Velma on HBO Max.

BrawlMan

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Eh, I dunno. I'd argue that at least Zombie Island was interesting specifically because it broke the "really mundane explanation" formula. Scooby Doo had always been very formulaic, with every episode revealing why some huckster had been exploiting local superstition for their own benefit, and the gang was as used to this as the audience was. Sure, they'd run around scared, but even Shaggy and Scooby always had their eyes out for the clues that would properly explain everything.

And in Zombie Island the gang and audience were expecting more of the same. It's always some guy in a mask trying to scare the locals in service of some financial con. That's the rule. We get to the unmasking...and we're as surprised as the gang is that it's not a mask, nor is it horrible scarring. It's legitimately a zombie, and that's legitimately shocking in a way that is only possible because we'd been trained to believe that it was an absolute rule that the supernatural did not actually exist in this series. The break from tradition had a lot of power specifically because of the contrast, and made it work.
Zombie Island pretty much revitalized the franchise. Before that point, the series was pretty much dead in the water. I am happy for it, because we got a slew of animated movies and a new TV series in the early 2000s that lasted for a good 4 years.
 
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Cicada 5

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Eh, I dunno. I'd argue that at least Zombie Island was interesting specifically because it broke the "really mundane explanation" formula. Scooby Doo had always been very formulaic, with every episode revealing why some huckster had been exploiting local superstition for their own benefit, and the gang was as used to this as the audience was. Sure, they'd run around scared, but even Shaggy and Scooby always had their eyes out for the clues that would properly explain everything.

And in Zombie Island the gang and audience were expecting more of the same. It's always some guy in a mask trying to scare the locals in service of some financial con. That's the rule. We get to the unmasking...and we're as surprised as the gang is that it's not a mask, nor is it horrible scarring. It's legitimately a zombie, and that's legitimately shocking in a way that is only possible because we'd been trained to believe that it was an absolute rule that the supernatural did not actually exist in this series. The film's break from tradition had a lot of power specifically because of the contrast, and made it work.
Zombie Island wasn't even the first Scooby Doo entry to do this. There had been several Scooby Doo movies and tv specials in which Scooby and the Gang encountering real monsters, not simply guys in costumes. 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo and The Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo show had Scooby and company dealing with real monsters and ghosts. Even the original series had some hints at supernatural elements in the background.
 

BrawlMan

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Zombie Island wasn't even the first Scooby Doo entry to do this. There had been several Scooby Doo movies and tv specials in which Scooby and the Gang encountering real monsters, not simply guys in costumes. 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo and The Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo show had Scooby and company dealing with real monsters and ghosts.
Don't forget about Ghoul School. All true, but Zombie Island is the most serious and well known example. The other movies and shows with real monsters are slightly more obscure. Like I said before, the Scooby franchise was pretty much dead in the water, before ZI released on home video and aired on CN multiple times.

Even the original series had some hints at supernatural elements in the background.
Most of the supernatural parts were either kept ambiguous or was just there to tease and dick with the audience. There's a reason not many remember a lot of them nor all of them.
 

LegoDnD

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Never have I revered and admired such a formulaic carbon-copy dispenser of paint-by-numbers as Pitch Meeting. Old-school Scooby was also ok.
 
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Gyrobot

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Never have I revered and admired such a formulaic carbon-copy dispenser of paint-by-numbers as Pitch Meeting. Old-school Scooby was also ok.
Because it is a Herald of what's to come. Namely soulless reality Show garbage that will leave bodies in its wake from child actors forced to be on Child Pageants so their family can mooch all of the money and game, shows about freaks and other "special" people. Shows like Velma exist to spite people who want the world to be Baked and Woke

Blessed be KonradLeijon
 

LegoDnD

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Because it is a Herald of what's to come. Namely soulless reality Show garbage that will leave bodies in its wake from child actors forced to be on Child Pageants so their family can mooch all of the money and game, shows about freaks and other "special" people. Shows like Velma exist to spite people who want the world to be Baked and Woke.
Did you...quote the wrong person? I was praising Pitch Meeting even though their videos operate on a "fill in the blanks" script.
 
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Gyrobot

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Did you...quote the wrong person? I was praising Pitch Meeting even though their videos operate on a "fill in the blanks" script.
Knee jerk reaction towards HBO, I will not apologize for that.