Scooby-Doo! is one of those franchises that never seems to grow old. Those who watched when they were young grow up to love it and continue to share it with the younger people in their lives.
While the franchise has undergone a lot of changes since its inception, one thing stood firm and it's that Scooby-Doo has a bit of something for everyone. That was happening as far as the show's first series.
While Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was originally made for kids, it was also a great show for adults to watch as it was entertaining and funny and featured a group of fun-loving characters. That's why it's so sad to think about Scooby-Doo and The Mystery Pups.
Set to premiere this year, Scooby-Doo and The Mystery Pups was eventually canceled by Warner Brothers among many other great projects. Even so, this show could have been something different for viewers.
The loss of Scooby-Doo and The Mystery Pups is still lingering.
With a show like Scooby-Doo and The Mystery Pups, it felt like something completely fresh and new for the franchise. We've seen different iterations of Scooby-Doo and the Gang but this was the first show aimed directly toward a younger demographic which was discussed in a 2022 article shared by Deadline.
In the article, the team seemed hopeful about what was to come and Amy Friedman, who is the head of kids & family programming for Warner Bros really talked it up. I wanted to include her quote: "This show combines everything we love about Scooby—his humor, his loyal friendship with Shaggy, his mystery-loving spirit—all in an innovative and accessible format for preschoolers..." Honestly, this makes it even worse as it could have been a new series to get kids interested in Scooby-Doo before they move on to other projects.
Additionally, Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Pups seemed like a new chapter for the franchise which would go on to introduce Velma. If Warner Bros had gotten it together, we might be having an entirely different conversation about Scooby-Doo right now. Frankly, it's sad to see how downtrodden this has made the fandom and I'm among many disgruntled Scooby fans.
Hopefully, this upcoming Scooby project which will include Matthew Lillard makes up for it. We haven't had a new Scooby series since the end of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? in 2021. The last Scooby film released was 2023's Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! All in all, the franchise needed a win like Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Pups to give the franchise some hope. Right now, things are looking bleak but hopefully, it'll turn around soon.