Scooby-Doo (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scooby-Doo

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Raja Gosnell
Produced by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Written by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
James Gunn
Starring Freddie Prinze, Jr.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Matthew Lillard
Linda Cardellini
Neil Fanning
Rowan Atkinson
Music by David Newman
Cinematography David Eggby
Editing by Kent Beyda
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) June 14, 2002
Running time 86 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget 80 million USD[1]
Gross revenue $275,650,703(worldwide)
Preceded by none
Followed by Monsters Unleashed
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Scooby-Doo is a 2002 live-action film, based on the popular Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon of the same name. The film was directed by Raja Gosnell and written by James Gunn. It was produced by Charles Roven and Richard Suckle for Warner Bros. Pictures and starred Matthew Lillard as Shaggy, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Freddie Prinze, Jr., as Fred, Linda Cardellini as Velma, Neil Fanning as the voice of Scooby-Doo (who was created on screen using computer-generated imagery) and Rowan Atkinson as Emile Mondavarious. Pamela Anderson made an uncredited appearance at the beginning of the movie.

In 2004, this film was followed by a sequel titled Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

Contents

[edit] Plot

In 2000, after solving the case of the Luna Ghost, the crime-solving team known as Mystery, Inc., consisting of Scooby-Doo (voiced by Neil Fanning), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Velma (Linda Cardellini), and Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), splits up following a major argument, leaving Scooby and Shaggy to continue as Mystery Inc. and to take care of the Mystery Machine.

Now it's 2002, the gang are reunited (against their wishes) as each is individually invited to Spooky Island, a "frightfully" popular theme park owned by Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson). Once on the island, Mondavarious tells the gang that students are mysteriously becoming mindless zombies and only utter pop phrases. Of course, Fred, Velma and Daphne do not agree to team up and so they go in different directions.

Shaggy soon falls for a girl named Mary Jane (Isla Fisher), while Velma discovers of a group of so-called demons that inhabit the island and seek revenge. A man named N'Goo Tuana and a masked wrestler try to spook Velma, but she ignores them. Daphne finds a man trying to protect himself through voodoo (Miguel A. Nunez Jr.) who tells her not to go the Spooky Island castle but she goes anyway. Scooby gets attacked by a demon, but escapes him. The gang investigates the castle and Fred and Velma discover an odd kind of "training" video as if there were real monsters living on the island. Scooby and Shaggy amuse themselves with a burping and flatulence competition. Daphne discovers an odd item called the Daemon Ritus—a magical artifact that absorbs energy, particularly souls. The bad guys nearly track them down, but the gang escape (disguised as costumed statues of the ride) to their hotel.

The demons attack and kidnap a bunch of tourists including Fred and Velma. The following morning, everything seems to be normal, until Fred appears to be a zombie. Daphne is captured and becomes a zombie as well. Shaggy, Scooby and Mary Jane flee from the chasing zombies, but Scooby discovers that Mary Jane is a monster in disguise. After a bout of backtalk (and something about cats) and fight, Scooby unfortunately falls down a hole and Shaggy follows. He discovers a pool full of protoplasmic heads. He rescues Fred, Velma and Daphne from the pool and then spies the Daemon Ritus. Velma is the first to return to her body and then discovers that the demons were inside their bodies and died when they were exposed to sunlight. Velma also discovers that Fred and Daphne are in each other's bodies.

The gang is reunited, except for Scooby, and they randomly switch bodies until they return to their own. They then encounter the voodoo man who explains that the demons will rule the world for 10,000 years if they get their hands on the Daemon Ritus and complete their ritual (the "Darkopolypse Ritual", as said by the voodoo man). But they also need a purely good soul as well: Scooby-Doo.

The gang set up a trap to save the world and destroy the demons but it messes up and Fred and Velma discover that Mondavarious is the main villain. Shaggy knocks Mondavarious out and rescues Scooby. Velma and Fred find that Mondavarious is a robot and the one manipulating him is Scooby's nephew, Scrappy-Doo, who is the 'real' main villain, wanting revenge on Mystery, Inc., for abandoning him in 1988.

The Daemon Ritus sticks to Scrappy's chest, morphing him into a giant monster named Scrappy Rex and he chases Scooby and Shaggy about while the Scooby-Doo, Where are You song is played. Fred and Velma flee from minions while Daphne fights the wrestler on top of the island. She kicks him down the vent, releasing light that destroys all of the demons and releasing the rest of the tourists' souls back to their bodies. Unfortunately, Scrappy Rex is immune to the light and traps Fred and Velma while holding Scooby until Shaggy tells him that he's a very bad puppy and uses a machine (which was used in the ritual) to take the Daemon Ritus off of him, transforming him back to a puppy. Scrappy tries to fight back in his normal form using his usual line of he can take anyone, but Scooby just rolls his eyes annoyed and punches him into a wall with a flick of his paw knocking him out. Shaggy finds the real Mondavarious locked in a hole and the police arrest Scrappy and his minions. But before the gang can even relax, the news of another case arrives.

During the credits, Scooby and Shaggy get their free all-you-can-eat meal, and Scooby desperately tries to find a way to stop overheating after eating a jar of chili peppers. Shaggy helps by pouring ketchup on his tongue. then Shaggy grabs two jars of chili peppers. On a count of three, they ate the peppers and the next scene shows the restaurant's exterior and steam coming out of the voodoo mask's eyes.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

Screenwriter James Gunn was chosen to write the movie after they had seen his script for a live action adaptation of Mad Magazines Spy vs. Spy.[1] The film was shot over 5 1/2 months in Queensland, Australia.[2]

[edit] Novelization

Scholastic Inc. released a novelization of the story in conjunction with the film. The novel was written by American fantasy and science fiction author Suzanne Weyn.

[edit] Reception

The film was released to generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film 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 was released in 3,447 theaters and made $19,204,859 on its opening day and $54,155,312 over the weekend, 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Dayna Van Buskirk, Reg Seeton (2004-03-01). Unleashing Monsters & Zombies. UGO. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  2. ^ Paul Fischer (2002-06-29). Freddy Prinze Jnr, Scooby Doo Interview by Paul Fischer. Imecom NV and Powerstorm, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Scooby-Doo
Main Characters

Scooby-Doo • Shaggy Rogers • Fred Jones • Daphne Blake • Velma Dinkley
Minor Characters

Scrappy-Doo • Scooby-Dum • Yabba-Doo
Television shows

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969–1972) • The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972–1974) • The Scooby-Doo Show (1976–1979) • Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979–1980) • Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1980–1983) • The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show / The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1983–1985) • The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985–1986) • A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988–1991) • What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002–2006) • Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006–2008)
Package shows and programming blocks

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976–1977) • Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977–1978) • Scooby's All-Stars (1978–1979) • The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show (1980–1982) • The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour (1982–1983) Scooby's Mystery Funhouse (1985–1986)
Television films and specials

Scooby Goes Hollywood (TV special, 1979) • Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987) • Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988) • Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988) (Scooby-Doo in) Arabian Nights (1994)
Direct-to-video films

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) • Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999) • Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000) • Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001) • Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (2003) • Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico (2003) • Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004) • Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005) • Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? (2005) • Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006) • Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (2007)
Theatrical films

Scooby-Doo (2002) • Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
Amusement Rides

Scooby-Doo's Ghoster Coaster (1984)  • The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (1990)  • Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster (2002)  • Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Mansion (2004)
This box: view • talk • edit