Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins (Blu-ray Review)

Who hasn't watched Scooby Doo Where Are You? during their lifetime? Of course, my favorite was The Scooby Doo Movies. To me, those were the absolute best. But there have been additional series, animated movies and even the live-action versions.

In 2009 director Brian Levant, known for bringing The Flintstones to the big screen with The Flintstones and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, brought the mystery gang to life in an origin story. The Cartoon Network Made-For-TV movie was entitled Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins. Now Warner has given physical media fans a chance to own this film on Blu-ray with this reissue of this film. 

Synopsis: The very first adventure of the Mystery Inc. gang; a mismatched quartet of unlikely teenage pals, uniting for the first time to solve the haunting of their high school.

This is surprisingly a tremendous origin story. The actors are perfectly cast. Robbie Amell as Fred, Hayley Kiyoko as Velma, Kate Melton as Daphne, Frank Welker as the voice of Scooby Doo and Nick Palatas as Shaggy were wonderfully cast.

The pacing is great and the film runs just over 80 minutes. If there is one downside with this film it is the less-than-spectacular CGI Scooby Doo. You can tell that this is a made-for-TV movie with the clunky CGI. Also, there is something that just irritates me. I am a perfectionist when it comes to adaptations. Fred in the cartoons is blonde; here Robbie Amell plays Fred with black hair. But that is a minor complaint.

Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins has been transferred to Blu-ray in 1080p and is presented in widescreen format in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. There are audio tracks to choose from: English, French and German in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Italian in Dolby Digital 2.0. There is also subtitles in English, French, German and Italian.

This film transfer to Blu-ray is simply gorgeous. The film is crisp and clean and the audio is clear. There is no digital artifacts or audio anomalies. In addition to a great-looking transfer, there is some great bonus features on this disc. Take a look at what is included.

* Pop-up Tracks to discover while watching the film.
* Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. Personality quiz
* Anarbor You and Me Music Video
* Behind the scenes featurette
* Gag Reel

All these bonuses are cool, but for me the gag reel is always one of the best bonuses you can have on a disc. These are often as funny if no more funny, than the film itself.

If you love all things Scooby Doo you need this 2009 origin movie in you home video library. Head over to MovieZyng or Amazon and order your copy of this 4k today.


Out of 4 film reels (4 being the best) The Blu-ray of Scooby Doo The Mystery Begins receives....