An excellent start to an excellent series.
This series was a bit of a return to the Scooby-Doo! of old. After facing real monsters, getting away from actual mysteries and working without Fred and Velma, this show returns to the classic style mysteries and getting the gang back together. Still this series focuses on the more cartoony and silly aspects of the franchise rather than mystery solving or scares. This is logical because it was developed by Tom Reuger who later helped create Tiny Tunes and Animaniacs and this series is very similar in tone to those shows.
This episode has everything that would make the series great. The animation is delightfully over the top and cartoony, clearly taking an inspiration from Bob Clampett and Tex Avery cartoons. This animation is very energetic and adds a lot to the humor. This is especially effective in the scenes involving the medium, Scooby getting caught in the printing press, Scooby's way of searching for clues, and a very good chase scene. The jokes are very clever, and do a great job of parodying the franchise while still being completely respectful to it. This episode even introduces the very good Red Herring running gag, plus Velma's ability to pull any bit of technology out of thin air. The reason Shaggy's bike was actually stolen is also a funny. The mystery, while being very simple is pretty clever with there being multiple suspects and a good reveal.
There are none of the common first episode missteps here, the show is instead fully formed from the onset.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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