Comments on: Ruh Row! The new Skeptic’s Circle is up!

By: KaiYeves

KaiYeves — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 21:26:23 +0000

Sorry if this post is long, but this topic is very close to my heart.
Back when I was younger, back before I had ever heard of this website, faces in Cydonia, waving flags on the moon, Piltdown Man, Planet X, Occam’s razor, candles in the dark or even the words “astronomy” or “skepticism”, I knew what they were from Scooby-Doo. I watched it all the time and still do. The VERY new movies do have fake monsters again, and most of them are set in foreign countries where real facts are woven in. Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster even contained two rival scientist characters, one a borderline-woowoo true believer, the other so skeptical he wouldn’t even let people mention the monster. In the end, both recived their due- the monster proof that had been uncovered throughout the film were fakes, but there was tantilizing proof that a real monster might exist. I wonder if the scriptwriters had heard an interview on Charlie Rose where the great Dr. Sagan was asked
“What do you think about the Loch Ness Monster?”
“Well, is it possible that an unknown mammal or some kind of dinosaur is living in a Scottish lake? Yes, it’s possible. Does the evidence support it? No, but as good scientists, we don’t say ‘imposible’, we say ‘unproven’.”
I LOVED that story- could someone PLEASE write another? Not another team-up, but I’d like to see the BA and his friends take on a Scooby-type monster or Mystery Inc. up against Hoaxland or Sibrel. Velma is my hero, and as a mystery writer, I’ve used several SD-inspired plots. One was in a series of time-travel mysteries, where the hero and Charles Darwin investigate a sea serpent, really a fake made by salvors to scare people away so they can loot a treasure ship. The other one was kind of like “Scooby Doo meets Robert Ballard”, where a group of campers on a JASON-like expedition investigate ‘gremlins’ causing computer glitches that turn out to be two disgruntled techies creating a distraction to steal plans for an ROV.

By: Mark Martin

Mark Martin — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 21:52:19 +0000

Incidentally, if anyone here is a Jonny Quest afficionado, they might notice a similarity between the formula plot to Scooby-Doo and an episode of Quest, broadcast several years prior to Scoob & The Gang’s entry into Saturday mornings.

The episode is “Werewolf of the Timberland”, and the plot synopsis (from http://www.classicjq.com) reads:

“The Quests go in search of a rare type of petrified wood in an area where they’ve been warned about a prowling werewolf.”

In the end, it turns out the werewolf is just an elaborate myth, propagated by a small number of greedy opportunists who are privy to some sort of high-valued commodity in the region.

By: Wyle E.

Wyle E. — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 13:27:07 +0000

Come on folks, Scooby Doo was a cartoon! It’s not meant to educate. Relax and escape a little once in a while.

By: frogmarch

frogmarch — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 03:51:55 +0000

I found the scoobydoo explinations were often terrible, like projection of ghosts onto thin air- I don’t see how that futhers the cause of critical thinking.

By: Melusine

Melusine — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 03:35:22 +0000

HAL9000 Says:

For pityâ€™s sake, people, thereâ€™s such a thing as taking skepticism too far. Some ghost stories are not going to subvert the children and taint our precious bodily fluids. Whatâ€™s next on the hit list? Harry Potter? I think most kids grok the difference between fantasy from reality.

Sure, but that’s what was good about “Scooby Doo”…that was the show’s shtick. “Nancy Drew” books were like that also–behind every weird happening or mystery was a Mr. So-and-So up to no good. There’s plenty of fantasy to go around, so it doesn’t hurt to have some cartoons deal with plausible reasons for ghostly apparitions.

And Scooby Doo blew. Itâ€™s an archetype of poor toonage right out of the Dark Age of American animation.

Geesh, we grew up with “Scooby Doo” every Saturday morning, but hey, at least I don’t believe in ghosts, ghouls, and crystal balls. Now, what to do with all these palm reading establishments still thriving all over Houston…maybe kids get it, but not all adults.

By: HAL9000

HAL9000 — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 18:45:49 +0000

For pity’s sake, people, there’s such a thing as taking skepticism too far. Some ghost stories are not going to subvert the children and taint our precious bodily fluids. What’s next on the hit list? Harry Potter? I think most kids grok the difference between fantasy from reality.

And Scooby Doo blew. It’s an archetype of poor toonage right out of the Dark Age of American animation.

By: Elyk

Elyk — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 02:29:29 +0000

Hollywood does it again…