Review: Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery

Today is the 6th anniversary of Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery!! I have not seen this movie since it came out in 2015, on the 10th anniversary of the day my dad died. I remember walking through Walmart with tears in my eyes because that day, heck the whole month of July, was really hard for me. But I was determined to find the movie! (Oddly, I wasn't able to find my copy and I had to buy a new copy just so I could watch it again and write this review.) 

I have pretty much claimed that this is my least favorite movie, but I could not remember exactly why. It has been 6 years since I saw it, but I know that there was a reason...

Near the beginning of the movie, the gang are in the Mystery Machine dressed up like Kiss, all but Fred anyway. He wasn’t a fan of Kiss. The Ascot Five was more up his alley! It was kind of cool to see them dressed up and wearing the makeup. 

The cartoon intro of Kiss playing a show and the gang walking around aimlessly was kind of weird to see because the gang wasn't reacting to Kiss at all in the intro. They felt disconnected from each other. It was kind of weird.

Before I continue with the movie, let me just say that I like Kiss' music. I'm not a huge fan, but I have seen them in concert, and I enjoyed the show, with the exception of meeting Sebastian Bach from Skid Row at the show. It was at a time when they did half the show in makeup and the other half without. They were showy and larger than life in the makeup and without it they were laid back and played an acoustic set. It was kind of like night and day. 

Back to the movie…Can it be any more over the top? Confetti bombs every time Kiss enters and exits, the costume change sequence, their own theme park, the way they basically glow and the super powers that they had. Not to mention the huge guitar ship (which was also really cool) that came out of the ground when they started playing I Was Made For Lovin’ You and the Ferris Wheel being a portal to Kissteria. It was clear in this movie that Kiss (or at least Gene Simmons) have some huge egos!

I can get past the egos. I was enjoying the music and the over-the-top storyline, sort of. It was rubbing me the wrong way that Gene Simmons character, The Demon, was mean to the gang, especially Scooby and Shaggy. Pretty much as soon as they met, Gene Simmons told the gang that Kiss were the best mystery solvers, and the gang should scram. Simmons said to Scooby “Beat it mutt before you dent my armor” just because Scooby was trying to give him a hug for saving their lives.

There was a point when I thought that Gene Simmons was finally warming up to Scooby and Shaggy. He told them that the secret to breathing fire was swallowing your fears. Shaggy and Scooby ended up getting cornered by a statue that the Crimson Witch brought to life, and they thought about what Gene had said, and they swallowed their fears, and they were able to breathe fire and destroy the statue! It was their shining moment! Nothing could ruin this fo…no wait! Gene Simmons could ruin this for them, and he did! He showed up, gave them a thumbs up and he said, “well done, pathetic scum!” Let me type that again…Gene Simmons said to Shaggy and Scooby “WELL DONE, PATHETIC SCUM!” And that was the line that ruined this entire movie for me!

That line and the inappropriate flirting between Daphne and The Starchild had me not very thrilled about what I was watching. The gang are teenagers, Daphne being about 16 and a minor. At the time the movie was released Paul Stanley (The Starchild) was 63 years old. 63!!!! So we have a 16 year old and a 63 year old flirting throughout the whole movie, and no one thinks this is a problem? There was no outrage over this…but everyone practically lost their minds when Daphne was upset about being a size 8 in Frankencreepy. Daphne and The Starchild kissed at the end of this movie. Not just a little peck either. 

Yes, I am aware that this is a cartoon. However, I don’t think inappropriate relationships have any place in the Scoobyverse or in kids shows all together. We have talked a lot on the Scooby Panel about relationships within the gang and I have said that I don't like them at all. I felt like this crossed the line though. I can handle a Daphne/Fred relationship or Velma/Shaggy, but this Daphne/Starchild relationship creeped me out!

One other things annoyed me about this movie, though it was kind of funny at the same time. All the Kiss product ads! I know Gene Simmons will put the Kiss logo on just about anything to make money, so I got that it was a joke to put the ads all over, but it made me feel like I was watching a very long infomercial about Kiss products.  

My original assessment of the movie stands, and now I remember why I felt that way. I do tend to hold the unpopular opinion about this movie, and I’m ok with that. I just can’t allow anyone to call Scooby and Shaggy pathetic scum! Or have Daphne taken advantage of by a 63 year old man! These things go against everything I believe in! 

What did you think of the movie?

Getting a Little Personal...It Probably Won't Happen Again!

I don't usually post anything personal here, but I ate a fortune cookie today and I got this fortune and it made me think about how true it is.

"The small steps you take will ultimately bring you great fortune."

I have always been very shy and I don't typically put myself into the spotlight in any way, which is why I remained mostly anonymous for so long on my pages and why I didn't really do much with my YouTube channel. I've always felt like people won't care about what I have to say. Add in anxiety with talking to people I don't know or public speaking, and I have myself a recipe for holding myself back from doing the things I want to do. 

I have had so many ideas for so many years, Scooby Panel being one of them, that I kept saying how fun it would be or how cool it would be to do, but I'd always talk myself out of it. I'd tell myself that no one is going to care about my opinion or I'll never find people that would actually want to talk about Scooby-Doo with me. I even went as far as to write down a ton of topics that I'd want to discuss with people, thinking that I'd never really do anything with them. 

At the beginning of 2021, my husband convinced me that I should just start Scooby Panel, put myself out there, enjoy myself, and not worry about if anyone will care. So I reached out to a few Scooby friends (Wendy and Cameron) to see if they'd be interested in doing the panel, and they were super excited about it! As I reached out to other people, I was actually surprised how many of them were interested in doing the panel! 

I had thought all these years that the idea probably wouldn't go over too well and it would take me way out of my comfort zone, and here I am getting people excited about being on the panel. It was really fulfilling for me because I finally put myself out there and I didn't fall flat on my face. 

So how does the fortune from the cookie come in? The small steps I took - coming up with the idea, writing down topics, asking people in the Scooby community to be a part of it, actually recording episodes, and releasing those episodes - have brought me great joy and have helped me to be a bit more confident about my ideas. Plus, I have gotten to talk to some amazing people and even made some new friends in the Scooby community. 

Today, not only is Scooby Panel a YouTube web series, it's also available as a podcast on platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer, and more. And while I still get nervous before we record, I feel great that I have finally made my idea a reality! 

If you have ideas, work at making them a reality. If I can do it, so can you!

Click here --> To listen to Scooby Panel as a podcast

Click here --> To watch Scooby Panel on YouTube 

Click here --> To support Scooby Panel