Scooby Doo turns 57 this year. Since the original cartoon series first aired, the Scooby Gang has shown up in more than 100 different series, movies, and other media. I tried counting the number of media on their Wikipedia page, but gave up somewhere in the 70s. Whatever the total number is, we’ll soon be able to add one more to that tally. Two years after they first revealed that a live-action Scooby Doo series was in development, Netflix has officially announced that Scooby Doo: Origins has begun production. Season one will be eight hour-long episodes that address how the Scooby Gang met. Last week, Netflix released a bunch of information about the new series. They also revealed its main cast, which includes Mckenna Grace, Tanner Hagen, and Paul Walter Hauser.
The plot: In Scooby-Doo: Origins, showrunners Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg (and their production company, Midnight Radio) are going back to the beginning, and the terrifying case that started it all.
During their final summer at camp, old friends Shaggy and Daphne get embroiled in a haunting mystery surrounding a lonely, lost Great Dane puppy who may have been a witness to a supernatural murder. Alongside the pragmatic and scientific townie Velma and the strange but ever-so-handsome new kid Freddy, they set out to solve the case that’s pulling each of them into a creepy nightmare that threatens to expose all of their secrets.
The cast: As previously announced, Mystery Inc. is officially assembling with:
Mckenna Grace as Daphne Blake Tanner Hagen as Shaggy Rogers Abby Ryder Fortson as Velma Dinkley Maxwell Jenkins as Fred Jones Paul Walter Hauser is also joining the Scooby-Doo: Origins cast in a currently undisclosed role.
Who else is involved: Scooby-Doo: Origins will be executive produced by Rosenberg and Appelbaum, as well as Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman (via Berlanti Productions), and André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, and Adrienne Erickson (via Midnight Radio). Toby Haynes will also serve as an executive producer and direct the premiere episode.
“One of my first and favorite jobs in Hollywood was sitting with Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera while they signed animation cels,” says Berlanti. “Josh and Scott and everyone at Midnight Radio have crafted a story that captures their amazing spirits and their genius creation.”
No release date yet: The age-old question “Scooby-Doo, where are you?” has been answered, as production on the live-action series kicks off in Atlanta. But no word yet on exactly when Scooby-Doo: Origins will premiere. Check back here for updates as they’re announced.
As tired as I am of the constant barrage of reboots, I’m actually kind of feeling this one. I put Scooby Doo in the same category as The Muppets. Every generation across six decades has received their own new content. When my kids went through their Scooby phase, they watched all of the different series and never complained about a difference in quality or continuity. The Scooby Gang origin story has been done before, too, but there’s no real, hardcore Scooby canon. It’s all low stakes. It just has to capture the Scooby spirit and be enjoyable.
As far as the cast goes, I’m most familiar with Mckenna Grace because of the new Ghostbuster movies. Online speculation about Paul Walter Hauser’s character is that he’s Scooby’s original owner, but I think he’s got to be the bad guy, right? At its very core, Scooby Doo is campy (no pun intended to the story taking place at a summer camp). I watch Elsbeth and Poker Face! There’s no way that they cast an unknown actor as the villain. I’m also crossing my fingers that they pull a Wednesday and have one or more of the actors from the 2002 film series as guest or recurring stars. Spoon feed us more of that nostalgia.
Photos credit: Tom Griscom/Netflix Press
I’ll always have a soft spot for Scooby Doo, I watched it all the time when I was a kid.