Into the noughties and back on form for Scooby

conallturley

What's New, Scooby-Doo? is a great series in the Scooby franchise. Whilst A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was a good series on the whole, it's great to see the gang how we know them best... teenage sleuths. Launched into the 21st century, the series follows the basic formula of the original show, with the full gang solving mysteries wherever they go.

The voice acting in the show is on point, with Frank Welker and Casey Kasem voicing Fred/Scooby and Shaggy respectively, and featuring both Mindy Cohn and Grey Griffin in their first series as Velma and Daphne respectively. The characters remain true to the original show, but I feel Velma, Daphne and Fred receive more characterisation here which is great. Shaggy and Scooby are their usual goofy, hungry, scared selves.

This series also brings back the Hex Girls in the episode "The Vampire Strikes Back" which is great, you can never have enough Hex Girls. There's plenty of other guest appearances as well (most of which, truth be told, the kids won't know but hey ho) including Simple Plan, who lend their vocals to the classic theme tune of the show.

Keeping on the theme song, I mean what can I say. It's a classic. One of the best theme songs to a Scooby show since the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and definitely the second most memorable. This series also features musical chase scenes, and they're simply a delight. Plenty of great songs are used throughout the 3 seasons.

A few more things. The inclusion of holiday themed episodes are a nice touch to the show, including A Scooby-Doo! Christmas and A Scooby-Doo Halloween. The tone of the series nicely blends comedic elements with the scarier elements, quite similar to the Scooby-Doo Show. Lastly, the gang's outfits are slightly different in this incarnation. Whilst Shaggy and Velma are pretty much the same, the noticeable changes are in the outfits of Fred and Daphne. Whilst I do miss the iconic ascot and scarf worn by the pair, this modern take is nothing to complain about, and gives the show its own distinctive identity.

Overall, What's New, Scooby-Doo? is a great Scooby show that I would definitely recommend to fans of the original series. Compared to the next installment in the run of cartoons, Shaggy & Scoby-Doo Get a Clue!, this show has it all for Scooby lovers. The whole gang solving mysteries, getting up to all sorts of antics and providing you with laughs, scares and much more. What more do you want from this team of mystery solving teens and their canine companion?

score 9/10

conallturley 2 March 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4079232/