Review Of SCOOBY-DOO! THE MYSTERY BEGINS By Frankie Franken

Hello, everybody, and welcome to today's post for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. Today I'm reviewing the latest DVD movie featuring a character that's just perfect for Halloween--Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, released by Warner Premiere and Cartoon Network. Scooby Doo and his friends Freddie, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy have been around since 1969 and solved a great many mysteries, but one mystery their fans have wanted to know about is: what was their first case, and how did they become friends and get together? This new live-action film tells just that!

Misfit teen Norville "Shaggy" Rogers (Nick Palatas) is having trouble fitting in and making friends at Coolsville Academy, but he soon finds a friend and kindred spirit when he adopts Scoobert (a CGI creation voiced by Frank Welker), an incorrigible but good-hearted dog who gets lost on his way back to the pound and witnesses two ghosts rising from their graves in the Coolsville Cemetery. When a misunderstanding on the school bus lands Shaggy in detention along with mystery-loving jock Fred Jones (Robbie Amell), drama club enthusiast Daphne Blake (Kate Melton), and science nerd/inventor Velma Dinkley (Hayley Kiyoko), those same two ghosts attack Coolsville Academy--and the gang has a mystery on their hands. Accused of pranking the school, the future members of Mystery, Inc. team together to solve the mystery and clear their names, but not without learning to live with each other first!

Though it purports to be the first adventure ever for the Scooby Gang, it does appear to be set in today's time, since I doubt there were laptop computers or MP3 players available in 1969. But the movie is great fun nonetheless, with spooks, scares, good performances by the actors, and a lovable CGI Scooby that's closer to the cartoons than the other live-action movies. You'll also see the first-ever use of the gang's beloved Mystery Machine, and learn about what's really in a Scooby-snack! So be sure to check out this neat little movie for your Halloween family viewing.

See you tomorrow for more of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween!

Sincerely,
Francesca "Frankie" Franken

POST-MORTEM: Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins is available on DVD at Amazon.com. Click the image above to order.