It feels like it's been forever since I last reviewed anything from Scooby-Doo Where Are You and that's because it has with the last review of this show being in early last year. Well as luck would have it I was in the mood for watching something from this franchise and so I thought why not hit two birds with one stone as it were and cover episode four of this truly iconic franchise and so then join me as I review the episode that quite literally tells you to mind your own busisness with the episode in question being called simply just "Mine Your Own Business" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when the gang get lost going to someplace and end up at an old mining town somewhere in the desert and after hearting stories of the town haunted decide to solve this mystery once and for all. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as the episodes plot is yes pretty thin with the set up being about as basic as you could expect it to be even for this show it is still something that does work for the show as the episode doesn't really put alot of focus on quite a few things and it's plot just so happens to be one of them and to be fair when the set up is this basic in the first place you don't really need that deep of a plot as all you need is the characters to go around doing there usual schtick and that's really it and that's what this episode does give us in spades and while yes it would have been nice if you the episode did give alot more focus to it's plot as we don't even get to find out where the gang are even going to in the first place this is something that isn't needed to make the episode all that enjoyable as this is still a pretty fun and enjoyable episode where it just so happens that the plot of the episode is one of the things that really doesn't get a whole lot of attention but on to it with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is voice acting legend Don Messick as Scooby-Doo , Hank and A Mouse and Scooby-Doo legend Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers and Miner Forty-Niner. Also starring in this episode is voice acting and Scooby-Doo legend Frank Welker as Fred Jones and A Vulture, Stefanianna Christopherson as Daphne Blake , Scooby-Doo legend Nicole Jaffe as Velma Dinkley and Hal Smith as Big Ben.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the episodes actors doing a really good job in this episode for the most part as while the main series voice actors are as wonderful as you'd expect them to be where the episode does fall apart from an acting point of view as guest actor as Hal Smith does feel like that he's not even trying to turn in a good performance and while he does only have two scenes in the whole episode they are scenes that are let down by the quality of the acting in them yet when you compare the acting in those two scenes to the acting in the rest of the episode it's night and day with the best actor in the whole entire episode being Don Messick as he not only has to play his regular role of Scooby-Doo but also two one of characters one of which is a main character in the episode and he still has to make them sound completely different from each other and that is something that he does do with ease with it being helped by the fact that while he does does play the episodes villain near the start of the episode alot of the time Casey Kasem playing him with the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode is just so bad as it gives nine of this episodes actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Doing the animation for this episode is the legends and the greats that were currently over at Hanna-Barbera Productions. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well the in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with the episode almost going out of it's way to create some really good atmosphere just with it's animation as the opening shot of the episode is just oozing with creepy atmosphere that right away puts us the audience on edge and was something that really wasn't expected in this episode with it being a more then welcome surprise as a result of that and while the episode does still have the typical Hannah-Barbera cheapness that all of there shows do have we do also get to see the characters have some really fluid movements to them all of which does make this episodes animation be alot more better then what it really should have been in the first place as this is an episode that really doesn't require alot of good animation as all you need is a basic old west background and your jobs halfway done already and yet the makers of this episode really did go overboard with giving us lots of shits in this episode that look really good and heck there's even a shot of Fred near the end of the episode that looks like it could have been ripped right out of a movie with the episode having alot of really impressive looking backgrounds to it which is something that does hit home the point that the makers of this episode really did put lot of thought and effort into this episodes animation as it's something that really does shine through in the final product.
One of the more weaker aspects of this episode was it's mystery as while they don't outright tell you who Miner Forty-Niner really is. The episode does have a character that dresses almost exactly like him only without the beard and hat which is something that does make it pretty obvious as to who the villain of the episode is meant to be when the whole point of a mystery is to let us work it for ourselfs and not be ahead of the characters interms of what we know and if we the audience can piece together just from what one of the characters in the episode is wearing then there's no reason as to why Velma the smartest one in the group couldn't do the exact same thing as all that does is make her look dumb as she's not able to see the most obvious thing with this being something that very easily could have been changed just by having the real culprit wear different clothes to Miner-Forty Niner as then there would be some form of a mystery of us the audience to solve which is the whole point of the show in the first place and yet for one reason of another the makers of this show just didn't do that and heck they didn't even give us any clues as to who the culprit is or even why there doing what there doing in the first place which yes does boil to the person wanting to scare people away from the town so that they can buy the guest house with all of the money that they would have made from the oil but none of that is explained in the episode and is instead explained away when the gang tell one of the other characters who it is and why they were trying to scare people away in the first place and while the episode makes it crystal clear who the main villain is you won't get any answers from this review as I want you guys to work it for yourselves.
For one reason or another the makers of this episode just didn't seem to bother trying all that hard in this episode. As alot of things from the plot to the obvious reveal of the villain just feel underbaked granted if your a little kid then you might find the reveal of who the culprit is to be surprising but it's not something that's hard to miss as it's quite literally right there infront of you the whole time with the episodes being none the better either as the episode doesn't really take that full advantage of the fact that it's mostly set in on an old western town and while The New Scooby-Doo Movies would rectify this by having an episode with The Three Stooges that's a full blown western this episode does none of that and granted that was because of the fat that the town in this episode had been all but deserted for many years they still could gave done something with the western setting even if it's just having Scooby-Doo wear a cowboy hat for a joke it still would have been better then nothing as it does look like that this episode could have taken in a major city or in a hotel and nothing in regards to the plot would need to be changed and when it comes to the plot this episodes plot as wafer thin and enjoyable as it is is still something that could have done with having alot more thought and effort put into it but instead it felt like that the makers of this episode put alot more thought and effort into the episode animation then then they did the plot or the setting as both of those are things that would have been alot more better if they did have some love and care put into them.
Whilst this episode does have alot of bad things going for it one of them is not the fact that they do have Scooby being pretty brave in this episode. As it would have been very easy for the makers of this episode to keep him as being a coward throughout the whole episode but no they actually have him be a vital part of the plan to catch Miner-Forty Niner by having Scooby act as a train and just straight up run into him and while granted the original plan was to have Scooby scare him into a shed that was nearby it was the fact that Scooby wasn't shown panicking or doing anything nuts when he does crash into him and the pair of them are left dangling over an edge in the mines that makes him brave as that is something that would be something that he would have done but nope he just goes straight forward into him and while yes he might still have been feeling brave thanks to having not one but two Scooby Snacks earlier on in the episode which would be a fair point to make he doesn't know how deep the edge of the mine is and while of course we all know that they wont ever kill of Scooby it's the fact that they hinted that they could happen is something that does make this episode stand out in the first place but in saying this tho the episode doesn't really do anything interesting with Scooby outside of having him see Miner-Forty Niner a few times and that's really it when it would been more better to show him and Shaggy looking for and actually finding some clues as that really is something that would help the episode be all the more better then what it really already is in the first place and yet the fact that they don't does say that the makers of this episode didn't have anything interesting for Scooby to do in this episode.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty minuets and fifty four seconds. Which granted is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show to have in the first place but this episode oddly feel constrained by it's running time as the episode doesn't have the time to give us any clues nor give us any other possible culprits with the episode having more then enough plot there to cover that amount of running time and yet in saying this tho the episode really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot in the first place as the episode is alot more focused on giving us a creepy looking episode then it is in giving us a more well thought out plot as the episode could have done both just by having scenes that develop the episodes plot like by having the gang actually explain where it was they were actually going in the first place which yes is a small thing but the small things go along away with the episode not even taking the time to fully develop it's characters which isn't that really big of a deal as the same thing is true with all of the episodes in this franchise with it not really effecting this episode as the episode does work fine without the characters getting any kind of character development and yet it still would have been nice if the episode did give the guest characters some form of character development as it would have made them be all the more memorable and yet as the episode is more focused on giving us a rather obvious villain then in giving the characters some form of character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really bad pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the episode having some really funny jokes in it all of which does work as Scooby himself is a really likable character and having him do these goofy things or act in this goofy way is something that is perfectly on character for him with it also being something that does give the episode the moments of humor that it really did need as this is one that could be seen as being a really dark episode with the best joke in the whole entire episode being when Shaggy and Scooby are about to get chased by the villain as Shaggy gets his shirt stuck on a tree branch with him continuing to run away only for the pressure to get much with it then forcing both Scooby and Shaggy onto the tree outside which was a really funny joke with the episode having alot of really good jokes like Scooby mistaking a flour ridden Fred for ghost as an example as again that is something that Scooby-Doo would do and while it is a joke that kids would find funny it works just as well because of the fact that it is a really well written joke and one that both kids and adults can enjoy with the same thing being true for alot of the episodes jokes all of which are just so funny in the first place with the episode being more then worth watching just for the jokes and heck this episode has so many funny jokes that it was hard to say just what the best joke was in the episode as that's how funny that this episodes jokes really were in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall whilst yes this episode is a pretty weak episode in it's own right there is still plenty of fun to be had with this episode be it from the amount of jokes that the episode throws at you to the animation which does really do a good job of making the episode look really creepy but this episode is still a really weak episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score pf exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk the official Hanna-Barbera wiki and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.