Review of Scooby Doo

Introduction

Nostalgia is a dangerous thing to play with. We all have rose tinted glasses when it comes to the entertainment of our childhoods, and seeing those venerable properties updated for the modern audiences often holds a mixture of anticipation and dread. More often than not, the results are less than favourable, with travesties like The Avengers and Rocky & Bullwinkle appearing briefly to sink, thankfully without a trace. Truly successful updates of old properties are rare indeed, and when they do work, they still may not appeal to the original audiences, but Hollywood will keep mining the rich vein of history to ease the burden of originality. When it comes to cartoons, there are countless examples for them to update, both in animated and live action form. Recently Warners have unveiled the new look Bugs (Buzz) Bunny, to the horror of all and sundry. The cry of "They`re raping my childhood!" echoed through Internet forums the world over.

From the sixties onwards, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera unleashed a multitude of animations to entertain children the world over. I once again don those rose tinted specs as I fondly recall rushing home from school for my daily dose of The Flintstones, Captain Caveman, The Hair Bear Bunch, The Wacky Races, Yogi Bear and of course Scooby Doo. In a way it`s surprising that so few of the Hanna & Barbera properties have made it to the big screen as so many of their cartoons became part of the public consciousness. The Flintstones was the first to make it to live action, a big screen adventure with John Goodman perfectly cast as Fred Flintstone, and Bedrock brought to vivid life complete with CGI dinosaurs and Neolithic suburban living. The Flintstones is one of the most recognisable Hanna & Barbera properties, and while there are many others, like Kwicky Koala or Quick Draw McGraw that would be at the bottom of a list for big screen treatments, there are many others that would serve as a major attraction for audiences. Yet it would take another eight years, and another Flintstones movie, before the cartoon treasure chest would be opened again.

Scooby Doo is another one of those characters that worldwide audiences are familiar with. The adventures of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and the Great Dane Scooby, as they pursue the seemingly paranormal and solve mysteries, have entered pop culture to a major degree. Songs have been written about Scooby Snacks, towering subway sandwiches have been consumed, and I doubt the X-Files would have existed without the inspiration of the animation. I myself still have to occasionally contend with a debilitating speech condition where I insert the word `like` in inappropriate places in sentences. In recent years, popular TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer had the heroine slaying demons with the aid of her trusty band of Scoobies. It`s somewhat poetic then that Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar was cast as Daphne in the 2002 big screen Scooby Doo movie.

When the pursuit of The Luna Ghost in a toy factory results in another victory for Mystery Inc., egos clash as Daphne is captured again, Velma is ignored again and Fred takes all the credit, again. Despite Shaggy and Scooby`s attempt to heal the rift, it`s all over for the group and they all go their separate ways. Two years later a mysterious invitation from Emile Mondavarious to his holiday resort of Spooky Island reunites them. Something odd is happening on Spooky Island, as people arrive as happy, frolicking holidaymakers, but leave as brainwashed automatons. Mondavarious offers the prize of $10000 and all you can eat (for those not so materialistically inclined) to solve the mystery. It`s a fractious reunion though, and the former members of Mystery Inc. decide to work in competition rather than as a team. But this mystery is bigger than any they have faced before, and this time the monsters aren`t all wearing masks. The future of the world is at stake, and they may have no choice other than to work together once more.

Video

Scooby Doo is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. It`s a clear and sharp transfer of a recent film, which quite appropriately gives absolutely nothing to complain about. Naturally this film excels in the use of CGI, not least in the realisation of Scooby himself. The character is so skilfully accomplished that you forget that he is an animation and accept him as inhabiting the world of the other characters. Of course that is down to the performances of the other actors, who effectively have to act with and react to thin air, but it`s to the film`s credit that not once was I tempted to look for the joins.

Audio

Scooby Doo comes with a DD 5.1 English soundtrack, along with English subtitles and a HOH subtitle track. The surround is effective in conveying the action and the music, although I did feel that the dialogue could have been pitched a tad higher. The music is really quite good, with some great choices of tunes, both contemporary and from yesteryear, although I feel the advert for the movie soundtrack, emblazoned on the front of the Amaray case is overdoing it a tad.

Features

Pleasing the target audience, the menus are animated with an appropriately playful Scooby scampering around the debris of the menu design. It`s a design that is a little awkward to fathom, and a little more emphasis on usability would have been appreciated.

There are seven deleted scenes on the disc, some 14 minutes worth in total. Unlike most of the deleted scenes that get packaged on discs, these are actually entertaining and would actually benefit being restored to the film. Among them are a wonderful animated opening to the film that features the original characters from the cartoon, there are flashbacks that tell what the characters were up to during the two years that the members of Mystery Inc. went their separate ways, Velma has a wonderful musical number when she gets drunk on a non-alcoholic drink and Scooby feigns a heart attack. It seems that the curse of the test screening struck again. You can watch the scenes with or without a commentary. Hopefully the effects will be completed one day, and a restored version will be released.

There is a 23-minute making of documentary, which contains much EPK goodness for those who want to know about a movie, but not know too much. It`s fairly interesting in a light and fluffy sort of way.

There is a Scary Places featurette that is a 5 minute tour of the sets built for Scooby Doo, a blink and you`ll miss it featurette showcasing the Mystery Machine, a small featurette on the choreography of the Daphne fight scene and the Outkast video, Land Of A Million Drums is there in all its annoying glory.

There`s a 15 second advert for the soundtrack album and an Easter Egg where you can watch it rain. It`s not much of an Egg if it`s advertised on the back cover though.

There are two commentaries on this disc, the first features director Raja Gosnell and a handful of producers. It`s not an easy listen, they are quite reticent as speakers and long gaps go by when nothing is said. It`s bland but vaguely informative.

A little better to listen to is the rather more rowdy cast commentary, with Matthew Lillard, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr, and Linda Cardellini. It`s not as gappy and they keep it a light-hearted affair. They do talk over each other at times, and worryingly, I couldn`t distinguish between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Linda Cardellini. I wound up as thinking of them as some strange gestalt entity.

While most of these extras suit a more adult audience, the target demographic of little tykes seems curiously left out. That is until you place the disc in a DVD-ROM, when you`ll find plenty of games and goodies for them to play with, as well as stuff to print out, cut out and stick on card, in a Blue Peter sort of way.

There are subtitles for all the extras excluding the commentaries.

Conclusion

Having been disappointed countless times before, I find that it is best to approach these Hollywood updates with a degree of caution, expecting the worst before my rosy illusions can be shattered. It took until the Scooby Doo movie was obscenely cheap in a bargain bin before I felt comfortable in giving it a try. For once, my meagre expectations were not only met, but comfortably exceeded, as I found a film that not only paid homage to the cartoon of my childhood, but appealed to the modern audience as well. While the film appeals to all ages, there is also a nod to the moments when we stopped appreciating Scooby Doo at the level it was intended and started wondering just what was the dynamic between these characters. It was the kind of idle speculation that filled hours of discussion, the kind of adolescent moments reminiscent of that Red Dwarf episode where the topic of discussion was who was the most attractive, Betty Rubble or Wilma Flintstone.

Naturally the update couldn`t have worked without a satisfactory realisation of Scooby himself, and the CGI used to bring the Great Dane to life is nigh on flawless. It isn`t an attempt to make him as realistic as possible, but to perfect the performance to the point where you stop thinking of him as CGI and merely accept him as a performer in the scene. In that respect, the world of Scooby Doo is a compromise between the real world and the cartoon, and it is best to think of the film as a live action cartoon itself, obeying its own set of rules. Similarly the CGI used for the other monsters and effects are also of a high quality.

But a believable Scooby is only half the battle, and it`s down to the cast to successfully bring the characters to life to make the film work. Fortunately the cast succeed in capturing the characters from the cartoon series. Freddie Prinze Jr is just as bland as the original Fred; only here the script establishes him as something more of a vain character. Velma was always the one who figured out the mysteries in the cartoon, explaining the villainous plots in a rather sleepy monotone. Linda Cardellini manages to evoke the same air of tedium in her performance. Of all the characters, Daphne has undergone the most change. In the cartoons, all she basically did was get kidnapped, but in a nod to the modern age, this girl has found grrrl power. Sarah Michelle Gellar fleshes out the rather thin character, who after being kidnapped once too often, goes off to a spiritual retreat to learn how to fight like… well, like Buffy. But the star performance has to be Matthew Lillard`s portrayal of Norville `Shaggy` Rogers. Not only does he have the fractured voice down pat, but also he seems to channel the spirit of the cowardly hippy. It`s all the more astounding as he has most of the scenes with Scooby, his best friend, and has to act to thin air for most of the film. Yet he and the CGI hound have genuine chemistry.

Scooby Doo manages to recreate the feel of the original cartoon. All the elements that fans will be familiar with are there in the film. The spooky mansion, the masked villains, the cowardly team of Scooby and Shaggy, the Scooby snacks, the elaborate trap to catch the bad guys, and of course the immortal line, "I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn`t for you meddling kids." The story and characters are given a much-needed contemporary twenty-first century twist, and this being a 21st Century comedy, there`s the obligatory fart gag. Fortunately it`s a funny one. The disc boasts a decent transfer and a nice selection of extras, and the film happily fulfils my nostalgia quotient. Good fun for all the family.

Hanna & Barbera adaptations come quite rarely, but when they do they are of decent quality and respect the original properties. Here`s hoping for a Wacky Races movie in 2010.