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STUDIO: Turner Home Entertainment
MSRP: $34.98
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME:
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• “Hanna-Barbera: From H To B”
The Pitch
Rooby, Raggy and the Rystery, Inc. rang rolve rimes rerpetrated ry rasked riminals.
Those Darn Kids
Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy.
"Hey, what’s Scoob doing with Pekinese?"
"I don’t know he- Oh Jesus, that’s just wrong!"
"Yeah, Joe and Bill are definitely going to have to edit that part…"
That Dog
Scooby Doo.
The Villains
The Owl Men, The Skeleton Men, The Tar Monster, The Witch, The Cat Creature, The Jaguaro, etc.
Definitely one of the lesser successes Hanna-Barbera had was their Scooby-themed remake of The Thing With Two Heads.
The Nutshell
The Mystery, Inc. gang, consisting of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and their Great Dane, Scooby Doo, travel the world solving mysteries of ghosts, demons, and other scary creatures. Fred is the leader, “Danger Prone” Daphne is the damsel in distress, and nerdy Velma is the Sherlock Holmes of the bunch; while Scooby and Shaggy are the cowardly chowhounds who jump at their own shadows and eat anything even remotely looking like food.
"Raggy, rhat the ruck are rou roing?"
The Lowdown
Nearly a decade after the first two seasons of Scooby Doo, Where Are You! were produced starting in 1969, Hanna-Barbera produced a third and final season of the show under that title, which ran on Saturday mornings in 1978. This version of Scooby tried to get back to the original formula of the show, without the encumbrances of Scrappy Doo or Scooby Dum, or the need for guest stars like the Harlem Globetrotters or the Three Stooges (the entirely shit New Adventures of Scooby Doo). Largely, these episodes are almost as entertaining as the originals, but with the animation styles and music cues, you can definitely tell that these 16 episodes are from a different era a decade removed. A lot of these I haven’t seen in many years, and it’s fun to revisit them after so long to remember a show that I loved as a kid and still find eminently enjoyable as a not-so-kid.
Yeah, you’d be scared shitless too if you met Gene Simmons back in the ’70s…
Some of the episodes from this package include “Watch Out! The Willawaw”, where the gang try to stop a smuggling operation by some Indians who use a giant jet-propelled glowing owl to provide the scares. “A Scary Night with a Snow Beast Fright” finds Scooby and crew dealing weith an Alaskan criminal who happens to have a giant snow Tyrannosaurus helping him do his dirty work. “To Switch a Witch” has the guys investigating a witch who looks a lot like the friend that they’re trying to help. “the Creepy Case of Old Iron Face” has the gang tangling with a waterskiing prison guard who wears an iron mask and “Make a Beeline Away From That Feline” has them meeting up with a Cat Creature. The set is rounded out with “Don’t Go Near The Fortress of Fear” anf The Beast is Awake in Bottomless Lake.”
These 16 episodes seem to be the least-shown from what I’ve seen on Cartoon Network whenever I’d happen to catch one from time to time. And they’re further examples that Scooby Doo is one of, if not the best,creation from Hanna-Barbera ever. I can watch these episodes seemingly no matter how old I am and they’re just as fun; and Scooby Doo, Where Are You! is definitely the best incarnation.
Scoob
and Shag managed to avoid the Riffs and the Rogues on their way back to
Coney Island, unfortunately, they hadn’t counted on running into the
Skeletons…
The Package
There’s the last 16 episodes produced under the Where Are You banner, and they look pretty good considering their age. There’s also a special feature, “Hanna-Barbera: From H to B”, which is a quite good account of production during the gravy years at the Hanna-Barbera Studios. You get plenty of talking head pieces from notables such as Andrea Romano, Iwao Takamoto and Joe and Bill themselves.