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What's New, Scooby-Doo?

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What's New, Scooby-Doo?
GenreAnimated sitcom
Action/Adventure
Mystery
Comedy
Based onScooby-Doo, Where Are You!, by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears
Developed bySander Schwartz
StarringFrank Welker
Casey Kasem
Mindy Cohn
Grey DeLisle
Theme music composerRich Dickerson and Gigi Meroni
Opening theme"What's New, Scooby-Doo?" performed by Simple Plan
Ending theme"What's New, Scooby-Doo?" (instrumental)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes42 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersJoseph Barbera
Sander Schwartz
ProducersChuck Sheetz
James Krieg
George Doty IV
Ed Scharlach
Running time22 minutes
Production companyWarner Bros. Animation
Original release
NetworkKids' WB (The WB) (2002-2006)
ReleaseSeptember 14, 2002 (2002-09-14) –
July 21, 2006 (2006-07-21)

What's New, Scooby-Doo? is an American animated mystery comedy television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Kids' WB; it is the ninth incarnation of the Scooby-Doo franchise that began with Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and the first of such since the previous incarnation, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, ended in 1991. The series revives the format of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, in which the title character and his companions, Fred Jones; Daphne Blake; Velma Dinkley and Shaggy Rogers, travel to varying locations solving mysteries; this format is modernized for What's New, Scooby-Doo?, in which the characters utilize technology that did not exist at the time Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! first aired. It is the first television series in the franchise in which Frank Welker, Grey DeLisle and Mindy Cohn respectively portrayed the voices of Scooby-Doo, Daphne, and Velma, and where Casey Kasem made his comeback as Shaggy after seven years of not voicing the character and would also be the final Scooby-Doo series where he voices the character before his death in 2014, though he would still do voice work in the two following incarnations, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! and Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

The series premiered on September 14, 2002, and ran for three seasons before ending on July 21, 2006. The title song was performed by Canadian band Simple Plan. Reruns of the series have aired on both Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the United States. It also aired on Teletoon in Canada, and CBBC[1], then CITV[2] in the United Kingdom.

The complete series is available to stream on Netflix in a new 1080p Widescreen remaster never seen in the US.

Production

For this incarnation of the franchise, Frank Welker, the voice of Fred, took over as Scooby's voice (replacing both Don Messick, the original voice of Scooby who died in 1997, and Scott Innes, the second voice of the character in the made-for-video films released between 1998 and 2001). Casey Kasem returned as Shaggy, seven years after he had quit the role and making his comeback as the character in 2002 after the production team decided to make Shaggy a vegetarian. This would also be the final series Kasem voiced the character, continuing to voice Shaggy in direct-to-video Scooby-Doo films until retiring from the role in 2009 due to health problems; Grey DeLisle returned as Daphne's voice (having previously voiced the character in Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase). Actress Mindy Cohn of The Facts of Life fame, took over from B. J. Ward as Velma's voice.

The series itself is a modernized version of the original Where Are You! series. It takes place in the 21st century and is more "realistic" than the previous, more cartoony incarnations, and features music from contemporary genres and all-new, original sound effects to replace the classic Hanna-Barbera sound effects. Even a distinctive thunderclap sound that was used frequently on older Scooby-Doo TV series was very rarely used on the series. A laugh track was only used for the Halloween special. The classic formula was also frequently parodied throughout (in a manner similar to A Pup Named Scooby-Doo), including the line "And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids." As such, it returns to the formulaic version of humans in monster disguises, rather than the real monsters and ghosts of the prior four direct-to-video films (or the 1980s versions that preceded them).

The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons which was the studio famous for bringing the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies to life, which had by this time absorbed Hanna-Barbera Productions on 2001, after being bought by Time Warner from Turner Broadcasting System since their merger on October 10, 1996. As is the standard for other classic Hanna-Barbera properties (Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Wacky Races, etc.), the studio is still credited as the copyright owner, and Joseph Barbera, co-founder and co-chairman of the Hanna-Barbera studios, served as an executive producer alongside Sander Schwartz. William Hanna, longtime partner of Barbera, had died the year before.

The band Simple Plan is strongly connected to What's New, Scooby-Doo?. They perform the theme song (written by Rich Dickerson), and appeared as themselves in the episode "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman". Two of their songs appeared in chase scenes: "I'd Do Anything" in the episode "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine" and "You Don't Mean Anything" in "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman", which also had the song "The Worst Day Ever" serve as the song the band plays during a scene where they practice, and a scene where they are in concert. Also, they contributed to the theatrical movie Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

What's New aired for three seasons on The WB Television Network's "Kids' WB" programming block as a half-hour program, before being put on an indefinite hiatus in 2005, although the last episode, "E-Scream", was aired on Cartoon Network.[citation needed] Reruns have been shown on both Cartoon Network and its sister channel Boomerang. Each season contained thirteen normal episodes and one holiday-themed special. It also debuted[timeframe?] on Boomerang and Cartoon Network in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the United Kingdom, it aired on CBBC from September 2003 until November 2015[3][1], and aired on CITV in 2016[2].

Characters

Main article: List of Scooby-Doo characters

Main characters

  • Fred Jones: The leader of the Mystery, Inc. gang who is the master of making traps to catch the villains. However, sometimes the traps fail to work when Shaggy and Scooby mess them up then use the parts to catch the villain in their own fashion. Voiced by Frank Welker.
  • Daphne Blake: The fashionable, rich glamor girl of the gang who defends herself with her great fighting skills. She is also quite ditzy and accident prone. Voiced by Grey DeLisle.
  • Velma Dinkley: The smartest of the gang, and wears glasses because she is myopic. She has to fight back the advances of semi-recurring Gibby Norton, who does devious things, thinking it will win her over. Voiced by Mindy Cohn.
  • Shaggy Rogers: A beatnik teenager who is best friends with Scooby. He and Scooby are usually scared and hungry; a running gag in the show. He is also known to have a high metabolism, and also is rich. At his voice actor's request, Shaggy was made into a vegetarian for this series.[4][5] Voiced by Casey Kasem.
  • Scooby-Doo: A cowardly, clumsy Great Dane who is best friends with Shaggy Rogers. Two things that they have in common are that they love food and are always afraid of things including monsters. Voiced by Frank Welker.

Recurring characters

Characters in the series who appear more than once.

  • Elliot Blender: A competitive, jerkish spoiled child who often loses to Velma in contests. Voiced by Kimberly Brooks.
  • Melbourne O'Reilly: An Australian adventurer/explorer who is one of Fred's heroes (he is also based on Steve Irwin and Indiana Jones) Voiced by Steven Blum.
  • J.J. Hakimoto: A famous, over enthusiastic, Asian director. Voiced by Brian Tochi.
  • Gibby Norton: A nerd who has a crush on Velma, who hates the sight of him. He often turns out to be the villain to impress Velma, never succeeding. Gibby is modelled after his voice actor, Eddie Deezen.
  • Burr Batson: Cocky southern professional racer who drives a monster truck. Voiced by James Arnold Taylor.
  • Professor Laslow Ostwald: An inventor whom the gang meets. Voiced by Dave Foley, later by James Arnold Taylor. He first appears in "High-Tech House of Horrors" where his "House of the Future's" AI "Shari" goes haywire attacking tourists. Though the gang suspects him it is later revealed that "Shari" itself is responsible (as she was angry at the Professor due to him getting all of the attention). The gang defeated "Shari" by ignoring her (as attention was what she wanted) causing her to overload. Professor Ostwald also appears in "E-Scream" at a "Video Game Convention" where his new invention the cuddly "Osomons" turn evil. It is later discovered that the whole mystery was actually a VR simulation Velma was trying out.
  • The Hex Girls: Thorn, Dusk and Luna, are the members of the famous eco-goth rock band, The Hex Girls, with whom Scooby and the gang are acquainted with, due to being prominent side characters in Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost. Thorn is voiced by Jennifer Hale, Dusk by Jane Wiedlin and Luna by Kimberly Brooks.
  • Mr. B: The owner of the Secret Six puppies. His full name is never revealed. He is voiced by Jeff Bennett. He also appears to be based on actor John Turturro given his accent and appearance.
  • Crissie: A Golden Retriever who is the Secret Six's mother. She appears in "Homeward Hound" and "Farmed and Dangerous.” Unlike the Secret Six she does not appear in “Gold Paw”.
  • The Secret Six puppies: Maize, Flax, Jingle, Knox, 14-Karat and Bling-Bling. They are six very well-trained, prize-winning Golden Retriever puppies who have a knack for getting into trouble. Maize and Knox are voiced by Jennifer Hale, Jingle is voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Flax is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, Bling-Bling is voiced by Grey DeLisle, and 14-Karat is voiced by Frank Welker.
  • Nancy Chang: Reporter in episodes "There's No Creature Like Snow Creature" and "Riva Ras Regas". Voiced by Lauren Tom.

Cast

Episodes

Main article: List of What's New, Scooby-Doo? episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
114September 14, 2002 (2002-09-14)March 22, 2003 (2003-03-22)
214September 13, 2003 (2003-09-13)March 27, 2004 (2004-03-27)
314January 29, 2005 (2005-01-29)July 21, 2006 (2006-07-21)

Spin-off films

Seven spin-off movies set in the same style and animation of the series with the same voice cast as before, which continued after the series ended in 2006, up until 2009.

The films in order are: The Loch Ness Monster (2004), Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005), Where's My Mummy? (2005), Pirates Ahoy! (2006), Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (2007), The Goblin King (2008) and The Samurai Sword (2009).

Home media

Warner Home Video has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1, but does not contain “A Scooby-Doo Christmas”, “A Scooby-Doo Halloween”, and “A Scooby-Doo Valentine”. The series was initially released in ten volumes of four or five episodes between 2003–2006, as well as in the United Kingdom from 2004–2006 and later re-released, in the United States, in season sets in 2007–2008.[6][7][8] In the UK, the volumes were released in a two disc set on May 30, 2011.[9] A box set was released on October 29, 2007 in the UK containing all ten volumes in a complete set.[10] In the Blu-ray was released on September 18, 2020.

What's New, Scooby-Doo? home video releases
Season Episodes Release dates
 United States  United Kingdom
1 2002–03 14 Volume 1: Space Ape at the Cape: August 19, 2003
Episode(s): "There's No Creature Like Snow Creature" – "Big Scare in the Big Easy"
Volume 2: Safari So Goodi!: March 9, 2004
Episode(s): "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine" – "Safari, So Goodi!"
Volume 3: Halloween Boos and Clues: August 10, 2004
Episode(s): "She Sees a Sea Monster by the Sea Shore"
Volume 4: Merry Scary Holiday: October 5, 2004
Episode(s): "A Scooby Doo Christmas" • "Toy Scary Boo"
Volume 5: Sports Spooktacular: June 14, 2005
Episode(s): "The Unnatural"
Volume 7: Ghosts on the Go: November 8, 2005
Episode(s): "Pompeii and Circumstance"
Volume 8: Zoinks! Camera! Action!: February 21, 2006
Episode(s): "Lights! Camera! Mayhem"
The Complete First Season: February 20, 2007
Episode(s): Entire season included; excluded "A Scooby-Doo Christmas"
The Complete Third Season: January 8, 2008
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo! Christmas"
4 Kid Favorites: What's New, Scooby-Doo?: June 6, 2017
Episode(s): "Lights! Camera! Mayhem"		 Volume 1: Space Ape at the Cape: May 3, 2004
Episode(s): "There's No Creature Like Snow Creature" – "Big Scare in the Big Easy"
Volume 2: Safari So Goodi!: June 28, 2004
Episode(s): "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine" – "Safari, So Goodi!"
Volume 3: Lights! Camera! Mayhem!: June 20, 2005
Episode(s): "She Sees Sea Monsters by the Sea Shore" • "Toy Scary Boo" – "Pompeii and Circumstance"
Volume 4: Mummy Scares Best!: July 18, 2005
Episode(s): "The Unnatural"
Volume 10: Gentlemen, Start Your Monsters: November 20, 2006
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo Christmas"
A Scary Space and a Swinging Face: October 29, 2007
Episode(s): "There's No Creature Like Snow Creature" – "Safari, So Goodi!"
Movie Monsters and a Magic Mummy: May 30, 2011
Episode(s): "She Sees Sea Monsters by the Sea Shore" • "Toy Scary Boo" – "The Unnatural"
Spooky Case and a Mad Race: May 30, 2011
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo Christmas"
2 2003–04 14 Volume 3: Halloween Boos and Clues: August 10, 2004
Episode(s): "Mummy Scares Best" • "High-tech House of the Future" • "The Vampire Strikes Back"
Volume 4: Merry Scary Holiday: October 5, 2004
Episode(s): "Homeward Hound" • "Recipe for Disaster"
Volume 5: Sports Spooktacular: June 14, 2005
Episode(s): "The Fast and the Wormious"
Volume 6: Monster Matinee: August 9, 2005
Episode(s): "Big Appetite in Little Tokyo" • "A Scooby-Doo Halloween" • "The San Franpsycho" • "New Mexico, Old Monster"
Volume 7: Ghosts on the Go: November 8, 2005
Episode(s): "Large Dragon at Large" • "It's All Greek to Scooby"
Volume 8: Zoinks! Camera! Action!: February 21, 2006
Episode(s): "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman"
Volume 10: Monstrous Tails: December 5, 2006
Episode(s): "Uncle Scooby and Antarctica!"
The Complete Second Season: June 5, 2007
4 Kid Favorites: What's New, Scooby-Doo?: June 6, 2017
Episode(s): "Big Appetite in Little Tokyo" • "A Scooby-Doo Halloween" • "The San Franpsycho" • "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" • "Uncle Scooby and Antarctica!" • "New Mexico, Old Monster"		 Volume 4: Mummy Scares Best!: July 18, 2005
Episode(s): "Big Appetite in Little Tokyo" – "The Fast and the Wormious"
Volume 5: Homeward Hound: October 24, 2005
Episode(s): "High-Tech House of Horrors" • "The Vampire Strikes Back" • "Homeward Hound" – "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman"
Volume 6: Recipe for Disaster: November 21, 2005
Episode(s): "Recipe for Disaster" – "It's All Greek to Scooby"
Volume 10: Gentlemen, Start Your Monsters: November 20, 2006
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo Halloween"
Movie Monsters and a Magic Mummy: May 30, 2011
Episode(s): "Big Appetite in Little Tokyo" – "The Fast and the Wormious"
Top Dog and a Hot Dog: May 30, 2011
Episode(s): "High-Tech House of Horrors" • "The Vampire Strikes Back" • "Homeward Hound" – "It's All Greek to Scooby"
Spooky Case and a Mad Race: May 30, 2011
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo Halloween"
3 2005–06 14 Volume 5: Sports Spooktacular: June 14, 2005
Episode(s): "Wrestle Maniacs" • "Diamonds Are Ghoul's Best Friend"
Volume 7: Ghosts on the Go: November 8, 2005
Episode(s): "Ready to Scare"
Volume 8: Zoinks! Camera! Action!: February 21, 2006
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo Valentine" • "E-Scream"
Volume 9: Route Scary Six: June 6, 2006
Episode(s): "Fright House of a Lighthouse" • "Go West Young Scoob" • "Farmed and Dangerous" • "Camp Comeoniwannascareya" • "Gentlemen Start Your Monsters"
Volume 10: Monstrous Tails: December 5, 2006
Episode(s): "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown" • "Block-Long Hong Kong Terror" • "Gold Paw" • "Reef Grief"
The Complete First Season: February 20, 2007
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo Valentine"
The Complete Third Season: January 8, 2008
Episode(s): Entire season included; excluded "A Scooby-Doo Valentine"
4 Kid Favorites: What's New, Scooby-Doo?: June 6, 2017
Episode(s): "Fright House of a Lighthouse" – "A Scooby-Doo Valentine" • "Farmed and Dangerous" • "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown" – "E-Scream"		 Volume 7: Ready to Scare: April 10, 2006
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo Valentine" – "Ready to Scare" • "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend"
Volume 8: E-Scream: May 29, 2006
Episode(s): "Block-Long Hong Kong Horror" • "Gold Paw" – "E-Scream"
Volume 9: Fright House of a Lighthouse: July 24, 2006
Episode(s): "Fright House of a Lighthouse" • "Go West, Young Scoob" • "Farmed and Dangerous" • "Camp Comeoniwannascareya"
Volume 10: Gentlemen, Start Your Monsters: November 20, 2006
Episode(s): "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown" • "Gentleman, Start Your Monsters"
Ghouls, Fools and Food and a Grief on a Reef: May 30, 2011
Episode(s): "A Scooby-Doo Valentine" – "Ready to Scare" • "Diamonds Are a Ghoul's Best Friend" • "Block-Long Hong Kong Horror" • "Gold Paw" – "E-Scream"
Spooky Case and a Mad Race: May 30, 2011
Episode(s): "Fright House of a Lighthouse" • "Go West, Young Scoob" • "Farmed and Dangerous" • "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown" • "Camp Comeoniwannascareya" • "Gentleman, Start Your Monsters"

References

  1. ^ a b "Episodes by date - What's New Scooby Doo?". CBBC. BBC. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b "This Weekend's Stax: What's New Scooby Doo". CITV. ITV plc. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  3. ^ "CBeebies - BBC One London, 20 September 2003". BBC Genome. BBC. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  4. ^ Barnes, Mike (2014-06-15). "Casey Kasem, Iconic Radio Host, Dies at 82". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  5. ^ Legum, Judd (2014-06-15). "Casey Kasem's Secret Legacy: How He Used Scooby-Doo To Advance His Values". Thinkprogress.org. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  6. ^ US Volumes:
  7. ^ UK Volumes:
  8. ^ Season set reference:
  9. ^ Set Releases:
  10. ^ Limited, Linens. "What's New Scooby Doo: Complete 10-Disc Box Set DVD: Amazon.co.uk: Scooby Doo: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-09-20. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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