The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair

This one is leaps and bounds better than the Three Stooges opener! The mystery is fun, and the gang plays pretty well off Batman and Robin. More so than some of the other New Movies, the writers got a good two act structure working, and nailed a satisfying (if somewhat obvious) villain reveal at the end.

It's always funny in 2020 to see classic Batman TV content - it's so campy and colorful, and kind of wonderful! We get a few great, "Holy *insert thing*!" lines from Robin. I find the villains a little overly campy, but this is still a better Joker than Leto.

Sure, like the other New Movies, it's a little bloated (the haunted house and toy warehouse chase scenes both drag on a bit), and the very different aesthetic of classic Batman make it more a cross-over episode than a proper Scooby-Doo episode, but as always the gang are great, and in the end it was entertaining - what more can you ask for from a classic cartoon?

As a child, this reviewer did consider 'The New Scooby Doo Movies' as one of the better Scooby Doo shows. Still do think that, but also like it less than as a child because the problems are more noticeable, notably the guest stars and villains faring better than others.

The first episode of 'The New Scooby Doo Movies', "The Ghastly Ghost Town", was decent but it wasn't great and one of the first season's weaker episodes. "The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair" is a vast improvement, it is agreed that the supporting characters are put to much better use. Batman and Robin are very welcome support and their chemistry with the gang is enormously enjoyable.

Joker and The Penguin are excellent villains and far more memorable than the ones in "The Ghastly Ghost Town". The Hooded Man provides some creepiness, if slightly let down by the very obvious from the get go true identity of the perpetrator, my only real complaint of the episode actually.

Plotting and pacing are also much tighter, remaining strong narratively throughout the length. While it is a step down from 'Scooby Doo Where are You', the animation is better than in "The Ghastly Ghost Town", more inventive like with the rotating house (one of the highlights of the episode) and less crude.

The music is haunting and energetic, with a very catchy theme song if not as iconic as 'Scooby Doo Where are You's'. The writing is funny and endearingly silly, while the story combines humour, peril and atmosphere brilliantly. The gang are great, with Shaggy and Scooby's friendship still shining, and the voice acting is strong across the board.

Overall, a great episode, the first great one of the show. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972)

"The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair"

The second episode in the (then) new series has the Mystery Machine breaking down (for the second episode in a row) and the gang noticing a strange plane that has landed without any lights. They start to investigate a house in the middle of nowhere when they run into Batman and Robin who also noticed the plane. Soon everyone realizes that the Joker and Penguin are behind the events. This second episode is certainly a step up from the first one for a number of reasons. The biggest being the fact that the supporting characters are put to much better use here. Both the Joker and Penguin make for excellent villains and I thought the story used them extremely well. Another major plus is that there are several fun adventures throughout the running time. The highlight of the film has to be the rotating house that is constantly going around when Scooby and Shaggy find how it's done. I also thought the interaction between the gang and Batman/Robin was used for a lot of fun and especially during a sequence where the gang has to be blindfolded in order to go back to the Batcave.

Episode: B