DVD Review: What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three

Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Casey Kasem, Frank Welker, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Turner Home Entertainment/ Warner Bros.
Release Date: January 8, 2008

You know the drill. You’ve seen it before. It’s Scooby Doo. What more is there to it? When Scooby Doo was first created, it was done so with a formula. That formula has, for the most part, been followed to a T, throughout most of the various series. What’s New, Scooby Doo? is just one of the many and sadly, if you’ve seen one episode of Scooby, you’ve seen them all. So, why do these series keep getting made? Part of it is money and the other part is the characters. Scooby and Shaggy are just so loveable. Who can resist hearing Scooby’s famed “giggle” and watch the two bring on trouble on their quest to find their latest ‘Scooby Snacks’?

Release Information:
What’s New, Scooby Doo? was one of many different variations of the Scooby Doo television show. This one aired for three seasons and brought in the voices of many past Scooby Doo alumni including Frank Welker, Casey Kasem, and Mindy Cohn. What’s New, Scooby Doo aired from September 21, 2002 to January of 2006. Reruns of the three seasons of the series currently air on Cartoon Network.

What’s New, Scooby Doo – Season Three was released on January 8, 2008 by Turner Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. The season is available in a two disc set. There is 288 minutes of Scooby Doo fun included in the What’s New, Scooby Doo – Season Three box set. The two disc set is available through Amazon for $16.99. This is the average price I’ve seen for this set at most of the major retailers that you can purchase this set at both online and off.

The What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three Plot
What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three is a newer version of the original Scooby Doo television series. While I’m not sure how much I like the fact that Casey Kasem claims that Shaggy is a vegetarian (didn’t he used to eat huge sandwiches all the time?!) because I’m pretty sure that’s just Casey trying to make Shaggy just like him.

Regardless, What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three is a fun show if not a bit repetitive. It’s the same Scooby Doo fare I grew up with, you grew up with, your kids have grown up with, your grandkids are growing up with…eh you get the picture! There are 13 episodes included in the What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three two-disc box set. The episodes that aired in season three and are included on this DVD are:

#3.1 – “Fright House of a Lighthouse”
#3.2 – “Go West, Young Scoob”
#3.3 – “Wrestle Maniacs”
#3.4 – “Ready to Scare”
#3.5 – “Famed and Dangerous”
#3.6 – “Diamonds are a Ghouls Best Friend”
#3.7 – “A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown”
#3.8 – “Camp Comeoniwannascareya”
#3.9 – “Block-Long Hong Kong Terror”
#3.10 – “Gentleman, Start Your Engines”
#3.11 – “Gold Paw”
#3.12 – “Reef Grief!”
#3.13 – “E-Scream”

In this set, there is typical, Scooby Doo mystery solving with many of the voices you’ll recognize. There’s the voice God himself, Frank Welker as both Fred Jones (the part he originated) and Scoobert “Scooby” Doo. Casey Kasem reprises his most famous role as Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, a role he also originated. Mindy Cohn from Facts of Life fame returns as Velma Dinkley. She took over the role of Velma from B.J. Ward in 2004. The role of Velma was originated by Nicole Jaffe in the original, Scooby Doo, Where Are You series. Finally, Daphne Blake is spoken to perfection by well known voice actress, Grey DeLisle (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Grim & Evil), who has been voicing Daphne since 2001. She took over after a long list of actresses portrayed Daphne including Mary Kay Bergman, Heather North, and Kellie Martin.

I liked only a few of the episodes in this box set. One of them is “Camp Comeoniwannascareya” where Shaggy and Scooby go to camp as counselors, and as you might expect trouble and danger soon finds them. “E-Scream” was mildly humorous due to the fact that the cute, cuddly and deadly Fuzzy Terror is released at a Video Game Conference. As you can imagine, there’s plenty of irony in this episode.

I also really liked “Fright House of a Lighthouse”. In it, Velma meets her match in the ‘know-it-all’ independent detective, Verona Dempsey (Grey DeLisle). Verona and the Scooby Gang are both investigating a haunting at a lighthouse on Lake Michigan near the Wisconsin home of Fred’s Uncle Karl. Believed to be the ghost of a former Lighthouse Keeper, there is plenty of Scooby Doo fun to be had.

By the same token, by the end of What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three, I was ready to move on to watching something else. I can only take so much Scooby Doo at one time. The stories are all similar with different locations and somewhat different plots. Still, you know the gang of Mystery Inc. is going to solve a mystery. It’s going to look like a ghost story or the story some other metaphysical being. In the end, there is going to be a logical explanation for everything, which is solved by Velma and someone is going to call them “those meddling kids” at some point during the episode.After a while, that gets repetitive and is one major downside to this series. Of course, with three seasons’ worth of the same old thing over and over, the lack of humor becomes apparent and the episodes suffer as a result.

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Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The visual quality of What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three is pretty much your basic quality for a cartoon television series. The video was transferred at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is displayed in full frames. While colors are lush and verdant and there are no problems with pixilation or compression errors, the transfer isn’t impressive at all. It’s standard and about the same quality as each episode had when they aired on television.

The Dolby Digital Stereo Surround Sound is equally unimpressive. The sound is standard, typical and while the mix seems to be decent enough that no volume adjustments are needed between episodes, it isn’t anything special. A 5.1 mix would have been nice, but usually cartoon DVDs don’t worry about improving the sound. That is a downside, in my opinion.

Visual:
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Bonus Features:
There are two bonuses included on the What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three DVD. The first one is a Christmas Special that aired during the first season of What’s New, Scooby Doo? called “A Scooby Doo Christmas”. There is also a game on the DVD. This trivia game is called “Do You Know Your Scooby”. You’ll get to answer questions in the setup of a live-action game show about Scooby and other characters from the Scooby Doo franchise. While the offerings aren’t much, what is there is fun enough to hold your attention for a short time.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
If you like Scooby Doo, and chances are, you already know if you do, then you will want to consider purchasing What’s New, Scooby Doo? – Season Three. The show is child friendly. Kids of all ages will love this cartoon though I can see it appealing the most to audiences 5 and up. While this isn’t the end all be all of Scooby Doo series, this is one of the better, newer versions of the show. You may want to try to catch an episode of What’s New, Scooby Doo? on Cartoon Network, since reruns of the show air on a daily basis. If you like it, I recommend the purchase.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: What’s New Scooby Doo, Season Three, Warner Bros, Frank Welker, Casey Kasem, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle, Scooby, Shaggy, Velma Dinkley, Daphne Blake, Freddy Jones

Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.