Scooby-Doo Meets Batman
BY Ryan LaMarca / 2008-03-27
As a young child, I can vividly remember owning and watching the original "Scooby-Doo Meets Batman" VHS that was released oh so many years ago. It was and still is one of my all-time favorite Scooby-Doo episodes. The whole concept of teaming up Scooby-Doo and Batman, two of my favorite characters was just a dream come true. However, this is a product of its time, and it's safe to say we will never see something like this contrived ever again. Only in 1972 could one pair Scooby and Batman together, and I must say that I'm glad they did. This DVD release puts together two episodes from "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" both of which feature Batman and Robin as guest stars. These episodes are the first Hanna-Barbera appearance of the Dynamic Duo, preceding their induction into the Superfriends by one year. "Scooby-Doo Meets Batman" is also noteworthy for featuring the Joker and Penguin in their only Hanna-Barbera appearances before 1985's "Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians" as their rights were tied up with Filmation.
First up is the classic episode "The Caped Crusader Caper," in which Batman and Robin team-up with Scooby and the gang to investigate the disappearance of Professor Flakey, a scientist from Gotham City who has a new secret invention. Flakey has been kidnapped by the Dynamic Duo's arch-enemies the Joker and the Penguin, who want to steal the invention which turns out to be a flying suit (or as the dyslexic Flakey puts it: a sighing flute). The two villains decide to scare the kids off their trail by posing as spirit creatures like dryads and trolls, to a hilarious degree. Finally, Shaggy remembers having seen a hidden cave and leads the gang and the heroes to it, thus discovering Joker and Penguin's (or as Flakey says, Poker and Jenguin) lair. Hijinks ensue as the kids and Batman and Robin are chased around the underground cavern trying to find Flakey and stop the villains.
In the second episode, Scooby and the gang discover a mysterious airplane has landed near a small house in the middle of nowhere, and a large crate has been taken inside. They enter the house to investigate and meet up with Batman and Robin. There's one strange thing about the house that they notice: all of the furniture was nailed to the floor. The duo reveal that they are on the trail of counterfeiters. The gang examines the crate and learn that it holds a punching clown that is filled with phony money. How do they know? Batman puts it so well, "These bills have one fatal flaw, Robin. President Lincoln never wore a turtleneck sweater." They then meet the house's owner Mrs. Baker, a little old lady who doesn't seem to know about anything that is going on. After a wild goose chase to an old junkyard, Mystery Inc. and the Dynamic Duo return to the house and discover that the house and the Batmobile are both gone. They track the car to the Gotham City Amusement Park and learn that Joker and Penguin are behind all of this funny money and are operating out of a haunted fun house.
This is just classic "Scooby-Doo" at its best. Now, some people will say that these episodes and the entire series for that matter are stupid and a waste of time because of horrible stories and animation. They're wrong. You have to take these episodes at face value. They were made in 1972, at the time when Hanna-Barbera didn't have the best quality control and cared more about getting the shows out as fast as possible without worrying too much on quality. However, even to this date, these episodes are just so good. I never laugh that much during shows unless I find them truly funny, and there are a few laugh-out-loud moments for me in here. Whether it's Robin's "Holy this!" remarks or Batman's implausible explanations or Scooby and Shaggy's antics or even the Joker's poses, it's just funny. The Joker suffers the worst from the animation as it looks like he's suffering from lockjaw or catching flies multiple times when his mouth is wide open. The Penguin is also written very well, all with alliteration and repetition of sounds, mixed with the voice, he's perfect. And the Batman and Robin voices are also good, reflecting the earlier Filmation series and the later Superfriends episodes. Olan Soule plays a not too comedic, yet not too serious Batman and Casey Kasem, who also does Shaggy, plays the eager Robin.
The DVD presentation for "Scooby-Doo Meets Batman" is very good. The picture is crisp and the colors are vibrant, making these shows look better than they've ever been. What really peeved me was that they decided to cut out the opening theme song. That makes no sense whatsoever. There are plenty of bonus features, but about ninety percent of it is fluff. There's the "It's No Joke!" game, "Velma Dinkley" music video, Mystery Inc. Yearbook, Get the Picture: How to Draw Scooby-Doo, Get the Picture: How to Draw Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, "Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase" music video, and trailers for other Scooby-Doo DVDs. The only feature really worth watching is the Mystery Inc. Yearbook which features some interesting video tidbits from Joe Barbera. Other than that, just stick to the episodes.
Although these episodes are great, they are also included on the "Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies" box set. So, the decision is really on whether you would just want these episodes because you like the Batman characters, or if you just get the entire set, which features some fantastic Scooby episodes with lots of other guest stars. If you're unfamiliar with the series and don't want to put out the money for the big set, then you might want to sample it with this DVD, as these episodes are just so good.
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