- Oh, hey, how are you
doing your wonderful nerds, Scott here, you caught me
at just the right time. I was popping in some
Scooby snacks in the oven. And since we're already
talking about Scooby-Doo, I think that there is one thing that the entire franchise
has had a problem with throughout it's whole run, and that is that Scooby-Doo
is kind of formulaic. The gang drives up to a new town to learn about some new monster that's haunting or terrorizing the place. Mystery incorporated snaps into action, finding clues and unraveling
seemingly supernatural events, until they trap the creature
and unmask them to be some kind of greedy capitalists
who scaring people away so they can buy up the land
for cheaper steel treasures. - [Narrator] Stolen treasures. - It's a tried and true
recipe for mystery and fun. Personally, I really love the
formula of classic Scooby-Doo. The anxious, controlling part
of my brain genuinely enjoys that every episode is
incredibly predictable. It was Hanna-Barbera, the production company behind Scooby-Doo, they were the ones who
had a problem with this. In the past, they tried to
break up the Scoob franchise from its played out recipe to keep things from
getting a little too stale for their audience. The first outing to try
something radically different was the first episode
of the 1980 Richie Rich and Scooby-Doo show, "A Close Encounter With a Strange Kind." Shaggy is kidnapped by
aliens and it's up to Scooby and Scrappy to rescue him. There's no mystery, there's no unmasking. Real aliens show up, mess with
the Doo crew and then leave. That's it. Following this adventure,
more Scooby-Doo cartoons and movies came out that
continued to break up the classic, we've got a mystery on our hands, split up and search for clues formula of what the franchise was known for. But none of these did anything in a particularly satisfying way. At least not until. (thunder crashing) (ominous music) - [Narrator] There are monsters
who dwell in our nightmares. Creatures of unspeakable horror, plotting to destroy mankind. But in this world, there are warriors who have the courage
to confront this evil. (screaming loudly) Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. - Scooby-Doo Zombie Island is scary, more so than most of the Scoob library. It's filled with so
many terrifying moments that have scarred my childhood brain and even my adult brain. Why is Velma destroying
a perfectly good kitchen? - What are you doing to my kitchen? - Scariest thing of all. However, the most haunting
moment in this film that continues to stand
out to me is this one. - It's the gardener. - No. - It's the fisherman. - No. - It's the ferryman. - No. - Maybe it's real. - Now to be clear this moment
isn't the scariest thing from the movie and it's
far from the scariest thing to ever come out of Scooby-Doo. Eventually one day I
would like to do a video about the scariest episode
of the old cartoon shows so- - Remember to smash that subscribe button. - But what I love about this
moment from Zombie Island is that this one tiny scene,
this one little moment, successfully does with so much of the Scoob franchise up to that point, tried and failed miserably to do. This moment completely shatters
the monotony of Scooby-Doo and rejuvenated a franchise that had become incredibly stale. (bright music) Welcome back to binging
with Babish. Just kidding. Super quick announcement. We have NerdSync stickers
coming to the merch store, featuring homages to some of
your favorite NerdSync videos, including a very secret one
that I haven't finished yet, but I already know that
you're gonna love it. They were drawn up by Smashtoons
who absolutely crushed it. They are unbelievably cute. Go to nerdsyncstore.com
to pre-order yours now. Link in the description. (upbeat music) I know that the last time
I did one of these videos where I broke down a scene
in a movie that I liked, people in the comments picked on me for analyzing the entire film, instead of just the one scene. So armed with your
comments and your notes, we're gonna do the exact same thing. I'm incredibly predictable. So as I said at the start, Hanna-Barbera wanted to shake things up in the Scooby-Doo cartoon
franchise during the 1980s. There was some mild success
with weird offshoots, but quickly the series went back to its old mystery
solving formula in 1988, with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,
the best Scoob cartoon. But the franchise seemed to be
running out of Scooby snacks. It wasn't nearly as
popular as it once was, and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo ended in 1991. There were no plans for a
new Scooby-Doo cartoon series in the works. So for the first time, since his debut, 22 years earlier,
Scooby-Doo left television, but not for long. You see around this time,
Turner Broadcasting System was buying up all kinds of
cartoon production studios, amassing an enormous
library of animated content. And of the studios they purchased was, Hanna-Barbera productions. And then in 1992, Turner launched a brand
new television network that would serve as an outlet for all of the cartoons they acquired. - Hello folks, welcome
to the world's first and only Cartoon Network. - Cartoon Network played all
kinds of classic cartoons, but Scooby-Doo was played the most to a point where it irritated some viewers who just wanted to watch Tom
and Jerry or Looney Tunes or Andy Panda was that one they showed? I can't be bothered to check. The point is the reason
all episodes of Scooby-Doo were played almost constantly was because they attracted the highest interest from viewers. Thanks to Cartoon Network, Scooby Doo saw a massive
renewed popularity so much so that a few years later, heads of the network
suggested taking a chance and making the first
new Scooby-Doo Adventure in nearly a decade. - [Narrator] Coming fall 1998,
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. It's Scooby-Doo's first
feature length movie. Available only on video from Warner Brothers Family Entertainment. - It's clear from the trailers that Zombie Island was
meant to signal a new era for Scooby-Doo. The tagline of this film was this time, the monsters are real. - [Narrator] This time,
the monsters are real. This time, the monsters are real. - But Scooby-Doo has had
real monsters before, especially in the '80s with
13 Ghosts, Ghoul School, Boo Brothers, even a pup Named Scooby-Doo had some ghosties, but these monsters were cute and silly or even just annoying. Definitely not scary. In fact, I would argue that
even though the monsters in the original series were always fake, it was much more frightening
than the other shows that had real monsters. And then thanks to the
creepy background art and creature designs. The atmosphere alone in
classic Scooby-Doo was enough to send shivers down your
spine even if the threat was a hoax. Do yourself a favor and follow
Scooby_scapes on Instagram. It is a treat. One day I will make a video
about the art of Scooby-Doo, since NerdSync is rapidly becoming a dedicated Scooby-Doo channel. So once again- - Remember to smash that subscribe button. - My point is that on one
hand you have cartoons where the monsters aren't real, but the atmosphere is spooky. Then you have cartoons
where the monsters are real, but nothing is scary in the slightest. And then you've got Zombie Island, which serves as the creepy blend. The film is dripping with
actual fear and horror. The main setting takes
place on Moonscar Island, which is perfectly pleasant at day, but at night becomes a
dark and moody landscape with an ominous and ever present full moon washing over the cursed swamps, lanterns casting harsh shadows
through unsettling forests. Eerie arcane energy bringing forth ghosts and zombies and sinister demons. You like sinister
demons? Oh okay, oh okay. Sparta wanted to help this recipe. There's a pretty well-known
trend where studios try to mature a property that
was initially intended for children by making it dark and gritty for a modern audience. Zombie Island, for sure
does that to some extent, but note that no matter how
dark and stylized the film got, the writers still allowed the gang to stay true to themselves. The situation is dark and gritty, but the characters are not. Velma is still grounded
in science and logic and enjoys solving a good mystery. Fred is still sort of
the oblivious leader, obsessed with capturing the bad guys. Even if this time he's
capturing them on camera instead of nets and traps. Scooby and shaggy are
still lovable goofballs who do so many silly goofs and gaffs throughout the film that
would feel right at home on the old TV show. I'm going to put you down now. No, he likes talking about Scooby-Doo too. What I was saying was
instead of darkening the cast of characters, the film
intensifies the monsters that the gang faces down
as real, tangible threats, rather than men in masks or goofy ghouls. This subversion makes the Scooby-Doo gang all the more impressive that
they can hold their own, not just against crooks and thieves, but also against nearly
200 years worth of zombies and a pack of werecats. The only character who
changed a lot was Daphne. But honestly, it's for the better. Daphne changed from being a
clumsy damsel in distress, to a reporter and straight
up monster hunter, which is my favorite
interpretation of her. I think Daphne should compliment
Shaggy and Scooby's roles on the team where those two always believe the monsters
are real and run away from them in fear, Daphne believes the
monsters are real as well, but runs towards them in excitement. - I intend to find some real
haunted houses for my viewers. - That is her role on the
team, in my correct opinion. And it's through this lens
of Daphne that the film aims to critique and shatter the predictable, monotonous Scooby-Doo recipe. The film opens with the gang
capturing a typical monster in a medieval castle who turns out to be a greedy real estate agent who's counterfeiting
money in his basement, which raises a lot of questions. Is he counterfeiting money
in the castle's basement? If that's his crime,
than why is it relevant that he's a real estate agent? Is the castle for sale? Is he printing money in the
castle to buy the castle so he can print more money
to buy other castles? Obviously, it doesn't have to make sense, it's just supposed to
showcase a very typical, tropey Scooby-Doo episode. The kind of episode that is
so formulaic and predictable that even one of the gang's own members get so bored with it, that she quit. - The real reason I changed jobs was because the monsters
and ghosts always turned out to be bad guys in a mask. - Got a little boring, eh?. - No kidding. - Daphne wants more than anything to hunt down real monsters
that she's convinced are out there in the world somewhere. The gang reunites to
help Daph with her goal, but all they find are more
people in masks, same as before, and were treated to a montage that gives us the exact same thing that the opening scene did. Just more people in costumes
pretending to be ghosts, hammering home just how repetitive the classic Scooby-Doo outing really is. That even when we think we're
gonna see something new, it's just the same thing we
saw earlier in the same film. Even the song that's
playing during this montage has lyrics to remind you
that this is the same thing that has always happened in Scooby-Doo and the same thing that will
always happen in Scooby-Doo. I wanted to play the song right now to kind of demonstrate my
point, also because it rules, but would you believe that I
got like eight copyright claims on this video already? And if you really haven't soaked
it in yet, Daphne laments. - Bad guys in masks,
mechanical claws, magnets. - Just like the good old days. - Too much like the good old days. - It is a stale recipe. But as fate would have it, the gang is invited to an
eerie island that is famous for mysterious disappearances
and ghostly activity. Now I love this choice of a setting. Putting the gang on a secluded island, makes the film feel
intensely claustrophobic. The gang can't simply pack
into the mystery machine and take off when things get too hairy and the only way on and off
the island is by way of a ferry that's driven by someone who
isn't entirely trustworthy. So there truly is no
escape. It's terrifying. Daphne is hopeful that
this is the real deal but Fred and Velma are ruining the fun. - It's just guys in masks
and they're probably after the pirates treasure. - Or covering up a smuggling operation. - For once, can't you accept
that maybe are some mysteries that have no rational explanation? - Very quickly Shaggy and
Scooby discover real ghosts, that reanimate real corpses
that bring to life real zombies. The duo screams in terror for help and what follows is my
absolute favorite sequence from this entire film. Daphne, Fred and Velma go
searching for Shaggy and Scooby through the dark, moonlit swamps. There's overly dramatic
lighting and angles and character choices
that play up the tension as the gang struggles to
understand what's really going on. Suddenly, Daphne is
confronted with a zombie, but facing down ghouls is old hat to her. At this point, Daphne has lost hope that monsters could be real and she instinctively tries to unmask it. But there's a problem, the zombie's mask isn't prying off. Unconvinced, Fred gives it a go, desperately trying to maintain status quo, clinging to the classic Scooby-Doo recipe. It's just a phony, cheesy mask, just like every other
villain they faced before. He starts listing suspects
who we as the audience might also think is behind the
clearly fake monster attack. But- - Maybe it's real. - [Scott] Okay, so it's not a mask, but clearly the zombie
must be animatronic, right? But then dozens of these
horrifying creatures show up. - And I suppose they're
all animatronics too. - It is a possibility Daph. - Fred can't bring himself to acknowledge that these monsters could
be the genuine thing. There's a formula, there's a recipe. We stick to this recipe that
we've known our whole lives. If we deviate from it, then I
don't know what I'm gonna do and that's terrifying. This is the moment that
flips the entire franchise on its head. The moment that shatters the
beloved Scooby-Doo formula, and they knew it. The marketing of this movie put this scene in nearly every teaser and trailer, because they knew that this was the twist that was gonna get people hooked. But when I was a kid, I
didn't watch the trailers. I didn't know that monsters
were gonna be real. I thought I was gonna feast upon some familiar comfort food, but they changed the recipe on me. Of course, nowadays, I don't hate it. I actually think it's a work of genius. Even the chase scene that
follows is kind of a critique and inversion of classic
Scooby-Doo chase sequences. So sometimes the monsters
would do something silly in the chase sequence that would kind of undermine
their spookiness, for comedy. - Thanks. - [Monster] You're welcome. - But again, these zombies
are not supposed to be silly. All of the monsters are supposed to be genuinely spooky and unsettling. However, one zombie does do something that seems a little silly. So Shaggy is trying to save
Scooby from some quick sand and reaches out for a vine, but surprise that vine is a
snake and Shaggy gets spooked, but a zombie behind shaggy
politely hands him an actual vine to swing from so he can rescue Scoob. It's played as a joke,
haha, the absurdity, the monster helping the
people they're chasing. How delightfully funny. But this isn't just a
comedic beat for the zombie. It fits into the narrative
because you find out later that the zombies are the good guys. Well they're still comprised
of confederate soldiers and what appear to be members of the mafia and worst of all tourists. So I wouldn't call them
good guys necessarily, but they are genuinely trying
to help the gang survive and escape the island so they can get away from the actual villains of the film. Of course they would help
shaggy rescue Scooby. It's a joke the first time you watch it and a clue the second time you watch it and are savvy to the plot. It's brilliant. The real evil forces of course
are the cursed cat demons who have allured to people
to their Island for centuries to drain them of their life
energy with a magic ritual so they can maintain their immortality. They capture Daphne, Fred and
Velma by making voodoo dolls to restrain them, but they don't bother making
any for Scooby and Shaggy because they think the
both of them are dunces and would be easy enough to capture later, making voodoo dolls
for those two would be- - A waste of time and magic wax. - Which is quite possibly my
favorite sentence ever spoken. But just look at this,
first ghosts then zombies, then demons and curses and archaic rituals and magic wax, Zombie
Island doesn't just say that one type of monster or
supernatural element is real, the film pulls no punches saying all of this stuff is real. But that's not what makes
this moment so scary. The horror doesn't come from monsters and magic being proven true, the horror comes from the breaking of the classic Scooby-Doo rhythm. When the gang faces something
they've never faced before and don't know what to do about it. This is unknown territory for them. And if by the end of the film, the gang truly accepts the
breaking of their recipe and these new facets of the
world that have been shown to them on this one tiny island, imagine what else is out there. And that's kind of a scary thought. Facing the unknown is something
that gives me a lot of fear and anxiety and that's
why familiar patterns and formulas are so appealing to me. I wasn't kidding at the
start when I said that that's why I love watching
classic Scooby-Doo. The predictability is comforting, but Zombie Island intentionally aims to disrupt your comfort level
with the Scooby-Doo franchise. It keeps enough of the elements
untouched to lure you in while adding a pinch of something fresh and new to the recipe. Perfect, perfect. It's just like these homemade
Scooby snacks I baked for our local dog shelter. I've been making these for a while now and while the dogs still
love them every time, I decided, you know, it's
time to spice things up, try new recipes. So this one has a little
jalapeno kick to it. This is a little sharp cheddar action. This one has chocolate chips in it. Wait, these are for dogs. Oh no, I already sent a box. - Remember to smash that subscribe button. - Thank you to my patrons. I would say all of their names, but that would be a waste
of time and magic wax. But I do at least have to thank Christopher Lange, Lori
Thames, Jonathan Lonowski, Everett Parrots, Anneli, Amanda
Trisdale, Havelock Smiggles, Penguin, Itzcuintli, Eric
Tortora Pato, so&so King, Nils Nicolai, Blueberry, Adam Barber, Benjamin Acosta, and the rest of the wonderful
nerds who support me over at patrion.com/nerdsync. We actually hit the 450 patrons goal that would make me do a 30
minute video about Bob Ross, which spoilers will end up
being much longer than that. But we actually kind of dipped
under that accidentally. So if you wanna be a patron
and help push us back to that 450 goal, that would be amazing. Patrion.com/nerdsync. Is it disgusting to watch me eat? Bet it is. If you're interested in
watching me talk more about Scooby- Doo, watch
this video right here where I thematically break
down the entire franchise. As always my name is Scott, reminding you to read
between the mysteries and grow smarter through Scooby-Doo. Oh, and don't forget about the stickers. - [Lady] Yeah, the stickers - The stickers were good. See ya.
