Absolutely agree that "Wednesday is Missing" is the best of the series up to this point and is also one of the highlight episodes. Also thoroughly enjoyed "The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair" but was disappointed in "The Ghastly Ghost Town".
What immediately stood out was how well The Addams Family were incorporated, some of the best use of guest stars of the series. Lurch is particularly delightful here, but who cannot help love the corny but hilarious dialogue and one-liners between Gomez and Morticia. Also loved Uncle Fester and Pugsley, Jodie Foster was an unusual choice for Pugsley but was surprisingly good here. Liked Wednesday too, though would have loved to have seen more of her.
The animation is less than brilliant admittedly (a common problem with the series, though generally 'The New Scooby Doo Movies' is one of the better Scooby Doo incarnations, warts and all), there are some very nice colours and backgrounds and the swamp setting and the house are very atmospherically depicted but some of the drawing is crude and lacking in smoothness and some of the character designs are sketchy and flat. The music is haunting and energetic, and the theme tune catchy.
Regarding the writing, Shaggy and Scooby still shine in their endearingly goofy humour and The Addams Family match them perfectly. The gang's dynamic is more than convincing, and as said The Addams Family are by far one of the better incorporated and more interesting guest stars of the series (in a series where some guest stars, and villains, were better than others). The villains and their deceptive tricks are sparingly used, but that worked in the episode's favour.
Voice acting is very good, Frank Welker, Heather North, Nicole Jaffe and especially Don Messick and Casey Kasem (without equal as Scooby and Shaggy) are still going strong, and it was a genius move to have John Astin, Carolynn Jones and Jackie Coogan (the original Gomez, Morticia and Uncle Fester, their most iconic roles and roles they were born to play) voice the roles they were famous for.
In conclusion, one of the best of the series despite the less than brilliant animation quality at times. 9/10 Bethany Cox
What immediately stood out was how well The Addams Family were incorporated, some of the best use of guest stars of the series. Lurch is particularly delightful here, but who cannot help love the corny but hilarious dialogue and one-liners between Gomez and Morticia. Also loved Uncle Fester and Pugsley, Jodie Foster was an unusual choice for Pugsley but was surprisingly good here. Liked Wednesday too, though would have loved to have seen more of her.
The animation is less than brilliant admittedly (a common problem with the series, though generally 'The New Scooby Doo Movies' is one of the better Scooby Doo incarnations, warts and all), there are some very nice colours and backgrounds and the swamp setting and the house are very atmospherically depicted but some of the drawing is crude and lacking in smoothness and some of the character designs are sketchy and flat. The music is haunting and energetic, and the theme tune catchy.
Regarding the writing, Shaggy and Scooby still shine in their endearingly goofy humour and The Addams Family match them perfectly. The gang's dynamic is more than convincing, and as said The Addams Family are by far one of the better incorporated and more interesting guest stars of the series (in a series where some guest stars, and villains, were better than others). The villains and their deceptive tricks are sparingly used, but that worked in the episode's favour.
Voice acting is very good, Frank Welker, Heather North, Nicole Jaffe and especially Don Messick and Casey Kasem (without equal as Scooby and Shaggy) are still going strong, and it was a genius move to have John Astin, Carolynn Jones and Jackie Coogan (the original Gomez, Morticia and Uncle Fester, their most iconic roles and roles they were born to play) voice the roles they were famous for.
In conclusion, one of the best of the series despite the less than brilliant animation quality at times. 9/10 Bethany Cox