Scooby-Doo: When The Mystery Machine's Journey Becomes an Inspiration For Your Life

In fact, I've never seen a dog talk like a human and I've never seen a dog that can open its mouth very wide just for the food it likes (this animal also looks very greedy). However, all of that is only in the Scooby-Doo cartoon movies. I watched this when I was a kid in the late 90s to 2000s to be exact. However, the film has started in 1969 and I think this is really a legendary work that has a lot of mystery ideas in it. In line with other 90s cartoons such as Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse, Dragon Ball & Doraemon, Scooby-Doo also had a long series that was liked by children at that time. Do you agree with my opinion? I think yes although many of you may forget or really don't know because maybe we are in a different era.

Scooby-Doo has accompanied my childhood both in the morning and evening (because I live in Indonesia, the hours of watching Scooby-Doo at that time often changed between morning and evening). So, I quite enjoy this series almost every day and almost never get bored because each mystery has a different storyline. Then, I have a serious question. Have they never caught ghosts or monsters that aren’t human? At the end of the mystery, all the monsters and ghosts that they get are still humans. In the end, I have the opinion that the actual theme of this cartoon series is crime wrapped in horror or mystery stories (correct me if I’m wrong).

Then, I think that what is shown in this Scooby-Doo cartoon isn’t just a joke, silliness and mystery excitement in every episode. Implicitly, they want to show you something more than you see.

I think that the group that owns “The Mystery Machine” car is trying to appear brave against their opponent. No matter what monsters or ghosts that they fight and no matter the powers and tricks of the monsters or ghosts that they face. They always appear not to be afraid and explore unsolved mysteries. Even though Shaggy and all his friends are scared & run when face to face with monsters, they don't give up and continue their efforts to solve the case.

The second lesson, solving the various mysteries that can be solved because of their strong friendship. To discover difficult mysteries, they usually split up. Usually, Fred would say "me and Daphne to point A, while Velma, Shaggy and Scooby to point B" which is an example like that. Then after splitting up, they finally found the mystery in their respective places. They will encounter situations where for example Velma, Shaggy and Scooby find zombies and are still trying to escape from them, while Fred and Daphne find a secret ladder that will lead to the key to the mystery they are looking for. In some situations that by accident, they will meet again in a certain room which leads to the final resolution of the mystery. Sometimes the situation is like that. However, that is what makes them unite to collect what they see and feel in their respective places. In the end, the strength of their friendship becomes a contribution to solving cases.

The third lesson is that they have confidence that comes from their strength and intelligence. They are all college students who have an interest in solving cases or mysteries. In some episodes, they study the book scientifically or in a bit of a certain method. For example, to open a secret room they have to crack certain language codes that are difficult for ordinary people to understand. Sometimes, they are trapped in the room because of the password that they speak. In some situations, when Shaggy and Scooby have to meet monsters, sometimes they can disguise themselves as chef, dancer, musician or other roles so that the monsters are quite confused because of their actions and at the end of the episode, they have a certain trick or tool to be able to trap the monster that they want so that the mystery is solved (although in some situations, the plans that they make don’t live up to expectations). But in the end, the monsters were caught. That's proof that they are quite confident and smart in dealing with things.

The last but not least, the last lesson from this cartoon is to teach you to not easily trust other people. At the beginning of my writing, I already asked an important question. Did they really catch ghosts or monsters? The reality is wrong. What they caught were mostly humans who became monsters or ghosts. The antagonist who becomes the monster has a different crime motive in each episode. For example, those who play the role of monsters have a motive to scare residents or mining workers because they want to take advantage of money or treasures from a very potential and strategic mining area in the region. The perpetrator isn’t far from the closest people to the victim, such as the father, son or friend of the victim. Even so, the squad from "The Mystery Machine" doesn't just believe in perpetrators who often disguise themselves as people who don't know anything or distort the real mystery. They keep digging from different points of view until they find the real culprit.

Actually, this cartoon theme was quite heavy for kids at that time. But, Warner Bros managed to package it well, so this cartoon can still be enjoyed quite casually. I think this is a cartoon that still deserves to exist in this era because they have a unique mystery story from one episode to another. I also give thanks to the TV stations in my country because they broadcast quite a lot of Scooby-Doo episodes in my childhood.

Image Credit :
1. Lead Image
2. Scooby-Doo | Instagram
3. Scooby-Doo | Instagram