The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 4.0/5

There is a history behind The New Scooby-Doo Movies series which aired between 1972 and 1973 and while 15 out of the 24 episodes had been released in the “Best of The New Scooby-Doo” movies back in 2005. Apparently over the past decade over or so, Warner Brothers has been trying to get the appropriate releases from the celebrity voices or, if they are deceased, from their estates as obviously 40 years ago, the home video market wasn’t even in consideration. With that, 9 episodes were left off any release and only available via bootlegs. The studio did an admirable job bringing this collection together, unfortunately one episode, “Wednesday is Missing”, is still… um, missing, rumor however is John Astin, who played Gomez Addams did not, for whatever reason, release the rights, thus why this is “The (Almost) Complete Collection”.

With that out of the way, even though I’m not a huge Scooby-Doo fan, I have enjoyed the various, among numerous, television series as well as the plethora of direct-to-video animated movies (and even the first live action version was okay). This series sets itself apart from the others as the Mystery Inc. gang would team up with celebrities of the time including Batman and Robin (not, however, voiced by either Adam West or Burt Ward – guessing because the series was owned by Fox?), Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, Don Knotts, and even Sony and Cher. Each one of these “movies” were basically extended episodes, running at around 45-minutes in length. The animation is about what I’d expect from that era as is the innocent humor, but still these were entertaining episodes that, albeit I was born well after these aired, they did occupy my time really well, as I did manage to chuckle a few times.

Episodes:

1. Ghastly Ghost Town
2. The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair
3. The Frickert Fracas
4. Guess Who’s Knott Coming to Dinner
5. A Good Medium is Rare*
6. Sandy Duncan’s Jekyll and Hyde*
7. The Secret of Shark Island*
8. The Spooky Fog
9. Scooby-Doo Meets Laurel and Hardy
10. The Ghost of the Red Baron
11. The Ghostly Creep from the Deep
12. The Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall*
13. The Phantom of the Country Music Hall*
14. The Caped Crusader Caper
15. The Loch Ness Mess
16. The Mystery of the Haunted Island
17. The Haunted Showboat*
18. Scooby-Doo Meets Jeannie (Mystery in Persia)*
19. The Spirited Spooked Sports Show*
20. The Exterminator
21. Weird Winds of Winona
22. The Haunted Candy Factory
23. Scooby-Doo Meets Dick Van Dyke

* – Denotes the “lost” episodes.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.25/5

This two-disc set is housed in a standard Blu-ray case and comes with a matted slip cover with an episode guide inside. Kind of wish there was some short featurette, or even a simple note inside, on the process of getting the “lost” episodes back.

The features inside have been ported over from the 2005 DVD release: The Hanna-Barbera Kennel Club Roasts Scooby-Doo (5:10) with “embarrassing” stories about our favorite sleuth canine; Uptown with Scooby-Doo and the Harlem Globetrotters (8:41) where the Globetrotters show Scooby-Doo some new tricks; and Girls Rock (9”03), a profile on Daphne and Velma.

VIDEO – 4.0/5

AUDIO – 3.0/5

OVERALL – 3.75/5

Overall, The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection is a great set from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, a must for any big Scooby-Doo fans as you get the long-awaited lost episodes… save for one unfortunately. The Blu-ray itself offers up an impressive video transfer and satisfactory audio alongside ported over bonus material.