Sunday, October 15, 2023

The Scooby-Doo! Show: A Menace in Venice (1978)

 



An excellent episode. 

In this episode our friends go to Venice to visit their friend Antonio in Italy. However the Ghostly Gondolier is haunting their friend and trying to steal an ancient necklace that he wears. 

This episode is so much fun. There is a great sense of atmosphere throughout. This is especially true of the outdoor scenes which do a wonderful job with the lighting and use of fog. While there have been plenty of Scooby mysteries that took place outdoors and, in the fog, this episode really stands out because it is done so well and because the Italian setting adds a lot. The background art in this episode is once again wonderful and simply a joy to look at. This episode also benefits from a great villain. While he may not be the creepiest Scooby villain, he has a great design and a wonderful voice, both of which make him so much fun to watch. The fact that he kidnaps Daphne adds a great sense of suspense to the story and makes this episode feel like it has larger stakes than the average Scooby-Doo mystery. Though this episode may not be as reliant on the slapstick gags with Scooby and Shaggy as many others, around this time period, the slapstick gags with the two we do get are quite good and a lot of fun. 

This is truly a great episode and one that I think deserves more attention than it gets. 

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