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You can’t escape the Scooby-Doo franchise. This classic
cartoon series is now celebrating its 40th anniversary,
and has existed in various incarnat ions. Recently, Warner
has issued various compilation budget sets to introduce
the series to a new generation of fans. ***
If you don’t know the story behind Scooby-Doo, you’ve
been living under a rock for the last 40 years. The series
follows the foursome of Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy
(voiced by legendary radio personality Casey Kasem) and
their cowardly dog with a limited vocabulary, Scooby-Doo.
The group investigates paranormal happenings, and always
manages to put a stop to whoever his behind the said shenanigans.
This premise is a winner; it’s been keeping this franchise
going strong for 4 decades! ***
This disc features 4 episodes of the series – The Backstage
Rage, Bedlam in the Big Top, A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts,
and Scooby Doo and a Mummy Too. The episodes are classics
from the golden age of this franchise, and it’s unlikely
any fan will be disappointed with the selection here. ***
The problem with this release is that it is unnecessary.
Not long ago Warner released a “complete=2 0first and second
seasons” set of the series. It has all these episodes and
tons more. That is the definitive Scooby compilation and
it renders these little “4-episode” collections obsolete.
Do yourself a favor and just shell out the extra cash for
the season set. These are basically cash-ins on Warner’s
part, who is going to milk this franchise for every penny
it’s worth. ---
Image and Sound:
About the same as the season sets and earlier compilations.
There is some print damage and grain, but for the most part
it looks and sounds pretty good. I wish Warner had taken
the time to do a frame-by-frame restoration, but I doubt
we’ll ever see that with the Scooby series. Either way,
though, this is a more than acceptable set, and it looks
better than a lot of cartoons from the same era.
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