Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy (film)

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Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy
Frankencreepy poster.jpg
Poster.
Production company Warner Bros. Animation
Distributor Warner Home Video
Release date August 19, 2014
Starring Frank Welker
Mindy Cohn
Grey DeLisle Griffin
Matthew Lillard
Malcolm McDowell
Kevin Michael Richardson
Diedrich Bader
Jeff Glen Bennett
Candi Milo
Executive producer(s) Sam Register
Producer(s) Paul McEvory
Susan Ward
Alan Burnett
Music composed by Andy Sturmer
Screenplay by Jim Krieg
Director(s) Paul McEvory
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Title card
Frankencreepy title card.png

Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy is an American animated horror-comedy direct-to-video (DTV) film based on the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! TV series in 1969. It was released by Warner Home Video on August 19, 2014. It was written by Jim Krieg, and produced and directed by Paul McEvory. The film is the twenty-second installment in the Scooby-Doo 2-D animated direct-to-video film series.

Velma inherits her great-great uncle's mansion, which holds dark secrets she's tried to keep hidden for years. Going to Transylvania, Pennsylvania, Velma sets out to clear her family's name, while Mystery Inc.'s friendship and their biggest phobias are put to the test.

Detailed summary

Memorable quotes

Cuthbert Crawley: Velma, you are the sole beneficiary of your great, great Uncle Baron Basil's estate.
Shaggy: Like, Mr. Crawley, when you said the candy was complimentary, do you mean it's, like, free?
Crawley: Uh, yes.


Shaggy: Don't worry. We'll stay away from the Baron's legacy. And his arm-acy, and his foot-acy.


Fred: Together we've brought down more than our share of villains with nothing more than pluck, jerry-rigged traps, and a box Scooby Snacks. And for no better reason than a love of justice. And my van. And a knack for meddling. And a love for my van
Daphne: Did you just say "van"?
Fred: No. No... I-I didn't say van. But now, we find the forces of evil have come to us. Why? We don't know why. Who? We can't say. But there is one thing we can say for certain!
Velma: What?
Fred: They killed my van! This time... this time it's personal!


Inspector Krunch: You! You're a Von Dinkenstein! I'd know those glasses anywhere! No Von Dinkenstein is welcome in this town! T'was your uncle's monster did this to me!
Shaggy: ...Why did the monster replace your hand with a duster?


Velma: Wait, a minute ago you spoke in grunts and "ugh"s. When did you become so loquacious?
Iago: Eh... uh, Iago no understand brainy girl words.


Shaggy: Like, a real life Frankenstein!
Velma: Just to clarify, Frankenstein was the doctor. Not the monster.
Daphne: It's scarier than Frankenstein. It's a regular Frankencreep!
Shaggy: That's catchy.


Velma: This monster must be a fake and I'll prove it! I'll recreate the Baron's supposed life-imbuing experiment from his own notes. When the ice is melted and the experiment fails, the hoax will be revealed. My core hypothesis that monsters are fake will be vindicated.
Fred: ...I don't totally understand your goal.


Daphne: Is everyone okay?
Shaggy: Like, let me check. Fred? Uh okay. Daphne? Looking a little weird. Velma? Ho-ho. Totally nuts. Iago?
Iago: Iago stubbed toe.
Shaggy: Iago stubbed toe.


Shaggy: Like, why do you need both our brains?
Velma: According to my calculations, between the two of you, you almost have one entire brain.


Fred: Wow. I didn't think I could do it without the Mystery Machine but I guess I could do it for her.
Daphne: Oh Freddy, you're my Mystery Machine. I'm just so sorry the curse has given you such a damaged damsel to rescue.
Fred: You mean the Mystery Mach-
Daphne: No Fred. Me. I look so awful.
Fred: You're kidding. I didn't even notice. You always look great to me, Daphne.


Velma: I'm sorry I tried to take your brains, guys. I think I was hypnotized by a device disguised to look like an antique Strickfaden electro wheel.
Scooby: Uh... that's okay.
Shaggy: Yeah, Velma. Like, that could happen to anybody.


Mama Mione: Are you kidding? Everyone you've ever busted wants revenge! We were turning people away in drones!
Lila: We fiended each other on the "Scooby Gang Revenge Social Networking Page". You wouldn't believe how many "Yikes!" it gets on a daily basis!


Shaggy: Like, you were so greedy for revenge, you forgot to be greedy for money.


Daphne: Jeepers, Velma. You really won the villagers over. I guess they really appreciate you proving once and for all that there's no such thing as the Von Dinkenstein curse.
Velma: Maybe. Or it could have something to do with my giving them the land rights to the natural gas.
Scooby: You what?!


Daphne: There's just one last thing I don't understand, Velma. How did you know the curse was a fake?
Velma: Easy, Daphne. The Baron's curse said that the victims would lose what they loved the most and then be utterly destroyed. Guys, don't you see? Of all the things we lost: beauty, confidence, the joy of eating, logic. None of it was what we loved the most. We love each other the most!
Gang: Awww.

Characters

Legend
Character debut Speaking debut Ep. debut No lines Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character Actor


Organizations

Locations

Objects

Vehicles

Production

Development

Filming

Music

The music was composed by Andy Sturmer.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

  • United States: July 27, 2014 at the San Diego Comic Con International; August 19, 2014 on DVD
  • United States and Ireland: October 6, 2014 on DVD; March 5, 2018 at 5:00 pm on Boomerang

Behind the scenes

  • Daphne's weight gain from a Size 2 to an 8 being her "curse", received some negativity for not only being inaccurate with how a Size 8 actually looks like but having a negative influence over the young girls who have watched it. Warner Bros.' response was she and the others didn't lose what was most important to them: their friendship, and that she realizes what she looks like is superficial.[1] However, her main concern after revealing the bad guys, was wanting to know how big she got over everything else that had happened.
  • Daphne runs her own website, Jeepers, It's Daphne! (a reference to her catchphrase), which she mainly uses to push a modeling career with, and does a live webchat. She calls her so-called fans, "Daphanatics".
  • The gang also got together at a restaurant near the beginning of the previous film, Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery, although the joke is here, is that instead of being apart as Fred suggests, the entirety of Jeepers, It's Daphne! was happening in the restaurant, with Velma and the guys' laptops having just altered their backgrounds.
  • Teen Mystery Solver Dish! would seem to imply that there are other teenage sleuths out there besides Mystery Inc.
  • It's revealed that the Dinkleys immigrated to America from Germany, which took place on February 25 (although the village of Transylvania skews it with the country of Transylvania), and had their surname changed from Von Dinkenstein.
  • The back license plate has been changed from "195 343" (first seen in Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo) to "DISCORLS", with Crystal Cove as a location, in reference to the main setting of the unrelated TV series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, and the date of December 2013. The front plate with the words, "The Mystery Machine", from the aforementioned previous film, has been removed.
  • Another reference to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated is the silhouettes of Velma's parents resembling Dale and Angie.
  • Poormond and Old Haven are parodies of Richmond and New Haven, respectively.
  • Similarly to the gang being altogether to begin with during Jeepers, It's Daphne!, their revenge-seekers found each other online, when their cells were right next to each other.
  • Scooble-Doo is a parody of Google, tied with Scooby-Doo's name. It's unclear, besides the name, what the two actually have in common.
  • The gTLDs in each web address are "hb", a reference to Hanna-Barbera.
  • H8face is a parody of Facebook. Users "fiend" each other and groups get "yikes," instead of "likes."
  • The majority of this movie's plot and setting is taken from the classic Universal Frankenstein films. These references include:
    • Basil is shown fighting the Frankencreep in a burning windmill, much like the climax of the original Frankenstein.
    • Iago is an amalgam of Fritz from Frankenstein and Ygor from Son of Frankenstein
    • The setup involving Velma inheriting the castle is patterned off of Son of Frankenstein. Basil Dinkley could be a reference to Basil Rathbone, who starred in that film.
    • Inspector Krunch is a parody of Inspector Krogh, the one-armed officer from Son of Frankenstein
    • The brain-swapping plot is taken from Ghost of Frankenstein.
    • When they find the Frankencreep, he is frozen in a block of ice. This is an homage to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
    • Mrs. Vanders appears to be inspired by Frau Blucher from Mel Brooks's satirical Young Frankenstein.

Errors

  • When Fred asks Velma what he had solved from the beginning, the orange from his ascot continues to the visible part of his neck below.
  • Velma's glasses aren't tinted when she holds up her phone showing parts of the Green Ghosts case.
  • In newly-created scenes for the film, Mama Mione has black eyes, even though they are still green in the archived footage of her unmasking from "The Creepy Case of Old Iron Face". Coincidentally, it's the exact opposite for Lila.
  • Mystery Inc.'s old cases have somehow been caught on film, and any scene can be brought up, even the events of this film are immediately brought up during the end credits, although that was done as an intentional joke to point out some of the errors.
  • Roger (Mamba Wamba) wasn't a music producer, he was actually the Alex Super Experience's manager.
  • The Green Ghosts were not originally called "Green Phantoms." This seems to have been from trying to merge the alternate name of "Phantom Shadow(s)."
  • Daphne was talking about Creeps and Crawls being the Green Ghosts and about Velma solving the case, but the video was showing Velma with papers from the Mamba Wamba case.
  • It would be impossible for the Daphanatic to get the photos of Daphne the way she's posing like that, he would either have to have been stalking her since What's New, Scooby-Doo?, or she's been trying to begin her model portfolio since then by hiring someone to follow her around.
    • It's not completely impossible for Daphne to have had her photo taken to the red carpet premiere, but there wasn't a wall like that the "Lights! Camera! Mayhem!".
    • One photo she must've posed for had her in her WNSD outfit with a purple handbag, but throughout that program, her handbag was green.
  • Crawls was simply using a fake name. It wasn't until Velma pointed out that Crawley and Mr. Crawls were one and the same in the wrap-up, did the gang recognize him.
  • The super suit was supposed to be built to fit little people only, yet it's later used by regular-sized people as well.
  • The gang has apparently finished eating at the restaurant as they've paid their check, yet there's a single milkshake (with the addition of not just cream, but a cherry, too) just sitting on the table the entire time the gang is talking. They even walk away from it, without Scooby or Shaggy taking a sip, which seems highly improbable that they would leave it.
  • The gang seems to just irresponsibly abandon their laptops at the restaurant.
    • Daphne's laptop briefly reappears on her lap in the passenger car.
  • Cayetanos Sticky Toffee Pudding is missing an apostrophe so it's unclear whether it's supposed to be singular or plural.
  • Although appearing in a flashback, Madelyn doesn't appear in the Dinkley family tree in the opening sequence, and despite being the youngest, Velma is identified as the youngest in the Baron's will. If she had questioned that (which she didn't), Crawley could've quite easily responded that it was made before Madelyn was born. (This may have been a given, though.) The fact that she wasn't mentioned is likely because (other than flat-out being ignored) Crawls was out to get Velma, not her sister.
  • It's unknown if the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated allusions are supposed to retcon the two universes together. This would be impossible as Velma doesn't have a sibling in that series, and Fred and Daphne are in a committed relationship, this film keeps the two ambiguous, as always.
  • The proper title for a baron is "Lord."
  • It's unexplained how Velma's uncle became a baron.
  • The gang's train tickets all have the same seat number.
  • It seems odd to show the train's schedule board, and leave out the village of Transylvania.
  • The Dinkley family is supposed to originate from Germany, but it sounds more like they were simply from Transylvania, Pennsylvania the entire time, not only due to the fact that that's the village that has had all the trouble of Dr. Von Dinkenstein and his monster, but there is no mention of the castle being moved, which would be logical reasoning to how it can go from being in, perhaps, the real Transylvania to the village namesake in America. There is also the issue of the Baron seemingly not leaving, giving a reason for him to be able to still keep the Von Dinkenstein name, although that wouldn't explain why Velma said he "reclaimed" it. Maybe she meant figuratively.
    • There are also significant inconsistencies regarding where the villagers are supposed to be from.
      • The film's dialogue explicitly states that the villagers are "ethnic Transylvanians". This would mean they are from the region of Transylvania, which is in the country of Romania, making them Romanian. This is reinforced by references to Transylvanian culture such as the Carpathian snack bar on the train, and the inclusions of Romanian cultural heritage such as the Cimpoi (the Romanian bagpipe) and dishes like racitura and gogosi.
      • However the design (architecture, clothing, etc.) of the village and the villagers strongly resembles that of southern Germany, (Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg), and not that of Transylvania. Additionally, the native language of the villagers is clearly German. Mr. Burger introduces himself as the "burgermeister" of the town. A "Bürgermeister" is a German-language term for a government official that is similar to a Mayor. This term is used in Germany and Austria and was formally used in the German-speaking regions of Switzerland. It would not be used by Transylvanians; The Romanian term "Primar" would be more likely. Mr. Burger and other village characters also use German words like "Fraulein", "zwei", and "acht" instead of Romanian words. In addition, when Inspector Krunch tells the gang that the village makes torches the villagers can be clearly heard saying "Ja, weltpremiere!", which is German for "Yeah, World Premiere!"* The phrase "Ja, weltpremiere" is jibberish in Romanian, meaning that these villagers are clearly German-speaking. (* The English subtitles will incorrectly dictate this as "Yeah, vult premiere!")
        • It is possible that the villagers could have been part of the Transylvanian-Saxons, a German ethnic minority group that settled in Transylvania starting in the 12th century. If this is the case, calling them "ethnic Transylvanians" would be inaccurate, as "ethnic Transylvanians" generally implies Romanians. Transylvanian-Saxons consistently kept themselves significantly separated from the native Romanians, strongly resisting cultural, social, and ethnic integration. "Ethnic Germans" would be more accurate, and "ethnic Transylvanian-Saxons" would be most accurate.
      • To make things even more confusing, the film claims that Mary Shelley got the idea for her novel "Frankenstein" from listening to a janitor rant at a local pub. The film also implies that the region Velma's family is from ("back in the old country") and the region that the villagers emigrated from are one and the same. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in the summer of 1816, while vacationing in Geneva, Switzerland, (which is also where most of her novel takes place.) This would indicate that the villagers are Swiss, except that the culture and design of the village don't resemble that of Geneva, which is in the French-speaking region of Switzerland.
        • There's also the possibility that Dr. von Dinkenstein was based (perhaps indirectly) on Johann Conrad Dippel, who is alleged by some historians to be Shelley's inspiration for her character Dr. Frankenstein. Dippel was an eccentric alchemist who was born in Frankenstein's Castle, which is located in southern Hesse, Germany, where he spent most of his life.
  • The fact that there's a close-up of the Dinkley baby in the flashback would imply it was Velma. It would be trivial on any other Dinkley.
  • It doesn't take much time for the village to get a new train engine and clock tower after the former crashed into the latter. This is pointed out by AlexSuperFan2112 in the end credits.
  • There seem to be intentional anachronistic jokes to flashbacks with the village of Transylvania, including the naming of "Ye Olde Book Shop" and having a burger joint.
  • As stated by AlexSuperFan2112, Shaggy's Bavarian-style clothes were torn off by the Frankencreep yet the next time the scene shifts to Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby in the lab, Shaggy is wearing his usual outfit again.
  • The zoo cemetery may have been made up since it wasn't actually named on-screen and just accompanied Agent Shmidlap's (as Iago) unproven retelling of events. It's possible he heard it from the townsfolk, but they, too, may have embellished the story (especially being passed down from one generation to the next).
  • Daphne's elation with how big she had got might be one reason as to not taking notice she was wearing a fatsuit (her skin puffing out and the fatsuit must've been seamless), but that wouldn't explain how she couldn't have noticed her allergic reaction and seeing/hearing the fatsuit inflating out. She either took a really long blink or was getting changed in the dark. The same problems apply to her hair.
    • Her weight gain doesn't cause her to sweat, not once, and she is still incredibly agile, although this was by the time her swelling had gone down, but the weight of the fatsuit would still make it difficult -- she doesn't have a problem whatsoever.
    • Moments after being freed, Daphne's back in her regular outfit. Was she wearing it underneath? Her hair is also back to normal, but she had nothing to sort it out as the town doesn't use electricity (something she was terrified of). It could've been a wig, although this isn't acknowledged.
  • The Scooby Snacks boxes appear and reappear in moments.
  • The one Scooby Snacks box that is open looks empty.
  • Daphne's looks (and the beauty regime that goes along with it) are a part of her character, so having her learn this big lesson about what's on the inside is what's most important is all well and good, but means nothing by the next film in Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness, which has her bond with Shannon Lucas over how well each other's hair looks. (She also learns an "important" lesson in the latter, too, which comes off far more effective.)
  • Shaggy said that the mayor was with him and Scooby when they were chasing the Frankencreep, but the mayor was really with the crowd of villagers leading the angry mod before running around the Frankencreep.
  • Velma concludes that Crawley isn't her family's lawyer because she's never met him before. Why she didn't see this earlier is unknown. Is she included in all her family's legal issues?
  • The newspaper ad of Creeps and Crawls referred to them as "Attorney-at-Law", instead of "Attorneys-at-Law".
  • Mama Mione has slightly softened compared to her last appearance.
  • It does make one wonder why Daphne did not see the resemblance in Ghost of the Baron's mask to Old Iron Face's iconic one from the beginning. Perhaps she was fully able to register it once the case was solved.
  • It's not revealed who the Ghost of the Baron was, but more than anybody it would've been Mama Mione (if there wasn't also someone taking a turn).
  • Crawls is conspicuously absent from the prison flashback (unless he had already finished his sentence).
  • Lila refers to the Scooby Gang Revenge Social Network as the anti-Scooby group set up on H8face, but it's its own website.
  • Fred loads up luggage on the Mystery Machine (wagon) as they're about to leave Transylvania, but they didn't come with anything except for the clothes on their back.

Marketing and promotion

The SDDC screening was followed by a panel with actress Mindy Cohn and writer Jim Krieg, moderated by Jay Bastian. Director Paul McEvory and actress Grey DeLisle were supposed to attend but were unable to make it.

Scholastic published Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy in their Movie Reader line. It was originally called Scooby-Doo! It's Alive!

Critical reception

In other languages

Language Name Meaning
Brazilian Scooby-Doo! E A Maldição do Frankenstein Scooby-Doo! And The Curse of Frankenstein
French Scooby-Doo: Aventures en Transylvanie Scooby-Doo: Adventures in Transylvania
Greek Scooby-Doo! Φράνκεν Τρόμος Scooby-Doo! Franken Fright
Italian Scooby-Doo! Frankenstrizza Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy
Polish Scooby Doo i Frankenstrachy Scooby Doo and the Frankenscares

Home availability

Trailers

Trailer:

Clip:

References