Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
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D E PA R T M E N T 41 KEYFRAME SPRING 2020 41 we were working on," he says. "We had to go inside the Mystery Machine, and I was told, 'You gotta design it.' This had never been done in the original series, so we had to do it from scratch. That was a lot of fun." "I think it's the chemistry and the relationships of the characters, because they really care for each other. There's nothing snarky or undercutting in their personalities," says Bachand of Scooby's enduring appeal. "They're very genuine toward each other. I think a lot of people just long for that. To be talked to and treated in that caring manner." Hiing the Big Scrn Fifty years after his television birth, Scooby-Doo will finally hit the big screen as an animated feature film, Scoob! This first-of-its-kind project is being helmed by director Tony Cervone, who honed his Scooby skills as Supervising Producer on Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and producer/director on several Scooby-Doo Direct-to-TV movies. Unlike many others who arrived eagerly in the world of Scooby-Doo, Cervone was a reluctant convert. He was a Looney Tunes stalwart when former Cartoon Network VP Sam Register came to him and asked, "Do you want to do a Scooby-Doo thing?" Cervone's immediate response: "No, I don't do Scooby-Doo, I do Looney Tunes stuff." Sam said, 'That's crazy because it's everything you love. You gotta do it, just do one.' That was a decade ago." Cervone still works on Looney Tunes projects, but as he explains, "They're very different in terms of the spirit behind them. I love the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes stuff and I love the Hanna-Barbera stuff. The difference is, the Hanna-Barbera stuff is much more personal. I can't separate myself from the people who created it, and because it is more personal, I do kind of treat it a little differently." In taking Scooby and the gang to the big screen, Cervone says, "The biggest challenge is being true to who the original characters are and keeping their DNA fully intact, but also doing something new and original with it because we can't always do the same thing over and over again. We love these characters, and we want to honor them. And we love the people who made these characters. I don't want to disappoint them." Going a step further, Cervone and his team have peppered the movie with small tributes, and Scooby fans in-the-know should keep their eye out for Easter eggs like a bowling alley called Takamoto Bowl, after Iwao Takamoto. Scoob! will be a complete origins story— another first for Scooby and the gang. It will also benefit from the production schedule and technology of feature quality animation. At the same time, Cervone intends "to keep the core the same. For me the most important thing with Scooby- Doo is the friendship within the gang, especially with Scooby and Shaggy. That's the fire that keeps things burning. I love the mysteries, and I love the monsters, but without feeling the Scooby and Shagginess of it, it falls flat to me. Those guys are the best example we can make of the power of friendship. We get changes thrown at us throughout our whole lives, but some friendships can withstand any change that happens. That's the kind of friendship Scooby and Shaggy have." A Coective Respect Rare is the person who worked on Scooby-Doo who didn't cross paths with storyboard and layout artist Jerry Eisenberg, a member of the original team that, along with Iwao Takamoto, developed Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? While Iwao is the famed creative force behind Scooby, Eisenberg remembers helping design Shaggy because "I was doing characters with extra-long necks once in a while." Eisenberg was busy supervising layouts on other cartoons when Scooby went into production, but his memories capture how this longstanding favorite was a result of more than just the work done by those listed on the shows' IMDB pages. "Back then we could interface with the writers, the background painters, whoever. Joe [Barbera] was always available. I miss the camaraderie and teamwork we had for many years, working in such close proximity." Eisenberg brought his expertise to numerous Scooby-Doo TV episodes and DTV movies in the 2000s, and he is universally praised by those who have worked with him. Although the way in which animation departments operate may not be as intimate anymore, the spirit Eisenberg describes lives on through a legacy of collective respect and care for Scooby and the gang. "The biggest challenge is being true to who the original characters are and keeping their DNA fully intact, but also doing something new and original with it." – TONY CERVONE Left: Courtesy of Warner Bros.