For many of us, Scooby-Doo, one of the most popular and profitable franchises of all time, has always been a part of our lives. The original Hanna-Barbera cartoon, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered in 1969. Since then, an astonishing 12 spin-off TV series have been created including the most recent, Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? currently playing on Boomerang. That is in addition to the numerous home video movies and two live-action movie releases.

Over the years, the pup has taken on different formats and animation styles. Today, Warner Bros. (who “adopted” the Hanna-Barbera cartoon universe in 2001) has release a new movie trailer for yet another incarnation. Unlike 2017’s series, Be Cool Scooby-Doo! which featured an animation style that ruined the childhoods of many, Scoob! will give a sigh of relief.

Although new in design, this new take on the character and his human friends appears to be firmly planted in the original series’ roots. It is also the best-looking version of Scooby-Doo ever using the best of computer animation.

Scoob! features never-before told stories of Scooby-Doo’s origins and the greatest mystery in the career of Mystery Inc. The movie will explore how Scooby and Shaggy first met and how they ended up with the young sleuths of Fred, Velma and Daphne. “Now, with hundreds of cases solved and adventures shared, Scooby and the gang face their biggest, most challenging mystery ever,” says the press materials for the new movie. So far, so good. And then the very next lines makes me doubt this new movie: There is “A plot to unleash the ghost dog Cerberus upon the world. As they race to stop this global ‘dogpocalypse,’ the gang discovers that Scooby has a secret legacy and an epic destiny greater than anyone imagined.”

Seriously? I don’t want Scooby to be superhero or some kind of canine god. The best part of the original series is that if featured a regular group of kids with a very special dog who always got over their heads in trouble and yet always turned out to be heroes in the end. Still, I won’t miss this one for the world.

Scoob! also features a whole new cast of voices and brings back a few other Hanna-Barbera character you may have forgotten about. The cast list includes Zac Efron as Fred (because of course he is), Amanda Seyfried as Daphne, Gina Rodriguez as Velma, Will Forte as Shaggy and Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo. The movie also stars Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly, Ken Jeong as Dynomutt, Tray Morgan as Captain Caveman, Mark Wahlberg as The Blue Falcon and Kiersey Clemons as someone named Dee Dee. I don’t know who that is, but Scooby has a cousin name Scooby-Dee back in the 70’s…

Directed by Tony Cervone (Annie Award nominee for the feature Space Jam and two-time Emmy nominee for his work on Duck Dodgers), Scoob! is expected to come to theaters on May 15, 2020.

(Main photo: Warner Bros.)