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Lights! Camera! Minigolf! (Part 2 - Scooby Doo)
06 Apr 2020 at 12:22 | Published by: PatPenguin | Views: 22642 | News search
Shaggy overcoming his fears thanks to minigolf (Photo by Netflix.com (Warner Bros.))
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Welcome back to our series looking at how miniature golf has been portrayed in various visual media throughout the years, be it television or movies. In our first article we looked at the classic episode of The Simpsons "Dead Putting Society". In this article we're turning our attention to another long-running, beloved classic - Scooby Doo! In a more recent update called "What's New, Scooby Doo?" episode 7 of season 3 is entitled A Terrifying Round with a Metallic Clown and takes place completely on a miniature golf course (though it's called Putt Putt - more on that down below).
The premise of the episode is simple. A metallic clown from the 18th hole, a very common sight especially at Monster Minigolf, is terrorizing the Putt Putt Paradise miniature golf course. The conceit to get the gang on the course and solving the mystery is an interesting one - Shaggy is an international putt putt champion!
The episode starts with something that some of us might have experienced before, getting the "free game" hole correct but not having a buzzer go off, or ticket come out. This leads a young man back to the course after house to extract revenge on the 18th hole clown (because of course it's a clown) but ends up having the clown not only take his ball but also him!
Cut to an announcer talking about the International Putt Putt championship at "Putt Putt Paradise" which he then goes on to say is the "biggest mini-golf course in the world." This naturally is our first nit that we'll pick but it's a big one, though not uncommon for most of the United States. Putt Putt, as most of you know, is actually a registered trademark and a certain type of mini-golf. This course most certainly is not Putt Putt (though it is designed to get a lot of aces). In addition there is no "International Putt Putt championship" though the PPA national championships can have an international flair since it is open to folks from other countries should they meet all the requirements.
Of course we then move directly into another bit of a cringe inducing moment for us minigolfers as Daphne talks about "golf being a graceful sport". Not that we want to completely disassociate ourselves from golf but a lot of time we are talking about how miniature golf is a distinct sport from "big" golf and this doesn't help that discussion. (Personal side note, I particularly enjoy Velma's pitch for hockey over golf, as hockey is my favorite sport after minigolf).
It's shortly after this that we get the reveal that Norville Rogers aka "Shaggy" is actually the reigning champion and an international "mini-golf icon." This seems like something that might not be far from reality - a champion minigolfer known best by their nickname and someone who certainly would seem to be known by all in the putting community, especially given his more classic "golf" outfit and the fact that Scooby-Doo is his "caddie." He's pitted against a young, up and coming blonde girl Miranda (shades of Olivia Prokopova, but Olivia is much nicer!) and a celebrity golfer with the fun homage name of Cougar Forest (we'll let you work out the reference). We also meet the groundskeeper who has a Caddyshack sense of style but a much more difficult personality.
The episode then turns into a classic montage of the tournament where you can't really figure out the scores, people are playing holes in crazy manners and there's far too many full swings and airborne golf balls for minigolf (even for concrete courses). We also find out about Velma's convenient fear of clowns and that playing minigolf turns Shaggy from his normal fear-of-everything-spooky self into a focused competitor (a theme that will then run throughout the rest of the episode). Might also be something many of us are familiar with, that sense of determination when on the tee blocking out all of life's other distractions. The first act ends with the clown making its appearance during the tournament.
The second act is mostly the regular clue hunting by the gang. We find out the groundskeeper is the Mayor's (who is also the tournament official) son with high minigolf aspirations including being an official spokesperson for windmills. After a normal gang-getting-chased-by-the-monster montage we also find out that he has a beef with Shaggy for beating him at a tournament and making him lose his "edge". The third act also has very little minigolf golf save for Shaggy trying to trigger one of Fred's trap with a shot.
The gang, naturally, solves the mystery (with Velma returning to form after getting over her clown fear for a bit), finding out that it's the Mayor who devised the clown contraption to break up the tournament and discourage his son for going on tour. However, the Mayor comes around and admits that "playing mini-golf is a noble endeavor" which we would all agree it is. Naturally Shaggy ends up retaining his title, finishing up on a new 18th hole that has a mechanical Scooby in place of the clown.
Other than the few points previously mentioned about the naming and tournament there's not a lot of other minigolf action to breakdown. While extreme, many of the holes on the course are classic obstacles - pirate ship, haunted house, pyramid, castle, windmill - so it plays right into many people's vision of what miniature golf is. It doesn't do much to promote the seriousness of a miniature golf tournament but it also doesn't make it seem too cartoonish (it's borderline - but the fact that it's in a comedic animation show to begin with actually tempers the impact). Overall it's worth a fun watch, especially if you are a fan of classic Scooby Doo.
Keep your channel tuned here to see what show we'll look at next!
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