Freddie Prinze Jr. discusses his decision to leave the Scooby-Doo franchise after 20 years. Prinze Jr. played the lead in the live-action adaptations of the iconic Hanna-Barbera cartoon as Fred, the leader of the central group of mystery solvers Mystery Inc., known for his bravado and devising of plans to capture whatever perpetrator is at the heart of the mystery. The Scooby-Doo films, which starred Matthew Lillard, real wife Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Linda Cardellini, received generally mediocre reactions at the time of their release, but were box office successes.
Freddie Prinze Jr. reflected on his long career in the film and television industries in a recent profile piece for Esquire. When asked about the Scooby-Doo film franchise, the Fred actor recalled his frustrations while working on the live-action projects, specifically the script changes, but explained why he quit the series, citing a pay disparity between himself and his costars, which saw him take a pay cut in the sequel to allow his cast mates to get a raise. See what Prinze Jr. had to say about it below:
“I remember thinking, ‘Hold up, who’s giving them the raise? Me or y’all?’ Like we made you guys three-quarters of a billion dollars, you can’t afford to pay them what I’m making on this? Screw that. My ego was so angry.”
How Scooby-Doo Films Became Cult Classics
Though he had previously expressed reservations about the franchise, Prinze Jr. went on to express his retrospective appreciation for the Scooby-Doo films, which he attributed to fans approaching him about them, giving him a “more accurate perspective on what that movie meant to people.” Critics were fairly harsh in their criticism of both films, but audiences have treated them far better over the years, with the majority of praise focused on the performances of its central cast. Prinze Jr. and his colleagues were able to bring subversive requires taking on their Mystery Inc. characters also while paying tribute to there own iconic animated counterparts, thanks to scripts from now-DC Studios head James Gunn.
The popularity of the Scooby-Doo films also benefited Matthew Lillard, who went from receiving widespread acclaim for his role as Shaggy to carrying it over into the animated field. Lillard has been the main Shaggy voice actor for the various TV shows and straight-to-video films for the past decade, taking over from original actor Casey Kasem after his 2009 retirement, and has been replaced only by Will Forte for the poorly received animated film reboot Scoob! and Sam Richardson in the upcoming Velma HBO Max show. Though Gellar, Cardellini, and Prinze Jr. did not follow in his footsteps, their portrayals of their Scooby-Doo characters have remained dear to many fans.
Why Is Now the Best Time for Scooby-Doo 3?
While Warner Bros. initially abandoned a third film after the second’s underperformance, there are a number of factors that make now the ideal time to reassemble the gang for a potential Scooby-Doo 3. Both Prinze Jr. and Gellar have begun to re-enter the acting world thanks to Netflix’s Christmas With You and Paramount+’s Wolf Pack series, while Lillard has remained close to the Scooby-Doo universe for the past twenty years, as well as Gunn is now a major figurehead at WB, granting them all the perfect chance to reunite & deliver a journey more in line with Gunn’s original vision, & offering fans more of what they came to love from the first two movies. Meanwhile, fans can keep their fingers crossed by watching the original Scooby-Doo movies on HBO Max and Netflix.
Source: Esquire