The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection Blu-ray and The Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies: The Lost Episodes DVD Review

The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection Blu-ray and The Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies: The Lost Episodes DVD

Warner Bro's Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray and DVD I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are on my own.

Some Details

For the first time ever, nearly all episodes from The New Scooby-Doo Movies, the Scooby-Doo series featuring celebrity guests, are available to own in one collection! It’s star-studded hijinks on The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection, which includes 23 highly-entertaining episodes available on DVD/Blu-ray™. That loveable Great Dane and the Mystery Inc. gang encounter some of pop culture’s most legendary names, including Jonathan Winters, Dick Van Dyke, The Three Stooges, Cass Elliot of The Mamas & the Papas, Laurel & Hardy and many more, as they embark on their mystery-solving adventures. 

The Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies: The Lost Episodes features eight never-before released episodes that are now available together on DVD for the first time.  Fans of Scooby-Doo can’t get enough of the Mystery Inc. Gang teaming up with stellar celebrity guest stars who help them solve the most intriguing cases. In The Best of the Scooby-Doo Movies: The Lost Episodes, the gang joins forces with heartthrob Davy Jones as well as Josie and the Pussycats. The magical duo of Jeannie and Babu help rescue the gang in an ancient pyramid. Help Scooby-Doo search high and low for all the fun and hijinks with these eight lost episodes.

All eight episodes featured on The Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies: The Lost Episodes are included in The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection.

The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection

Featured Episodes/Guest Stars:

1.      Ghastly Ghost Town – The Three Stooges

2.      The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair – Batman and Robin

3.      The Frickert Fracas – Jonathan Winters

4.      Guess Who’s Knott Coming to Dinner! – Don Knotts

5.      A Good Medium is Rare – Phyllis Diller

6.      Sandy Duncan’s Jekyll And Hyde – Sandy Duncan

7.      The Secret of Shark Island – Sonny and Cher

8.      The Spooky Fog – Don Knotts

9.      Scooby-Doo Meets Laurel & Hardy – Laurel & Hardy

10.  The Ghost of the Red Barron – The Three Stooges

11.  The Ghostly Creep From the Deep – The Three Stooges

12.  The Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall - Davy Jones

13.  The Phantom of the Country Music Hall – Jerry Reed

14.  The Caped Crusaders – Batman and Robin

15.  The Loch Ness Mess – Harlem Globetrotters

16.  The Mystery of the Haunted Island – Harlem Globetrotters

17.  The Haunted Showboat – Josie and the Pussycats

18.  Scooby-Doo Meets Jeannie (Mystery in Persia) – Jeannie & Babu

19.  The Spirited Spooked Sport Show – Tim Conway

20.  The Exterminator – Don Adams

21.  Weird Winds of Winona – Speed Buggy

22.  The Haunted Candy Factory – Cass Elliot

23.  Scooby-Doo Meets Dick Van Dyke – Dick Van Dyke

The Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies: The Lost Episodes

Featured Episodes/Guest Stars:

1.      A Good Medium is Rare – Phyllis Diller

2.      Sandy Duncan’s Jekyll and Hyde – Sandy Duncan

3.      The Secret of Shark Island – Sonny and Cher

4.      The Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall – Davy Jones

5.      The Phantom of The Country Music Hall – Jerry Reed

6.      The Haunted Showboat – Josie and the Pussycats

7.      Scooby-Doo Meets Jeannie (Mystery in Persia) – Jeannie and Babu

8.      The Spirited Spooked Sport Show – Tim Conway

Review

I won't ramble on too much about the actual episodes themselves because lets face it, if you're reading this then you're probably a Scooby-Doo fan and just want to see what you're getting your hands on. For me personally, Scooby-Doo was a huge part of my childhood. It is the first cartoon I remember watching growing up. I was born in the United States but spent the first few years of my life living outside of the United States and when I returned I was able to learn English faster because of Scooby-Doo. Unfortunately, it has been quite a few years since I watched Scooby-Doo, I vaguely remember watching a newer live action film the last few years but nothing too memorable. When I finally got the chance to pop this into my Blu-ray player it was like taking a trip back in time. I'll say this much for this release, it was one of the most memorable viewings I've had of any Blu-ray release in the last few years.

Video

The New Scooby-Doo Movies are almost 50 years old at this point so I made sure I was aware of that when watching these. There is a notable improvement over older releases of these from what I could see after comparing older screenshots. There is still a lot of grain and honestly with a show like this, I kind of like the grain, it just takes me back. The colors are bright and sharp and are honestly the best part of this release, visually anyways. The episodes are presented in their original 1.33:1 ratio so that means you will be getting those black bars on the sides. This release in my opinion is the perfect mix of modern touch ups with all the nostalgia still present. The show does show its age and the video quality does show signs of that but I was pleasantly surprised by the overall video quality and I don't think you will be disappointed. Moving over to the DVD release, of course it does not look as bright or as impressive as the Blu-ray release. Keep in mind that all of the episodes found on the DVD are included in the Blu-ray release, my advice would be to splurge and just pick up the Blu-ray unless you're fine with just the DVD and are looking to complete an incomplete collection.

Audio

The audio had no major issues from what I could hear. The dialogue and sound effects all sounded clear.

Extras

On Blu-ray

• The Hanna-Barbera Kennel Club Roasts Scooby-Doo- Embarassing stories of how Scooby-Doo mumbled and clawed his way to Animation Stardom
• Uptown with Scooby-Doo and the Harlem Globetrotters - The Harlem Globetrotters show Scooby-Doo some "New Tricks"
• Girls Rock! - Spotlight on Daphne and Velma

Language

• English and French

Subtitles

• English SDH and French

Final Thoughts

I know there quite a few people out there who grew up with Scooby-Doo like I did and love seeing older media get new releases. Whether you're looking to complete your collection with the Lost Episodes are jump starting a new collection with the Blu-ray, both of these releases are worth picking  up.

The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection Blu-ray and The Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies: The Lost Episodes DVD are available now from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Digital

The New Scooby-Doo Movies: The (Almost) Complete Collection, which includes all the episodes from The Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies: The Lost Episodes, will be available to own on Digital on June 4, 2019. Digital ownership allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices.  Digital movies and TV shows are available from various digital retailers including iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, and others.