Wednesday, October 20, 2021

The New Scooby-Doo! Mysteries: The Hand of Horror (1984)

 



One of the best The New Scooby-Doo! Mysteries cartoons.

The New Scooby-Doo! Mysteries was a very aptly titled show. Before this Scooby was starring in a series of TV shorts featuring just him Scrappy and Shaggy. These short were as far removed for mysteries as possible, and often would have nothing spooky in them. The New Scooby-Doo! Mysteries brought back both the mystery element and the spooky themes. As well as this it also brought Daphne back into the mix (Fred and Velma would appear in a few episodes as well but were not regular characters). This show also differed from the original series by having each episode made up of two cartoons rather than a half hour mystery.

The gang is lost and decides to go to an old house to ask for directions. A man who has just been fired warns them not to, because strange things are happening in there. Daphne and Scrappy decide that this sounds like a mystery and they should go in to investigate. While they are in there they find a strange disembodied hand that likes to play tricks on the gang and a couple of scientists who are acting very strange. 

This is a top notch Scooby cartoon and a pure delight. The scientist's house makes for a perfect Scooby-Doo! environment being appropriately creepy but in a lighthearted fun way. The humor of the hand playing tricks on Shaggy and Scooby are delightful and reminiscent of the best episodes of the original series. The running gag with pizza delivery man is also delightful. The storyline is well handled (pun intended) and the comic pacing is excellent. However the mystery is too easy to solve due to a lack of suspects. 

A delightful Scooby-Doo! cartoon.   

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