Updated to a modern-day setting, the movie tells how the four friends actually met on the school bus on the way to school. An "incident" on the bus lands the four in detention, where they soon discover that, despite their differences, they are all a fan of mysteries, well all but Shaggy (Nick Palatas), but he is desperate for the camaraderie, so he goes along. As fate would have it, something eerie is afoot at Coolsville High, and the team is soon beset by a pair of scary ghosts. The situation goes from bad to worse when the four are blamed for the ghost debacle and suspended from school. Determined to clear their name, Fred (Robbie Amell), Daphne (Kate Melton) and Velma (Hayley Kiyoko) follow Shaggy's new canine companion, Scooby-Doo (voiced by Frank Welker), as he leads them to the place where he first saw the ghosts. The group meets at Shaggy's house the next day to begin investigating what is actually going on. The typical hi-jinks abound and the team, which ends up expelled from school at one point, finally solves the mystery and is vindicated.
While Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins was a bit corny, it did hearken back to the feeling of the original series, despite the modern face-lift. Perhaps my favorite part of the show was the credits, and I don't mean that negatively. As the final credits roll, video snippets show the team fixing up the Mystery Machine, each snippet a direct translation of one of the scenes in the opening credits of the original cartoon. I thought this was a nice tribute. The acting, while not Oscar caliber, was carried off well enough in light of the subject matter and I felt the casting was fairly spot-on. The package contains the Blu-ray version of the show as well as a standard DVD and digital version. Bonus features include a trivia track which adds small pop-ups that appear occasionally through the movie offering trivia about the gang. There is also a personality quiz to find out which member of Mystery, Inc. the viewer is most like. The standard behind-the-scenes and gag reels are also present, as is an Anarbor music video for the song You and I.
Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins aired on Cartoon Network on September 13th, a little over a week before the release of the video. Already fans of the original series, which still plays on several channels despite turning 40 this year, my children enjoyed the movie on television and were pleased when I brought it home for reviewing purposes. The movie shows that Scooby-Doo is still a lovable and entertaining experience and, with the nice set of extras included, this package is a decent investment. Time for some Scooby snacks!
