Pup Named Scooby-Doo Vol 1

The 80s were a goldmine decade of great animated shows. Stuff we got in those ten years we just don't see any more. Quite literally. I don't think we'll ever see Denver the Last Dinosaur or Centurions on DVD. One of the forgotten shows among dozens of others was A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. The Scooby-Doo franchise suffered a heavy blow in the 80s when some silly man wearing a suit thought it would be a good idea to introduce Scrappy-Doo, a highly irritating doggy who never kept his mouth shut for more than two seconds. Freddy and Velma also disappeared for a while and Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy would go off solving mysteries with just Daphne.

Desperate for a new way to re-invent the franchise, Warner gave us A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, an interesting, if failed attempt.

The show features the Mystery Inc. gang as kids and Scoob as a little puppy. The humor and animation is more offbeat and Looney-Tunes orientated but the mysteries are still substantial and the locations still occasionally Gothic and atmospheric.

Shaggy and Scooby are still voiced by Casey Kasem and Don Messick. Since they are the backbone of the show it's good to have this consistency. The childhood angle also gives us new insight into their background.

Many have criticised this show, claiming it to be aimed at under-tens and that it an embarrassment to the Scooby-Doo franchise. Well, I never found it to be that way. As a Scooby-Doo fan I thought this show was very amusing and I loved the score and songs by John Debney. There should be a soundtrack CD released. It really is a shame it never lasted for longer.

Since there were only 26 episodes made I can't help but be angry at Warner's awful DVD presentation of the show. Since they are releasing loads of their back-catalogue animation in beautifully packaged box sets (Premier Collections/Spotlight Collections/Golden Collections) I find it baffling that A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (a show that would have suited this format well) gets a horrid DVD release with 4 episodes per disc, a crappy snap-case box (we're STILL getting these in 2005!) and no extra features. The 1.33:1 full frame picture and Mono sound are perfectly adequate but, even though the show failed, it still deserves a much better DVD release than the one it got.

Shame on you Warner for neglecting this one instalment of a cash-cow that has generated you billions of dollars.

FINALLY! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this show finally being released onto DVD! "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" was one of the best (not to mention funniest) Scooby Doo spin-offs. It ran from 1988-1991 and has had a home on Cartoon Network for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately Cartoon Network has butchered up the show with their non-sense 3 commercial breaks every show, so I am just relieved that this show will finally be releeased commercial-free. If you are a true Scooby Doo fanatic, this DVD is for you.

Although I was hoping for this series to come out in the boxset format, it's great that WB is finally releasing "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" on DVD.

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was one of the better Scooby Doo spinoffs, and ran from 1988 to 1991. It revolves around the Mystery Inc gang when they were kids, and when Scooby-Doo was still a puppy. This DVD contains the first 4 episodes to be aired. in the first episode "A Bicycle Built for Boo" scooby and the gang try to solve the mystery of the green glob that stole Shaggy's bike. In "Wanted Cheddar Alive", a cheese monster wreaks havoc in the Scooby Snack factory and threatens to close it down. "The Shnook Who Took My Comic Book" finds Shaggy and Scooby coming face to face with a monster from their favorite comic book Commander Cool. Finally in "The Sludge Monster from the Earth's core", a sluge monster that just robbed a bank is using scooby's kennel to hide from the cops.

Keep up the good work WB and please release more Scooby-Doo series on DVD. personally I'd love to see the 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo on DVD.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews  4.1 out of 5 stars