There are two kinds of people in the world, those who love Scooby-Doo and those who don’t. Generally, kids whose parents have been fans of the Scooby-Doo franchise have turned out to be fans of the Mystery Inc. and Scoob! is the best way to get reintroduced to the characters.

Not even your parents or their friends would know how Shaggy and Scooby met for the first time, what is Shaggy’s first name and why did they become friends with Fred, Daphne, and Velma? Well, Scoob! answers all these questions for you besides showing you how these meddling kids save the world when they get the chance.

Scoob! is about Mystery Inc. and their talking Great Dane who love to solve mysteries no matter how deadly it may seem. In this Tony Cervone-directed adventure, they are pitted against Dick Dastardly (voiced by Jason Issacs) the mastermind villain who wants to use Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) for his own evil plan. Does he succeed in his wicked designs or do Fred (Zac Efron), Daphne (Amanda Seyfried), Velma (Gina Rodriguez) and Shaggy (Will Forte) manage to save their friend, watch Scoob! to find out the answers.

Don’t be surprised to find Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg), Dynomutt The Dog Wonder (Ken Jeong), Captain Caveman (Tracy Morgan) and Dee Dee Sykes (Kiersey Clemons ) in this adventure as Mystery Inc. race against time to save one of their own!

Originally slated for a cinematic release, Scoob! releases digitally due to Covid-19. The dialogues are targeted to those who are in their teens or below, whereas the characterisation is more or less the same.

Fred is still the macho lead of the gang, Daphne is the people’s person, and Velma is the brain whereas Shaggy and Scooby are the heart. In fact, the gang and the audience both realise that without the last two, there will be no Mystery Inc. at all!

There is one stark difference between Scoob! and other Scooby-Doo adventures; this one is more focused on ‘adventure’ than ‘mystery’. After the mystery that transforms them from just friends to Mystery Inc., there is no unveiling the bad guy in the end. However, the film serves as a reboot to the franchise that has been around for over 50 years and has helped law enforcers capture all kinds of bad guys.

Yes, the computer-generated animation is nowhere close to the original Scooby-Doo adventures but hey, it’s 2020, and luck favours those who adapt. Like the film’s producers Warner Bros who united most of the characters from the Hanna — Barbara Universe and presented them as their newest property. A quick Google search will help a long way in knowing about these characters or you can watch Scoob! and satisfy your thirst for knowledge. Not only does it entertain in its classic manner but it also makes the newest generation familiar with the Scooby-way!

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 30th, 2020