Scooby-Doo Meets the Harlem Globetrotters (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Main Menu Audio Music Video-Scooby Doo Goes Hollywood Karaoke-Krazy Karaoke: Sing-A-Long With Scooby -Doo And Shaggy DVD-ROM Extras
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	83:24
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	William Hanna Jospeh Barbera
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	?	Music	None Given

    Scooby-Doo Meets the Harlem Globetrotters contains two episodes from the 1972 and 1973 series of The New Scooby Doo Movies. This series featured one hour episodes with the kids from Mystery, Inc. joined by a series of different guest stars each week. The kids, with the aid of the stars, would continue in much the same vein as the original series, solving mysteries and unmasking many a hooded criminal along the way. Guests of such calibre as Don Knotts, Sonny and Cher, The Monkees, Batman and Robin, and even The Three Stooges would show up on the show to lend a hand. The famous Harlem Globetrotters were regulars on the show, appearing in three episodes in total. Two of those episodes are contained on this disc.

    The episodes are:

    Episode 1 - The Mystery of Haunted Island (41:47)

    The Mystery, Inc. kids are heading on a cruise to Picnic Island for the day. Along the way they team up with the Harlem Globetrotters who agree to also take the cruise. But they are all tricked into going to Haunted Island instead where there is certain to be another mystery that needs solving.

    Episode 2 - The Loch Ness Mess (41:37)

    The gang are headed to visit Shaggy's uncle Nathaniel in Boston. On the way, just as it appears they are lost, they bump into the Harlem Globetrotters who decide to tag along for the visit. Just before reaching Uncle Nat's place the group are stopped by strange ghosts of long dead pioneers who are desperately trying to keep them all away from the town. Looks like another mystery waiting to be solved, especially when a strange monster appears in the nearby lake.

Video

    The video transfer quality here is probably best described as average. It is colourful and clear, but is marred by quite a few film artefacts.

    Both of the episodes are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and are not 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is really quite sharp and detailed throughout.

    Colours are really quite bold with a vivid and bright appearance. There was no other evidence of any problems with colour bleeding or cross-colouration.

    Compression artefacts are completely absent. Unfortunately, artefacts in the form of scratches, flecks and several black marks are present pretty much throughout both episodes.

    There are several subtitles available and the English variety are quite accurate and well placed on the screen.

    This is a single layered disc, so there are no layer changes to contend with.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio transfer is actually half-decent considering it is anchored firmly in the centre channel only. There isn't a whole lot to say about the audio. It works out of one speaker and you will be able to understand everything being said.

    There are three audio tracks, all of which are Dolby Digital 1.0 mono. They are English, Swedish, and Polish.

    The dialogue is excellent, being clear and easily understood throughout. Of course with animation, audio sync is not really something to get overly concerned with.

    There is no surround or subwoofer use.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio

Music Video

    Running for 2:12, this is the music video for one of the songs that feature in another of the Warner Home Video releases, Scooby Doo Goes Hollywood

Karaoke

    This is the exact same song as above, but this time features a 'follow the bouncing ball' and lyrics so you are able to sing along. Runs for the same 2:12.

DVD-ROM Extras

    Three rather neat and very well produced games feature here in addition to the usual web-links and the like. The games are Scooby-Doo Jinx at the Sphinx, Showdown in Ghost Town, and Phantom Of The Knight.

    The Region 1 disc is identical to the Region 4.

    Scooby-Doo meets the Harlem Globetrotters features two episodes from The New Scooby-Doo Movies first screened in 1972 and 1973. The two episodes contained here (The Mystery of Haunted Island and The Loch Ness Mess) are taken from the three that featured the famous globetrotters.

    The video quality is only average, with a number of artefacts marring the image.

    The plain mono soundtrack is clear and clean. It may lack punch and range, but it still performs the task admirably.

    The extras are light, though the DVD-ROM games are quite nicely done.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall