Having a member of the gang be a prime suspect was not novel territory for the Scooby Doo franchise, most of the shows had one episode that had it (which is still not many). Mostly the franchise did very well at this, where the person in question is rootable and the reasons for them being suspected plausible. A couple of the best examples also excelled at making the viewer unsure as to whether the gang member is innocent or guilty, which is why "Big Appetite in Little Tokyo" and "I Left My Neck in San Francisco" fared so well.
'Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated's' "Howl of the Fright Hound" sees the second time in the franchise where Scooby is the prime suspect, the first being 'The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show's' "Hound of the Scoobyvilles" (one of the better episodes of that inconsistent show). Although like that episode the truth about whether Scooby is innocent or guilty is never in doubt, "Howl of the Fright Hound" does a great job making him rootable and making the reasons for him being suspected plausible. As far as the show goes up to this point of its run, this is the best episode and one of the best episodes of Season 1's first half.
Would have liked the hound to have been used more, when it does appear it is genuinely sinister in look and personality (plus it is one of the few truly dangerous villains of the show) but it's underused.
There is so much that is done really well however. The animation has genuine eeriness and a lot of atmospheric colouring, the hound looks really creepy. The music never jars while never over-emphasising, loved the mix of older and contemporary style too. The theme tune is still memorable. The episode benefits from being very smartly written, with plenty of laugh loud moments, ones that give the feels, ones that intrigue while always respecting the target audience.
Loved the film references, they are clever and affectionately done, not feeling thrown in. They are quite adult, but not in a way that will go over people's heads. Scooby's lines in the thrilling climax are great and Sheriff Stone is hilarious in his stupidity. The mystery is atmospheric and fun and the mistaken identity is plausible, though whether Scooby was innocent or not was not in doubt. There is a very clever and ominous twist concerning a character that would become a regular and sets future events up intriguingly. The reveal is one of the show's most surprising, being one of the few where the perpetrator was not considered a suspect by me. The Shaggy and Velma subplot was handled well and for the first time Velma didn't annoy me.
All the gang are great, Scooby particularly, and Professor Pericles makes a major first impression. The voice acting is without issue too, Udo Kier is perfect casting and nobody does deadpan stupidity as hilariously well as Patrick Warburton.
Concluding, great, the first really great episode of the show. 9/10.
7 out of 7 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
