Customer Reviews

Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics, Vol. 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great cartoon, poor release. It is crazy only releasing 4 episodes. The complete series would fit on a two disc set. I love this show but I don't think I can bring myself to buy it a disc at a time.

Laff-a-Lympics focuses on three sets of teams: The Yogi Yahooies, The Scooby-Doobies, and The Really Rottens. Throughout each episode one or two characters from each team would compete in sporting events. The goal was to receive the most points by the end of the episode...and the winner would receive the Laff-a-Lympics gold medal. The hosts of the show were Snagglepuss and Mildew Wolf...each character wore yellow sports jackets to mirror the style of jackets in use by real life ABC-TV sportscasters of that time period. The play-by-play broadcaster heard on every program making commentary on the sporting events was Don Messick.

The Yogi team was comprised mostly of Hanna-Barbera characters that originated in the late '50s and early '60s: Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, Cindy Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quickdraw McGraw, Snooper and Blabber, Pixie Mouse, Dixie Mouse, Mr. Jinx, Wally Gator, Augie Doggy and Doggy Daddy, Yakky Doodle, Hokey Wolf...the lone exception was Grape Ape, a character that originated in the mid '70s.

Scooby's team consisted of a collection of what would be considered Hanna-Barbera's more contemporary characters: Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Scooby-Dum, Babu, Captain Caveman, Brenda, Dee Dee, Taffy, Hong Kong Phooey, Speed Buggy, Tinker, Blue Falcon and Dynomutt.

The Rottens consisted of brand new characters, except the team captain, Mumbly. This team was basically used for comical antagonism and conflict...playing tricks and cheating their way to hopeful victory. Mumbly was switched from a good detective to a cheating scoundrel in this series. Originally Mumbly appeared in a series of shorts which later appeared as part of the short-lived Mumbly Cartoon Show. The shorts originally aired on a series known as The Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show. In this series Mumbly embarked in crime solving adventures while his human boss, Schnooker, attempted to take the credit for everything. Mumbly's appearance is a dead ringer for Muttley...right down to the speech pattern and snickering laugh. Dread Baron, a new character created for the Rottens team, is a redesign of an earlier character, Dick Dastardly.

The Rottens consisted of Mumbly, Dread Baron, The Great Fondoo, Magic Rabbit, Dinky Dalton, Dirty Dalton, Dastardly Dalton, Mr. Creepley, Mrs. Creepley, Junior Creepley, Orful Octopus, Daisy Mayhem, and Sooey Pig.

A running gag in the series is the constant deduction of points due to cheating...often applied to the Rottens...but there are a few episodes where Yogi Bear cheated and points were taken away. In some episodes where it appeared the Rottens were going to win, cleanly, something would happen to cause them to lose. In one particular episode Daisy Mayhem was on her way to winning an event but one of her team mates, the Great Fondoo, wanted to make sure she won. He cast a spell which backfired...causing Daisy to lose.

The DVD features 4 half-hour episodes. There are two "on-location" locales per episode. Volume One features the following:

1. The Swiss Alps and Tokyo, Japan
2. Acapulco and England
3. The Sahara Desert and Scotland
4. Florida and China

As you can tell, the series was a spoof of three programs in particular: The Olympics, ABC's Wide World of Sports, and Battle of the Network Stars. At the conclusion of most episodes, announcer Don Messick would parody the kind of narration heard on Wide World of Sports by enthusiastically saying something like: "...tune in next week for the thrills, chills, and all-around exciting spills as we go around the world with our star athletes...".

I happen to enjoy Laff-a-Lympics and I hope more episodes become available. Some belly-ache that there are only 4 episodes on the DVD but the way I see it you can't predict the future. It's hard to tell if more episodes will become available...I certainly hope more episodes are released...but until then the first 8 episodes (4 on Volume 1 and 4 on Volume 2) will have to do. The Volume Two became available back in late 2010 and I have that DVD, too.

Laff-a-Lympics originally ran for 16 episodes in 1977 during the months of September through December. The official name was Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics. In 1978, eight more episodes were produced and aired as Scooby's All-Stars. This gives the Laff-a-Lympics format a total of 24 episodes.

I found this a very nice family movie. Full of adventure + travel. My daughter, age 4, wanted to watch it, over + over. So we did ! The Scooby Doobies, the Yogi Yahooneys + the Really Rottens ! A laugh a minute !

Great video. Shows many of the beloved cartoon characters from 70's-80's in a comical race that will have the whole family laughing! My daughter loves; brought me back to my childhood.

Watched this as a kid and loved it; all my favorite HB characters together in one show. Don't understand why they are releasing only 4 episodes (and for $11-$15? For only four shows?) and not a whole season. Based on that, "this specific product" only gets a two. Let me know when a whole season is released (and at a more reasonable cost); then maybe i'll spend my money on it...

I have such fond memories of this from my childhood. I remember rooting for the Scooby Doobies every week (like they were a real team or something.) I just love having these old Saturday morning cartoons on DVD. It just makes me sad they don't still have shows like this.

What's not to like about Scooby, it's funny, takes you to different places and solve mysteries - you cannot say that about other cartoons today.

It's great to have a fun video that doesnt' cost a lot but has a lot to offer. This Scooby is it!

i remember when i was a kid
i use to watch the scoobie doobies, yogi yahooies and
those really rottens..great entertainment
i can't wait for the release on january 19, 2010

Disclaimer - I am a huge Scooby Doo fan and have been so all my life. So, once I saw this on DVD, I had to see it. It was one of the few Scooby things I hadn't seen, so I was curious, but from the looks of it, I didn't expect much. And boy, does it deserve low expectations.

This features lots of past cartoon characters, but from Scooby shows, only has Scooby, Shaggy, and Scooby Dum, despite showing the whole gang in the opening and closing credits. The series is all about the Laff-A-Lympics where the three teams try to get the gold, and it boils down to the Really Rottens cheating and it being overcome, whether through wacky events or the docking of points. This might be amusing or laughable, but only if you have fond memories of it or you're a five year old. It is dull, unimaginative, and completely unworthy of Scooby.

There are four forgettable episodes on the DVD, as well as an episode of Shaggy & Scooby Doo Get A Clue, the other contender for the Worst Scooby Doo Series Ever award.

Please, save your money. Even if you're a hardcore Scooby Doo fan like I am, don't buy it. If you must watch it out of morbid curiosity or as penance for past wrongs, borrow a copy from the library or rent it. But really, it's not worth your time.