Scoob!

Scoob! is a 2020 American computer-animated mystery comedy film based on Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo franchise,[6][7] produced by the Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film is directed by Tony Cervone from a screenplay by Adam Sztykiel, Jack Donaldson, Derek Elliott, and Matt Lieberman, and a story by Lieberman, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart. It stars the voices of Frank Welker as the titular character (the only member of the original cast to participate), as well as Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, Zac Efron, and Amanda Seyfried as Shaggy, Velma, Fred and Daphne respectively, and also features the voices of Mark Wahlberg, Jason Isaacs, Kiersey Clemons, Ken Jeong and Tracy Morgan as other Hanna-Barbera animated characters.

"Scoob" redirects here. For the titular character (who's given nickname by Shaggy is "Scoob"), see Scooby-Doo (character). For other uses, see Scooby-Doo (disambiguation).
Scoob!
VOD release poster
Directed byTony Cervone
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
Based on

Characters
by Hanna-Barbera Productions

Starring
Music byTom Holkenborg
Edited by
  • Ryan Folsey
  • Vanara Taing
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • May 15, 2020 (2020-05-15) (United States)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget> $90 million[lower-alpha 1]
Box office$24.9 million[4][5]

The film is a reboot of the Scooby-Doo film series, and it is intended to be the first installment in the Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe. It is also notable for containing real supernatural creatures and real supernatural elements, in addition to an unmasking sequence. The film's story follows the formation and the friendship of Mystery Incorporated, a group of four teenagers and a dog who solve mysteries, and how they are then joined by Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, to investigate their biggest and their most challenging mystery behind the origin and the true purpose of their own mascot, in conjunction with Dick Dastardly's spooky plot to unleash Cerberus, a monstrous three-headed ghost dog, upon the world.

Plans for a new Scooby-Doo theatrical film began in June 2014, when Warner Bros. announced that they would reboot the Scooby-Doo film series with an animated film. Cervone was hired to direct the film in August 2015, with Dax Shepard being brought to co-direct it in September 2016. By October 2018, Shepard was no longer a part of the project. Much of the cast was hired in March 2019, while animation services were provided by Reel FX Animation Studios.

Scoob! was originally set for a worldwide theatrical release on May 15, 2020, by Warner Bros. Pictures, making it the third theatrical film to feature the Scooby-Doo characters, after Scooby-Doo in 2002 and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed in 2004. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic causing the closure of theaters across the globe, Warner Bros. made the film available to own digitally in North America on the same date it was planned to be released in theaters. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, it topped the digital rental charts in its first three weekends of release. To make up for its intended worldwide theatrical release, the film has been theatrically released in select countries since July 2020.

In 2020, after the deaths of Joe Ruby and Ken Spears who died during the production of this film.

Plot

A young Shaggy Rogers befriends and adopts a talking stray dog, whom he names Scooby-Dooby-Doo. On Halloween night, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy meet three young detectives named, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley, before venturing into a haunted house. Inside, the kids encounter a ghost, whom they capture and unmask as costumed thief Mr. Rigby. Inspired by the experience, they decide form a group, Mystery Inc., to solve mysteries together.

Ten years later, Mystery Inc. goes into business with entrepreneur Simon Cowell as their investor, but Shaggy and Scooby are excluded, as Cowell refuses to do business with them. Later that night, Shaggy and Scooby are terrorized at a haunted bowling alley by shape-shifting scorpion robots called Rottens. The pair are rescued by Dee Dee Skyes, Dynomutt, and the masked superhero, Blue Falcon. The Rottens are then revealed to belong to super criminal Dick Dastardly who wants to capture Scooby as part of a plan involving the supernatural mystery behind the three skulls of Cerberus.

Meanwhile, Fred, Daphne, and Velma are on their way to investigate what Dick Dastardly wants with Shaggy and Scooby, who were with Blue Falcon finding another clue about Scooby's importance, before Dastardly imprisons them. Escaping with the help of one of the Rottens, they make contact with Dee Dee via Dynomutt. Velma explains that she and the others are being taken to Messick Mountain, where the last skull is located. The group then finds out Dastardly's plan is to open the gates to the Underworld in order to rescue his dog, Muttley, who was trapped during an attempt to steal the Underworld's riches, and Dastardly needs Scooby-Doo because only he can unlock the gates, as the last descendant of Alexander the Great's favourite dog, Peritas.

Scooby-Doo, Blue Falcon, Dynomutt, and Dee Dee arrive at Messick Mountain and head underground to a hidden Mesozoic island. There, they find the last skull being guarded by Captain Caveman. Following a short battle, Fred and Shaggy arrive, but Fred is revealed to be Dastardly in disguise as he steals the last skull. The Rottens then throw the real Fred, Daphne, and Velma out of his airship and Dastardly destroys the Falcon Fury. Dastardly then captures Scooby and takes him to Athens. After Shaggy gives an inspiring speech, everyone works together to reconstruct the Mystery Machine in order to pursue Dastardly.

Arriving in Athens, Dastardly uses the three skulls to reveal the gate to the Underworld and attempts to use Scooby's paw to open it, only to be interrupted by Scooby's friends in a flying Mystery Machine. The Rottens shoot them down while Dastardly releases Cerberus; unaware that Dynomutt landed them safely. As Scooby, Dastardly, and the civilians flee from the rampaging Cerberus, Scooby runs to the crash site and reunites with his friends while Dastardly reunites with Muttley in the Underworld and they escape after stealing some of Alexander the Great's treasure. While determining how to capture Cerberus, Velma discovers more of the mystery behind Scooby's ancestry and its connection to the Underworld. With help from the Rottens, Mystery Inc. and friends trap Cerberus and put him back in the underworld. However, Shaggy sacrifices himself to lock the gate. The gang realize that there is another exit, which Scooby unlocks, and Shaggy is reunited with them. The Rottens turn on Dastardly and Muttley, who are arrested.

Back home at Venice Beach, the gang unveil their new Mystery Inc. headquarters and celebrate with Blue Falcon, Dynomutt, and Dee Dee, who in turn give the gang an upgraded Mystery Machine.

Cast
Main article: List of Scooby-Doo characters

Additionally, Harry Perry and Ira Glass voice themselves, while director Tony Cervone cameos as the voices of Ghost/Mr. Rigby as well as Alice. John DiMaggio voices a restaurant owner. Don Messick appears as the voices of Space Kook and Muttley via archival laugh recordings.[9]

Production

Development

On June 17, 2014, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that they would reboot the Scooby-Doo film series with an animated film, then being written by Randall Green.[10][11] On August 17, 2015, Tony Cervone, who had previously worked on several Scooby-Doo projects, was hired to direct the animated film, now with a script by Matt Lieberman. Allison Abbate and Pam Coats produced the film, with Charles Roven and Richard Suckle among its executive producers.[12] Dan Povenmire was set to be involved in a creative capacity, and was eventually also credited as an executive producer on the film.[12]

At the 2016 CinemaCon, the film's official title was announced to be S.C.O.O.B., with a plot involving Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Machine gang working for a larger organization.[13] The film was intended to lead into a cinematic universe based on Hanna-Barbera properties.[14] In September 2016, it was reported that Dax Shepard would co-direct the film along with Cervone, and would also revise the script.[15] In October 2018, it was announced that Shepard was no longer part of the project, and Kelly Fremon Craig was set as a screenwriter instead.[16] Ultimately, Adam Sztykiel, Jack Donaldson, Derek Elliott, and Matt Lieberman received screenplay credit, with Lieberman, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart having "story by" billing.

Casting

In March 2019, Frank Welker was revealed to be reprising his role as Scooby-Doo, while Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, and Tracy Morgan signed on to voice Shaggy, Velma, and Captain Caveman, respectively.[17] Later that month, Zac Efron and Amanda Seyfried joined the voice cast as Fred and Daphne, respectively.[18]

Matthew Lillard and Grey DeLisle, the longtime voices of Shaggy and Daphne, respectively, both expressed their disappointment at not being contacted about the decision to recast their roles.[19][20] Efron's casting as Fred also marks a rare occasion in which the character has not been voiced by Welker, who has played Fred in most incarnations since the show's debut in 1969.[21]

In April 2019, Ken Jeong and Kiersey Clemons were announced to be joining the cast.[22] In May 2019, Mark Wahlberg and Jason Isaacs were added as well, with Mckenna Grace, Iain Armitage, Ariana Greenblatt and Pierce Gagnon set as young versions of Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and Fred, respectively.[23][24][25] In March 2020, Simon Cowell joined the cast voicing a fictionalized version of himself.[26] In May 2020, days before the film's release, it was revealed that voice acting veteran Billy West had reprised his role as Dick Dastardly's sidekick, Muttley, and that Cowell's son, Eric, also has a voice role.[8]

Music

On January 28, 2020, Tom Holkenborg signed on to compose the film's score.[27]

On May 5, 2020, it was announced Scoob! The Album would be released on May 15, 2020, including the songs "On Me" by Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown, featuring Ava Max, and "Summer Feelings" by Lennon Stella, featuring Charlie Puth.[28]

The original score was released digitally on May 29, 2020.

Release

Scoob! was originally set for a September 21, 2018 release,[12] before being pushed back to May 15, 2020.[29] On March 24, 2020, the film's theatrical release was delayed indefinitely due to movie theater closures since mid March, because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.[30] It was announced on April 21, 2020 that Warner Bros. would cancel the North American theatrical release and instead make Scoob! available for digital distribution in the United States and Canada through Premium Video on demand on the originally scheduled theatrical date.[31] Variety wrote that releasing the film digitally was "a big risk — and an almost certain loss — for Warner Bros.," but noted the success of Trolls World Tour in a similar release venue could be a positive sign.[32] As the pandemic receded, Warner Bros. confirmed the film would still play in theaters in select countries with relaxed COVID-19 restrictions beginning July 8, 2020.[33][34]

On June 18, it was announced Scoob! would be available for streaming on HBO Max beginning June 26, 2020.[35] The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on July 21, 2020.[36]

Marketing

The first official trailer was released on November 11, 2019.[37] A second and final trailer debuted on March 5, 2020.[38] A novel based on the film was released on April 7, 2020.[39][40]

Reception

Box office

Scoob! was released in theaters on July 10, 2020 in five countries (France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Vietnam), and grossed $1.8 million in its opening weekend. Warner Bros. announced plans to eventually theatrically release the film into 20 markets.[41] Over its second weekend of release, the film made $243,000 from the Netherlands and $266,000 in Spain, as well as finishing third in France.[42] Over the weekend of July 31, the film made $1.3 million from 13 countries.[43] In Spain, the film had a four-week running total of $1.6 million.[44] As of November 26, 2020, the film has grossed a total of $24.9 million from international territories.[4][5]

VOD sales

Scoob! was the top-rented film on Prime Video, Google Play, FandangoNow, Spectrum, and the iTunes Store in its opening weekend. Although Warner Bros. did not report actual figures, the film had a higher sales count than Trolls World Tour, which made $40 million over its first three days.[45][46][47] It remained the top-rented film across all services in its second weekend, then on three of four services in its third.[48][49] In its fourth week it remained #1 on FandangoNow, while falling to second on Amazon Prime and fourth on the iTunes charts.[50][51]

In its fifth weekend of release Warner Bros. lowered the price from $19.99 to $14.99, and the film finished second on FandangoNow, Amazon Prime, and Spectrum, and fifth on iTunes.[52] While no official numbers were released by Warner Bros., Deadline Hollywood estimated that by mid-June the film had made about 35–40% less than Trolls World Tour (which had itself totaled at least $100 million in sales over its first month).[35] In October 2020, The Hollywood Reporter said the film was the third-most popular PVOD title amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[53]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 47% based on 148 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Scoob! is fun enough for youthful viewers and some hardcore fans, but never quite solves the mystery of why audiences shouldn't watch old episodes instead."[54] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[55]

In his review for The Mercury News, Randy Myers wrote, "Scoob! is a goofy and bright surprise - an imaginative reboot that respects its shaggy dog TV roots but is smart enough to add dashes, not shovelfuls, of wry pop-culture and movie references."[56] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars and said, "I'm reasonably happy to report that it's a reasonably diverting reboot. It's also ridiculously overpacked, crammed with Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters from various TV series beyond Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!"[57] USA Today's Brian Truitt, who also gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, found the opening "super-fun" but thought everything else was “Ruh-roh” after that.[58] Peter DeBruge of Variety wrote that "this attractive but calculated attempt to connect Scooby-Doo to other Hanna-Barbera characters abandons the show's fun teen-detective format,"[32] and RogerEbert.com's Christy Lemire gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, finding the origin story to be "confounding and convoluted for a pretty straightforward Saturday morning cartoon."[59]

Notes
  1. IndieWire wrote that Scoob! was less expensive than Trolls World Tour,[2] which they reported had a budget of $90–100 million.[3]

References
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