The latest installment in Warner Brothers Scooby Doo franchise is a 45 minute puppet movie, heavily based on 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo!' I loved the APNSD series, and when I heard of them doing a puppet movie based on it, I was kind of excited. Now, the thought of the gang as puppets, really made me skeptical. Anyway, I bought the DVD at Walmart (where it is only available) and watched it. The whole 'puppet' thing is really nothing more than you would expect. Just think of the muppets crossed with APNSD, and you can see how that roles out. Now, the movie itself, is nothing like the DTV movies, which are far better, BUT, I do have to say this... this movie is not half bad. Believe it or not, the story was funny, to the point, and just like APNSD. Yes, there were times when it was very cheesy, but overall, they stayed close to the APNSD formula. I was really hopping to see Red Herring or even Jenkins in it, but they didn't make an appearance. But, a cameo was made by this new character named Dwayne, who seemed to be a 'scientist' butler-like person to Velma.
You can easily tell WB's whole purpose of this short film was to attract a young audience. But if you are a die-hard SD fan like me, you can easily accept this as a part in the SD franchise. The mystery wasn't that complicated like in the most recent SD series, Mystery Incorporated, or any of the DTV movies, but again, the story itself and the colorful, puppet-set enviroment make up for this. So, if you enjoyed APNSD back in the day, and are a die-hard SD fan, I'm sure this will please. But, if you are strictly a classic old school SD fan, not so much. I give this a three out of five stars, especially because they bring back the old Scooby Doo clubhouse, and they mention that the gang still lives in Coolsville. Overall, I do hope they make a sequel, following up to this... as it seems they will since they are entitled, 'Scooby Doo! Adventures'. Don't hate, just accept, especially because this is not that bad... anything SD is in, is always surprisingly good! Long live SD!!!
Pros: APNSD characters/enviroments/surprisingly good story
Cons: Easy mystery/ Velma's voice/No Red Herring or Jenkins