Scooby-Doo: Abracadabra Doo (2010) - 3.5/4

You can find some real gems in the strange world of straight-to-video cartoons. Take this new Scooby-Doo adventure, for instance. It's inventive, funny, and has some great locations and interesting faces--this is just what cartoons should be. Most kids don't want sweeping, theme-laden Disney epics for brisk entertainment: it's just too exhausting with its drama, music, and character development. Abracadabra Doo has the immediate-gratification and inventive powers of a Tex Avery cartoon along with its fun mystery story. Both kids and adults can appreciate that.

The story concerns Velma's younger, cuter sister, Madelyn. She's studying at a magic school. Now before ol' Hagrid pulls the Harry Potter bells in your head, this is genuine magic, as in conjuring, with David Copperfield. Even the owner of the school, Whirlin' Merlin, sports tight black pants, a flowy shirt, and long blond hair: he's ready for a magic act 24/7, as is his sexy assistant. Anyhow, a griffin has been terrorizing the school and scaring everybody away, so Mystery Inc. shows up in their mighty van to look for clues. Always looking for "clues", those guys. You don't hear much about 'clues' in real detective work anymore; I don't recall the word 'clue' ever being used in an episode of CSI. But I'm getting off track. At the same time the griffin is attacking, an icecream tycoon, Calvin the Cone King, is trying to buy the beleaguered castle from Merlin. The gang have to investigate the history of the castle to find out just where the griffin is coming from and why.

There is an entertaining cast of characters here. Of course the mystery gang is always entertaining. Frank Welker is great voicing Scooby and Fred, and Matthew Lillard does Shaggy himself. They're all on form here: it feels like the same gang I grew up watching, possibly even better. As to the supporting characters, Merlin is always pulling doves out of the unlikeliest places and appearing in vaguely sexy magician poses. His brother Marlin is Brian Posehn, in character design and voice. Sadly they don't let him do any of his jokes about the taste of semen. Instead he invents machinery to do better magic tricks. There's a very butch maid. A creepy groundskeeper always wielding that menacing pitchfork. The snooty ice cream guy always trying to make his real estate deal. They're all kinda suspicious and all amusing to see on screen, especially given Shaggy's and Scooby's reactions to them.

The jokes work for either adults or children. The animators and the writers are always finding interesting ways to exploit the setting, the situation and the characters for a few laughs. Some of the comedy seems to come down to an amusing phrase, like, "Won't somebody dab up this dairy?" I'm not sure why, but the alliteration of the sentence and the way it's delivered is quite funny. It's not even a punchline. There are also jokes using GPS and iPhones. It's a modern world. It should keep the whole family entertained, at any rate.

As to the scares, looming old towers in misty lakes with fierce griffins and screeching banshees set the spooky tone. For adults, this is fun and makes for great atmosphere. For children, this might offer some suspense and mild scares. Possibly it'll work as both a scary movie and a comedy for the kids, which is just what Scooby Doo stories are supposed to do. As an adult, I liked Abracadabra Doo very much; as a kid, I would have loved it.

The Batman vs. Dracula (2005) - 3/4

Two icons, both creatures of the night, black-cloaked and sharing the bat motif are pitted against one another: The Batman vs. Dracula, a concept so cool it can make a nerd ejaculate on the spot. And the realization of that concept? A work of art.

The film begins with a sort of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly moment: The Penguin and the Joker, both locked up in Arkham Asylum, both become privy to a hoard of cash hidden in Gotham Cemetery. Searching for the stash, in an homage to Black Sunday, Penguin cuts his hand and bleeds directly into Dracula's sepulcher. Dracula is now set loose in Gotham and has plans: he plans to make the ever-gloomy city into a city of the undead with which to take over the world. He also takes a keen interest in Batman, whom he sees as having borrowed his image and thus his child in spirit. As more people begin disappearing, Batman and Alfred rig up some hightech vampire-fighting equipment in preparation for the big showdown. (I say 'fighting' and not 'slaying,' because, like in Near Dark, vampires can be cured in this film.) There's also a subplot about Bruce Wayne's difficulties with maintaining the romance between he and Vicki Vale. Do you suppose she'll end up in Dracula's clutches?

The influence of Dracula's image on Batman is arguable but the similarities are undeniable and Dracula came first. This film is, so to speak, Batman's 'anxiety of influence,' his struggle to surmount the influence of that other great Gothic figure. Dracula is more powerful than Batman, and Dracula also implies that Batman is merely a cheap copy. Of course, Batman is a good guy. But that doesn't stop the confused Gotham S.W.A.T. team from shooting at Batman without any real evidence. All of Gotham seems to go mad during Dracula's reign of terror; even the Joker falls under Dracula's spell. Batman is at risk of losing not just his city, but his identity and his soul to Dracula.

When you watch a film called "The Batman vs. Dracula", you're not really expecting or really desiring the build up of emotional and psychological depth. The motivations of the characters don't even have to be delved into, because these are legends, archetypes: The Batman is the crusader of justice and Dracula is the incarnation of evil. Dracula is an evil bastard and Batman has to stop him: simple as that. What you are expecting are great scenes and visuals; oh boy do you get it. Every frame from this film could be printed out and hung on your living room wall. It is one gorgeous, expressionistic art deco painting after another. Being animation, the universe is much more plastic: the director is free to create stunning and inventive visuals without worrying about his camera getting in the shot or requiring a set or lighting. The blood bank scene in particular stands out for creepy visuals, with the vampire crawling across the high, distant ceiling as Batman looks around. Dracula meeting Bruce Wayne at a party, the fight with Dracula on the moonlit highrises: these scenes are pure art in motion.

The Batman voice and character design are spot on. As a person, though, this Batman is very much a pure do-gooder. He grieves when he believes Joker to be dead. He won't stake a vampire, since he can cure them. The characterization is, as such, a bit bland. Bruce Wayne is more of the same. Although he has a sense of loneliness, I thought, given the subject matter, the film missed an opportunity to draw some comparisons. Both Batman and Dracula are rather lonely figures, for instance. But this film is more dedicated to the action. Dracula's voice is exactly what one would expect and his image is more like the Castlevania image or the Vampire Hunter D image than any of the movie incarnations. The only voice that's a little odd is Joker's; it's just too deep. However, his character design is fascinating. Long hair and hunched like an ape, this Joker is a pretty creepy guy even with Dracula around.

Being animation, the film is probably aimed at a younger audience. As such, it's peppered with one-liners, some of which are humorous in an odd way. Most of them come from Joker and Penguin. My favourite is when Dracula discovers a solar powered machine, he expresses his amazement; but I won't ruin the line. On that tenor, there's even a cameo by Sloth from The Goonies. He's playing bingo in Arkham.

The simple plot and its predictable, action-dedicated plot make it not a very deep film, but a good and very entertaining film that is better than many of the Batman live-action films out there. It could have been more in the right hands, but it's quite good as it is. Moreover, while not particularly scary, it has its moments and enough Gothic visuals to make a dozen Hammer films. Plus, it's Batman battling an army of the undead lead by Dracula!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/4149639476_6976fd6fc5_o.jpg - The anxiety of influence?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2755/4148879911_706ee9bd59_o.jpg - Who rules the night?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2723/4148879895_7512a8ebca_o.jpg - Loneliness
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2507/4148879871_8a9f3e8353_o.jpg - Penguin, Penguin, if you watched Bava you'd know better.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2577/4148879853_630ea58bed_o.jpg - ARGH!


3/4

Two Animated Shorts

REVIEWS:
Who Killed Who? (1943)

With more visual inventiveness in under eight minutes than any David Lynch or Lucio Fulci picture has in an hour, all of Tex Avery's shorts are fantastic.

While ostensibly a murder mystery, Who Killed Who? plays as an old dark house picture. We begin with a long, slow pan into a window above the mansion's front door, all the while archetypal horror sound effects are played non-stop--gee, what's going on in there? Nothing. But it's spooky, isn't it?

As the detective arrives to solve the murder of the man we first find sitting a chair labeled 'Victim,' skeletons, ghosts, suspicious servants, and a hooded murderer pop out of the woodwork.

Oh yeah, and it's even got some cheesecake for the guys. Great fun. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U89qW4-ht7w


Bold King Cole (1936)

Felix the Cat is too darned happy, so nature conspires to throw a thunderstorm at him in the midst of his banjo solo. Well, the only refuge for poor Felix is an old castle across the gorge, where dwelleth King Cole.

King Cole is a pear-shaped coward, but he boasts a lot. Enter Felix. Cole begins boasting to Felix in the hall of paintings, where the ghosts of previous kings--all with working-class Bostonian accents, oddly enough--conspire to teach the old windbag a lesson. And holy **** do they ever!

This little short actually traumatized its fair share of children when originally shown, or when placed on budget VHS cartoon compilations.

Now it's disturbing a brand new audience on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isbzfRh4za8

Check it out, enjoy the terrific score, and the general playfulness with image and sound--especially sound.

FACTS:
Who Killed Who?
Director - Tex Avery
Voices - Tex Avery, Billy Bletcher
1943
8 min

Bold King Cole
Director - Burt Gillett
Voices - ?
1936
8 min

WHERE TO GET THEM:
On Youtube.
Who Killed Who? is also a special feature on the DVD for Presenting Lily Mars.

TIDBITS:
In Hellraiser: Deader, a character is seen watching Bold King Cole.
Who Killed Who? is featured in Twelve Monkeys.