When the original cartoon series
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ended its original run of episodes (it returned for additional episodes later on), Hanna-Barbera took Mystery, Inc. and put them into a new hour-long series of adventures that teamed them up with famous guest stars, both real and fictional. The cartoon versions of real-life celebrities often featured the voices of the actual people involved (though not always). Each week the Mystery Machine seemed to break down on the side of the road, and it pulled the gang into a meeting with the guest stars for that episode, who engaged the gang into a fun (if familiar) ghost chase.
Now, continuing the line-up of "Hanna-Barbera Collection" DVD box sets, Warner Brothers is announcing
The Best Of The New Scooby-Doo Movies on a 4-disc compilation of 15 out of the twenty-four episodes produced. Why not the entire run? No official reason was given, but we can speculate there may have been rights issues blocking the guest appearances of the celebrities which aren't represented in this release. Still, it looks like a good set that's well worth owning, and filled with extras too. The release date is
March 22nd, and cost is a whopping $64.92 SRP. Here's the text of Warner's initial announcement:
Scooby-Doo and Your Favorite Celebrity Guests Solve More Creepy Capers!
THE BEST OF THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES
The hour-long The New Scooby-Doo Movies features a marvelous lineup of celebrity guest stars - The Harlem Globetrotters, Dick Van Dyke, The Three Stooges, Jonathan Winters, Don Knotts, Laurel and Hardy and "Mama" Cass Elliot, plus other animated heroes like Batman and Robin and Speed Buggy. This 4-Disc Deluxe Set with Stardusted Special Features presents 15 of the best and spookiest capers.
Loaded with caricatured celebrity guest stars.
Over 11 hours from 15 of the original New Scooby-Doo Movies on DVD!
Each release will contain a bonus animated cell replica from the series.
At 350 episodes and counting, Scooby-Doo holds the Guiness World Record for "The most episodes of a cartoon comedy series" beating The Simpsons.
Retro bonus featurettes including The Hanna-Barbera Kennel Club Roasts Scooby-Doo, Uptown With Scooby-Doo and The Harlem Globetrotters, and the Girls Rock! featurette.
As you see, the specific episodes that will be included aren't named yet. But, based on the guests mentioned in Warner's text above, we can look over the episode list for this Scooby series and spot the ones which ought to be included on the DVDs (if we assume that every appearence of these characters will be there). Thanks to TVTome.com we have this list:
- The Ghastly Ghost Town (with The Three Stooges)
- The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair (with Batman & Robin)
- The Frickert Fracas (with Jonathan Winters)
- Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner (with Don Knotts)
- The Spooky Fog (with Don Knotts)
- The Ghost of Bigfoot (with Laurel & Hardy)
- The Ghost of The Red Baron (with The Three Stooges)
- The Ghostly Creeps from the Deep (with The Harlem Globetrotters)
- The Caped Crusader Caper (with Batman & Robin)
- The Lochness Mess (with The Harlem Globetrotters)
- The Mystery of Haunted Island (with The Harlem Globetrotters)
- The Weird Winds of Winona (with Speed Buggy)
- The Haunted Candy Factory (with "Mama" Cass Elliot)
- The Haunted Carnival (with Dick Van Dyke)
Wait, that's only 14 episodes, when the studio said there would be 15! Jinkies! It looks like Warner forgot to mention one of the guests that Scooby, Shaggy, Freddy, Daphne, and Velma run into. What could the other episode be? My money is on "The Haunted Showboat" with
Josie and the Pussycats, another Hanna-Barbera creation that probably wouldn't require a great deal of legal wheeling-and-dealing to inlcude on this set.
Bear in mind that we're speculating quite a bit right now, but I'm a giant Scooby fan and so I just couldn't resist! Stay tuned for Warner's full-fledge press release for more official details, and we'll get full-sized cover art in the not-too-distant future as well.
