Scooby-Doo (film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Scooby-Doo |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Raja Gosnell |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | James Gunn |
| Story by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Cinematography | David Eggby |
| Editing by | Kent Beyda |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 14, 2002 |
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $84 million |
| Money made | $275.7 million |
Scooby-Doo (also known as Scooby-Doo: The Movie) is a 2002 American live-action/computer-animated supernatural adventure comedy mystery film based on the long-running Hanna-Barbera animated television franchise of the same name. The first installment in the Scooby-Doo live-action film series, the film was directed by Raja Gosnell from a screenplay by James Gunn, and stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Isla Fisher and Rowan Atkinson. The plot revolves around Mystery Incorporated, a group of four young adults and a talking dog who solve mysteries, who reunite after a two-year disbandment to investigate a mystery at a popular horror-themed tropical island resort.
Filming took place in and around Queensland, Australia on a budget of $84 million. The film was released on June 14, 2002 and grossed $275 million worldwide. Reggae artist Shaggy and rock group MxPx performed different versions of the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme song. The Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, a ride based on the film, was built at Warner Bros. Movie World in Gold Coast, Australia in 2003. The film received generally negative reviews from critics for its story, humor, visual effects, acting, and unfaithfulness to its source material, but praised Matthew Lillard's performance as Shaggy.
This is the last time William Hanna served as an executive producer before his death on March 22, 2001. A sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, was released on March 26, 2004.
Plot
The members of Mystery, Inc. solve the case of the Luna Ghost, but long-time friction among Fred Jones, an obnoxious glory hog, Daphne Blake, who is fed up with being kidnapped at every mystery, and Velma Dinkley, who is never credited for her skills and ideas, boils over and the gang breaks up, leaving Shaggy Rogers and his dog Scooby-Doo heartbroken and caring for the gang's van, the Mystery Machine.
Two years later, Shaggy and Scooby are invited to solve a mystery on Spooky Island, a horror-themed tropical resort owned by Emile Mondavarious. At the airport, they are reunited with the rest of Mystery, Inc. and learn that Fred has become a popular author, Velma works for NASA and Daphne has undertaken martial arts training to defend herself. Scooby and Shaggy attempt to get Mystery, Inc. back together, but the others refuse to work with each other.
On the flight, Shaggy meets and becomes attracted to a girl named Mary Jane, who also loves Scooby Snacks but is allergic to dogs. Upon arriving at the island, the gang meets Mondavarious, who claims the visiting tourists have been brainwashed. Velma attends a ritualistic performance hosted by N'Goo Tuana and his henchman, Zarkos, a famous luchador. N'Goo claims the island was once ruled by ancient demons that have been plotting their revenge ever since they were displaced by the resort.
After a misunderstanding with a local voodoo priest, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby venture into the resort's ghost ride and meet Fred and Velma inside, where they split up to look for clues. Fred and Velma come across a school designed to educate inhuman creatures about human culture, while Daphne discovers a pyramid-shaped artifact called the Daemon Ritus. The gang flees, but the island’s demons attack, kidnapping Fred, Velma, Mondavarious and other tourists, while Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, and Mary Jane escape.
The next day, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby learn that the demons have possessed Fred, Velma and the other tourists. Zarkos captures Daphne and steals the Daemon Ritus before taking her to be possessed as well. Shaggy and Scooby encounter Mary Jane, but Scooby realizes she has been possessed as well. When he tells Shaggy, the two begin to argue, but are interrupted when Scooby falls through a trapdoor into an underground chamber. While searching for him, Shaggy discovers a vat of protoplasm containing the souls of those possessed. He frees his friends’ souls, but Daphne and Fred's souls end up in each other's bodies while Velma discovers that sunlight destroys the demons. Shaggy steals the Daemon Ritus, which randomly switches his, Velma, Fred, and Daphne's souls around until they all end up in their correct bodies. They come across the voodoo priest, who explains that the demons, led by Mondavarious, will rule the world for the next ten thousand years if a pure soul is offered as a sacrifice during their ritual. Shaggy realizes that the pure soul is Scooby, who unwittingly accepts to be the sacrifice. Fred, Daphne, and Velma decide to put their differences behind them to help Shaggy save Scooby.
The gang plots to trap the demon cult, but the plan fails and only Daphne escapes capture. Mondavarious extracts Scooby's soul using the Daemon Ritus, but Shaggy breaks free and pushes Mondavarious aside, causing Scooby's soul to be released. When Fred and Velma confront the defeated Mondavarious, they discover that he is actually a robot controlled by Scooby's estranged nephew Scrappy-Doo, who was abandoned by the gang years ago after his power-hungry nature got out of control. Using the absorbed souls of the tourists, Scrappy transforms into a monster and tries to kill the gang. Daphne is attacked and captured by Zarkos again, but defeats him by kicking him into the ritual chamber, where he knocks over the vat containing the souls of the tourists, thus setting them free. Their souls return to their bodies as Daphne releases a skull-shaped disco ball, which reflects sunlight to kill the demons. Shaggy rips the Daemon Ritus from Scrappy's body to free the captured souls and finds the real Mondavarious imprisoned in a small underground cell, having been captured by Scrappy so he could pose as his double. Scrappy, N'Goo, Zarkos, and their minions are arrested while the reunited gang promises to continue solving mysteries together.
During the credits, Scooby and Shaggy take advantage of the “all you can eat” stipulation they were promised and have lunch at the Spooky Island hotel. They both eat jars of hot chilli peppers and scream as smoke comes out of the hotel, ending the film.
Cast
- Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred Jones
- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne Blake
- Matthew Lillard as Shaggy Rogers
- Linda Cardellini as Velma Dinkley
- Rowan Atkinson as Emile Mondavarious
- Isla Fisher as Mary Jane
- Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as Voodoo Maestro
- Sam Greco as Zarkos
- Steven Grieves as N'Goo Tuana
- Neil Fanning as the Voice of Scooby-Doo
- Scott Innes as the Voice of Scrappy-Doo
- J.P. Manoux as the voice of Scrappy Rex
- Holly Brisley as Training Video Woman
- Kristian Schmid as Brad
- Michala Banas as Carol
- Jess Harnell and Frank Welker as the voice of creatures
Sugar Ray, Pamela Anderson, and Nicholas Hope appeared in cameo roles.
Distribution
Merchandise
A video game based upon the film was released for Game Boy Advance shortly before the film was released. The game is played in third-person point of view and has multiple puzzle games and mini-games. The game's structure was similar to a board game. Metacritic rated it 64/100 based on five reviews, which they labeled as "mixed or average reviews".
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.
Sequels and animated reboot
A sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, was released in 2004. A third film was planned, but cancelled after the poor critical and financial results of the second.
In 2009 and 2010, two telefilm prequels, Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster, aired on Cartoon Network. A spin-off film, Daphne & Velma, was released on May 22, 2018, and an animated film, Scoob!, was released on May 15, 2020.
Images for kids
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The Mystery Machine from the film at San Diego Comic-Con International in 2013
See also
In Spanish: Scooby-Doo (película) para niños
