Scooby-Doo (film series)

Scooby-Doo
UK DVD box set of the four films
Scooby-Doo Series
Directed by	Raja Gosnell (Theatrical films) Brian Levant (TV films)
Produced by	Charles Roven Richard Suckle (Theatrical films) Brian Gilbert Brian Levant (TV films)
Written by	James Gunn (Theatrical films) Daniel Altiere Steven Altiere (TV films)
Starring	Theatrical films: Freddie Prinze, Jr. Sarah Michelle Gellar Matthew Lillard Linda Cardellini Neil Fanning TV films: Nick Palatas Frank Welker Robbie Amell Kate Melton Hayley Kiyoko
Music by	David Newman (All films)
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures (Theatrical films) Warner Premiere (TV films)
Country	United States
Language	English

The Scooby-Doo film series consists of four live action comedy films based on the Hanna Barbera animated cartoon series of the same name including the upcoming reboot titled S.C.O.O.B. which makes five live action comedy films. The character Scooby-Doo has also appeared in multiple animated direct-to-video films, since 1998.

Toward the end of the 1990s, Warner Bros. and producer Charles Roven began producing a series of feature live action films starring Scooby-Doo, beginning with the 2002 film Scooby-Doo, directed by Raja Gosnell. Gosnell also directed the 2004 sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). A prequel television film, Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009), was released by Cartoon Network. Brian Levant directed the film and its sequel, Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010)

Theatrical films

Development for a live-action treatment of Scooby-Doo began in 1994 by producer Charles Roven. Originally the idea was to make a film with a much darker tone, essentially poking fun at the original cartoon series, much like The Brady Bunch Movie and was set for a PG-13 rating. Shaggy was set to be a stoner, Velma and Daphne had a side relationship,^[1] and there were many marijuana references.^[2]

Several rumors about these aspects in the original cartoon series were passed around by fans of Scooby-Doo, and were to be incorporated into the live action film.^[3]

Scooby-Doo (2002)

Scooby-Doo was released on June 14, 2002. Directed by Raja Gosnell, the film starred Freddie Prinze, Jr., as Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Matthew Lillard as Shaggy, and Linda Cardellini as Velma. Scooby-Doo was created on-screen by computer-generated special effects and his voice was provided by Neil Fanning.

The plot shows the Mystery, Inc. coming back together after two years of separation, to investigate an amusement park called Spooky Island, where they deal with real demons.

The film was a financially successful release, with a domestic box office gross of over $130 million.^[4] However, the film was not well reviewed, but was a great hit with young audiences and fans of the show.^[5]

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed was released on March 26, 2004, with the same cast and director from the first film.

The plot shows the Mystery Inc. investigating the plans of a masked villain who wants to control the city of Coolsville using a machine to create monsters. Unlike the first film, Scooby-Doo 2 featured several of the monsters from the television series, including the Black Knight, the 10,000-Volt Ghost, the Pterodactyl Ghost, the Miner 49er and Chickenstein.

The film had a poor performance at the box office, grossing $80 million at the U.S.^[6] Scooby-Doo 2 was nominated for a Razzie Award for "Worst Remake or Sequel".^[7]

Scooby-Doo 3 (cancelled 2006)

In October 2002, during the filming of Scooby-Doo 2, Warner Bros. gave the green light for production of a sequel. Dan Forman and Paul Foley were hired to write the script for Scooby-Doo 3.

In January 2006, however, during a press conference for the release of Without a Paddle (2004), Matthew Lillard said the third Scooby-Doo film was cancelled. "There will be no Scooby 3," Lillard said. "The second one didn't do as well as it was expected to do, and I completely hold that to Warner Brothers' fault. I think Warner Brothers made a mistake releasing it at the time they did March 2004. I think the movie's much better than the first movie, and I honestly thought it was going to do ridiculously good box office. But we had a bad timeslot. We had 13 movies open up in two weeks after we opened up. I mean, it did well, but it didn't do great, and it needed to do great", added, noting that the studio was quite disappointed with the result, which prevented the production of a sequel.^[8]

S.C.O.O.B. (2018)

On June 17, 2014, Warner Bros. announced that they will restart the film series with Randall Green writing a new animated film.^[9][10] Warner Bros. announced the new film for a September 21, 2018, release.^[11]

TV films

Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009)

Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins was aired by Cartoon Network on September 13, 2009, the 40th anniversary of Scooby-Doo. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 22.^[12] Directed by Brian Levant. The plot is an origin story for the Mystery, Inc. gang, portraying the beginning of everything: how the gang met, their first mystery, their lives at school and how they got the Mystery Machine.^[13]

Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010)

Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster was aired by Cartoon Network on October 16, 2010, with the same director and cast from the previous film. In this film, the Mystery, Inc. gang is heading towards a beach club owned by Daphne's uncle, for temporary summer jobs. While involved with their tasks, they stumble on a new mystery.

Cast and characters

Characters	Films
	Theatrical films		TV films
	Scooby-Doo	Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed	Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins	Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster
CAST
Scoobert Scooby-Doo	Neil Fanning	Neil Fanning J. P. Manoux (brainy Scooby)	Frank Welker	Frank Welker Danielle. E. Hawkins (roller disco suit performer) Jane Oshita and Philip Albuquerque (Hip-hop suit performers) Luke Youngblood (Scooby suit performer)
Norville Shaggy Rogers	Matthew Lillard	Matthew Lillard Cascy Beddow (young) Nazanin Afshin-Jam (female body double)	Nick Palatas
Fred Jones	Freddie Prinze, Jr.	Freddie Prinze, Jr Ryan Vrba (young)	Robbie Amell
Daphne Blake	Sarah Michelle Gellar	Sarah Michelle Gellar Emily Tennant (young)	Kate Melton
Velma Dinkley	Linda Cardellini	Linda Cardellini Lauren Kennedy (young)	Hayley Kiyoko
Scrappy-Doo	Scott Innes J. P. Manoux (Scrappy rex)
Emile Mondavarious	Rowan Atkinson
Mary Jane	Isla Fisher
Patrick Wisley		Seth Green
Jeremiah Wickles		Peter Boyle
Johnathan Jacobo		Tim Blake Nelson
Heather Jasper-Howe		Alicia Silverstone
Ned		Zahf Paroo
Evil Masked Figure		Scott McNeil
Vice Principal Grimes			Garry Chalk
Principal Deedle			Shawn Macdonald
Janitor			C. Ernst Harth
Librarian			Lorena Gale
Specter			Daniel Riordan
Thorny Blake V				Ted McGinley
Elmer Uggins				Richard Moll
Hilda Trowburg				Marion Ross
Wanda Grubwort				Beverly Sanders

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Release date	Box office revenue			Box office ranking		Budget	Reference
		Domestic	Foreign	Worldwide	All time domestic	All time worldwide
Scooby-Doo	June 14, 2002	$153,294,164	$122,356,539	$275,650,703	#230	#321	$84 million	[14]
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed	March 26, 2004	$84,216,833	$97,250,000	$181,466,833	#651	N/A	$80 million	[15]

Critical reaction

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
Scooby-Doo	30% (142 reviews)[16]	35 (31 reviews)[17]
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed	21% (113 reviews)[18]	34 (28 reviews)[19]
Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins	50% (2 reviews)[20]	N/A[21]
Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster	45% (1 review)[22]	N/A

References

1. http://www.tvguide.com/news/Lesbian-Secrets-Scooby-41340.aspx
2. Entertainment Weekly, 636/637 - Jan 25th Issue. Page 38
3. Sigesmund, B.J. "The Inside Dope." Newsweek. June 14, 2002. Available at Lexis-Nexis.
4. Chris Suellentrop. (March 26, 2004). "Hey Dog! How do you do that Voodoo That You Do So Well?".Slate.com. Retrieved on June 9, 2006.
5. "Review of Scooby-Doo". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
6. "Weekend Box Office preview". 27 January 2006..
7. "2004 RAZZIE® Nominees & "Winners"". razzies.com.
8. "Matthew Lillard Says No 'Scooby-Doo 3'". Killer Movies. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
9. Fleming, Jr, Mike (June 17, 2014). "Warner Bros Ready To Reboot 'Scooby-Doo'". Deadline. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
10. "Warner Bros. Working on "Scooby-Doo" Live-Action Remake". The Movie Network. June 20, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
11. http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/17/scooby-doo-animated-movie-2018
12. "Toon Zone News". Toonzone. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
13. "Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins Promises Origin of Scooby Gang". http://Comics Worthreading. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
14. "Scooby-Doo (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
15. "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
16. "Scooby-Doo". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
17. "Scooby-Doo (2002): Reviews". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
18. "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
19. "Scooby-Doo 2 (2004): Reviews". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
20. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/scooby_do_the_mystery_begins/
21. http://www.metacritic.com/tv/scooby-doo!-the-mystery-begins
22. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/scooby_doo_curse_of_the_lake_monster/