began with a simple detective mystery, searching for empirical clues, and ended up in the realm of theoretical physics, searching for multiverses. Cartoons have indeed come a long way since 1970....
In the most recent, most innovative re-casting of the Scooby Do phenomenon, Mystery Incorporated, most of the individual stories remain in the classic mode, but with twists concerning the character development of the gang. We won't get into that, but we will note the twist that series as a whole takes.
The series is actually constructed around what is now known as a 'story arc,' a meta-narrative tying the individual stories together. And here's where things get a little strange: The meta-narrative at last reveals what appears to be a supernatural phenomenon – the Evil Entity – motivating the series as a whole. Most reviewers seem to agree that this is borrowed from the Cthulu mythos originating in the writings of fantasy cult figure, H. P. Lovecraft. To be honest, I was never able to wade through Lovecraft's dense and florid prose, so I don't know this, but I do know that Lovecraft's cult is fairly large for a writer unknown beyond the genre readership, and has always included many aspiring young fantasy writers.
It should be noted that, although I think most readers at least initially read Lovecraft as a fantasy/horror writer, and none seems to deny purely fantasy elements to his texts, there does appear to be a kind of science fiction element to the Cthulu mythos; although the Old Ones appear to us as gods, or demonic forces, they are actually rather long lived aliens, possibly from another dimension or a parallel universe.
And, as it so happens, it is revealed in the final scenes concluding the Mystery Incorporated series that the explanation of what the Scooby gang has experienced, and of its final, happy result, is to be found in the 'alternative time-lines' made possible thanks to the contemporary 'multiverse' theory! And who should reveal this, but no less a respected a figure of real-world science fiction than writer Harlan Ellison – yes, himself represented in cartoon form, with his own voice dubbed over it. (Fortunately, he remarks, he himself is such a genius that he has been able to remember all the different time-lines his alternative selves have lived through in their respective universes This willing self-parody is apparently entirely in keeping with his public personality.)
We began with a simple detective mystery, searching for empirical clues, and ended up in the realm of theoretical physics, searching for multiverses. Cartoons have indeed come a long way since 1970....