actofscoobris

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo

Original release date: June 14, 2002

Date watched: March 13,  2022

Runtime: 86 minutes

Synopsis: In the gang’s theatrical and live-action debut, they actually split up after the opening sequence. Two years later, they’re all invited to Spooky Island by an eccentric billionaire, who wants the gang to solve the mystery of the brainwashed tourists. Turns out, demons used to live on the island, and are seeking vengeance on the resort for displacing them. (For a movie filmed on location in Australia, they maybe should have considered the subtext of that a bit more.) After some body-swap shenanigans, Scrappy-Doo is revealed as the orchestrator of all this, because he was jealous of everyone else’s fame and recognition. He tries to use the souls of everyone trapped on the island to become a powerful monster, but it doesn’t work and he is arrested and, I guess, sent to the pound? How do you incarcerate a CGI dog?

Culprit: Scrappy-Doo piloting an eccentric billionaire body double robot. I can’t think of a precedent for something like this, and it really speaks to the unique place the Scooby-Doo franchise in pop culture. You have a character introduced in the late 70s to save ratings, who featured prominently in almost every piece of media through the 80s. He’s virtually unseen in the 90s, until later in the decade when the only time he’s mentioned is to be made fun of. Then they make him the antagonist of the franchise’s theatrical and live-action debut? They really stacked the deck against my guy Scrappy-Doo.

Guest star(s): Rowan “Mister” “Bean” Atkinson as the eccentric billionaire whose name I don’t feel like typing. Also Pamela Anderson is there?

Trivia: James Gunn wrote the screenplay for both this and the sequel. Go figure.

Ratings:

Spookiness: As this is a feature film, we have a little bit more insight than usual into the creative process. Apparently, the first-draft demons were scarier than the ones we ended up with. Would love to see whatever they looked like. As it stands, I’d say the scariest part of this movie is Scrappy-Doo’s grotesque transformation sequence near the end. It’s tough to stomach. That’s about as spooky as this one gets. MARINA: 2.5 LAURA: 2.5

Characterization: The revelation of Matthew Lilliard as Shaggy is one that would pay dividends for years to come. Hell, they eventually just let him start voicing Shaggy. It rules. The rest of the cast is good, although they’re limited by how the script sets up their characters. I get it, they’re tropey and one-note on purpose. It’s camp. But if the most fleshed out original character is rich Mr. Bean, we gotta get some more substance for the gang. MARINA: 3.5 LAURA: 4

Overall: This is a movie that is a product of its time. There is a farting sequence that lasts upwards of thirty seconds. The producers did not think about the optics of having an elaborate tribal-themed ritual on location in Australia in a movie about demons being mad that tourists have infiltrated the island that has been their home. On the other hand, OutKast is on the soundtrack for this movie. They kept some of the weed jokes in. This one breaks pretty even. MARINA: 3 LAURA: 3

Outlandishness: The fact that this is a live-action movie does not stop the outlandishness pile from getting taller. We get a body-swap sequence. We get a grotesque CGI Scrappy-Doo transformation sequence. Shaggy’s love interest is named Mary Jane. I have to dock this movie some points for “what could have been,” as the deleted scenes are all very good, and the original cut of the movie had Fred being gay and Daphne and Velma sharing a kiss. Damn you, Warner Brothers! We could have had it all! MARINA: 4 LAURA: 3.5

Brevity: One of the longer entries in this canon, this movie does not feel too long. We watched all of the deleted scenes right after the movie, and they felt right at home. They should not have been removed. Let Velma have her drunken piano anthem! MARINA: 4 LAURA: 4

Final ratings: MARINA: 3.4 LAURA: 3.4

#scooby doo #scooby-doo #scooby doo (2002) #an act of scoobris

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase

Original release date: October 9, 2001

Date watched: March 12,  2022

Runtime: 75 minutes

Synopsis: One of the gang’s old friends made a video game about their adventures! How wonderful! Oh dear. It seems that the gang has been trapped inside the video game, and if they die in the video game, they of course die in real life. The only way to escape is to beat the game! The gang progresses through to the final level, where they find their virtual doppelgangers, the versions of them made specifically for the game. They team up to clear the final level and escape, solving the mystery in the process.

Culprit: That asshole, Bill! He was jealous that his baseball game didn’t win a prize or something, and he was stupid enough to make the phantom virus keep saying random baseball shit. 

Guest star(s): Gary Sturgis (Ebon from Static Shock) as the Phantom Virus

Trivia: This is the final of the four direct-to-video films to be animated by Japanese studio Mook Animation. They will be missed dearly.

Ratings

Spookiness: The way in which this movie is spooky is maybe not the way it intended to be spooky. There’s just not a lot of unexplored territory in the whole “trapped inside a video game” trope. For a lot of kids, that’s just gonna sound like a dream. The spookiness comes from how self-aware the digital versions of the gang are. Once they reach the final level, rather than complete the game, they just start chilling in kind of an idyllic Purgatory of their own creation, delaying the inevitable by simply choosing not to do it. Some wild existential implications there. MARINA: 2.5 LAURA: 2.5

Characterization: This movie perhaps knows it has a weak cast of movie-exclusive characters and therefore spends little time with them. More interesting is the digital gang, with intentionally retro designs that harken back to the era of red-shirt Shaggy. It also gives the real gang an opportunity to play off their doubles, which makes for some decently interesting character work. That’s about the extent of it, though: “decently interesting.” MARINA: 3 LAURA: 3.5

Overall: Since we know that this is the final Scooby movie that this particular animation studio worked on, it helps us with some speculation. This movie sure did have a lot of very stylistically different setpieces that perhaps were from movies that ended up getting scrapped or reworked. As a result, it feels like far less of a cohesive whole than its three predecessors. It’s, like, fine, and everything. But “fine” is a step down from where the standards have been set the last few movies. MARINA: 3 LAURA: 2.5

Outlandishness: As I mentioned earlier, the digital versions of the gang express open and honest acknowledgment of not only the fact that they are digital facsimiles of real people who inhabit a fictional game world, but also the fact that if they never complete the game, they can exist in a kind of post-conflict bliss in the final level. Also, in a post-credits scene, it’s revealed that they made the digital Scooby real? Love it. More of this, please. MARINA: 5 LAURA: 5

Brevity: This movie avoids pacing issues by virtue of the fact that over half of it is set in a digital world where the setting can and does change abruptly. A few of the game levels get slightly extended sequences, whereas some of them are shown in a musical montage. The crux of the movie takes place with the digitized gang alongside their digital counterparts. That part felt like it was as long as it needed to be, but I do wish they had done a little more with the concept. MARINA: 3.5 LAURA: 3

Final ratings: MARINA: 3.4; LAURA: 3.3

#scooby doo #scooby-doo #scooby doo and the cyber chase #scooby doo cyber chase #an act of scoobris

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders

Original airdate: October 3, 2000

Date watched: March 10, 2022

Runtime: 71 minutes

Synopsis: While driving the Mystery Machine through what is ostensibly the southwestern United States, Shaggy sees an alleged UFO, freaks out, and crashes into a cactus. While waiting for the Mystery Machine to get repaired in a nearby town, the gang encounters Lester, who has also had an apparent alien encounter. They crash at his place for the night, but Shaggy and Scooby are abducted while sleeping on the roof and released in the morning, where they encounter a very retro hippie named Crystal and her dog, Amber. Shaggy and Scooby fall in love at first sight, blah blah blah. Eventually, the gang discovers that the three workers at the nearby SALF (Search for Alien Life Forms) station have been mining the gold deposits underneath the government property. To keep the townspeople at bay, they have been faking being aliens. To keep their secret safe, the workers resolve to kill the gang, but Crystal and Amber reveal themselves to be the real aliens! They save the gang, say their goodbyes, and go home.

Culprit: Steve, Max, and Laura, the three workers at the SALF station. Honestly, mining gold off of government property and keeping it secret? Not a crime, in my opinion. That said, they were willing to kill multiple people to keep their secret safe, so that’s a point against them.

Guest star(s): Mark Hamill (2) as Steve, Jennifer Hale (3) as Dottie the waitress

Trivia: Mary Kay Bergman, who had voiced Daphne in this movie as well as the prior two movies, passed away in November 1999. The film is dedicated to her memory. 

Ratings

Spookiness: There’s not really a great deal of spookiness in this one. Shaggy and Scooby’s original alien abduction is mostly played for laughs. However, when the SALF employees’ plot is revealed, and their two fake Fed bodyguards are revealed to have real-ass guns, the movie takes a quick turn. Fred, Velma, and Daphne are but a few seconds from being dropped into a cave pit. The danger doesn’t last that long, however. At the end of the day, though, aliens are real. MARINA: 3.5 LAURA: 4

Characterization: One of the strengths of Witch’s Ghost was the relatively large cast of new and memorable characters. Alien Invaders doesn’t really have that outside of Crystal and Amber (who have great alien designs), but what it lacks in that category it makes up for by giving a lot of good moments to the gang. Shaggy gets an entire song about being in love! Velma and Daphne get really good outfits! Fred gets several really great moments! It’s definitely the strongest movie so far in terms of doing character work for the gang. MARINA: 4.5 LAURA: 4

Overall: This movie exceeded expectations in a lot of ways. It got a lot of laughs out of us. There are some great goofs that would fly clear over the heads of most children watching (Shaggy telling the “alien” examining him that, like, his health plan doesn’t cover physicals, man; Fred giving Shaggy’s water bottle a quick sniff while he’s in a lovestruck stupor). The twist is, like Witch’s Ghost and Zombie Island before it, one that would blow the minds of most children watching. These early direct-to-video entries in the franchise are real gems. Excited for it to definitely keep getting better from here on out! MARINA: 4.5 LAURA: 4

Outlandishness: Shaggy’s love song is one of the movie’s highlights. It’s a legit dream sequence, tossing a lot of homages to the franchise’s history and legacy both lyrically and visually (“Our house will be / So very fine / We’ll fill it up with stuff from 1969!”). It’s one of the more meta entries yet. Late in the movie, Amber talks while in her dog disguise. Shaggy says, “Dig that, Scoob! A talking dog!” A withering Fred goes, “Imagine that.” It’s great stuff. MARINA: 5 LAURA: 5

Brevity: On the shorter side of things, clocking in at 71 minutes, this movie feels like it’s a good length. Absolutely no complaints here. MARINA: 5 LAURA: 5

Final ratings: MARINA: 4.5 LAURA: 4.4

#scooby-doo #scooby doo #scooby doo and the alien invaders #an act of scoobris

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost

Original release date: October 5, 1999

Date watched: March 9, 2022

Runtime: 66 minutes

Synopsis: Horror writer Ben Ravencroft has invited the gang to his hometown of Oakhaven, Massachusetts. His ancestor, Sarah, was executed in the 1600s for supposedly being a witch, and he has been trying to clear her name. Making his job more difficult is the witch’s ghost that is haunting the town. Well, it turns out that was just a publicity stunt cooked up by the mayor to drum up tourism. Ah, well! Oh, wait, Scooby-Doo just dug up the book that will finally clear Sarah’s–oh wait, she actually was a real witch who used her powers for evil and her ghost has now been resurrected. Oopsie! Ben tries to convince her to rule the world alongside him but she decides to destroy everything as vengeance for her original execution. Thanks to the lead singer of the eco-goth band The Hex Girls being 1/16th Wiccan (???), she is able to trap Sarah back in the spellbook, although she drags Ben into it with him. A burning tree branch then falls on the book and burns it, confirming Ben Ravencroft as the first person to die in a Scooby-Doo movie.

Culprit: The movie subverts this really nicely, unmasking the initial witch as the town’s pharmacist, Mr. McKnight, about halfway through. And then surprise! Real witch.

Guest star(s): Tim Curry as Ben Ravencroft, Jennifer Hale (2) as Thorn, Jane Wiedlin (of The Go-Go’s) as Dusk, Kimberly Brooks (Ashley in Mass Effect, Jasper in Steven Universe) as Luna

Trivia: The original screenplay for the film ended with the revelation of the first witch being fake–everything involving the real witch’s ghost was added onto that. 

Ratings

Spookiness: A little less harrowing than Zombie Island, Witch’s Ghost still has several frights that would give any child nightmares. Take your pick: pumpkin monsters using vines to grab your ankles and drag you away, a giant turkey extending its neck to try to bite you, or a vengeful spirit attacking you with blasts of fire. It’s clear that the creative team wasn’t given as much leeway as they were in the previous movie, but they still do a lot with what they have. MARINA: 3.5 LAURA: 4

Characterization: A lot like how Harley Quinn originated as a character exclusive to Batman: The Animated Series and then became so popular that she started appearing frequently outside that series, The Hex Girls are easily the most iconic original characters from any Scooby-Doo movie. They went on to appear in another Scooby movie and three Scooby TV shows. Hot Topic launched a clothing line based on them last year! Their presence alone is enough for a 5 in this category, but let’s not forget we had a Tim Curry-voiced antagonist who’s a pastiche of Stephen King, and a real witch’s ghost with big titties and a booming Tress MacNeille voice. I actually have to break the scale for this one. MARINA: 6 LAURA: 5

Overall: The only possible knock I can think of for this movie is that it treats Wicca like a…race? That said, Laura did point out that maybe that’s just how it works in the Scooby-Doo universe since, you know, magic is real and all. Otherwise, this really is basically the platonic ideal of a Scooby-Doo movie. It even has beautiful animation at times, especially during the climax. There are a lot of reasons this one is a cult classic. MARINA: 5 LAURA: 4.5

Outlandishness: This is the first Scooby-Doo movie with a body count. Like, I’m not even sure if describing it as “Ben Ravencroft died” is even accurate. He was dragged, kicking and screaming, into his dead ancestor’s spellbook by his dead ancestor’s ghost. And then the book caught fire and turned to ash. Is he in Purgatory? Is he in a realm between life and death? Did the powers that be see fit to show him mercy and let him die, or will he exist in unending agony and isolation until the end of time? Any time a Scooby movie elicits these questions, that’s a 5. MARINA: 5 LAURA: 5

Brevity: At a mere 66 minutes, this clocks in as the shortest Scooby movie yet, even shorter than the baffling Arabian Nights. That’s a crime. I would have liked a little bit more time with the witch’s ghost. This is officially the first Scooby movie that I wish was longer. That keeps it from getting perfect marks in this category. MARINA: 4.5 LAURA: 4.5

Final ratings: MARINA: 4.8 LAURA: 4.6

#scooby-doo #scooby doo #scooby doo and the witch's ghost #an act of scoobris

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island

Original release date: September 22, 1998

Date watched: March 6, 2022

Runtime: 77 minutes

Synopsis: The gang has become jaded. Every time they solve a mystery, they are disappointed to find that there is nothing legitimately supernatural going on, and the culprit is always someone in a mask and/or costume. They go their separate ways, but reunite for Daphne’s birthday and one last attempt to solve an actually-supernatural mystery. In the Louisiana bayou, they find it on Moonscar Island. Actual, real zombies! And, beyond that, immortal cat-people who lured the gang to the island to sacrifice their souls to the cat god and extend their immortality. Yeah, a lot happens. The immortal cat-people are unable to complete their ritual in time and they die, allowing the gang to escape and releasing the zombie souls.

Culprit: Simone Lenoir, Lena Dupree, and Jacques the ferryman. There’s no unmasking, but there’s a great transformation sequence. And then, when the ritual fails, their bodies turn to bones and dust. It’s wild.

Guest star(s): Jim Cummings (2) voices several guys, Mark Hamill is there too as “Snakebite” Scruggs, and Tara Strong provides the voice of Lena Dupree. 

Trivia: Shaggy’s original voice actor, Casey Kasem, was a vegetarian and refused to continue voicing Shaggy unless he stopped eating meat. Filling the role for Zombie Island was Billy West. West was unable to reprise this role in later movies due to his commitment to Futurama, so this is the only time he ever voiced Shaggy.

Ratings

Spookiness: This is the first Scooby-Doo movie to actually be scary. When this movie is terrifying, it is terrifying on purpose. Zombies emerging from the earth approach the camera, certainly horrifying any young child watching at home. People who had been trustworthy the entire movie suddenly and vividly turn into bestial cat-people, and then both them and the zombies graphically turn to dust. It’s never edge-of-your-seat horror, but it’s a step in the right direction. MARINA: 4 LAURA: 4.5

Characterization: Finally, the whole gang’s here! Sitting through four straight movies with no Fred, Velma, or Daphne really makes it pay off when they’re finally back. The new, modern designs were fun, and it was also very good to get a glimpse into their lives post-Mystery, Inc. Shaggy and Scooby are TSA agents, although they don’t last long before getting fired for eating contraband. Velma runs a mystery-oriented bookshop. Daphne has broken into the world of TV, with Fred acting as her jack-of-all-trades. The movie characters are great, too, and I’m not just saying that because they transform into cool cat-beasts. Now, can we stop having Confederate zombies show up in Scooby-Doo movies, please? MARINA: 4.5 LAURA: 4.7

Overall: The first four Scooby-Doo movies were built for syndication. They were not designed to be watched all in one sitting, they were designed for children to be entertained at the end of a commercial break. This movie, built from the ground up for home video, shows the strength of no longer being limited by television’s constraints. The jump in quality is evident throughout the entire movie. Even the musical numbers are better! I just wish the cast of movie-exclusive characters better reflected what Louisiana is actually like. MARINA: 4.5 LAURA: 4

Outlandishness: Third Eye Blind performs the original Scooby-Doo theme song at the beginning of the movie. I could rate this category a 5 based on that alone. But that would do a disservice to the cult of cat god worshippers, the catfish-hunting hog named Mojo, and the litany of zombies with outfits ranging from pirate to Confederate soldier (sigh) to tourist. This movie sets a very good tone for a Scooby-Doo movie. MARINA: 5 LAURA: 5

Brevity: Again, freedom from the restraints of syndication does nothing but good for Scooby-Doo. This movie is paced in a normal way, and it never really feels like it drags. The two musical numbers are strategically placed to be at the parts that would probably drag the most without them. They’re also pretty good musical numbers! Very late 90s alt-rock. If anything–and I can’t believe I’m saying this–I wish this movie was a little bit longer, almost. Almost. MARINA: 4.5 LAURA: 4.5

Final ratings: MARINA: 4.5; LAURA: 4.5

#scooby-doo #scooby doo #scooby doo on zombie island #an act of scoobris

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights

(Laura's Note: for some reason it's impossible to find a non-crusty jpeg of this movie's cover??)

Original airdate: September 3, 1994

Date watched: March 2, 2022

Runtime: 69 minutes (nice)

Synopsis: This is easily the least Scooby-Doo movie out of all the Scooby-Doo movies. Shaggy and Scooby have been hired as royal food tasters by an unnamed caliphate. They eat all the food and the caliph gets mad and orders his guards to kill them. While hiding, Shaggy takes on the guise of a harem dancer, whom the caliph immediately wants to marry. To try to lull the caliph to sleep so they can make their escape, Shaggy tells two stories which form the bulk of the movie. One is a genderflipped Aladdin retelling (huh, I wonder what movie had come out two years prior) featuring Yogi Bear (???) as the genie, and the other is a Sinbad the Sailor retelling where Magilla Gorilla (???????) is Sinbad. Do the stories work? Does the caliph fall asleep? Do Shaggy and Scooby make their escape? Here is a more important question: Does it matter?

Culprit: For the third consecutive film, there’s no unmasking, but I do want to note that the caliph is a boy who sounds exactly like Mandark from Dexter’s Laboratory because it’s the same voice actor. 

Guest star(s): Jennifer Hale as Aliyah-Din

Trivia: This was the last time Scooby-Doo’s original voice actor, Don Messick, would portray him in a movie. Messick passed away in 1997. 

Ratings

Spookiness: Non-factor. Nothing in this movie is scary or spooky. It’s just…weird and dreamlike, in a way that’s not exactly good. Nothing more really needs to be said about this. MARINA: 1 LAURA: 1

Characterization: So, the movie does have a distinct visual style. It looks unique in a way neither of the first three films have done so far. However, most of the movie’s original characters are either racial stereotypes, completely non-memorable, or Yogi Bear in a turban. Pick your poison. This movie gets one half-point for showing femme Shaggy, a mainstay of Scooby media. It is the panel's opinion that Shaggy's gender is the most advanced of the gang.

The movie receives one more half-point for the cyclops from the Sinbad tale, voiced by the inimitable Maurice LaMarche, who just wants to make it to “Cats” on time. He is our shining star.

MARINA: 2 LAURA: 1.5

Overall: What do we unpack first? The fact that the leader of this ostensibly Islamic kingdom is a moody child who everyone unquestionably answers to? The fact that the genderswapped Aladdin (Aliyah-Din) has blue eyes and is voiced by a white woman (Jennifer Hale)? The fact that Magilla Gorilla’s comrade in the Sinbad tale is hot-tempered, greedy, impulsive, and comically short? The fact that Scooby-Doo appears for maybe five total minutes in a film bearing his name in the title? MARINA: 1 LAURA: 1

Outlandishness: Given that all of the actually outlandish events happen within the context of stories that Shaggy is telling (although they do ride in on an actual flying carpet), it’s not going to get high marks here. That said, this movie is so very baffling. Are we to assume that the version of Aladdin that Shaggy was telling just…has Yogi Bear in it? Magilla Gorilla also acknowledges that he is in a cartoon and wantonly flaunts the laws of physics in doing so. There's a sequence in the Aladdin story that felt weirdly like a scene from Dragonball Z, where the bad guy and Yogi were the size of skyscrapers and trying to eat the planet or something.

Again, this movie has a lot going on. Not a lot of it is good. MARINA: 2 LAURA: 2.5

Brevity: This movie’s shorter runtime is one of the few good things it has going for it. The fact that it’s pretty much two shorter stories as opposed to one long story helps with the pacing. It still could have been shorter. But it at least deserves to be rated higher on this metric than any of the three movies preceding it. MARINA: 3 LAURA: 2.5

Final ratings: MARINA: 1.8; LAURA: 1.7

#scooby-doo #scooby doo #scooby doo in arabian nights #an act of scoobris

[actofscoobris]

“Hey Scoob, dig the puss on that chick. It’s so awful, it’s funny!”

- Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF (1988)

#shaggy #shaggy rogers #scooby doo #scooby-doo #scooby doo and the reluctant werewolf

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf

Original airdate: November 13, 1988

Date watched: March 1, 2022

Runtime: 91 minutes

Synopsis: Dracula has seen better days. When he finds out that his annual Monster Road Rally is in peril of being canceled due to the Wolfman’s sudden retirement to Florida, he opens a book to Shaggy’s face and decides to turn him into a werewolf instead of just, you know, doing the race with one less contestant. Long story short, Shaggy is indeed turned into a werewolf and forced to participate in the race, with his girlfriend Googy there to help him, as well as Scooby and Scrappy of course. The race happens, and then the race keeps happening, and then the race happens some more. And then, Shaggy wins and his werewolf curse is undone! Yay!

Culprit: Much like Ghoul School, there is no unmasking in this movie. Although it is my strong personal belief that the Dracula in this movie is not the real Dracula. He’s definitely a vampire, but I think he just convinced a bunch of monsters that he was the real Dracula and got in over his head. Laura's alternate theory is that "Dracula" is not a name, but instead a job position, like James Bond. This allows the purple Dracula from Ghoul School and the green Dracula from this movie to exist in the same continuity, and explains why this Dracula is so easily lured into pratfalls.

Guest star(s): Jim Cummings voices like four guys in this one.

Trivia: This movie marks Scrappy-Doo’s last appearance until 2002’s Scooby-Doo.

Ratings

Spookiness: This movie is more harmless slapstick than anything. The “scariest” part is near the beginning, where Scooby keeps seeing Dracula’s henchmen (the “Hunch Bunch”) but Shaggy doesn’t notice or believe him. “No one but me can see this horrifying thing” is a classic horror staple. Oh yeah, also this Dracula’s teeth can grow and twist at will? It’s fucked. MARINA: 2.5 LAURA: 3.5

Characterization: Fred, Velma, and Daphne are still nowhere to be seen, but hey, Googy’s here! Everyone loves Shaggy’s girlfriend, Googy! The Shaggy werewolf design is also very good. They honestly barely change anything about him, which was the right call.

Check this out. Incredible. Anyway, the movie monsters (who, for the record, have completely different designs and voice actors than in Ghoul School, lending credence to Laura's aforementioned theory) have some decent designs, and the cars they drive in the rally? Great stuff. MARINA: 4.5 LAURA: 4.5

Overall: So, this was my (Marina’s) favorite Scooby-Doo movie as a kid. Rewatching it as an adult, it really seemed to hold up super well! And then Dracula, in his final attempt to prevent Shaggy from winning the race, opens a cage and unleashes a horrid racial caricature named “Genghis Kong.” None of us remembered that part, and for good reason. GK has less than 3 minutes of screentime, but it’s more than zero. As much as I enjoyed the rest of this movie, I have to dock it severely for being mega-racist out of nowhere. This also won’t be the last anti-Asian racism we see in these movies. MARINA: 2 LAURA: 2

Outlandishness: The crux of this movie consists of a race contested by various movie monsters driving extremely themed cars and constantly attacking each other. What more do you want? MARINA: 5 LAURA: 4.5

Brevity: The first half of the movie was paced extremely well. Even the race wasn’t that bad…and then it just kept going and going and going. This movie could have and should have ended twenty minutes earlier. That way, the racist monster design doesn’t show up and the race doesn’t drag on forever! Unfortunately, it runs for the full 91 minutes. MARINA: 2.5 LAURA: 2

Final Ratings: MARINA: 3.3; LAURA: 3.3

#scooby-doo #scooby doo #scooby doo and the reluctant werewolf #an act of scoobris

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School

Original airdate: October 16, 1988

Date watched: February 27, 2022

Runtime: 92 minutes

Synopsis: Shaggy has been hired as the new gym teacher at Monster High Miss Grimwood’s Finishing School For Ghouls! They need some help getting in shape for their annual volleyball match against the neighboring military academy. They win, due to shenanigans! But then, out of nowhere, the movie remembers to introduce its main antagonist, Revolta, who wants to brainwash all of the girls for some reason? She almost succeeds, but she is stopped by our heroes, Shaggy and Scooby (and Scrappy). Scrappy commits a cardinal sin by rapping the movie’s closing musical number. Our heroes flee at the end of the movie when they see the school’s new crop of students, including a baby Godzilla. WHO DOESN’T STAY FOR BABY GODZILLA?

Culprit: There’s never an unmasking in this movie, as Revolta never tries to hide her identity and the military school's cheating in the volleyball match is deeply transparent to all but the ref (known centrist Scrappy-Doo). Perhaps this is a reference to the way the US Military flaunts war crime violations and faces no consequences. Makes you think!  Perhaps that is more credit than is deserved by a movie that has Scrappy-Doo rap at the end. Only history can tell.

Guest star(s): Tony Award-winning actress Glynis Johns as Mrs. Grimwood

Trivia: The Ghoul School students reappeared in a 2018 episode of OK K.O! Let’s Be Heroes, “Monster Party.” Three out of the five original voice actresses reprised their roles as one had passed away and the other had retired. 

Ratings

Spookiness: For a movie that features the progeny of so many famous movie monsters, there’s actually not a lot of scariness in it? It’s more charming than anything. Some of the brainwashing scenes are pretty unnerving, and there’s a bit with quicksand that teaches kids to always be afraid of quicksand, but otherwise things are pretty straightforward. I will say that Revolta’s design is pretty spooky. MARINA: 2.5; LAURA: 2

Characterization: These 80s Scooby-Doo film ventures really suffer from a lack of Fred, Velma, and Daphne. It hurt Boo Brothers really bad, but Ghoul School manages to do what its predecessor couldn’t: have an actually good cast of supporting characters. Revolta is honestly a wash, despite her incredible titties. All of the students enjoy the benefit of having iconic movie monster designs to riff off of. They’re cult favorites for a reason! MARINA: 4; LAURA: 4.5

Overall: It suffers from some of those telltale pacing issues Boo Brothers had to deal with, but it’s way more enjoyable of a romp overall. I think these movies were designed specifically to be turned on in the middle of. After all, that’s the definition of syndication! Watching it start to finish is actually a bit of a chore, though. I think when I was a kid, I blocked out all of the parts with the military academy because they were boring. Those parts are still boring. MARINA: 3.5; LAURA: 3.5

Outlandishness: In the middle of the movie, the school hosts a party so that all of the parents can meet their school’s new gym teacher. Dracula, the wolfman, a mummy, a ghost, and “Frankenteen Sr.” are all in attendance. There’s dancing and music and funny antics and then before they all go home all of the monster dads graphically threaten Shaggy’s life should anything happen to their beloved daughters. That right there is what all Scooby-Doo movies should strive to achieve. MARINA: 5; LAURA: 5

Brevity: It has the exact same runtime as Boo Brothers. It does a little bit more with that runtime, but not enough to completely save it. Instead of feeling like one insanely long chase sequence, it felt like a multi-episode arc that had been mashed into one movie. Slightly better overall. MARINA: 2; LAURA: 2.5

Final ratings: MARINA: 3.4; LAURA: 3.5

#scooby-doo #scooby doo #scooby doo and the ghoul school #an act of scoobris #ghoul school

[actofscoobris]

Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers

Original airdate: October 18, 1987

Date watched: February 26,  2022

Runtime: 92 minutes

Synopsis: Shaggy inherits a plantation from his dead uncle, who was apparently a Colonel in the American Civil War? He, Scooby, and Scrappy all go to the plantation but it is, of course, haunted. Shaggy calls ghost exterminators who turn out to be ghosts themselves, the titular "Boo Brothers." There's also a creepy manservant named Farquard, a bumbling cop, an escaped circus gorilla, and a pair of hillbilly caricatures, one of whom wants to fuck Shaggy and the other of whom wants to kill him. The "plot" of the movie is that Shaggy's dead-and-for-sure-racist uncle has hidden his jewels throughout the house, expecting Shaggy to go on an elementary school scavenger hunt to find them. Which, granted, he does. Although all those ghosties sure have something to say about it!

Culprit: Remember the bumbling cop? Well, it wasn't actually a cop, it was his brother, who likes to steal patrol cars and impersonate his brother???? And also he somehow was able to coordinate being two fake ghosts at once???????? But one of the ghosts was real, given that he showed up at the end after the fake cop got arrested, so what IS the truth.

Guest star(s): Sorrell Booke (“Boss” Hogg from The Dukes of Hazzard) as both the fake cop and the real cop

Trivia: At 92 minutes, Boo Brothers is tied with Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed as the second-longest Scooby-Doo movie, behind only 2020’s Scoob!, which clocks in at 94 minutes.. 

Ratings

Spookiness: There is so much going on in this movie at all times, and it's all stressful. A historically-accurate Confederate ghost is yelling at me to "leave this place?" I would simply leave that place. A guy named Billy Bob Scroggins is shooting at me because he hated my uncle? I don't have time for that. There is an escaped circus gorilla on the loose???? And he wants to fuck Scooby-Doo???????? That's too much. If I had to experience five minutes of this movie in real life, I would have a nervous breakdown. The only saving grace is that the only legitimately supernatural entity in this movie is ostensibly on my side. MARINA: 3; LAURA: 2

Characterization: Bear with me as we consider the implications of Norville "Shaggy" Rogers having an uncle who was apparently a Colonel in the American Civil War and, if we assume this film is set in the present day, died in 1987. Even if we assume that this is a great uncle, the timelines simply don't add up. The last surviving Confederate veteran was a man named Pleasant Crump (that is literally his name) who died in 1951. So either there's something about Shaggy or his uncle that we don't know, or the American Civil War happened far more recently in the Scooby-Dooniverse. I think the more likely outcome is that Shaggy's uncle was a VERY passionate Civil War reenactor, and Shaggy mistook that for the real thing. Either way, the first feature-length Scooby-Doo product introduces a lot of interesting lore implications. It introduces far fewer memorable or even likable characters. MARINA: 2.5; LAURA: 3

Overall: As I just said, this was the first feature-length Scooby-Doo product. (An earlier TV special from 1979 titled Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood had a runtime of 49 minutes.) It is abundantly clear that most of the people involved in making this film were not used to making something so long. The pacing is nonexistent. Shaggy's uncle's stupid scavenger hunt is the only thing that moves the plot, and everything else feels like either the beginning or the end of a chase sequence that ran for far too long. The only quotable line from this movie is, "Let's see how you like my booby traps, you boobs!" MARINA: 1.5; LAURA: 2. 

Outlandishness: If there's one thing this movie has in spades, it's outlandishness. For one thing, the Boo Brothers are actual, literal ghosts. It's never revealed how they died (Laura and I suspect a mining accident), and it's never even clear if they're actually related. Almost all of their screentime is spent doing their Three Stooges pastiche, which is rarely funny or entertaining even by 1980s standards. Their onscreen presence, however, is a welcome reprieve from everything else this movie throws at you. Which, if you were keeping track, is a fake cop, an angry hillbilly, a horny hillbilly, a horny gorilla, a manservant named Farquard, and a scavenger hunt. Now that I type it out, I'm realizing that the horny gorilla pursuing Scooby was perhaps meant to parallel the horny hillbilly pursuing Shaggy? It will not be the last Scooby-Doo movie to have weirdly sexual undertones, but perhaps it deserves credit for setting the tone. What a movie. The only thing keeping it from scoring perfect marks here is the fact that there is absolutely no method to any of this madness. MARINA: 4; LAURA: 4.5

Brevity: This could have been a 22-minute episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and it still would have felt too long. MARINA: 1; LAURA: 0

Final ratings: MARINA: 2.4; LAURA: 2.3

#scooby-doo #scooby doo #scooby-doo meets the boo brothers #an act of scoobris

[actofscoobris]

An Act of Scoobris, Explained

Welcome to An Act of Scoobris! Crank up the Mystery Machine, grab some Scooby Snacks, put on your ascot, and strap in. It looks like we have a mystery on our hands.

Since the premiere of the original television series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! on CBS in the morning hours of September 13, 1969, the gang has seemingly done it all. Cartoons, movies both live-action and animated, video games, stage plays, comic books, you name it. At this point, Scooby-Doo is its own medium.

By a wide margin, the most prolific Scooby-Doo format is that of film. Since Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers aired in syndication on October 18, 1987, there have been forty-six Scooby-Doo movies, all the way up to the crossover Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog, released digitally and on DVD on September 14, 2021.

What’s the best one? What’s the worst one? Which one ranks, say, twenty-first out of the forty-six? Those are the questions we seek to answer. By watching each movie in chronological order, we will see how the art of Scooby-Doo evolves over time, how later iterations honor earlier iterations, and how different teams approach the same characters.

Each movie will receive its own post, complete with the date the movie came out, the date that the panel watched it, the runtime, a brief synopsis, the culprit (spoiler warning!), any guest stars who appeared, and a piece of trivia regarding that specific movie. Then, we bring the science in. Introducing...the SCOOBric!

Spookiness: How scary is the situation the gang finds themselves in? How unnerved would I be in the same situation, with disbelief fully suspended? How worried would I be for my own safety and sanity?

Characterization: How consistent is the characterization of the gang? What do we learn about the gang that we did not know previously? Are movie-exclusive characters memorable or forgettable?

Overall: How enjoyable of an experience is watching the movie, regardless of its actual quality? Is it something to watch again with friends or never watch again? Does it add anything of value to the world at large?

Outlandishness: How zany and wacky are the antics that the gang gets up to? How legitimately supernatural is the story? How many times does something happen that is genuinely unexpected?

Brevity: Does the movie drag on for far too long? Is the runtime 20-30 minutes longer than it should be, if not more? How much of the movie is obvious filler?

All ratings are on a scale of 1-5, although the panel reserves the right to assign ratings outside of that range for exceptional circumstances. A movie’s final rating will be the average of the five ratings above. At the end of the journey, the panel will purchase the movie ranked #1 on DVD. We hope you enjoy that journey.

#scooby doo