Main Cast: Freddie Prinze, Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Rowan Atkinson
Release Year: 2002
Country: US
Run Time: 86 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The long-running cartoon from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera that began life in 1969 as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? becomes this live-action, tongue-in-cheek comedy-adventure featuring a computer-generated version of the easily frightened, mush-mouthed Great Dane. Freddie Prinze Jr. stars as Fred, the blonde, confident, ascot-sporting leader of Mystery Inc., a ghost-busting service that exposes phony supernatural phenomena as the work of shysters. Working with Fred are: his rich, beautiful girlfriend, Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who has a bad habit of getting kidnapped by villains; Velma (Linda Cardellini), the real brains of the group who pines secretly for Fred; cowardly slacker and dog's best friend Shaggy (Matthew Lillard); and the snack-gobbling pet pooch Scooby. However, after solving its latest case involving a beleaguered toy company owner (Pamela Anderson), the group fractures over Fred's habit of grabbing credit for everyone's hard work, despite the pleas of Shaggy and Scooby. Two years later, they are reunited at Spooky Island, a theme park and teen spring break destination that owner Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson) claims is plagued with ghosts. Suspicious as usual of any claims involving the paranormal, the Mystery Inc. clan is soon probing a scheme involving ancient rites, summoned spirits, and brainwashed college students, forcing the group members to resolve their differences and uncover the truth. Directed by Chris Columbus protégé Raja Gosnell, Scooby-Doo features the voice of Scott Innes as the title character. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
With its snarky, eye-popping production design and disparate cast of popular young thespians, this live-action take on the Saturday-morning staple seemed like it had half a chance of pleasing Baby Boomers and Generation X. Instead, though, it's a children's flick, suitable only for Generation Z and almost completely lacking in Brady Bunch Movie-style winking. Scooby Doo does contain a few laugh-out-loud moments and lots of in-jokes about marijuana, but the film has been carefully engineered so as not to offend or confuse the kiddies. (Pointed references to Velma's sexual orientation ended up on the cutting room floor, along with lots of other subversive hijinks if the Internet movie spies are to be believed.) The result is a movie that looks good and stays relatively true to its source material without ever seeming edgy or even engaging. Perhaps a cartoon whose very appeal has always been its extreme lameness couldn't really afford to be enclosed in yet another set of quotation marks. But given the pedestrian CG and by-the-numbers spookiness on display, it seems the filmmakers couldn't come up with anything compelling to replace the missing irony. Scooby-Doo himself is an computer-generated monstrosity who mixes poorly with the human actors. Of those performers, their watchability varies highly: The delightful Matthew Lillard mimics Casey Kasem perfectly but also invests Shaggy with something approaching human feeling. Linda Cardellini and Sarah Michelle Gellar both subvert feminine stereotypes and provoke chuckles, though within very strict parameters. The less said about Freddie Prinze, Jr., the better, though his blond dye job is far worse than his acting. The real blame for this supremely adequate outing lies at the feet of the corporate gatekeepers who decided to play it safe. Very young children will probably enjoy it, but for anyone older than 10, it's a slight trifle at best. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Isla Fisher - Mary Jane; Miguel A. Nuñez - Voodoo Maestro; Stephen Grives - N'Goo Tuana; Sam Greco - Zarkos; Charles Cousins - Velma's Friend; Kristian Schmid - Brad; Nicholas Hope - Old Man Smithers; Andrew Bryniarski - Cavern Henchman; Jess Harnell - Creature; Michael Montgomery - Dancer; Frank Welker - Creature; J.P. Manoux - Scrappy Rex; Scott Innes - Scrappy; Stan Frazier - Sugar Ray; Murphy Karges - Sugar Ray; Mark McGrath - Sugar Ray; Rodney Sheppard - Sugar Ray; Sheryl Benko - Reporter #2; Adam Williams - Dancer; Neil Fanning - Scooby; Michala Banas - Carol; Alex Ruiz - Reporter #1; DJ Homicide - Sugar Ray; Chris Cruickshanks - Tiny Henchman; Rio Nugara - Island Emissary; David Vallon - Bartender Dead Mike's; Troy MacKinder - Guy In The Vat; Holly Ann Brisley - Training Video Woman; Robert Diaz - Training Video Guy #1; Remi Broadway - Training Video Guy #2; Martin Broome - Melvin Doo; Simone Dumbleton - Co-Ed; Jonathan Coffey - Fitzgibbon; Michael Caffrey - Coast Guard #2; Kyas Sherriff - Airport Attendant; Celeste Gosnell - Airport Family; Bradley Gosnell - Airport Family; Cayley Gosnell - Airport Family; Audrey Gosnell - Airport Family; Kurt Duval - Spooky Hotel Bartender; Janis McGavin - Co-Ed Hottie; Emily Gosnell - Autograph Seeker; Marea Lambert Barker - Autograph Seeker; Kym Jackson - Autograph Seeker; Danielle Starkey - Autograph Seeker; Craig Behenna - Henchman #1; Keith Bullock - Henchman #2; Stephen Colyer - Dancer; Ashley Evans - Dancer; Mark Hodge - Dancer; Steve Holford - Dancer; Matt Lee - Dancer; Deon Nuku - Dancer; Robert Ricks - Dancer; Rodney Syaranamual - Dancer; Ashley Wallen - Dancer; Andrew Waters - Dancer
Credit
Christian Wintter - Art Director, Donna Brown - Art Director, Bill Booth - Art Director, Gabrielle Gliniak - Art Director, Philip A. Patterson - Associate Producer, Sheryl Benko - Associate Producer, Stephen Jones - Associate Producer, Mary Vernieu - Casting, Alan Glazer - Co-producer, Leesa Evans - Costume Designer, Toby Pease - First Assistant Director, Raja Gosnell - Director, Guy Norris - Second Unit Director, Kent Beyda - Editor, Joseph Barbera - Executive Producer, Robert Engelman - Executive Producer, William Hanna - Executive Producer, Andrew Mason - Executive Producer, Kelley Smith-Wait - Executive Producer, Richard Suckle - Executive Producer, David Newman - Composer (Music Score), Laura Z. Wasserman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Peter McCaffrey - Camera Operator, Andrew Conder - Camera Operator, Bill Boes - Production Designer, David Eggby - Cinematographer, Charles Roven - Producer, Richard Suckle - Producer, Susan Maybury - Set Designer, Sandy Wingrove - Set Designer, Matthew Putland - Set Designer, Jodie Allen - Set Designer, Paul "Salty" Brincat - Sound/Sound Designer, Guy Norris - Stunts Coordinator, Craig Titley - Screen Story, James Gunn - Screen Story, James Gunn - Screenwriter, Peter Crosman - Visual Effects Supervisor, Todd Shifflett - Digital Effects, Ricky Schamburg - First Assistant Camera, Adrien Q. Seffrin - First Assistant Camera, Mark Broadbent - First Assistant Camera, Peter T. Tackaberry - First Assistant Editor, Kirsty Bruce - First Assistant Editor, David Raymond - First Assistant Editor, Amanda Jacobs - First Assistant Editor, Troy Reichman - Second Assistant Camera, Melinda Rickman - Second Assistant Camera, Nicole Miller - Cable Person, Gary Cramb - Construction Foreman, Peter Exton - Construction Foreman, Peter Fitness - Construction Foreman, Jamie Gardner - Construction Foreman, Kristia Kielland - Construction Foreman, Trevor Spann - Construction Foreman, Cornelius Van Den Boogaart - Construction Foreman, Nerses Gezalyan - Foley Mixer, Greg Zimmerman - Foley Mixer, Mo Henry - Negative Cutter, Caroline Austin - Production Secretary, Jo Suna - Third Assistant Director, Drew Bailey - Third Assistant Director, Nick Pugh - Conceptual Design, Christoph Loudon - Assistant Visual Effects Editor, Rasha Shalaby - Compositor, Seunghun Lee - Compositor, Matt Linder - Compositor, Perry Kass - Compositor, Marcus M. Rubone - Compositor, Jeremy Nelligan - Compositor, Scott Gordon - Compositor, Michael Clemens - Compositor, Shellaine Corwel - Compositor, Jennifer Howard - Compositor, Jimmy Jewell - Compositor, Jonathan Robinson - Compositor, Joe Salazar - Compositor, John Stillman - Lead Compositor, Damian Eggins - Assistant Unit Manager
After solving the case of the Luna Ghost, an uncooperative Mystery Inc. splits apart. Two years later, the group are unexpectedly reunited to solve mysteries occurring at the remote amusement park Spooky Island. In the time that has passed, Fred has become a celebrity, Daphne a blackbelt expert, Velma an employee at NASA, and Shaggy and Scooby have stopped investigating mysteries. On the plane, Shaggy and Scooby are eating when Shaggy sees a pretty young woman (Isla Fisher) with whom he is immediately smitten. The following conversation reveals she is called Mary Jane, likes Scooby Snacks, but is allergic to dogs (Scooby disguised as Shaggy's grandmother to get on the plane).
Upon arrival at the island, the gang are greeted by Emelius Mondavarious, the park's owner, who explains that a "spell" has been placed upon the visiting students who arrive as hyperactive but leave as emotionless people with inhuman abilities. The gang split up after an argument to solve the mystery for themselves. Velma watches a dance led by a man named N'Goo Tuana who explains the island was once home to demons who seek vengeance after Mondavarious built the theme park. Daphne encounters Voodoo Maestro who advises her not to go to the closed down castle-styled ghost train. Mistaking this for trickery, Daphne does indeed go to the castle. Scooby is lured into a secluded forest and is chased by a demon but escapes, before going to the castle with Shaggy and Daphne.
The gang is reunited inside the castle where they split up properly to look for clues. Daphne finds a strange triangular artefact called the Daemonritus, whilst Velma and Fred discover a strange schoolroom where a training video is played which seems addressed to non-human creatures. The gang escape the castle when the N'Goo's minions appear, including a wrestler named Zarkos. They return to the island's hotel and tell Mondavarious their suspects: N'Goo, Maestro and Mondavarious(mostly cause he "creeps (Fred) out".. N'Goo plays a piano tune which seemingly summons dog-like demons which capture most of the guests including Fred, Velma and Mondavarious. Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne and Mary Jane
The next day, everything seems normal until Fred, Velma, Daphne, Mary Jane and most of the guests are revealed to now be possessed by the demons. Scooby falls down a hole followed by Shaggy, who discovers a pool of ectoplasmic heads and returns Velma, Daphne and Fred to their bodies, although they all end up swapping bodies until they revert to their normal ones, caused by the Daemonritus. The gang find Maestro who explains that if the demon's leader absorbs the captured ectoplasmic heads via the Daemonritus and then a sacrificed pure soul, the demons will be fully allowed to walk and the Earth for the next 10,000 or so years. The pure soul turns out to be Scooby's who is tricked by Mondavarious, the mastermind behind the plan to be a sacrifice. The gang set up a trap to destroy the demons via their weakness of sunlight but it does not go according to plan and Fred and Velma are captured.
Daphne carries out her part of the plan but ends up fighting Zarkus in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-like battle. Shaggy saves Scooby but knocks over Mondavarious as he absorbs the ectoplasmic heads, revealing him to actually be a robot controlled by noneother than Scrappy Doo. After being kicked out of the gang, Scrappy vowed revenge and carried out his plan to conquer the world and destroy Mystery Inc. in the process. He transforms into a monstrous giant version of himself and chases down Scooby and Shaggy. Daphne manages to defeat Zarkus, releasing sunlight and destroying the demons. Shaggy destroys the Daemonritus and Scrappy reverts to his smaller self. The real Mondavarious is located by Shaggy, for he had been trapped underground by Scrappy for two years. Mary Jane comes to Shaggy and thanks him for saving her life. They try to kiss but Mary Jane sneezes because Scooby is there. The villains are arrested and Mystery Inc. are quickly told of a new case which they decide to solve together.
The film was released to generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a "Rotten" rating of 28%, with an average score of 4.3 out of 10. On Metacritic, the film has a 35 out of 100 rating which indicates "generally negative reviews". However, despite a negative reception, it made $19,204,859 on its opening day and $54,155,312 over the weekend from 3,447 theaters, averaging about $15,711 per venue and ranked #1 at the box office. The film closed on October 31, 2002, with a final domestic gross of $153,294,164. It made an additional $122,356,539 internationally, bringing the total worldwide gross to $275,650,703. It is the 15th most successful film worldwide of 2002.[2] Gellar was voted Choice Movie Actress: Comedy at the The Teen Choice awards
A video game based upon the film was released for Game Boy Advance shortly before the film was released. The game is played in 3rd person point-of-view and has multiple puzzle games and mini-games. The game's structure was similar to a board game. The game was panned by critics and was a poor seller.
