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STUDIO: Turner Home Entertainment
MSRP: $14.99
RATED: Not rated
RUNNING TIME: 264 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:

    * Interactive map of Coolsville
    * Pencil test of alternate opening credits


THE PITCH

Even in grade school, Fred Daphne, Velma and Shaggy were those pesky kids, with a certain chowhound, fraidy cat puppy solving crimes.

THE YOUNG SCOOBY GANG

Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma.



The Scooby Gang just couldn't bear to look when Freddy's ghost trap involving a pit full of needles, cactus, broken glass and rubbing alcohol went horribly, tragically wrong...


THE NUTSHELL

Way before they ran into the 10,000-Volt Ghost or the Creeper as teenagers, Scooby and the gang were a young group of kids and their puppy solving crimes in Coolsville, USA.  Of course, even at that tender age, they were encountering creepy villains like the Headless Skateboarder, the Sludge Monster From the Earth's Core and the Cheese Monster.

THE LOWDOWN

A Pup Named Scooby Doo is possibly the most fun incarnation of the Scooby franchise, functioning as a prequel back to the Scooby Gang's younger days as The Scooby Doo Detective Agency, solving crimes in their hometown of Coolsville.  Whereas the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You? went for more chills and thrills, Pup focused more on laughs and outright insanity, which typically made for a funny watch.



Absolutely worst villain for young Scoob?  Scooby Snack Monster.


All of the character elements were included in the show, except the gang's various idiosyncrasies were played up more than in previous incarnations.  Fred was a conspiracy nut who often jumped to wild conclusions that the various perps were either aliens, mole people or the like.  Of course, his first assumption would always go to Red Herring, who was the town bully.  Velma was an extreme nerd who rarely spoke and carried around a crime computer / lab with her virtually everywhere.  But when she said "jinkies", you knew a clue had been found.  She shouldered the heavy lifting of solving the crimes while Fred was busy making his latest accusation to Red Herring. Meanwhile, Daphne was a spoiled rich girl who hated getting dirty.  Shaggy and Scooby were basically themselves, only even more cowardly and wild.  Thankfully, Casey Kasem returned as Shaggy, and this was the last incarnation of longtime Scooby voicer, Don Messick.



Little Jason MacEndale was off to an early start as well...


A signature of this version of Scooby was the exaggerated Bob Clampett-type of reactions of the gang whenever they would encounter the big bad of the episode.  You could frequently count on bulging eyes, agape mouths and various nutty expressions, accompanied by monkey whines and elephant wails.  This single element of the show would invariably make me laugh like a retard and made Pup one of the funnier cartoons I recall.  The villains were usually a little goofier, which was fine as this cartoon was aimed at a younger audience than the older cartoons.  There were also the standard musical chases, and many times the Scooby Gang would pause to boogie to it.  A Pup Named Scooby Doo was and still is a fun cartoon to watch and is perfect for younger kids.



You'd freak too if you saw Fred and Daphne getting busy at this age...


THE PACKAGE

The sound is pretty good on this two-disc offering, although the video is showing a little grit from 20 years ago, but it's not as bad as the Smurfs disc was.  There's two special features, one being an interactive map of Coolsville with featurettes at various locations.  The other is a pencil test of an alternate opening credit sequence.


6.5 out of 10