Customer Reviews

What's New Scooby-Doo?: The Complete First Season

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

What's New Scooby Doo is the first Scooby Doo sequal that equals the quality of the original "Scooby Doo Where Are You?" series. The animation style may be updated somewhat (the original was not great animation anyway), but the stories are just as good. If you only liked the first series and hated Scrappy & the others, I suggest you give this new series a try. The original gang is all here on their original rolls.

This set contains 13 episodes from the first season (all have been previously released with bonus material NOT included here) plus one special from 2005.

SEASON 1:
2002 episodes:
Sep.14 There's No Creature Like Snow Creature (previously released on "Volume 1').
Sep.21 3-D Struction (previously released on "Volume 1').
Sep.28 Space Ape at the Cape (previously released on "Volume 1').
Oct.05 Big Scare at the Big Easy (previously released on "Volume 1').
Oct.26 It's Mean, It's Grean, It's the Mystery Machine (previously released on "Volume 2').
Nov.02 Riva Ras Vegas (previously released on "Volume 2').
Nov.09 Roller Goaster Ride (previously released on "Volume 2').
Nov.23 Safari, So Goodie (previously released on "Volume 2').
Nov.30 She Sees Sea Monster at the Sea Shore (previously released on "Volume 3').

2003 episodes:
Feb.01 Toy Scary Boo (previously released on "Volume 4').
Feb.15 Lights! Camera! Mayhem! (previously released on "Volume 8').
Feb.22 Pompeii and Circumstances (previously released on "Volume 7').
Mar.22 The Unnatural. (previously released on "Volume 5').

Bonus 2005 Special:
Feb.11 A Scooby Doo Valentine (previously released on "Volume 8').

At first I didn't think this series would be as good as some of the movies
like The Loch Ness Monster & Chill Out, but I then bought Volume 8 and saw it was better than I thought. With the return of the original cast from some of my favorite Scooby Doo movies (Frank Welker as Scooby Doo/Fred, Casey Kasem as Shaggy, Grey Delisle as Daphne, & Mindy Cohn as Velma) and 13 great mysteries, this compilation of Season 1 of What's New Scooby Doo, is probably one of the best 2-disc sets ever! Each mystery is different:

THERE'S NO CREATURE LIKE SNOW CREATURE
The series debut, a snow monster is badly injuring contestants in a snowboarding competition. (co-starring an Olympic Gold Medalist Snowboarder)

SPACE APE AT THE CAPE
Velma wins a science project contest in Cape Canaveral and it will go
into space but it is trying to be stopped by an alien believed to have been hatched from an egg.

3-D STRUCTION
Down in Costa Rica, a dinosaur monster comes out of a sacred tomb, believed to be a ghost, due to the removal of some sacred bones.

BIG SCARE IN THE BIG EASY
The gang heads to New Orleans to solve the mysteries of the ghosts
of Civil War enemies, the Leland Brothers.

IT'S MEAN, IT'S GREEN, IT'S THE MYSTERY MACHINE
Despite having their van fixed, the gang has their van chasing after
them believed to have been driven by the ghost of Flash Flannigan.

RIVA RAS REGAS
When the gang goes to Las Vegas for some vacation, it gets interrupted
by the ghost of the late magician Rufus Rocous, they solve the mystery with the help of real-life teen pop star Lindsay Pagano.

ROLLER GHOSTER RIDE
A sneaky ghost is haunting and ruining the attractions at a theme park, and Shaggy's roller coaster he designed is just being finished building.

SAFARI SO GOODI!
The gang heads to the Amazon jungle, where they face some ghost animals
that have been feared by South Americans.

SHE SEES SEA MONSTERS BY THE SEA SHORE
The gang tackles a mystery of a sea monster attacking a beach on a tropical island, and to save the seas turtles!

TOY SCARY BOO
Some toys come to life in a toy store and wreck things all around, the gang is even in danger!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, MAYHEM!
The ghost of late movie star Rip Bannon, believed to be the faceless phantom, is haunting the set of his movie remake.

POMPEII & CIRCUMSTANCE
The gang visits Italy for some time off solving mysteries. But they spoke
too soon as a mystery of a Zombie Gladiator, believed to have survived Vesuvius, unfolds.

THE UNNATURAL
Luiz Santiago is ready to break the all-time home run record, but a ghost of the currently all-time home run record hitter tries to stop him and the gang. (Special Guest Appearance by Baseball great Mike Piazza)

BONUS EPISODE: A SCOOBY DOO VALENTINE
The gang comes home in time for Valentines Day, but they get accused for the teenager kidnappings at Lovers Lane. And even worse, Shaggy's former girlfriend is dating a celebrity. (Co-starring NSYNC star JC Chasez)

If you love Scooby Doo, then this is the set for you!

Having grown up with Scooby Doo, I mistakenly thought this was the "old" TV series put on DVD. Instead, it is the "What's New Scooby Doo" series, which is an updated version of the old. The new version looks a lot like the old series, having the usual mystery to solve in 30 minutes or less. They don't ever let it get too serious, as they play fun music behind the chase scenes. The jokes are funny as the characters poke fun at themselves, and each other. The voices are the same (thankfully). I love watching it with my kids, and they have watched them over and over again.

Imagine you were a career biologist in your 30s or 40s. A general interest magazine asks you to rewrite a long bio report you cranked out in the middle of seventh grade on a typewriter while doing stuff for your other six or seven classes. How much will you be able to improve on the original report now that you're wittier; know more about the subject and have a good gauge of what the general public knows of the subject; will be working on a laptop; have access to noted, interesting people in and around your field for interviews on the subject?

That's why, just considering it as entertainment, What's New, Scooby Doo? dusts the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You? and The New Scooby Doo Movies from 1972-73.

This isn't some Gen Y kid engaging in presentism. I'm a Gen Xer who was in the first generation to grow up watching the original Scoobies on Saturday mornings. Fine enough entertainment for most of us, though it was a weakly-animated, formulaic product of the Hanna-Barbera made-for-TV assembly line. Our standards were pretty low at the time.

In doing the update, the current creators did the job that some of the Scooby Doo movies from the 1990s began. They fleshed out the characters, giving them backstory, interests, families. Velma (voiced by "Facts of Life" star Mindy Cohn) is a brilliant scientist with the kind of "smart girl" wit we always suspected she had. We find out where Fred's from and even what he can bench. Daphne was moved from the Danger Prone Daphne of the original toward being a resourceful, style-conscious Buffy the Vampire Slayer-type. (Coincidentlaly, Sarah Michelle Gellar, TV's Buffy, played Daphne in the two live-action Scooby Doo movies, and Buffy's pals called themselves "The Scooby Gang."). Shaggy, still voiced by Casey Kasem, and Scooby still are forever hungry and scared, but even Shaggy gets a few interests we didn't know he had before.

The animation, undoubtedly assisted by better technology, isn't movie studio animation level, but is superior to the stiff stuff of the original.

The plotting is improved. For example, whether the gang is in Egypt or Las Vegas, there's a reason they're there. Most of all, there's a willingness to poke fun at pop culture, each other, themselves and the original Scooby formula while still following it. Like much of the best animation, the humor works on the kid level and on the adult level.

Because of balkanized TV viewing and the varying circumstances of viewing -- some on DVD, some on Boomerang, some at night, some during the day -- it's doubtful future generations will consider this version of Scooby Doo as a piece of bonding, iconic nostalgia that Gen Xers consider the original. It'll just have to settle for being much better.

An updated version of the old gang with current technology and clever stories which are mostly faithful to the Scooby-Dooby-Doo of old. Entertaining and my children (12, 7, 3, and 2) greatly enjoy the CD. I was looking for the original versions and failed to recognize up front what I was buying, but no regrets.

An exceptional update to one of the greatest cartoon series ever created. Scooby-Doo is timeless. My daughter and son will sit and watch them together over and over again. What a value!

I bought this DVD for my Scooby Doo loving son. I have never seen the new Scooby Doo and I LOVE IT!! By the way, my son loves it too.

The music is updated with an alternative flair. The story lines have updated twists and are eaiser for younger Scooby Fans to relate too. The clothing is more current. Yet the characters still maintain their original personality quirks.

Overall excellent Scooby DVD collection that does not disappoint old school fans.

This has all of a seasons shows (unlike the ones you buy in target). That makes it a better deal if you have Scooby obsessed Fans like we do.

Other than the original "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" cartoon series; I've never really loved any other Scooby Doo cartoon series. That is, until the new "What's New, Scooby Doo?" came along. There's enough in this show that pays homage to the original series yet offers new material and content to keep any Scooby Doo fan loving it. The thing I loved most is that the producers of the show decided to keep Casey Kasem and Frank Welker as voices in the show as they were also voices in the original cartoon series. The new theme song by Simple Plan is catchy and will keep on playing in your head long after the show is over. The Complete First Season has 13 Twenty-Two Minute Episodes with the gang visiting places such as Africa, Las Vegas and Costa Rica. Some of my favorites include:There's No Creature Like Snow Creature(which has the gang traveling up north to catch a snowboard competition but find themselves facing a snow beast), Toy Scary Boo(the gang investigates a toy store where the toys are coming alive) & Lights! Camera! Mayhem!(in which a purple phantom tries to shut down a production of a movie and it's up to the gang to find out why). Extras on this DVD set include a bonus Scooby episode, Backstage Bloopers with Scooby-Doo, as well as trailers for other WB kids shows.

Honestly, I can't find enough good things to say about "What's New, Scooby Doo?". This show takes the best of the original show and adds new twists to it to appeal to today's audiences. I really love it! Definitely worth getting if you are a Scooby fan.

After adding characters (Scrappy!!!!!!!!!), playing for 'laughs' (Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy go to the beach etc), roping in celebrity voices and making a string of poor quality TV movies, Scooby and the gang got back to what they do best in the movie Zombie Island. Several more movies followed (with diminishing quality) and the surprising thng is how long it took before someone realised that they should make a TV show again. Using the tried and tested formula of Scooby Doo Where are You?, this show delivers what Scooby fans have wanted since the late '70s - Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma solving mysteries!
Now that the fan-baiting Shaggy and Scooby Get a Clue seems set to ruin the Scooby legacy again, make the most of this return to form for Mystery Inc.
And if you bought the 4-episode releases as they came out - I expect that the release of the complete seasons will have you grinding your teeth. Oh well...