Whatchoo Gonna Doo, Brother? "Scooby Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery"

Scooby Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery (2014)

Not Rated

Starring Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle, John Cena, Triple H, Michael Cole, Kane, The Miz, A.J. Lee, Vince McMahon

Directed by Brandon Vietti

The Story:

Scooby (Welker) ends up winning a contest on a WWE video game and wins a trip to WWE City!  Shaggy (Lillard) an Scooby beg for the gang to tag along, bringing much persuasive evidence that they've never asked for anything in return and have always been used as bait to solve mysteries. 

Point: Scooby & Shaggy!

So they head to WWE City and meet the superstars.  But with a mysterious ghost bear plaguing the town, and Scooby apparently the prime suspect in the theft of the WWE Championship, it's up to Shaggy, Fred (Welker), Daphne (DeLisle) and Velma (Cohn) to clear their canine companion and lay the smackdown on the mysterious bear!

Hanna Barbera teams with WWE Studios to make a movie that's fun for the whole family.

WWE Wrestlers have been compared to cartoons over the years, so it makes sense to go animated.

Hook kids to the fun of WWE, and you might have a fan for life.

Worked on me.

:)

And the WWE offered up some of their best, A-listers John Cena, Triple H and even the Chairman himself, Vince McMahon!

Other wrestlers, like Sin Cara (who is instrumental to the movie) are shown but not given any dialogue.

The wrestlers do quite fine for themselves as voice actors, given the respective size and importance of their roles.  I would say The Miz comes out as the wrestler who seemingly has the most fun in the movie, and has the best lines.

But first and foremost, as the title suggests, this is a Scooby Doo cartoon.

Frank Welker leads the team, still as the intrepid Fred but now also pulling double duty as Scooby.  He is able to differentiate between the two nicely, and I like when the voices are distinct enough that you don't realize it's the same voice.

Lillard was perfectly cast as a live-action Shaggy when Scooby Doo came to the big screen years ago.  He does the memory of Casey Kasem proud as he brings Shaggy to life for a new generation.

While I mentioned in my Scooby Doo review that the main cast did voices for years, eventually they all get replaced.

:(

DeLisle has become the latest Daphne, and I was amused to see that Cohn has taken up the mantle of Velma since the early 2000s.  Yes, Natalie from The Facts of Life.

My childhood is converging as I am now an adult!

Overall, I thought it was pretty well done, and I'm looking forward to the next 45 years of Scooby Doo!

Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Hey, I liked it.  I would watch it again. :)

Ruh Roh! "Scooby Doo, Where Are You!"

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969)

TV G

Starring  Don Messick, Casey Kasem, Nicole Jaffe, Frank Welker, Stefanianna Christopherson, Heather North

The Story:

4 Sleuths and their talking dog uncover the truth behind apparent supernatural mysteries.

Seriously, how in-depth do you want me to make a synopsis of Scooby Doo?

I'm more curious how they could get away with using an exclamation point in the title when clearly they are asking a question.

:)

Can we all assume everyone has at least seen an episode?

If not, these are the episodes to see.

The first two seasons...the best two seasons.

Everything you wanted to know about Scooby and the Gang can be gleaned by watching these episodes.

And now you know the secret of why I have so many children, and why I creatively spaced them out like I did.

This way, I can keep introducing the next generation of fans to some of the best animation and fun shows that I had the privilege to grow up watching.

;)

It could be argued that Scooby Doo is the most successful feather in the Hanna Barbera cap, and I would be willing to agree.

Naturally, I'll put the Flintstones first, but I've got a lot of love for Scooby (Messick), Shaggy (Kasem) and the rest of the gang.

Happily, aside from some Daphne switching (Christopherson to North), the gang that voiced the original Scooby episodes pretty much were given the opportunity to voice their most famous creations in many of the updated iterations that has brought Scooby and his crime solving sleuths to the screen.

That includes ascot wearing Fred (Welker) and the brainy Velma (Jaffe).

Naturally, nearly every episode plays out the exact same way, so watching episode after episode can become very déjà vu-ish, but most of the jokes and gags work just as well now as they did over 40 years ago.

My little 2 year old had recently discovered the new Scooby stuff on Netflix, but was totally enchanted when the originals were cracked out of the DVD case and watched with the family.

I even got her to say "Rooby Roo".

Now that's priceless!

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: While you don't have to have children to appreciate this part of your youth, but it doesn't hurt.  And it provides cover for watching them again.  :)