"Homeward Hound" is most notable for introducing the Secret Six. They made three appearances, the others being "Farmed and Dangerous" and "Gold Paw". While loving two of their episodes and being mixed to relatively positive on one, the Secret Six were consistently great characters, they had irresistibly cute exteriors but they also had strong personalities that was evident in all three of their episodes. They had great chemistry with the gang too and added a lot to the mysteries (especially "Gold Paw").
They certainly shine here in "Homeward Hound", as well as their chemistry with Scooby, but it is a case of great characters being better than the overall episode itself. Of their three episodes, "Homeward Hound" was to me by far the weakest and the one that left me mixed to relatively positive. Not because of them, but because the story while not terrible could have been better and more consistently executed. A case of starting off well but running out of steam.
Most of the animation is beautifully detailed and there is a very nice variety of colours throughout. The genuinely menacing design for the cat creature is especially impressive. The music fits well still and nothing feels out of place or like it's intruding too much. The theme song is catchy and not grating, the chase is fun if not as imaginative as others in the show and the climax is well staged. The humour doesn't come over as forced or cheesy.
Furthermore, "Homeward Hound" does start off very intriguingly, with a genuinely sinister (if underused) cat creature and the adorable Secret Six. Who have great chemistry with Scooby. Loved the action on the river and that's where the episode is at its most memorable. The voice acting is all fine and the identity of the perpetrator was a shock on first viewing.
On the other hand, too much of the story is very thin (the second half especially which felt over-stretched) and surprises are very few other than the perpetrator's identity. Making it feel very predictable, not helped by that some of it feels derivative of other episodes with faint shades of for example 'Scooby Doo Where are You's' "Decoy for a Dognapper".
Did feel that most of the gang could have had more to do, with so much emphasis on Scooby and the Secret Six their contributions felt as forgettable as the episode itself. Only Shaggy in the second half registers. Occasionally the character designs are on the rushed looking side.
All in all, uneven and the weakest Season 2 episode but decent. 6/10.
They certainly shine here in "Homeward Hound", as well as their chemistry with Scooby, but it is a case of great characters being better than the overall episode itself. Of their three episodes, "Homeward Hound" was to me by far the weakest and the one that left me mixed to relatively positive. Not because of them, but because the story while not terrible could have been better and more consistently executed. A case of starting off well but running out of steam.
Most of the animation is beautifully detailed and there is a very nice variety of colours throughout. The genuinely menacing design for the cat creature is especially impressive. The music fits well still and nothing feels out of place or like it's intruding too much. The theme song is catchy and not grating, the chase is fun if not as imaginative as others in the show and the climax is well staged. The humour doesn't come over as forced or cheesy.
Furthermore, "Homeward Hound" does start off very intriguingly, with a genuinely sinister (if underused) cat creature and the adorable Secret Six. Who have great chemistry with Scooby. Loved the action on the river and that's where the episode is at its most memorable. The voice acting is all fine and the identity of the perpetrator was a shock on first viewing.
On the other hand, too much of the story is very thin (the second half especially which felt over-stretched) and surprises are very few other than the perpetrator's identity. Making it feel very predictable, not helped by that some of it feels derivative of other episodes with faint shades of for example 'Scooby Doo Where are You's' "Decoy for a Dognapper".
Did feel that most of the gang could have had more to do, with so much emphasis on Scooby and the Secret Six their contributions felt as forgettable as the episode itself. Only Shaggy in the second half registers. Occasionally the character designs are on the rushed looking side.
All in all, uneven and the weakest Season 2 episode but decent. 6/10.