Saturday, October 25, 2014

Toon Legends: Scooby-Doo vs. the Diabolical Disc Demon (1978)

It's been a while since we showcased Scooby-Doo, so why don't we take a trip back to 1978, when Mystery, Inc. (though not going by that appellation at the time) took on the case of "The Diabolical Disc Demon". As memory serves, the episode title card was edited off some syndicated prints, aside from this one.....

Edit, 9/17/23: Had to change the video. This copy has the opening & closing credits edited off.



Yes, the villain is modeled after KISS bassist/vocalist and later actor-reality show star Gene Simmons, whose costume predictably lent itself to be copied like this. KISS, it should be noted, made a live-action movie for Hanna-Barbera around the same time that you'd be hard pressed to find today.

Rating: B.

6 comments:

Scoobyfan1 said...

This was a fairly decent episode; some people believe by this point that the Scooby formula was wearing thin, but honestly there were still some decent ideas in 1978 as far as Scooby episodes go.

The good thing about a show or a franchise like Scooby Doo is you can reinvent the characters and plots every so often and it will still be watchable(although some of my ideas probably will never be made, like a second generation Mystery Inc. with the gang's kids or another group of kids, but I digress).

Other animated shows(coughcoughSimpsonscoughcough) meanwhile have run out of ideas years ago, but yet the shows still run because the producers still think they're profitable... or something like that.

hobbyfan said...

SDMI went in the opposite direction because Mitch Watson, despite the blessing of Joe Ruby & Ken Spears, screwed up. Period. You read my fan-fic that offered a better solution that wouldn't have taken as long to get to. Watson has since bombed out with Batman because of CN indifference, but that's another story.

How about what DC is doing? Scooby meets the Flintstones next month, and the Jetsons in January. Beyond that, who knows?

magicdog said...

I liked SDMI so I don't think Mitch Watson screwed up. I didn't agree with everything but it all paid off IMO.

Ruby & Spears said SDMI was far closer to what they originally wanted for SDWAY than what ultimately aired. That alone says a lot.

I saw Beware The Batman and it wasn't bad (although I'm biased about 3D animation) so Mitch Watson was screwed by CN management - as were the production teams behind Young Justice and Green Lantern. I don't think it was due to the material itself.

As for the episode, it was one of the better ones but you can't helo pbut roll your eyes at the Kiss - like villain guise. Kiss was everywhere then - and even as a kid I thought it was derivative.

BTW - I DID see the live action Kiss movie when it first aired - although I don't remember HB being behind it. When my friends and I watched it - we thought it was pretty cool. I'd have to see it again to really get a new perspective. Maybe that's why Gene et al haven't been too keen on releasing it.

hobbyfan said...

Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park has aired sporadically on cable over the years. I remember seeing it on a Sunday night one time when we still had the NBC affiliate out of Utica as a secondary station on the cable. Didn't see it all, but it was a little cheesier than you'd imagine anything involving KISS. Then, I later learned that Michael Bell dubbed over some of Peter Criss' lines. Pardon the pun, but I wonder why.

In re.: Beware the Batman. Yep, CN screwed the pooch, and Watson, by jettisoning it too early. Had Snyder been deep sixed then, maybe it's still running.

magicdog said...

Criss's lines were dubbed because he refused to go back to the studio for looping. Since he chose not to redub his lines, Bell was brought in. I found out through this behind the scenes video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoN1-Jjysk4

hobbyfan said...

I think I'd read something through a different source, detailing it exactly as you described. Hmmm, maybe I can find the movie on YouTube and post it this week.....