Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins or known as (
Scooby Doo 3 also
Scooby Doo 3: The Mystery Begins) is a 2009 American
television film comedy fantasy and
adventure film directed by
Brian Levant, produced by
Warner Premiere and distributed by
Warner Home Video. The film was aired by
Cartoon Network on September 13, 2009, the 40th anniversary of the
Hanna-Barbera character
Scooby-Doo, and later released on September 22, 2009 on
DVD and
Blu-Ray. It is the third installment in the
Scooby-Doo live-action film series, serving as a
prequel to the
2002 and
2004 theatrical films acting as an
origin story for Scooby and the Mystery Inc. gang, revealing how they met and the events of their very first case. Although the film was placed prior to the events of the original
Scooby-Doo series,
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, the time frame has been advanced to the present day.