A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| A Pup Named Scooby-Doo | |
|---|---|
 The main title card from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo |
|
| Format | Animation |
| Created by | Joe Ruby Ken Spears |
| Developed by | Tom Ruegger |
| Starring | Don Messick Casey Kasem Carl Stevens Kellie Martin Christina Lange Scott Menville |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | September 10, 1988 – August 31, 1991 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985) |
| Followed by | What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002–2006) |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is the eighth incarnation of the long-running Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. This spin-off of the original show was created by Tom Ruegger and premiered on September 10, 1988 and ran for three seasons on ABC as a half-hour program. Thirty episodes were ultimately produced (thirteen in 1988, eight in 1989, and nine in 1990-1991).
Following the show's first season, much of Hanna-Barbera's production staff, including Tom Ruegger, left the studio, and helped to revive the Warner Bros. Animation studio, beginning with Tiny Toon Adventures.
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was the first Scooby series to be re-run on the Cartoon Network, in 1993.
Contents |
[edit] Overview and tone
The new format followed the trend of the "babyfication" of older cartoon characters, reducing the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cast to junior-high age. This new show also used the same basic formula as the original 1969 show: the gang (referred to in this show as the "Scooby-Doo Detective Agency") solved supernatural-based mysteries, where the villains (the ghosts and monsters) were always revealed as bad guys in masks and costumes. The biggest difference was the tone of the show: 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 incarnation, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. This resulted in a wackier, more extremely comic version of Scooby-Doo that satirized the conventions of the show's previous incarnations. It was not uncommon for the characters to do wild Bob Clampett-esque takes when they ran into ghosts and monsters, Fred was constantly blaming a character appropriately called "Red Herring" for each and every crime on the show (true to his name, Red was always innocent, except for the one episode in which Fred didn't blame him) and shots of the characters (and even the ghosts and monsters) dancing were inserted into the obligatory rock-music-scored chase sequences. The ghosts and monsters themselves were also more comedic, such as a creature made out of molten cheese, and the ghost of a dogcatcher. The series also features Scooby and Shaggy as their favorite superhero duo. Shaggy would be the fearless Commander Cool (a combination of Batman and Superman) and Scooby would be his faithful canine sidekick Mellow Mutt (a combination of Krypto, Robin and Ace the Bat-Hound.)
[edit] The characters being general parodies of their "grown-up" incarnations
The characters themselves were general parodies of their "grown-up" incarnations: Freddy was portrayed as a conspiracy theorist and tabloid-loving goof with little leadership skill, Daphne as a skeptically spoiled and vain rich valley girl with a butler (named Jenkins) at her constant beckon call, and Velma as a generally silent cute child prodigy who spoke mostly to point out clues and solve the case. Velma was most famous in this show for always saying "Jinkies!" upon finding a major clue (this would become her catch phrase). Shaggy's and Scooby's characters remained relatively intact (perhaps due to the fact they were already very exaggerated to begin with.) Scooby-Dum never appeared in the series. Neither did Scrappy-Doo, since he wasn't even born yet at the time (though Scooby's parents and siblings, including Scrappy's mother Ruby-Doo, did appear).
[edit] Music
Rock and roll styled songs (specifically about the monster-of-the-week) were played during the chase scene in each episode, similar to the second-season episodes of Scooby-Doo, Where are You!. Unlike previous versions of the show however, the kids were often aware of the music being played (having turned it on themselves in many occasions) and would dance for a bit along with the ghosts and monsters before continuing with the chase. The show's theme song featured lyrics by series creator Tom Ruegger and music by composer John Debney also beared 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.
[edit] Voice cast
- Scooby-Doo - Don Messick
- Norville 'Shaggy' Rogers - Casey Kasem
- Fred 'Freddie' Jones - Carl Steven
- Daphne Blake - Kellie Martin
- Velma Dinkley - Christina Lange
- Red Herring - Scott Menville
This is the only animated Scooby-Doo production in which Freddy Jones was not voiced by Frank Welker. However, he did make a guest appearance in "Chickenstein Lives" as the voice of Fred's uncle, Eddie Jones, publisher of the National Exaggerator. This was also the last Scooby-Doo series to feature Don Messick as the voice of Scooby-Doo.
[edit] Episode guide
[edit] DVD releases
Warner Home Video initially released the complete A Pup Named Scooby-Doo series on DVD over seven volumes. Each volume featured four episodes in chronological order, except for the sixth and seventh which featured 5 episodes each. It was then announced the series would be released in season sets.
Volume Releases
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | 4 | July 19, 2005 |
| Volume 2 | 4 | July 19, 2005 |
| Volume 3 | 4 | July 18, 2006 |
| Volume 4 | 4 | July 18, 2006 |
| Volume 5 | 4 | January 9, 2007 |
| Volume 6 | 5 | May 15, 2007 |
| Volume 7 | 5 | August 14, 2007 |
Season Releases
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Complete 1st Season | 13 | March 18, 2008 |
[edit] Running gags
- Daphne calling for her servant Jenkins on most cases. She would say "JENKINS", and Jenkins would say "Yes, Ms. Blake" and when he's done, Daphne would say "That will be all Jenkins" and Jenkins would again say "Yes, Ms. Blake".
- Daphne does not like to get dirty.
- Fred's crazy ideas like talking about Mud Men, Bigfoot, etc.
- Someone saying a certain word or phrase and Scooby repeating it in his "R" sound and that person would say "No, <repeated word or phrase here>."
- Fred blaming Red Herring for every mystery and Red shows up or corresponds with Fred and says he didn't do it. Ironically, the one time he didn't blame Red, it was him.
- Something weird happens to Red Herring and he would get laughed at and he would say "That's not very funny".
- Breaking the fourth wall after every mystery.
- Fred questioning certain people and that person would yell out their answer at him.
- Whenever Velma says "Jinkies", someone would say "Velma said Jinkies, it must be a clue".
- The villain saying, "and I would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for you pesky kids and that puppy".
- Reflecting on clues found on each episode.
- Scooby laughing at a joke only to stop and say "I don't get it."
- Shaggy and Scooby being afraid of a monster and Daphne saying "There are no such thing as (Insert fictional monster)."
- A news bumper saying "We interrupt A Pup Named Scooby-Doo for this special announcement" (in a style similar to Sesame Street's News Flash bumpers) that would have the newscaster reporting on a minor thing that happened in the episode or that one of the running gags is about to occur.
- Before the obligatory chase sequence with the monster, one of the Mystery Inc. would often halt the action (often interrupting the monster) so as to turn on the appropriate chase music from a convenient source (such as carrying a stereo in Velma's briefcase).
- During the musical chase sequences, Mystery Inc. and even the Monster would stop running long enough to dance for a bit before continuing.
- While the gang is checking out an empty building, Daphne will scream "Ah!" When the others ask her what's wrong, she will complain that she got a stain on her clothes.
- The gang disguising themselves and performing a comedic skit, eventually confusing the monster, as an attempt to catch it.
- Many instances where Scooby, and sometimes other characters, would not do anything without one or more Scooby Snacks (sometimes spelt Scooby Snax).
- Scooby Snacks coming in ridiculous flavors such as pizza and marshmallows
- After eating a Scooby Snack, Scooby would hug himself and then turn into a rocket and blast off. He would then float lazily down into Shaggy's arms and declare "Rokay, I'm ready."
- Shaggy and Scooby eating ridiculous combos of food such as peanut butter and hot dog sandwiches.
- Velma would sometimes have an elongated skateboard big enough to fit the gang. It also had a motor and tiller on it, which she would pilot. She always wore a red helmet and had her teeth bared whenever driving.
[edit] References
- A Pup Named Scooby-Doo trivia. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094531/trivia on September 4, 2005.
- Banks, Clive. "Scooby-Doo". Retrieved from http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Scooby-Doo%20Intro.htm on September 4, 2005.
- Baxter, Joel (2003). The Complete Scooby-Doo Episode Guide. Retrieved from http://www.execulink.com/~joelb/scooby/doobydoo.htm on September 3, 2005.
- "Hanna-Barbera Studios" (and subarticles). The Big Cartoon DataBase. Retrieved from http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Hanna-Barbera_Studios/index.html on September 3, 2005.
