A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

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A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
Genre
Based on
Developed byTom Ruegger
Directed by
Voices of
Theme music composerJohn Debney
Opening theme"A Pup Named Scooby-Doo!"
ComposerJohn Debney
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes27 (30 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Tom Ruegger
  • Lane Raichert
  • Craig Zukowski
Editors
  • Gil Iverson
  • Tim Iverson
Running time22 minutes approx.
Production companyHanna-Barbera Productions[a]
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 10, 1988 (1988-09-10) –
August 17, 1991 (1991-08-17)
Related

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is an American animated mystery comedy series produced by Hanna-Barbera.[1] 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.[2] The series was developed by Tom Ruegger and premiered on September 10, 1988, airing for three seasons on ABC as well as during the syndicated block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera until August 17, 1991.[3]

Along with most of Hanna-Barbera's production staff, Ruegger departed from the studio after the first season (to create Tiny Toon Adventures for Warner Bros. Animation) 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 the first in which Fred Jones is voiced by someone other than Frank Welker (child actor Carl Steven took on the role for this animated series), though he voiced other characters in the show. 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

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
113September 10, 1988 (1988-09-10)December 10, 1988 (1988-12-10)
28September 9, 1989 (1989-09-09)November 4, 1989 (1989-11-04)
36September 8, 1990 (1990-09-08)August 17, 1991 (1991-08-17)

Characters

Main

  • Scooby (voiced by Don Messick) – The main character of the series and the mascot of the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency. Messick also voiced several other characters in the show.
  • Shaggy Rogers (voiced by Casey Kasem) – Scooby-Doo's best friend. Kasem also voices Shaggy's Dad and additional voices.
  • Fred Jones (voiced by Carl Steven) – The scatterbrained leader of the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency.
  • Daphne Blake (voiced by Kellie Martin) – A wealthy child with a haughty and sarcastic personality and wears white go-go boots.
  • Velma Dinkley (voiced by Christina Lange) – An intelligent, but shy and soft-spoken girl.

Supporting

  • Red Herring (voiced by Scott Menville) – The town bully who Freddie almost always wrongly accused of being the villain. Herring was the villain in only one episode, "Night of the Boogey Biker," but Freddie did not accuse him due to Daphne betting he couldn't go 24 hours without accusing Herring. He often torments the gang but is always thwarted. Among his catchphrases are "Hah! What a weenie!" "That's not very funny" and "I didn't do it, Jones!" His name is a reference to the idiom "red herring."
  • Sugie (voiced by B. J. Ward) – Sugie is Shaggy's baby sister with her name being pronounced "shoogy." She only appeared in two episodes. She is Shaggy's favorite "non-puppy person" in the world. She has a baby bag which contains her favorite boulder, a crib, her string collection, a refrigerator containing her baby food among various other items. Sugie appeared in The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show episode "Wedding Bell Boos" as the bride-to-be in 1983, using her given name of Maggie Rogers.
  • Gus – Gus is the janitor of Coolsville Junior High. He is an inventor. It is shown that he also works at Coolsville Mall (and possibly for the Blakes). He has a fondness for Velma and will do anything to help her.
  • O'Greasy (voiced by Charlie Adler) – O'Greasy is the owner of O'Greasy restaurants, a fast food chain which serves every meal in a bucket. O'Greasy once had competitor named Arnie Barney who used to serve his fast food in bags until O'Greasy blew his business out of the water. The gang helps him when a burger monster threatened to close his restaurants down.
  • Carol Colossal – Carol Colossal is the owner of Colossal Toys and later the Coolsville Wrestling Federation (CWF). She also is the creator of Commander Cool. The gang helps her when her business and the Commander Cool toyline is in danger.
  • Barbara Simone – Barbara Simone is Carol Colossal's secretary. She tried to destroy Colossal's business by stealing and selling blueprints for its Commander Cool toyline, but was foiled by the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency in "The Return of Commander Cool". She is so efficient as a secretary that Carol Colossal got her a license to leave prison to resume her work in "Wrestle Maniacs" where she appears wearing the traditional black-and-white stripped prison uniform and has an officer following her wherever she goes. With that, she became the only character (other than Red) to reappear in another episode after being unmasked.
  • Jenkins (voiced by Don Messick) – Jenkins is Daphne's butler, whom she calls in to do various tasks. He responds whenever his name is called (He once showed up after thinking Velma said "Jenkins," when she really said "Jinkies"). The one time he didn't respond to Daphne's call, a butler named Dawson responded for him and told Daphne that Jenkins was busy doing her shopping, which she deemed an acceptable excuse. Dawson seems to be as efficient as Jenkins.

Production

The new format follows the trend of the "babyfication" of older cartoon characters, reducing the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cast to elementary-aged kids. The series reintroduces Fred Jones and Velma Dinkley to the show, both of whom had not appeared as regular characters since the 1970s, and Scrappy-Doo was removed from the cast. The series uses the same basic formula as the original 1969 show: the "Scooby-Doo Detective Agency" (a forerunner of Mystery Inc.) solves 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 difference is the tone: 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 results in a wackier, more extremely comic version of Scooby-Doo that satirizes the conventions of the show's previous incarnations. It is not uncommon for the characters to do wild Tex Avery/Bob Clampett-esque takes when they encounter ghosts and monsters. Animation director and overseas supervisor Glen Kennedy animated many of the wild-take sequences personally. Fred constantly blames a character appropriately called "Red Herring" (a pun on red herring) for each and every crime on the show, and shots of the characters dancing are inserted into the pop-rock-music-scored chase sequences. The monsters themselves are 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 features Scooby and Shaggy as their favorite superhero duo, the fearless Commander Cool and his faithful canine sidekick Mellow Mutt. In 2013, a direct-to-video puppet film was released exclusively to US Walmart stores and digital download called Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map that uses character designs from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

Comparisons between character incarnations

  • Shaggy is similar to his older incarnation. He is often seen eating and uses the terms "Like" and "Zoinks!" constantly. He sometimes agrees with other members of the gang, considering the monster of the week.
  • Scooby-Doo behaves like the older version of the character, but when given a Scooby Snack, this incarnation of Scooby often says "mmmm!" or similar in an exaggerated manner, rocket into the air, then floats back down to the ground, similar to Snuffles' reaction after consuming a dog biscuit in Quick Draw McGraw.
  • Daphne is a vain young girl who is skeptical and sarcastic, especially towards Fred. Being born into money, she often calls to her butler, Jenkins, for help, usually for nonsensical reasons ("be scared for me"), something she does not do while older, despite still being fabulously wealthy. She often accuses the wrong person of the crime only by her intuition. She has 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 hates getting her new boots dirty and absolutely refuses to believe in the supernatural.
  • Fred is an outspoken young boy who always jumps to the wrong conclusion. His runaway imagination often annoys the rest of the gang (his favorite magazine is the National Exaggerator, which his uncle gains ownership of during the course of the series). Before accusing Red Herring for absolutely no reason, he often offers a ludicrous hypothesis for the mystery in question, which usually involves anything from non-fiction. However, he can get the point at times. As a polar opposite of Daphne, the young Fred believes in ghosts whereas his adult counterpart usually does not.
  • Velma is mostly the same as her older incarnation—intelligent and soft-spoken with thick eyeglasses. The most evident change to her character is that she owns a briefcase-sized mobile computer that can determine who the culprit is in any particular episode. Velma also owns an oversized engine-propelled skateboard with a color scheme similar to the Mystery Machine, which all the characters can ride on. She has a distinctive gait during longer walks or runs (rapidly-shuffling feet), and a distinctive dance style borrowed from Peanuts character 5 (as she appears during the dance scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas).

The What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown" features 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 are the only returning characters to speak in the flashback, voiced by Welker and Mindy Cohn. The continuity of the live-action film Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins establishes the team meeting in their teens.

Music

Rock and roll-styled songs (specifically about the monster of the week) play 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 are often aware of the music being played (having turned it on themselves in many occasions) and will dance for a bit along with the ghosts and monsters before continuing with the chase (Glen Kennedy would often animate the characters' dance cycles himself). The show's theme song, featuring lyrics by series creator Tom Ruegger and music by composer John Debney, also bares 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 takes place in 1969.

Home media

Warner Home Video (via Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) 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 different 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.

Volume releases
Season Volume Episodes Release date
1 1988 1 4 ("A Bicycle Built for Boo!" – "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book") July 19, 2005[4][5]
2 4 ("For Letter or Worse" – "Snow Place Like Home")
3 4 ("Scooby Dude" – "Robopup") July 18, 2006[6][7]
4 4 ("Lights... Camera... Monster" – "The Spirit of Rock'n Roll")
2 1989
5 4 ("Chickenstein Lives" – "Dog Gone Scooby") January 9, 2007[8]
6 4 ("Terror, Thy Name Is Zombo" – "Wrestle Maniacs") May 15, 2007[9]
3 1990
4 1991 7 3 ("The Were-Doo of Doo Manor" – "Mayhem of the Moving Mollusk") August 14, 2007[10]
Volumes 1–3
Triple Feature Box Set
12 ("A Bicycle Built for Boo!" – "Robopup") April 13, 2010[11]
4 Kid Favorites
Quadruple Feature Box Set
16 ("A Bicycle Built for Boo!" – "The Spirit of Rock'n Roll") September 27, 2011[12]
January 17, 2012[13]
Complete season releases
Season Set Episodes Release date Extras
1 1988 1 13 March 18, 2008[14]
  • Coolsville, U.S.A. Interactive Map
2 1989 2 14 March 17, 2009[15]
3 1990
4 1991
Compilation appearances
Title Episodes Release date
Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: For the Love of Snacks 2 ("Wanted Cheddar Alive" and "Night of the Living Burger") January 7, 2014
Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery 1 ("Wrestle Maniacs") March 25, 2014
Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: Surf's Up, Scooby-Doo! 1 ("Scooby Dude") May 5, 2015

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Animation outsourced to Wang Film Productions and Fil-Cartoons.

References

  1. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 724–725. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 534–538. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. pp. 377–379. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  4. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Vol. 1: Casey Kasem, Don Messick, Christina Lange, Kellie Martin, Carl Steven, Scott Menville, Lewis Arquette, George Ball, Dehl Berti, Earl Boen, Arthur Burghardt, Cathy Cahn: Movies & TV". Amazon. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  5. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Vol. 2: Casey Kasem, Don Messick, Christina Lange, Kellie Martin, Carl Steven, Scott Menville, Lewis Arquette, George Ball, Dehl Berti, Earl Boen, Arthur Burghardt, Cathy Cahn: Movies & TV". Amazon. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  6. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Vol. 3: Scott Menville, Jackie Joseph, Dehl Berti, Dan Gilvezan, Jim Cummings, Cindy McGee, Arthur Burghardt, Lynne Marie Stewart, Kath Soucie, David Mendenhall, Leslie Speights, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Della Reese, Cathy Cahn, Lynne Moody, Darryl Hickman, Kenneth Mars, Linda Dangcil, Paul Lukather, Jerry Houser: Movies & TV". Amazon. 9 January 2007. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  7. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Vol. 4: Scott Menville, Jackie Joseph, Dehl Berti, Dan Gilvezan, Jim Cummings, Cindy McGee, Arthur Burghardt, Lynne Marie Stewart, Kath Soucie, David Mendenhall, Leslie Speights, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Della Reese, Cathy Cahn, Lynne Moody, Darryl Hickman, Kenneth Mars, Linda Dangcil, Paul Lukather, Jerry Houser: Movies & TV". Amazon. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  8. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Vol. 5: Scott Menville, Jackie Joseph, Dehl Berti, Dan Gilvezan, Jim Cummings, Cindy McGee, Arthur Burghardt, Lynne Marie Stewart, Kath Soucie, David Mendenhall, Leslie Speights, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Della Reese, Cathy Cahn, Lynne Moody, Darryl Hickman, Kenneth Mars, Linda Dangcil, Paul Lukather, Jerry Houser: Movies & TV". Amazon. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  9. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Vol. 6: Artist Not Provided: Movies & TV". Amazon. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  10. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Vol. 7: Artist Not Provided: Movies & TV". Amazon. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  11. ^ "Pup Named Scooby-Doo 1–3: Artist Not Provided: Movies & TV". Amazon. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  12. ^ "4 Kid Favorites: A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (Volumes 1–4): Movies & TV". Amazon. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  13. ^ "4 Kids Favorites: A Pup Named Scooby-Doo: Artist Not Provided: Movies & TV". Amazon. 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  14. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo: Complete 1st Season: Casey Kasem, Don Messick, Michael Bell, Christina Lange, Kellie Martin, Scott Menville, Carl Steven, Charles Adler, Chuck McCann, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Rene Auberjonois, Jim Cummings, Arthur Davis, Bob Goe, Don Lusk, Oscar Dufau, Paul Sommer, Ray Patterson, William Hanna, Bill Matheny: Movies & TV". Amazon. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  15. ^ "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo: Complete 2nd, 3rd & 4th Seasons: Artist Not Provided: Movies & TV". Amazon. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 2011-11-30.

External links