So following the passing of Casey Kasem yesterday, I thought I'd look at not all, but most of the Scooby-Doo films both animated and live action. Now a lot of you will know that Scooby-Doo was one of my all time favourite TV shows despite getting countless reboots and what not as well as a predictable plot in pretty much ever episode and in all honesty, it was a lot of fun and goofiness all the way. So let's take a look at some of the films (keep in mind that all these films are based solely on memory so if I make a mistake, then that's a good enough reason why):
Meets The Boo Brothers
So for those of you who don't know, a few of the Scooby-Doo films (mainly the earlier ones) served as crossovers with other cartoon characters and the Boo Brothers were among them. They are basically a ghostly and animated variation of the Stooges in case you're wondering. Anyway, so Shaggy (voiced by the recently late, Casey Kasem) finds out that his uncle has died and in his will, has left the country estate for him, which as you can guess, is haunted by ghosts. The trio of Shaggy, Scooby (voiced by the late Don Messick) and Scrappy (and yes, I'm in agreement with the NC that he is a very annoying character, also voiced by Kasem), head to the estate to claim it, but as they arrive, a headless horseman tells them to stay away. The gang find out that there is treasure in the estate but much to the dismay of the guy who told them this, they decide to investigate anyway. What will they find and where the Boo Brothers fit in to all this, is a mystery unless you watch the film. Its been quite a while since I first saw this film on Cartoon Network and for a crossover, I thought it was OK. I've never really been that much of a fan of the Boo Brothers because I never really had the chance to watch their show and its basically an average Scooby-Doo film that has what you're bound to expect from the series, but that's fine with me. 7/10
The Ghoul School
Shaggy and the Doos are sent to a girls school where they have been hired as gym teachers. However upon arrival, it turns out that this said school is indeed for girls, but ghoul girls. So lessons are under way and the trio are tasked with training the girls for an upcoming volleyball match which they win thanks to Scooby who foiled the other school's plan for winning the game by accidentally swallowing the remote for the job. The fathers of the girls arrive and upon leaving they warn the trio to have no harm come to any of their daughters. But when a twist unfurls that has one of the staff being hypnotised into kidnapping the girls to be personal slaves for a witch, its up to the trio to stop them. Now this was a film that I do remember a bit of, but it does feel quite shirt and rushed. Its effectively a scenario which asks the question "If the Universal Monsters had daughters, what would they look like and who would they work?" and for the most part, that scenario works quite well. I still find Scrappy annoying regardless of where he's put, but other than that, its a good film, but it will be over before you know it (much like with Jurassic Park 3). 7/10
The Reluctant Werewolf
Now believe it or not, I remember this film the most because it was one of the most memorable of the films that use the show's animation and it was always on Cartoon Network at Halloween (well at least until Boomerang came along), hence the reason why I remember it the most. So it seems that there is this event that takes place every Halloween where a Monster Road Rally takes place in Transylvania and most of your typical Halloween monsters take place in it. The Wolfman sends Dracula (the host of the race, voiced by Hamilton Camp) a postcard which tells him that he has retired to Florida and therefore will not be attending the race. So Dracula desperately tries to find a way to have a werewolf in the race and discovers that the next person in line to be a werewolf, is none other than Shaggy Rogers (reprised by Kasem). The hunchback is sent to find Shaggy and create a werewolf out of him and after several failed attempts, he does it. The gang consisting of Shaggy, Scooby (reprised by Messick), Scrappy (also by Messick) and Googie (Shaggy's "at the time" girlfriend, voiced by B.J. Ward) are then transported to Transylvania. Dracula explains everything to the gang and Shaggy reluctantly agrees to race, under the condition that if he wins, he will return to his normal self. So who will win and how many times will Dracula try to foil the gang, will be told in the film. This felt like a good enough excuse to try and throw in a Halloween theme to Wacky Races, only with Scooby-Doo as opposed to the racers from that actual show. Its a good laugh, less predictable than the show and its a fun film to watch, especially if you like Halloween characters. 9/10
Zombie Island
So after a very successful run and towards the end of Hanna Barbara before all of its assets were transferred over to WB, there was a series of direct to video films that were all animated with Scooby-Doo and the animation being very different from the original show, but up to date with the current technology. So the film begins with Mystery Inc. being pursued by a green troll which turns out to be a show that Fred (voiced by Frank Welker) and Daphne (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman) are creating that's based on their adventures with the gang. It seems that the gang have gone their separate ways with Velma (voiced by B.J. Ward) now running a mystery book store and Scooby (voiced by Scott Innes) and Shaggy (voiced by Zoidberg, better known as Billy West) going from job to job. Fred decides that after having dealt with many costumed monsters, the show will be dedicated to finding real ghosts and as a result, he and Daphne get the gang back together and they travel to Moonscar Island to investigate as a ghost is seemingly haunting the place. What will they find there and are ghosts real in their universe? As the first film to not be using animation from the original show, nor tie in to it, it was a pretty good film. The plot isn't as predictable as the show is, the animation is great, shows a new sign in the SD universe and its full of fun all the way. 9/10
The Witch's Ghost
So in the second of these direct to video films, the gang are invited by Velma's (reprised by B.J. Ward) idol, Ben Ravencroft (voiced by a guy who I prefer to not use a joke from Rocky Horror Picture Show due to possible controversy with it, Tim Curry) to his home town of Oakhaven which upon arrival, is a tourist attraction that is based on possible sightings of the ghost of one of Ben's ancestors which Ben dismisses. Is this ghost real or is it another character in a costume? I thought this film was OK. Its not one that I remember that well, but it does kind of continue what was great about the first of these films which was the unpredictable plot that the show is normally known for, great animation and the fun of the show still retained within. 8/10
The Alien Invaders
So we've seen the show tackle a number of scary characters, but never before have I seen them tackle aliens, until now. And sorry to disappoint you all, but despite the name, its not a crossover with the classic arcade game Space Invaders. So the gang are in some kind of dessert and the van takes a wrong turn. Lost, the gang go to a nearby diner to look for directions while Shaggy and Scooby (both voiced by Scott Innes) stay with the van. An antelope arrives and nicks their last Scooby snack and the duo follow it, only to find aliens. With all this going down, the gang decide to stay in a nearby town in the dessert to investigate this alien occurrences that Shaggy and Scooby claim to have seen. Will they find aliens is anybody's guess, but as the title suggest, they may very well find said aliens. Now this is a funny one in that unlike the regular adventures that the gang have where the monster is the true enemy, this time around, its vice versa. I won't go into too much more detail there due to spoilers, but it is an interesting change of pace. Each time I see these films, I feel like each one truly is a mystery as in you don't know what will happen whereas in the show, we all knew how it would end because they were all too predictable. And that being said, this is another one of those films. Its fun, full of laughs and continues to show the gang in a new light. 9/10
The Cyber Chase
So here we have the last of the direct to video films to be made by the same animation company that the last 3 were made from as well as the last official Hanna Barbara production be being fully absorbed to WB. So in a college computer lab of some kind, a virus who comes from a video game based on the gang's past adventures known as the Phantom virus, scares away the creator and as such, the real Mystery Inc. are sent to investigate. The virus seems to have taken a life form of its own and so the gang search the entire campus for it, but this ends up them going into the game thanks to the virus and they decide to try and complete the game to escape and capture the virus. Can they escape from this game? Well watch the film to find out. As the last of the films, I liked that they were paying homage to the original show as well as video games in general and Tron too. Its fun as always and a fitting end to what has been, Hanna Barbara which as we all know, was a great production company and still is today. 9/10
Scooby-Doo (2002 film)
If I'm being totally honest, this was a film that looked promising because of the casting and the fact that its a live action Scooby-Doo film, but ultimately didn't deliver. The film begins with the gang capturing the Luna Ghost and succeeding in doing so. But this leads to them going into an argument, leading to the them going their separate ways. But when a theme park calls for their aid in a mystery there, its up to a reluctant gang to help solve the mystery. I feel that this was among the first of bad films based on timeless television shows because the writing is bad, the character models aren't as good as the vastly superior Gollom (who had his first film released that very same year) and character development is awful. We all know that Daphne and Fred may have had a thing going on, but it was never explored in the show as it does here and we all know that despite how annoying he may be, the gang were much more loving and caring of Scrappy Doo than they were here and even though they can be cowards at times, both Shaggy and Scooby would never run from a fight. Basically all I'm saying is that this is a bad film that is just plain awful and shows us that despite all the promises made and the right casting choices, they still couldn't make a great film and Scooby-Doo is a show that is worthy of having a film, and a great one at that. But hey, we have all those direct to video films for that so don't expect this film to be better or as good as those films, because it isn't. 6/10
Monsters Unleashed
So to sum this film without going into the plot, all or at the very least, most of the monsters that Mystery Inc. have fought in the original TV show, have returned and are seeking vengeance against the gang, but are they the real deal, or is something more sinister coming? Yep, that's the film for yah. I honestly don't know what to say here. When a film gets bad reviews and/or bad box office results, you'd expect there to be no sequel and yet, we got one anyway and it sucks. It felt like a lazy man's excuse to pay homage to the monsters of the original TV show and well they did that part well. But the film feels too crowded with all these monsters and a predictable plot which makes this film not work. Its just a mess that should have never come to the light of day, but oh well. 2/10
Curse of the Lake Monster
So after two unsuccessful films, you'd think that WB would give up on making more Scooby-Doo live action films, right? WRONG!! So as it turns out, WB decided that because nobody really knew how the gang properly met going beyond the show about them as children (it was a common thing at the time with some of the main stream cartoons at the time), they decided to make 2 more live action films, but would only make them as direct to DVD films which if you think about it, makes sense giving that the first 2 films sucked a lot so in a way, its tailored more towards fans than film goers. So that aside, let's take a look at the second of these films (and I'll eventually look at the first as well when the time comes). So the gang have finished at school for the summer and take up summer jobs at a country club which is run by Daphne's (played by Kate Melton) uncle, Thornton Blake V (played by Ted McGinley). All is well there, until a monster from the lake comes and spoils the fun. So as you'd come to expect, its up to the gang to solve the mystery, stop the lake monster and save the club before it goes out of business. As with any typical direct to DVD film, the quality isn't great, but given what looks to be the very tight budget, that's to be expected. For what it is, I found it to be just OK. Scooby-Doo is very rarely seen (in fact he has more of a supporting role than a main role) and I find the guy playing Shaggy to have a very annoying voice. In addition, I felt the whole film was quite weak and didn't offer anything ground breaking as such and the whole Shaggy and Velma love thing going on, its very off putting at times and I feel like I'm seeing the same old cringe worthy stuff that been done a thousand times before. Not a great film, but it is better than the first two live action films in some sense. 6/10
So after several years of being on air, I feel the show is great. The films are a bit hit or miss for me as some of them work well whereas others, not so much and I feel that with a bit of work added, we can expect to see more of Scooby-Doo in the future whether it be in the form of more show reboots or another film because let's face it, we all like him and nothing is going to change that. You will be remembered Casey Kasem. 7/10
I was initially going to do a review of 22 Jump Street today, but I decided to postpone that and will review that next week instead.
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