This weekend, I re-watched a movie that was a big for me growing up. The real life Scooby-Doo movie from 2002 is filled with adult humor and hidden life lessons. As I watched my favorite childhood film, I was catching on to the serious messages that the Scooby-Doo franchise has been building on since it was created (and some messages that aren't serious at all). We'll start off with the most obvious theme you realize as you grow up.
1. Scooby and Shaggy are high almost all the time.
The famous duo, Shaggy and Scooby, constantly show signs of being under the influence of marijuana. It starts to show more when the franchise came out of the animated series and moved to the real life film, but there are still examples in the first Scooby-Doo series. The two best friends are always eating, and when they aren't, they're talking about how hungry they are. We don't know what they might be doing when Fred, Daphne, and Velma aren't with them. This realization isn't serious at all, but I felt that it needed to be written about.2. The females are given leadership roles.
There are a lot of women who like to see independent female leads in movies, especially if they are given a powerful voice. There are two main themes in the film that are strictly about the females in Mystery Incorporated. Velma feels undermined because Fred always takes credit for their mystery solving, and Daphne is laughed at because she is always the "damsel in distress". Throughout the film, Daphne acts very independent and claims that she can solve the mystery all on her own. She does have an important role in destroying the villain's plan as she defeats one of his henchman (a huge Mexican wrestler). Velma does her typical thing in the film. She finds clues and bases assumptions off of them. After never being voiced, she was upset when Fred started to take credit for solving the mystery at the end of the movie. He realizes this and gives her the floor to explain how they did it. These themes were a big deal for the franchise because Daphne usually isn't defeating big villains and Velma isn't always receiving the credit she deserves. It also is a big deal for the female viewers because they were taught valuable lessons from these characters.
3. Friendship can get you through the scary parts of life.
Mystery Incorporated broke up in the beginning of the film because they lacked in team working abilities. When the characters are reunited on a trip to Spooky Island, they continue to be upset with on and others and try to solve the mystery individually. None of the members of the gang had been solving mysteries since they broke up. Fred wrote a book, Daphne earned her black belt, Velma was working for NASA and Scooby and Shaggy were just hanging out. In the end, they work as a team to solve the mystery and become Mystery Inc. once again. Scooby and Shaggy are terrified of everything, but together they get through it. Mystery Inc. was faltering in solving the mystery until they were in a friendship again. The movie teaches a lot of good lessons, but I think this is one of the best ones. Friendship is an important part of children's lives and even adults. This movie is aimed towards the younger audience, but it affects the adults just the same. Our friendships help us get over the bridges and out of the pits in life.
4. Sometimes the monsters are ones closest to us.
Scooby's bratty nephew, Scrappy, was trying to take revenge on Mystery Incorporate with his evil plan. After the gang left him stranded in the desert due to his annoying nature, he started up a plan. He gathered up an army of ancient beasts and was going to take over the world (a little much for revenge on a group of five). Anyways, Scrappy falls to Mystery Inc. and they are victorious like the good ole days. The lesson that this film gives us is unlike any other lesson that Scooby-Doo has taught before. In the past, Scooby-Doo has shown us that the monsters are always people we know or sometimes the one who we least expect it to be. Now, the franchise shows us that the evil one can be someone as close as a family member.
The lessons that this movie and the Scooby-Doo franchise teach us are ones to hold on to for life. It might just be a silly cartoon or goofy movie, but these themes give us much more knowledge than intended, I believe.
