A Pup Named Scooby-Doo


A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is a 1988-1991 American animated mystery comedy series produced by Hanna-Barbera. It is the eighth incarnation of the studio's Scooby-Doo franchise and depicts younger versions of the title character and his human companions as they solve mysteries, similar to the original television series. The series was developed by Tom Ruegger and premiered on September 10, 1988, airing for four seasons on ABC as well as during the syndicated block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera until August 17, 1991.
Along with most of Hanna-Barbera's production staff, Ruegger departed from the studio after the first season and Don Lusk, a longtime animator for the Disney and Bill Melendez animation studios, took over as director. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is the final television series in the franchise in which Don Messick portrayed Scooby-Doo before his death in 1997 and one of the few in the franchise in which someone other than Frank Welker voiced the character of Fred Jones. Messick and Casey Kasem, the latter of whom voiced Shaggy Rogers, were the only two voice actors from other Scooby-Doo series to reprise their roles and both received starring credits for their work.

Episodes

Characters

Main

The new format followed the trend of the "babyfication" of older cartoon characters, reducing the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cast to elementary-aged kids. This new show also used the same basic formula as the original 1969 show: the "Scooby-Doo Detective Agency" solved supernatural-based mysteries in the town of Coolsville, where the monsters of the week are always revealed as bad guys in masks and costumes. The biggest difference was the tone of the show: with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, producer Tom Ruegger built upon the slightly irreverent humor he had established along with producer Mitch Schauer with Scooby's previous unsuccessful incarnation, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. This resulted in a wackier, more extremely comic version of Scooby-Doo that satirized the conventions of the show's previous incarnations. It was not uncommon for the characters to do wild Tex Avery/Bob Clampett-esque takes when they ran into ghosts and monsters. Animation director and overseas supervisor Glen Kennedy animated many of the wild-take sequences personally. Fred was constantly blaming a character appropriately called "Red Herring" for each and every crime on the show and shots of the characters dancing were inserted into the obligatory late-80s-pop-rock-music-scored chase sequences. The monsters themselves were also more comedic, such as a creature made out of molten cheese, a monster in the form of a giant hamburger and the ghost of a dogcatcher. The series also features Scooby and Shaggy as their favorite superhero duo. Shaggy would be the fearless Commander Cool and Scooby would be his faithful canine sidekick Mellow Mutt. In 2013, a direct-to-video puppet movie was released exclusively to US Walmart stores and digital download called , that featured traits similar to that of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

Comparisons between character incarnations

was exactly like his older incarnation. He ate a lot and used the terms "Like" and "Zoinks!" constantly. He sometimes agrees with other members of the gang, considering the ghost, phantom, etc. Scooby-Doo behaved like the older version of the character as well. Daphne was a vain young girl who was quite skeptical and sarcastic. Being born into money, she often called to her butler, Jenkins, for help, usually for incredibly silly reasons, something she does not do while older, despite still being fabulously wealthy. She often accused the wrong person who did the crime, only by her intuition. She also had a deep infatuation with the color pink, preferring most of her clothes and personal possessions in said color and treats fashion as life and death. She also hates getting dirty and absolutely refuses to believe in the supernatural despite the fact she and the rest of the gang actually met a ghost in one episode.
Fred was an outspoken young boy who always jumps to the wrong conclusion. His runaway imagination often annoyed the rest of the gang. Before accusing Red Herring for absolutely no reason, he often offered a ludicrous hypothesis for the mystery in question, such as Mole people or aliens from another planet. However, he can get the point at times.
Velma was mostly the same as her older incarnation—intelligent and soft-spoken with thick eyeglasses. The most evident change to her character was that she owned a briefcase-sized mobile computer that could determine who the criminal was in any particular episode. Velma also owned an oversized fan-propelled skateboard with a color scheme similar to the Mystery Machine, which all the characters could ride on.
The What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown" featured a flashback to Velma's fifth birthday, using the character designs from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, albeit with some modifications, such as Daphne wearing purple rather than pink. Fred and Velma were the only returning characters to speak in the flashback, voiced by Welker and Mindy Cohn. The live-action film Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins establishes the team meeting in their teens. However, it can be seen as a prequel to the theatrical films.

Music

-styled songs were played during the chase scene in each episode, similar to the second-season episodes of Scooby-Doo, Where are You! However, unlike previous versions of the show, the kids were often aware of the music being played and would dance for a bit along with the ghosts and monsters before continuing with the chase. The show's theme song featured lyrics by series creator Tom Ruegger and music by composer John Debney also bore a similarity to the "Intro Song" from Little Shop of Horrors, which had recently been adapted into a successful feature film. The music is almost always in a 1950s rock and roll style, possibly to indicate their younger age, as the original show took place in 1969.

Home media

initially released all 27 episodes of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo on DVD in Region 1 in seven volume sets. They subsequently re-released the entire series in 2 DVD sets. The first two seasons are available for download from the iTunes Store. "Wrestle Maniacs" can be found on the Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery DVD.
TitleSeasonEpisodesRelease date
Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: For the Love of Snacks1, 22 January 7, 2014
Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery31 March 25, 2014
Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: Surf's Up, Scooby-Doo!11 May 5, 2015