Scooby Doo – The Mystery Begins
Everything has to begin somewhere. Including successful TV series like “Scooby Doo”.
In the movie Scooby Doo – The Mystery Begins, the story began way back when the four members of Mystery Inc. were just four kids who hardly looked at, much less talked to, each other while riding the same bus going to the same school. And Scooby Doo, the lovable Great Dane, was still an abject reject in an animal shelter.
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The mystery began in 2009 when Warner Premiere and Cartoon Network worked together to produce the movie Scooby Doo The Mystery Begins. Brian Levant was brought in to direct the show based on the written work of Daniel Altiere and Steven Altiere. Kate Melton, Hayley Kiyoko, Robbie Amell and Nick Palatas were cast in the roles of Daphne, Velma, Fred and Shaggy. Frank Welker gave voice to Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo was the creation of artist/character designer, Iwao Takamoto, who modeled it after a Great Dane, with his own un-Great Dane-like abnomalities like overly bowed legs, a double chin and a sloped back.
The Great Dane, from the 18th century French word “Grand Danois”, is one of the world’s tallest dog breeds. Year after year, the tallest living dog is invariably a Great Dane. The incumbent to the title is a blue Great Dane named Giant George who stands 110 centimeters at the shoulder. Giant George also holds the title of all-time champ beating the previous holder by two centimeters. The title-holder he unseated was Shamgret Danzas. A brindle. Great Dane, of course.
This breed is considered to have originated in Germany with the English mastiff and the Irish Bloodhound, both big dog breeds, contributing to its lineage. It was in 1749 that Georges-Louis Leclerc, the Comte de Buffon, referred to the breed as “le Grand Danois” meaning Great Dane and the name had gained currency ever since.
At the start of the movie Scooby Doo – The Mystery Begins, Daphne, Velma, Fred and Shaggy had only one thing in common. They shared the same school bus taking them to the same school. Daphne was into the thespian arts. Velma was the nerd. Fred was the athletic jock and Shaggy was, well, the type who passed through life letting life pass him by. Scooby Doo was still in an animal shelter despite all efforts to have him given away for free. Maybe his over-size and over-exuberance had something to do with the problem.
Then, one fateful day, a ride on a bumpy road threw Scooby Doo off the truck he was on and he ended up in Shaggy’s house. Bedroom, actually. The two hit it off right away. No big surprise here. When one misfit meets another misfit, kindred souls coalesce, so to say.
Back at the school, the spirits of two of the founding members were awakened to complete some unfinished business. Strange things began to happen and the four were made convenient scapegoats. Penalized with a month-long suspension, they had to work fast to get to the bottom of things before the suspension became permanent.
There was one scene which was particularly interesting to me. Velma was the nerd and looked it. Daphne did a make-over on Velma and the result, to put it mildly, was stunning. Just goes to show how much can be achieved with just a little bit of powder and lipstick. Plus a lot less garmental camouflage, of course.
So, did they finally unearth the truth about the nocturnal supernatural activities? Did Shaggy find out about the opposite sex? Suffice to say that it was just the beginning of many more adventures to come. And Scooby Doo was fully involved all the way. Watch the Scooby Doo The Mystery Begins DVD to find out yourself.
Did I mention that Scooby Doo remained in fully animated 3D mode throughout the movie?
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