New on DVD and Blu-ray: "Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright"

 

The latest Scooby-Doo adventure taps into contemporary popular culture and the overabundance of talent shows that now infiltrate the airways all year long. In the new original movie Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright, the Mystery Inc. gang travels to Chicago where Fred and Daphne are participating in the hit TV show Talent Star. In fact, the duo have been chosen as finalists and will perform live and compete with several other singers and musicians. Not to be outdone, Shaggy and Scooby formulate a plan to impress the producer of the show so that they too can be a part of the action. Good luck with that. The talent competition is being held in an old opera house that is home to a phantom (or two, or three), who plans to disrupt Talent Star by causing problems for many of the contestants.

 

The blending of the old (the Phantom of the opera) with the contemporary (television talent competitions) is nothing new for Scooby-Doo and the gang. For instance, the voice talents include Frank Welker, who has portrayed Fred for decades, and he is joined by Mindy Cohn (Velma), Grey DeLisle (Daphne) and Matthew Lillard (Shaggy), who have made the classic characters their own in recent years. The talented guest stars who lend their voices include Wayne Brady, Vivica A. Fox and John O'Hurley.

 

Music has been a staple of various Scooby-Doo series and films over the years and this music centric entry features four songs that are performed as part of the talent competition and range from the silly "Homewrecker" to the romantic "I Love You," which is one of the songs performed by Fred and Daphne and serves to further their ongoing would be romance. The animation is vibrant and colorful and the adventure is classic Scooby-Doo, complete with a variety of suspects and several red herrings. There are also familiar nods to the history of the series with the usual tongue in cheek delivery.

Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright is now available from Warner Home Video in a Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet Combo Pack.

 

For additional information go here.

 

Watch a clip from Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright below.

 

Holiday Gift Ideas from Warner Bros. - Scooby-Doo, Pepe Le Pew, Unforgiven, The Lieutenant, The First Christmas and Shazam!

The products below are some of my favorites from 2012. Click on the title of each one to read my review.

For kids of all ages, Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated (Season One, Part 2), the best Scooby-Doo series since the original.

For fans of the classic Looney Tunes, as well as the hopelessly romantic, Pepe Le Pew is a true Super Star.

For the Clint Eastwood fan (and who isn't?) - the Oscar winning Unforgiven Blu-ray Book.

For Gene Roddenberry fans and classic television buffs, The Lieutenant, Parts 1 and 2.

For fans of classic, heartwarming holiday specials, The First Christmas, from Rankin-Bass

For those who remember how cool Saturday morning television was in the 1970s - Shazam!: The Complete Live Action Series.

Television Spotlight: "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated"

The second season of "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" premiered on Cartoon Network several weeks ago. Fifteen new episodes have already been broadcast, with another eleven episodes set to air in the near future. While each episode is essentially self contained, they are all building to something that involves previous groups of mystery solvers and clues can be found in every episode. Like previous incarnations of the series, "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" features Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby solving mysteries that involve a variety of villains. However, the villains are not what you might expect, but there are only so many vampires, mummies, ghosts and zombies to go around, so the writers have no choice but to mix things up. While I thought some of the villains created for the second season were ridiculous, that may be the point. The stories presented in "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" are self-aware and pay homage to the history of the franchise, including the absurdity of the adventures (and that should not be construed as a negative remark). The series is not afraid to poke fun at itself, which is part of its appeal.

The second season is a time for rebuilding, after the team went their separate ways after the first season finale. Their reunion is not an easy one and a new member, Hot Dog Water, temporarily takes Daphne's place, while she is dating Baylor Hotner (and yes, you should think of "Twilight" when you hear that name). "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" frequently pokes fun at popular culture, too, but the references are sometimes very subtle, so viewers need to pay attention. That is why I record the new episodes, so I can rewind as necessary because I always seem to miss one of those sly, offhand remarks.

My two favorite episodes of the second season, so far, "The Gathering Gloom" and "Theater of Doom," have both featured recurring character Vincent Van Ghoul (viewers who remember the late actor Vincent Price will see remarkable similarities). Another solid episode, "Grim Judgement," is a very entertaining take-off of teen horror films. Other season two guest stars include Blue Falcon and Dynomutt (aka Dog Wonder) and Race Bannon and Dr. Quest (from "Johnny Quest"). Older viewers will likely appreciate the nod to those classic animated characters.

Fans of the classic "Scooby-Doo" series who have been waiting for another quality entry in the franchise should check out "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated." For additional information, go here.