The Good
The Bad
This disk for A Pup Named Scooby-Doo - Volume 1 features four episodes from the TV show that is a spin-off of the original Scooby-Doo series. These episodes are “A Bicycle Built for Boo”, “The Sludge Monster from the Earth’s Core”, “Wanted Cheddar Alive” and “The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book.” While these cartoons are obviously meant for a younger audience, I still found myself enjoying them. These cartoons seem to show children good role models of kids who aren’t afraid to get to the bottom of things that trouble them. They demonstrate good decision making skills, a strong sense of purpose and the ability to respect others. For parents looking for afternoon fare for their kids, what more could they want?
Features
No extras came with this DVD. Not a game you can play with your remote. Not a trivia questionnaire. Nothing.
Video
Standard Version presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of it’s original television exhibition. Full Frame. Cartoons are something that I think are really bolstered by the DVD compression process. The colors on these disks look so clean and sharp, that it’s not surprising that they would be so strong on DVD. In fact, in some cases the drawings looked like they were in 3-D and about to leap from the screen.
Audio
Dolby Digital. English, French and Spanish Mono. What is a real treat about this “early” look at the characters from Scooby-Doo is hearing the voices of the main players at such young ages. It is obvious that for these newer shows, they are not the same voices, but it’s still interesting to watch the new shows and then screen the older ones and sort of see the character arcs for how these animated creations evolved.
Package
Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are zooming through town doing their paper route with a green monster hot on their trail. The colors on this box are so rich and alive that I think they will more then catch a prospective consumer’s eye. The back features a lot of green, with separate renderings of all the main characters. There is a description of what the episodes are about, an episode list and some minor technical specs. I think that for kids 6 and up, there is nothing about this packaging or the contents of this DVD that they would have a problem with. As such, I don’t think any parents will have a problem with it either.
Final Word
Once again, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo - Volume 1 is a good primer for the uninitiated to get into the Scooby-Doo series. There is such a vast stockpile of material for kids (and adults) to discover, that I think there are enough episodes by now for their really to be something for everyone. Furthermore, I think that there are a lot of really good lessons within the stories of Scooby-Doo, that kids can watch the show and learn something without realizing that they are learning something. And that, to me, is the best kind of education.
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was released .