Scooby-Doo (film)


 * This article is about the 2002 film. For other uses, see Scooby-Doo.

Scooby-Doo, also known as Scooby-Doo: The Movie, is an American-Australian live-action/CGI American-Australian horror comedy film. It was written by James Gunn, produced by Charles Roven and Richard Suckle, and directed by Raja Gosnell. Production was handled by Mosaic Media Group and Atlas Entertainment. Warner Bros. Pictures distributed the film on June 14, 2002. Two years later it was followed by a sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

After an argument, the members of Mystery Inc. break up and try to make lives for themselves. Years later, they are forced to reunite when they are called by an eccentric amusement park owner to investigate the strange happenings on his island.

Memorable quotes
Fred: How many times do I have to tell you? There are no such things as ghouls, ghosts, goblins, or monsters. Now listen up. There is absolutely, absolutely no such thing as... Monster!

Scrappy-Doo: Yeah, and I've would've got away with it, If it weren't for those meddling sons of a--

Characters

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Organizations

 * Mystery Incorporated
 * Coast Guard

Locations

 * Earth
 * United States
 * Wow-O Toy Factory
 * Spooky Island
 * The Moon

Objects

 * Scooby Snacks
 * Deamon Ritus

Vehicles

 * The Mystery Machine

Development
Interest had started in 1994, and went through several writers. The original treatment was written by Craig Titley who had the gang meet at Kingston College. Incidentally, Jon Colton Barry used Kingston as the name of a university in "Mystery 101," the first episode of Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! twenty years later.

In 1998, actor Mike Myers was reported to have been hired to write a new script, and possibly star.

Casting
Mike Myers and Jim Carrey were attached in the beginning. Christina Ricci was set to play Velma, but was replaced with Linda Cardellini.

Real-life couple Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar were cast to give legitimacy that Fred and Daphne could be a real couple on-screen. Prinze Jr. had his hair dyed.

When Matthew Lillard was cast as Shaggy, he would have to scream every morning to get the scratchy voice.

Neil Fanning was hired only to only voice Scooby during rehearsals, but he worked well with the cast and crew that he was hired for the finished movie.

Filming
Principal photography took place in Queensland, Australia, unlike the following films, which were filmed in North America.

The film was much "edgier," but test screenings got the adult references dialed down or removed entirely to make the film more family friendly. The use of the word "soul" was also replaced with "protoplasm." There was a kiss between Daphne and Velma cut, and cleavage was removed with CGI.

Two endings were filmed; one with the culprit behind the demons being Old Man Withers who was the culprit behind the Luna Ghost, and the one where Scrappy was the culprit. Neither James Gunn nor Raja Gosnell liked Scrappy, Gunn in fact hated Scrappy to his very core, and saw this opportunity to get revenge on the character. He still hates him to this very day.

Music
The music was composed by David Newman.

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: June 14, 2002
 * Australia: June 20, 2002

Behind the scenes

 * The gang breaking up and being independent is suspiciously too similar to the first direct-to-video film, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, although, in that film, the gang broke up on good terms, as they're excited to finally be back together, unlike Daphne, Fred, and Velma in this film.
 * Pamela Anderson was added as a reference to the random times a celebrity would pop up in The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

Errors

 * The demons that take over the humans, aren't given a specific name, they're just generalized as "Creatures."
 * Scooby rather irresponsibly leaves his nephew out in the desert to fend for himself, such an action could lead to more serious consequences. But then again in this timeline, he wasn't a puppy, he just had a gland disorder.
 * During the scene when the monsters attacked the hotel, Daphne runs up the stairs wearing sneakers, instead of her pink go-go boots.
 * Shaggy wanting to leave the island and being fine with the monsters "eating Fred and Velma" seems very mean and cowardly even for Shaggy, considering Fred and Velma are two of his best friends.
 * How N' Goo Tuana is allowed to live on the island, which is owned by Mondavarious, is unexplained.
 * How the creatures are connected to the Daemon Ritus and how Scrappy learned about either is also left unexplained.
 * The gang didn't get the monsters that left the island, and one of them could have been spared from the sun if they were inside.
 * When Shaggy found the real Mondavarious, he had long, scraggly hair and a beard, but a few minutes later when he walks to the reporters, his hair is cut and is clean-shaven.
 * The short henchman wasn't detained on the helicopter with the rest of the culprits. He was either overlooked or had also been possessed by a demon.
 * The film doesn't explain how and when Mary Jane got captured and possessed by the "Creatures".

Everlasting influence

 * Due to past friendships and working with the cast in the sequel, Seth Green has continuously brought in Prinze, Lillard, Gellar, and Cardellini to voice Mystery Inc. for his stop motion series Robot Chicken, which airs on Adult Swim.
 * In the Gilmore Girls episode "Knit, People, Knit," Rory attends a 2002-themed party, where a poster of the Scooby-Doo film has been put up on a door.
 * Lillard ended up being Casey Kasem's replacement for Shaggy in official cartoon productions since 2009.
 * In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, an unrelated TV series, the Luna Ghost costume was used by Velma's parents as an exhibit at the Crystal Cove Museum.
 * Cardellini had guest spots as Hot Dog Water, Velma's rival.

Home availability

 * In the United States:
 * October 11, 2002: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo on VHS.
 * October 11, 2002: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo on DVD.
 * January 16, 2007: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo on Blu-ray Disc.
 * November 9, 2010: Warner Home Video releases Scooby-Doo 1 & 2 Collection on Blu-ray Disc.

Trailers
Teaser trailer:

Original theatrical trailer:

Standard theatrical trailer: