Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! is the tenth incarnation of Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo series of Saturday morning cartoons. It debuted on September 23, 2006 and ran on The CW on Saturday mornings. It is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Cosgrove Hall Films was the last cartoon series produced by co-creator, Joseph Barbera. The second season premiered on Teletoon in Canada on September 6th, 2008 at 8:30 a.m., and is also available online at The Kid's WB Online.
Production
The characters have also been re-designed to look like animated versions of how they appeared in the live-action Scooby-Doo film. For instance, Scooby is drawn with dot eyes. Thus, it is the third show in the Scooby-Doo series, after A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and What's New, Scooby-Doo?, that is not animated or drawn in the usual Hanna-Barbera style. This is also the first series in which Casey Kasem does not voice Shaggy, but is instead done by Scott Menville, although Scott Innes or Billy West portrayed the character in many of the Scooby-Doo animated movies made for television or home video. However, in this series, Kasem does voice Shaggy's rich and on-the-run Uncle Albert. Another noticeable difference is that Shaggy now wears a white short-sleeved shirt with a green strip across the middle and green sleeves instead of his trademark green t-shirt. Frank Welker still does Scooby's voice. In addition, Shaggy and Scooby's cowardice tendencies have been reduced to some extent.
Much like the short lived The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, on ABC in 1985 (which had actual ghosts and monsters), this show is different from the usual "crooks masquerading as ghosts and monsters" series. Fred Jones, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley still make occasional appearances. They only appear in two episodes of season one. Fred and Daphne appear as a cameo and silent in one season two episode when they were not allowed to the party. Their silhouettes run across the screen in the opening credits in amongst the silhouettes of all the show's regular cast.
Plot
The premise of the show revolves around the fact that Shaggy Rogers' incredibly rich Uncle Albert Shaggleford disappears and names Shaggy as his sole heir for an inheritance. With the help of the inheritance, Shaggy has upgraded the Mystery Machine so that it now has the ability to transform itself into a number of other different vehicles, like the 'Hotdog Making Machine.'
Dr. Albert Shaggleford had made some enemies before disappearing. Among the most dangerous is the archetypal evil genius and technology pirate out to take over the world and or become immortal -- Dr. Phineas Phibes (who gets his name from the Vincent Price villain The Abominable Dr. Phibes). Dr. Phibes recruits various sidekicks and minions to help him with his plans, among them Dr. Trebla.
It appears that the supposedly-late Dr. Shaggleford was, beyond being rich, an inventor in his own right, and his clueless young heir is now in possession of some very interesting nanotechnology. The top secret nanotech formula has been mixed in with Scooby Snacks, which, when eaten, cause a variety of day-saving side effects.
Shaggy and Scooby-Doo have a mission: armed with an updated Mystery Machine, a loyal robot servant named Robi, their new riches, and the new and improved Scooby Snacks, they must stop the evil plans of Phineas Phibes and save the world. In episode 2, Shaggy upgrades the Mystery Machine from its original form, to a high-tech transforming vehicle. However, it usually transforms into machines inappropriate for the tasks at hand (however, in episode 11, it does transform into vehicles appropriate to finish the Polar Bear 3000). In their spare time, Shaggy and Scooby are fans of the show Chefs of Steel, the famous mystery solver Chad Chatington, and the giant monster-fighting robot named Badgerly, the Adverb.
Characters
Heroes
- Shaggy Rogers (Scott Menville): Albert's nephew and Scooby's best friend.
- Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker): Shaggy's dog.
- Robi (Jim Meskimen): A loyal robotic servant of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. Robi would also have various uses for Shaggy and Scooby, though he is a rather lousy cook, various impressions, and giving out safety tips (in a style similar to one Inspector Gadget). He also projects holograms of Uncle Albert when he wants to talk with Shaggy. Robi also usually calls Scooby "Rooby Roo" due to misunderstanding Scooby's voice.
- Dr. Albert Shaggleford (Casey Kasem): Shaggy's rich uncle who is a genius inventor. He always sends a transmission to Shaggy from an undisclosed location on Phibes' doings. As of the final episode, it is revealed that he was undercover as Dr. Trebla all along (for when you invert Trebla it is spelled Albert) and transmitting from Phibes' lair. He is allergic to peanuts.
Villains
- Dr. Phineas Phibes (Jeff Bennett): The primary villain of the series. He is obsessed with becoming immortal. In his youth, Phibes conducted a highly dangerous experiment with electricity, which cost him his left hand (he wears a prosthetic that seems to function as a high-tech Swiss Army knife) and makes him a living lightning rod -- hence, he seldom ventures outdoors, because his condition will quickly cause storm clouds to gather regardless of the weather. Producer Eric Radomski had this to say about Dr. Phibes: "Dr. Phibes' exterior lair is deco influenced, and in the 13th episode, we introduce a feline friend of Dr. Phibes. Ray DeLaurentis would need to confirm, but I believe your assumption is correct. Dr. Phibes is Col. Klink plus Dr. Evil divided by Strangelove." [1] Even though he does have a Hitler-like appearance, with his march and Nazi salute in the opening sequence.
- Dr. Trebla (Scott Menville): Dr. Trebla is Dr. Phibes' righthand man who gives him advises see to his needs like his constant companion.
- Phineas' Agents: The agents for the evil doctor have their own personalities:
- Agent 1 (Jim Meskimen): Agent 1 is serious and hates Shaggy and Scooby. He often works with Agent 2, much to his chagrin, and the second in command. Agent 1 is also the one never to believe what his agents ever tell him, until he sees proof, as seen in 'Zoinksman.' He is often told to smack Agent 2 when he annoys Dr. Phibes. He is the only one who is more easily annoyed by Agent 2 than Dr. Phibes is.
- Agent 2 (Jeff Bennett): Agent 2 is a somewhat dimwitted and heavyset man who resents his name and wishes to be called something else. Among other personas he's adopted was a ninja in 'High Society Scooby' and a racer called Dr. Speed. In one episode, his real name is revealed to be Jeff.
- Agent 3 (Frank Welker): Agent 3 is Dr. Phibes' elderly father. He enjoys trimming his nose hairs with a nose trimmer.
- Agent 4 (Scott Menville): Agent 4 is a short agent but in some episodes he is shown to be a big fellow.
- Agent 5: Agent 5 is a short, green, bug-eyed extraterrestrial and uses various sound effects as speech.
- Agent 7 (Jim Meskimen):
- Agent 13 (Frank Welker):
- Ricky and Mark (Jeff Bennett and Jim Meskimen): Dr. Phibes' "techies." They are parodies of Napoleon Dynamite and his brother Kip Dynamite are minor characters.
- Misty Swiss (Grey DeLisle): A one-time villainess (her only appearance was the second episode "More Fondue for Scooby-Doo") who Dr. Phibes sent to prevent Shaggy and Scooby-Doo from ruining his plot to cause an avalanche on the Anti-Global Warming Conference (oddly enough, they were very unaware of her presence, and their antics made her fail in very comical ways). She eventually turned herself in to the police.
- Bruce (John DiMaggio): A villain who assisted Dr. Phibes in his plot to destroy the rainforest.
- Cat Lady (Jean Kasem): A cat-themed villainess whose cats obey her every command. An obvious parody of Catwoman.
- Mr. Invisible (Jeff Bennett): An trash-talking invisible villain.
- Menace (Frank Welker): A super-strong villain who is Dr. Phibes' latest minion. After trying the nanotech formula, his strength was increased, but after a while, began to lose his mind. He developed a fondness for kittens (unfortunate for Dr. Phibes, who at the time had used some stolen nanotech to turn himself into a cat) and had smiley faces on his biceps. An obvious parody of Bane.
- Innumerable Phibes nanoclones, each with some strange idiosyncrasy (e.g. Clown Phibes, Pirate Phibes, and Evil Phibes)
Minor characters
- Fred Jones (Frank Welker): A leader of the mystery gang and Scooby and Shaggy's friend. Rarely helps Scooby and Shaggy in the mission.
- Daphne Blake (Grey DeLisle): A Danger-prone member of the gang and Scooby and Shaggy's friend. She has an attraction to Fred. Rarely helps Scooby and Shaggy in the mission.
- Velma Dinkley (Mindy Cohn): A smart member of the mystery gang and Scooby and Shaggy's friend. Rarely helps in the mission.
Other features of the show
With this show, The Scooby-Doo shows have been broadcast on four different networks during nearly four decades. The channels that have carried the Scooby-Doo cartoons are CBS (which aired the original show and the second incarnation), ABC (which aired the following six incarnations), The WB (which aired the ninth), and The CW (which aired the tenth). This does not include the reruns aired on cable and the upcoming (eleventh) series on Cartoon Network.
This is the first Scooby-Doo animated series since 1991 to make extensive use of the Castle Thunder sound effect, which Hanna-Barbera began to stop using around 1994, and was very rarely used on What's New, Scooby-Doo? and on none of the post-2003 direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies, to be replaced with new digitally-recorded thunderclaps.
In episode 8, there is one scene where actual footage from a few of the recent Scooby-Doo direct-to-video movies is used. Shaggy even converses about the events in that episode.
It is unconfirmed, but the show may have been scheduled for a third season, as the series ended in a cliffhanger (Phibes states 'I will be back, more powerful and feared than before!' as he blasts away on his personal fueled jet pack, which Shaggy tampered with). Where, however, is yet to be seen, as the entire Kids WB block was discontinued in spring 2008 in favor of a new block programmed by 4Kids Entertainment (which has since dropped all Warner Bros. programming), leaving the most likely destination as Cartoon Network or a Web exclusive at one of Time Warner's sites. This particular series has ended, though it is possible that the eleventh incarnation of the Scooby-Doo franchise could pick up from this point.
DVD releases
Volume 1 of Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, was released on October 30, 2007. Volume 2 was released on July 8, 2008.