| Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Also known as | Mystery Incorporated Scooby-Doo! Mystery, Inc. |
| Genre | |
| Based on | Characters byHanna-Barbera Productions |
| Developed by |
|
| Written by |
|
| Directed by |
|
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Matthew Sweet |
| Composer | Robert J. Kral |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Sam Register |
| Producers | Mitch Watson Victor Cook (season 2) |
| Editor | Bruce King |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company | Warner Bros. Animation |
| Original release | |
| Network | Cartoon Network |
| Release | April 5, 2010 (2010-04-05) – April 5, 2013 (2013-04-05) |
| Related | |
| |
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (also known asScooby-Doo! Mystery, Inc. or simplyMystery Incorporated) is an Americananimatedhorror comedy television series produced byWarner Bros. Animation forCartoon Network. It serves as the eleventh incarnation of theScooby-Doo media franchise created byHanna-Barbera, and is the first not to traditionally air onSaturday mornings.[1] The series was previewed on April 5, 2010, before officially premiering on July 12 later that year. It concluded on April 5, 2013, exactly three years from its debut, after two seasons and fifty-two episodes.
Mystery Incorporated revisits the early days of Scooby and the gang as they solve mysteries in their hometown, while also referencing previous incarnations of the franchise.[2] The series takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to the classicScooby-Doo formula, with increasingly outlandish technology, skills, and scenarios behind each villain's story, and a different spin on the famous "meddling kids" quote at the end of every episode. Contrasting this, however, are two elements previously unseen in aScooby-Doo series: aserial format with an overarchingstory arc and plot plots treated with full dramatic effect, as well as ongoing romantic and interpersonal drama between the characters. Additionally, it is the first series in the franchise to utilize real ghosts and monsters sinceThe 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.
The series homages and satirizes varioushorror works, ranging from films likeA Nightmare on Elm Street andSaw, to television series such asTwin Peaks, as well as theworks ofH. P. Lovecraft. The story arc evolves in thesecond season to focus onBabylonian mythology, exploring theAnunnaki, the concept ofNibiru, and the writings ofZecharia Sitchin. Characters from throughout theScooby-Doo franchise return, such asThe Hex Girls andVincent Van Ghoul fromThe 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, along with guest appearances fromHanna-Barbera characters such asCaptain Caveman,Jabberjaw,Speed Buggy,The Funky Phantom, andBlue Falcon and Dynomutt.
As with the franchise's previous three installments,Mystery Incorporated introduces redesigns for the main characters, this time in a retro look resembling their original 1969 incarnations. The series marks the animated debut ofMatthew Lillard as the voice of Shaggy, after portraying the character in the live-action filmsScooby-Doo (2002) andScooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). Shaggy's original voice actor,Casey Kasem, instead voiced Shaggy's father in five episodes without credit; it would be his final performance before his death in 2014.[3][4]Linda Cardellini, who played Velma in the live-action films, voiced the recurring characterHot Dog Water in the series.
Fred Jones,Daphne Blake,Velma Dinkley,Norville "Shaggy" Rogers andScooby-Doo are a team of teenage mystery solvers who live in the small town of Crystal Cove, the self-proclaimed "Most Hauntedest Place on Earth". The allegedly "cursed" town's long history of strange disappearances and ghost and monster sightings form the basis for its thriving tourist industry; as such, the adults of the town (chief among them being Fred's fatherMayor Fred Jones Sr. andSheriff Bronson Stone) are not happy that the kids are debunking all the supernatural goings-on that bring in so much revenue as the overwrought schemes ofcharlatans and criminals.
In addition to the traditional cases they always solve, the team finds itself being nudged into the uncovering of a dark secret that is hidden in the past of Crystal Cove. Following cryptic hints from a faceless mystery-man known only as "Mr. E." (a play on "mystery"), the gang unearths the legend of a cursedConquistador treasure, the secret history of Crystal Cove's founding Darrow Family, and the mysterious, unsolved disappearance of four mystery-solving youths and their pet bird—theoriginal Mystery Incorporated. Standing in the way of solving this mystery, however, there are the romantic entanglements pulling the kids apart: Shaggy finds himself unable to put his new romance with Velma ahead of his longtime friendship with Scooby, while Daphne pines for Fred, who is obsessed with building traps and obliviously struggles to realize that he shares her feelings, too.
The return of the original Mystery Incorporated to Crystal Cove begins a race between the two groups to locate the pieces of the enigmatic planispheric disk, which will point the way to the cursed treasure beneath the town. As the pieces are gathered, it becomes apparent that these two groups are not the only teams of mystery-solvers that have lived in Crystal Cove: many similar groups, always made up of four humans and an animal, have existed, and the secret behind their centuries-long connection will reveal the truth behind the curse of Crystal Cove. The fate of both the gang's friendship and all of reality itself hangs in the balance as extradimensional forces gather in preparation, and the time ofNibiru draws near.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 26 | April 5, 2010 (2010-04-05)[5][6] | July 26, 2011 (2011-07-26)[7] | |
| 2 | 26 | July 30, 2012 (2012-07-30)[8] | April 5, 2013 (2013-04-05)[9] | |
The first season ofScooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated ran for twenty-six episodes between 2010 and 2011[10] with an unknown stop to the airing of the episodes after episode thirteen. The first episode of the season premiered as a sneak peek on April 5, 2010,[11] and reaired on July 12, 2010 onCartoon Network along with the next twelve episodes in the United States.[10] The series continued to air on Canada'sTeletoon after episode thirteen.[12] The remaining thirteen episodes, dubbed as a second season by Cartoon Network, began airing on May 3, 2011 until July 26, 2011.[10] During thehiatus the first episode of the second season premiered on March 30, 2012 on Cartoon Network Videos[13] and aired onBoomerang in the UK on June 2, 2012 with four more episodes premiering until June 6, 2012. The official Warner Brothers website announced that thesecond season would begin airing on Cartoon Network in May 2012 but was set back to July 30, 2012 in the United States.[14] The first fifteen episodes aired on weekdays after July 30, 2012,[15] until August 17, 2012.[16] The show went on another hiatus until March 25, 2013,[15] when the remaining episodes of season two began to air in the United States and concluded on April 5, 2013.[17][18]
Each episode of the series is called a "chapter" in line with the show's overarching story, numbered from 1 to 52 across both seasons.[19]
Prior to the volume releases the first episode in the series, "Beware the Beast from Below" was released as a bonus episode in the special features ofScooby-Doo! Camp Scare on September 14, 2010.[20] "Menace of the Manticore" was also released as a bonus feature onBig Top Scooby-Doo! on October 9, 2012.[21]Warner Home Video started releasing episodes to DVD on January 25, 2011 in the US. The first three volumes contain four episodes from the series each in order as they aired on Cartoon Network. The final volume (named asCrystal Cove Curse) contains the remaining fourteen episodes from the first season. The first thirteen episodes of the second season were released to DVD (which is entitledDanger in the Deep) on November 13, 2012, while the second half of season two (titledSpooky Stampede) was released on June 18, 2013. Warner Home Video began releasing volumes for the UK on August 29, 2011.
On October 8, 2013 Warner Home Video released the first season ofScooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated on a fourDVD set in the United States. On October 7, 2014, the second season was released in another 4-disc set in the US.
| Season | Episodes | Release dates | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | ||||
| 1 | 26 | Volume 1: January 25, 2011[22] Episodes: "Beware the Beast from Below" – "Revenge of the Man Crab" Volume 2: May 10, 2011[23] Episodes: "The Song of Mystery" – "The Grasp of the Gnome" Volume 3: September 27, 2011[24] Episodes: "Battle of the Humungonauts" – "The Shrieking Madness" Season 1, Part 2: Crystal Cove Curse: January 24, 2012[25][26] Episodes: "When the Cicada Calls" – "All Fear the Freak" | Volume 1: August 29, 2011[27] Episodes: "Beware the Beast from Below" – "Revenge of the Man Crab" Volume 2: February 13, 2012[28] Episodes: "The Song of Mystery" – "The Grasp of the Gnome" Volume 3: May 20, 2013[29] Episodes: "Battle of the Humungonauts" – "The Shrieking Madness" Volume 4: August 12, 2013[30][31] Episodes: "When the Cicada Calls" – "All Fear the Freak" | ||
| 2 | 26 | Part 1: Danger in the Deep: November 13, 2012[32][33] Episodes: "The Night the Clown Cried" – "Wrath of the Krampus" Part 2: Spooky Stampede: June 18, 2013[34][35] Episodes: "Heart of Evil" – "Come Undone" The Complete Second Season: October 7, 2014[36] | N/A | ||
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | Nominated |
| 2012 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | Nominated |
Cartoon Network released an episodic video game on their website calledScooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Crystal Cove Online, which had a new mystery every week based on the aired episode.[37] The player takes control ofShaggy andScooby as they explore Crystal Cove, solving mysteries and helping other citizens with the rest of the gang. Although there are 52 episodes, CN stopped updating the game at the end of season 1, making the last mystery "The Freak of Crystal Cove."
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
