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STUDIO: Turner Entertainment
MSRP: $19.98
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 314 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Bonus Episode
The Pitch
Talking dog helps pre-teens solve crimes. Casey Kasem continues to get work.
The Humans
Casey Kasem, Don Messick, Christina Lange, Kellie Martin, Scott Menville
The Nutshell
In the 1980s, some coked-out television executive got the idea to create baby version of successful animation franchises. You can manipulate a nostalgic fanbase while enticing their offspring to take a chance on your show. The result usually becomes dated anywhere from one to five years after inception. But, that doesn’t matter. You made your cash and you’re off wiping your ass on some other scared elementary school cow.
Silly creatures. On the pre-teen Isle of Lesbos, it’s all glitter, ponies, gossip and poon. Boys and talking canines aren’t allowed.
The Lowdown
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo had seventeen original episodes aired across its final three seasons. Let’s break that down. An animated show that got away with only airing about six episodes per year. How does that happen? Hell, name another example of that happening in the history of American Animation.
What matters is what the show did in its final seventeen episodes. If you answered the same shit as in the first season, then you’re correct. There’s no satirical bent to episodes about giant chickens attacking newspaper or Rock ‘N’ Roll ghosts haunting fans. It’s nothing more than a collection of quickie episodes designed to cash in on the love of watching a talking dog making time with some meddling kids. But, what did you expect?
Fuck you for remembering this fondly.
There are some fun episodes such as Shaggy being targeted by a super-villain. The prequel era stoner kid dresses up as his favorite superhero and one of the hero’s villains believes him to be the real deal. Unfortunately, that episode suffers from another issue that plagued the release. Most of the content featured looks like a bad VHS recording or local affiliate broadcast. It’s kind of a slap in the face to treat fans to a show that would look better digitally recorded off Cartoon Network or Boomerang.
Cartoon negro #4 is too legit to finish. ABC Lawyers and their attempts to avoid copyright enfringement.
The show’s strength is its fanbase that is willing to forgive the juvenile humor and embrace what’s at hand. But, for a collection of seventeen episodes with hardly any supplements, you can do better. What is fascinating to watch is the progession of young Freddy’s mental retardation. It’s not unlike the decline of Home Simpson throughout the years on The Simpsons. By season four of this program, you almost expect Freddy to try and nurse on one of the ghouls. But, I guess that would be too edgy.
At that moment, Shaggy knew what he had to do. Scooby’s last command echoed in his mind for the years following the destruction of the Death Star II. He would have to kill the Son of Skywalker. Sorry, there. I had a stroke and mixed up my continuations of franchises that should’ve ended in 1983.
The Package
There’s a bonus episode of Get a Clue, Scooby Doo. If your kids weren’t busy ignoring it on Saturday mornings, they can ignore it on DVD. Synergy!