'The New Scooby Doo Mysteries' to me is one of the more underrated Scooby Doo shows. Not one of the best ('Scooby Doo Where are You' and 'The Scooby Doo Show') and not one of the worst ('Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue'), but have always been fond of it warts and all. And it probably would be better known if it wasn't automatically dismissed because of Scrappy, to me he is actually tolerable in this show and is helpful in the mystery solving.
Of the single episode couplings (which were a mix of both being consistently good, one episode being significantly better than the others and neither doing anything for me), "Night of the Living Toys" and "South Pole Vault" possibly is the biggest divide. Though "Scoo-Be or Not Scoo-Be" and "Stoney Glare Stare" comes close. "Night of the Living Toys" is one of my favourite 'The New Scooby Doo Mysteries" episodes, whereas "South Pole Vault" is one of my least.
"Night of the Living Toys" (8/10)- The idea of the story sounded fun and any Scooby Doo episode to revolve around toys immediately grabs the attention (i.e. 'What's New Scooby Doo's' "Toy Scary Boo" being the finest example of this) and the episode does a very good job with it. The animation is colourful and the music never jars. The intro is affectionately 80s and clever. The toy store setting is made the most of and the toys seen brought me back to my childhood and my toys.
Shaggy and Scooby are funny in an endearingly goofy way and love their charming chemistry. The gang work really well as a team and the regular voice acting is great. The mystery is fun with some neat clues, how the thefts are done was a pretty ingenious method and the Elf King is a cool villain and easily the best voiced of the supporting characters. The climax is one of the show's better ones, loved the energy.
Only the over obvious identity of the perpetrator (though in all fairness few reveals of the show are particularly shocking) and the dodgy accents of the supporting characters aren't so good.
"South Pole Vault" (4/10)- Really do wish that the same could be said of this, meaning that this being on that episode's level. But that was not to be. It has its moments, the South Pole setting is beautiful and atmospheric in the animation and the scene stealing penguin is adorable and funny. Once the Mad Sea Lion appears he is suitably formidable in personality.
Voice acting from the regulars is fine. The music doesn't disappoint and neither does Shaggy and Scooby's chemistry.
Everything else does. The story is wafer thin and at best forgettable, with very little mystery and with only only enough content for like five minutes. It takes too long to get going and the Mad Sea Lion is introduced too late and is underused. The character animation is rather rushed looking, only the backgrounds and the look of the penguin aren't a problem. The dialogue isn't too great, Shaggy and Scooby's humour has been funnier in other episodes.
The ending is too rushed and the defeat far too easy and the supporting characters are too come and go. We barely see the prime suspect for instance. Most disappointing was the reveal, the perpetrator was not a surprise at all, and it contains the worst and most trivial motive of the entire show. Can't believe the perpetrator went through such an elaborate scheme for such a silly and they did it for that goal.
In conclusion, liked very much one episode, have never cared for the other. 6/10.
