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Scooby Doo .... The Movie
By John Likeglass

(This page was done prior to the release of the movie)

 

Click for a larger pictureAround March of 2001, Access Hollywood ran a clip from the new Scooby movie. Warner Brothers hoped this would wet people's appetite for the new movie... It did not! Most of the old Scooby fans hated it, frightened that the movie would only be some slapstick jab at the old series along the lines of The Flintstones, or maybe more appropriately, The Brady Bunch. I was more then a little taken back and because of this put my own research team into high gear. It has taken awhile, but with the help of an Australian spy, as well as an old friend who used to work for Hanana Barbara and now works for Warner Brothers, a clearer picture of the movie has emerged.

 

It will be a shocker to new and old fans alike! To the young fan, who has grown up with Scooby being a loveable stuffed toy, and who may have mixed a toy Mystery Machine in with their Ken and Barbie play set, the movie may be downright traumatic! This is a truly scary movie! (Rated PG!) The sets are more in line with something from Batman, or Friday the 13th! If you are a parent, you may want to attend the movie along with your child. If you happen to be a Scooby fan as well, you are also in for a shock.... It's a good movie!!

 

From the Access Hollywood clipThe scenes that were put on TV are from a flashback sequence that is at the opening of the movie. In it, the gang looks like we all remember them from the old series. But this only serves as a jumping off point. In the sequence, the gang has a horrible argument and breaks up for good! All the old frustrations are brought up, and in view of them, one may wonder why they ever got together to begin with. Kind of reminds be of when the rock band The Eagles broke up. When one was asked "Will you ever get back together?" The answer given was "When Hell freezes over!"

 

Three years later, the band went on their famous "Hell Freezes Over" tour. In much the same way, our friends cannot resist getting back together to solve one last big mystery! Now, I am not going to tell all I know about the movie as I hate reading reviews and watching trailers that tell the whole story leaving no reason to go see the movie, but here are some tidbits to leave you wondering...

When we used to watch the old series, and as we grew up and put it in perspective, many of us started asking ourselves questions. How did they ever make money? Why did Shaggy always have the munchies? Just how full of himself was Fred? What was Velma about anyway, I mean did she like boys?? Did Fred and Daphne.. Well... you know what!

 

When Craig Titley, David Eggby, Chuck Roven, James Gunn, and Raja Gosnell sat down to brainstorm this movie, several important parameters were be put in place. Gunn said that his goal was to keep the integrity of the show and not have it be all "winking at the camera."

 

What they want to do with Scooby-Doo is to avoid everything they hate about a movie like Viva Rock Vegas. What didn't we see on the show? In essence, if they are real, who are they? With this more sober view came an update to the look of the characters. So far, all promo is being done using the old character look seen in the opening flashback. They have been very careful not to let any of the "new look" shots out. What can we expect? Try to imagine what it would look like if four of your friends decided to jump in a van and investigate a mystery, mix in what we know historically about the gang, then add in some Tim Burton sets!

 

Getting scared yet? Of course not, this is only a web page! But look at some of the lengths that have gone into set design, and you may feel a tingle coming on. The redeeming factor in this movie comes from its mix with some old fashion Scooby humor, Like when (now famous) Freddy gets off of the plane and sees a rush of adoring fans coming toward him. Of course they run past him because there is someone more famous on the plane, but you get the idea. There is no question that this movie will be quite different then the Saturday morning cartoon, and many will complain about this... But... 30 years have passed. What worked back in 1969, would no longer work today. I like what I have seen. Some of the old cast have been involved with the movie acting as advisors and this helped. Will you like it? ......

See you at the Movies!

Full known Cast Listing


Thanks go to Kathryn Lucas for the great shots!

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