Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated

The villains are frightening. The characters are fleshed-out. the plot is dynamic. The art style is unique, and its universe has depth. Put simply, this is Scooby-Doo living up to its fullest potential.

I know my Scooby. I grew up with all the incarnations of the show, and while it's generally held a place in my mind as being fun, I probably would never have considered myself a true fan. I didn't doodle Scooby on my class notes.

But some genius came along and changed the rules. This show is true expansion, not a retelling of the original story. Not a remake. It's not trying to be hip, or modern. It's trying to be iconic; it's trying to be bold. They flashback to scenes straight out of the original series, and build their universe brick by brick, staying true to the core elements of Scooby (including the ridiculous slapstick), while introducing intrigue, fear, tension, development - and humor, like you've never seen in Scooby before.

I think the moment I realized that I might be watching something incredible came along when Velma was giving a tour of her family's Spook Museum, and casually resting in the background was the opening monster from the Scooby-Doo live action film. It never came up; it was just *there*.

That was a tell-tale sign of a groups of creators that loved their material - both good and bad. It takes guts to recognize the embarrassments of a franchise, and then continue onward, using elements of that embarrassment to produce something wonderful. Passion is oozing from the seams in this show.

I have been a Scooby-Doo fan for 30 years and get to still enjoy it with my sons. This new cartoon has outstanding animation that is much more moody with a spooky atmosphere than any attempt at the franchise since the early days. The stories are great and I'm glad to see Matt Lillard voicing Shaggy. Casey Casum will always be the best but his voice has changed too much. The camera angles are chosen with care and are interesting to watch. I also like that they live in the town of Crystal Cove rather than Coolsville and that the kids are kids in high school rather than adults. Scooby-Doo has serious longevity and it is my sincere hope that this new series is long lived.

For old fans and people new to the show, this is sure to delight!

First off, I NEVER give anything a perfect score -- there is always room for improvement. I grew up watching Scooby Doo in reruns, because I'm not old enough to have seen it firsthand, and I'm a huge fan.

This incarnation is a reboot -- something which many viewers/reviewers don't seem to understand (especially the above reviewer, ctyankee1) -- and often goes into a darker, more serious storyline. It's not the same one from the 60s or 70s & it's not trying to be. I love it because of its "neo-retro" (modern & oldschool at the same time) look. Everything is connected, from one episode to the next & I think they did a fantastic job paying homage to the original series (from canon flashbacks to past villains).

After reading some negative reviews, I can tell that most of the reviewers don't really watch the show or have only watched an episode or two -- which is sad. With the overarching story lines, you have to watch it from the beginning of the series, or you really lose so much. Give it the chance it deserves before brushing it off as garbage.

I don't know how I ever missed this gem of a show. Seeing in how it was made in 2010 I'm super disappointed there won't be new episodes.

That being said, I've been a fan of scooby doo since I was a kid, and out of all the shows I've seen, this has one of the best stories ever. If your a scooby doo fan, you've got to watch it!

I happen to quite like this series (thus far) as does my family and yet I can see why some people have a problem with it. First a bit of background: both my wife and I grew up with Scooby-Doo and our kids independently decided they liked the various instances of the show as well so, for good or bad, I've seen probably 99% of the Scooby oeuvre.

Certainly it should first be noted that this series is a "reboot" and not inherently placed in temporal or any other relationship to previous series. On the other hand, it is also often parodies what has come before. This has been done to some extent in the live action movies and the direct to video animated movies but in the present case, the basic world that the characters inhabit is more of an alternate reality. In the original series the chief fantastical element was that Scooby could talk; the present series supposes a town where monsters are big business and the kids get in trouble for SOLVING mysteries, for example. Structurally the show is more about action and character arcs with the mystery element largely on the second tier. In could be argued that the mysteries in Pup Named Scooby-Doo were a bit less obvious than some in S-D:MI (but the obviousness is also part of the parody, e.g., the gator episode).

As to the characters, Fred, Daphne and Velma all are pretty different from previous incarnations, as is Scooby who evidences far more social insight and complex dialog. Shaggy has never really varied much series to series and nothing much changes here (One has to go back to his very earliest existence to find him more adept and only mildly fearful). In general, these are not realistic or even particularly functional characters; great role models, they are not. If you are looking for that, the direct to video movies will be more your cup of tea. But if you are open to a different mythology with a more oddball yet somewhat more adult approach, you might find it a cool take.

I personally like the animation style and think the direction is on par with the upper echelon of current animated action shows. There's a bit of an irony in that the original Scooby-Doo was created in response to parental pressure against violence in animated shows of the 60's (e.g., Space Ghost, Jonny Quest) while this show is probably the most dark and violent Scooby yet. I guess things have come full circle.

In summary, I'd say give it a chance for a few episodes but if it isn't to your liking and you want something more classic/less dark/more realistic, I believe they are on a schedule of at least one new direct to video movie each year. Further, it appears we can probably count on new series productions for another 40+ years so you can always wait for the next one...