Scooby-Doo Collection

Mystery

Adventure

Comedy

Scooby-Doo

Mosaic Media Group

Warner Bros. Pictures

United States of America

English

Freddie Prinze Jr.

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Matthew Lillard

Linda Cardellini

Neil Fanning

Rowan Atkinson

Isla Fisher

Miguel A. Núñez Jr.

Steven Grives

Charles Stan Frazier

Craig Bullock

Matthew Murphy Karges

Mark McGrath

Rodney Sheppard

Sam Greco

Charlie Cousins

Kristian Schmid

Nicholas Hope

Scott Innes

J. P. Manoux

Chris Cruickshanks

Alex Ruiz

Sheryl Benko

Rio Nugara

David Vallon

Troy MacKinder

Michala Banas

Holly Brisley

Robert Díaz

Remi Broadway

Martin Broome

Simone Dumbleton

Jonathan Coffey

Michael Caffery

Kyas Sherriff

Celeste Gosnell

Bradley Gosnell

Cayley Gosnell

Audrey Gosnell

Kurt Duval

Janis McGavin

Emily Gosnell

Marea Lambert Barker

Kym Jackson

Danielle Starkey

Andrew Bryniarski

Craig Behenna

Keith S. Bullock

Jess Harnell

Frank Welker

Pamela Anderson

James Gunn

David Eggby

Joseph Barbera

Kent Beyda

Richard Suckle

Kelley Smith-Wait

Robert Engelman

Andrew Mason

Charles Roven

William Hanna

Raja Gosnell

Roger Lanser

Adrien Seffrin

Peter McCaffrey

Andrew Conder

Troy Reichman

Ricky Schamburg

Melinda Rickman

Grahame Litchfield

Mike Cachuela

Michael Leung

Larry White

Bob Camp

Andrew Egiziano

Jay Jackson

Christina Butterfield

Roger Huynh

David Newman

Stephen Jones

Mary Vernieu

Philip A. Patterson

Alan Glazer

Joe Ruby

Ken Spears

Kurt Williams

Toby Pease

Kirstine Wallis

Craig Titley

Sandy Wingrove

Bernie Childs

Suza Maybury

Helen Gabrielle Gliniak

Melanie Shepherd

Bill Boes

Christian Wintter

Brad Hanson

Jodie Allen

Gregg Thomas

Robyn Elliott

Kevin Abercrombie

Bill Booth

Fiona Scott

Jasin Boland

David Childs

Didier Levy

Stewart Sorby

Katherine Quittner

Melissa Barker

Grace Hernandez

Sherie Bradfute

Ben De Luca

Adam Williams

Jennifer Cornwell

Martin Ash

Gary Cramb

Barbara Darragh

Anthony Mabin

Vic Kaspar

Amiee Clark

Leigh-Alexandra Jacob

Monica Heideman

Donna Brown

Matthew Putland

John O'Connell

Todd Carmody

Paula Marie Duncan

Lisa Brennan

Guy Norris

Jo Weeks

Leesa Evans

Kristelle Gardiner

Jamie McLennan

Laura Z. Wasserman

Kim Prentice

Margaret Mitchell

Michael Conelly

Michael Backauskas

Leonel Pedraza

Keith Foston

Matt Diezel

Daniel R. Chavez

Rod Conder

Keith Hunter

Brendon 'Moose' Boyd

Allen Foster

Richard Baneham

**_Better the second time around_**

Being a fan of the original cartoon from 1969-1970, I saw this live-action version when it debuted at the theater. After the first 15 minutes or so I slowly became more and more disappointed. Yet upon seeing it again last night, I must say it's better on repeat viewings.

What most impressed me on my first viewing was Matthew Lillard as Shaggy and Linda Cardellini as Velma. Freddy Prinze Jr. as Fred is good while Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne wasn't quite right for the role, although certainly serviceable; I'm sure she got the part because of her popularity at the time. The addition of the winsome Isla Fisher as Mary Jane is a peripheral highlight. The CGI Scooby was good for the time (2002) and holds up pretty well.

On my initial viewing I was hoping for a straight live-action adaption of the cartoon sorta like 1994's "The Flintstones." What I got instead was part homage and part parody. This would have worked for me but the film bogged down in the "Spooky Island" segment, which comprises the 2nd and 3rd acts and amounts to a full hour of the film. The problem with this large chunk of the movie is that the whole "Spooky Island" set was just too cartoony for a live-action homage. It just turned me off. In hindsight, I suppose the cartooniness was intended since the flick's based on a cartoon (aduh).

Viewing it agin, I had the same impressions of the movie up to the 30-minute mark, but the final hour won me over. I still don't like the limitations of the "Spooky Island" set, yet I was impressed with the whole 'well of souls' aspect and the complications thereof, as well as the ingenious way they included Scrappy-Doo in the plot. I used to think I was the only one who literally couldn't stand Scrappy-Doo, but now I see that my feelings were pretty much universal. Scrappy-Doo rightly become the symbol of an annoyingly overexuberant or cute character added to a series in an attempt to maintain ratings, also known as the Cousin Oliver Syndrome (named after the character from the final season of The Brady Bunch, of course).

At the end of the day, this live-action version of "Scooby-Doo" is definitely better on repeat viewings. If you loathed it on your initial viewing be sure to give it another chance. Aside from obvious positives, like Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini nailing Shaggy and Velma, the film features the beautiful Isla Fisher in a significant role, plus the creative plot elements of the 'well of souls' and Scrappy-Doo.

It runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, which is perfect for cartoony fare like this; and was shot in Queensland, Australia.

GRADE: C+/B-

Best Movies

Scooby-Doo

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Freddie Prinze Jr.

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Matthew Lillard

Linda Cardellini

Neil Fanning

Rowan Atkinson

Isla Fisher

Miguel A. Núñez Jr.

Steven Grives

Charles Stan Frazier

Box office

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