Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins

Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins is a 2009 live-action comedy that serves as a prequel to the animated series, showing how four teenagers and a dog first came together. At Coolsville High, Fred, Velma, Daphne and Shaggy are blamed for a ghostly prank they did not commit and are suspended. To prove their innocence, they join forces, with Shaggy's dog Scooby-Doo alongside them, and set out to uncover what is really behind the strange happenings at their school.

The film was directed by Brian Levant, working from a screenplay by Daniel and Steven Altiere, with Levant also producing alongside Brian J. Gilbert. It is the eighth feature Levant directed and sits between Are We There Yet? and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster, which continues the same cast's story. Nick Palatas plays Shaggy, Hayley Kiyoko plays Velma, Robbie Amell plays Fred and Kate Melton plays Daphne, while Frank Welker provides the voice of Scooby-Doo.

Released in September 2009, the film runs 82 minutes and took in about 13 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 5.3 from roughly 8,300 votes, while on TMDB it has a 6.4 from around 742 votes. The gap between the two suggests a modest but somewhat more favorable response among TMDB users than among IMDb voters.