Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo

Oddly enough it wasn't before late in 2019 that I was given the chance to sit down and watch the 2010 animated "Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo" movie together with my son. And given my sons admiration for Scooby-Doo, I of course sat down to watch it with him.

Turns out that "Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo" is actually one of the better animated movies in a long time, right up along side with the zombie island adventure.

Why? Well, sure this 2010 animated movie does follow the blueprint that every single Scooby-Doo adventure movie is built from, but hey that is part of the charm of the franchise. But also because this movie just appealed more to me given its contents and because of the creatures in the adventure.

And with the likes of Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin and Mindy Cohn returning to reprise the loveable characters then you know you are in good hands. And the group had some other pretty good voice actors alongside to perform with them, such as James Patrick Stuart, John DiMaggio and Brian Posehn.

The animation and art style is loveable and very much something you'd be familiar with if you have seen any of the numerous Scooby-Doo animated movies ever.

I was more than genuinely entertained with "Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo" and if you enjoy these animated Scooby-Doo adventures, then you definitely have to sit down and watch this 2010 addition to the franchise.

Were they going for a scary sorta Vegas style harry Potter Parody here? I'm an adult, so I can't be sure---well, unless you talk to my family, co-workers, or girlfriend I'm an adult--so i can't be sure, but I think there was even a "Lord of Illusions" reference here. It's a kids film, but I'm pretty sure I was it.

Anyway, the plot at heart is total Scooby Gang. The knock-off Hogwarts is fun. It's just an enjoyable film...even if it's a film that sits so odd, watching it as an adult and expecting a child's cartoon.

For as long as I can remember I have been a big fan of Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo Where are You? is still one of my favourites, as is the Scooby Doo Show. The incarnations after have been mixed, the recent Mystery Incorporated was much better than expected, 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, A Pup Named Scooby Doo and New Scooby Doo Mysteries were decent, while the Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show was disappointing(at least the ones with half the gang missing and Scrappy, at his most annoying, dominating most of the episodes) and I can't stand Shaggy and Scooby Doo:Get a Clue! Overall,

I have really liked most of the movies, my favourites being Witch's Ghost, Goblin King and Zombie Island, I liked Alien Invaders, Chill Out Scooby Doo and Loch Ness Monster, I didn't mind the live-action ones personally, while Ghoul's School, Legend of the Vampire and Reluctant Werewolf were much better on re-watch. Monster of Mexico I personally find on the weak side.

Abracadabra Doo!(getting back on target) is thankfully one of the better Scooby Doo movies. The plot could have done with more work and is rather slow in places, but the idea was great, the final solution interesting and a lot of scenes entertaining thanks to the dialogue and jokes, which are some of the better ones(both in writing and delivery) of any Scooby Doo movie.

The music is catchy and memorable, both the funky tunes and the atmospheric incidental music, and the voice acting is spot on with Matthew Lillard, a worthy replacement for Casey Kasem(and in all honesty he did have big shoes to fill), being very likable as well as goofy being the biggest surprise. But what I loved most was the animation, while it has some of the What's New Scooby Doo? look, which I find quite nice it also has a bit of the classic Scooby Doo! Where Are You? style, which I appreciated and loved.

Overall, a very entertaining movie and one of Scooby's better outings. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Finally, for the first time in eight years, Warner Bros. Animation got off their backs and made a darker, more professional Scooby-Doo animated movie similar to their infamous "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island," their excellent "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost," the not-so-great "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" and the fun "Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase." I have been WAITING for this ever since "Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster" came out and simply went with the "What's New Scooby-Doo" animation style.

Story-wise, it is a shame they go back to fake supernatural creatures once again, after "Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King" and the "Samurai Sword" movie. But it's got plenty of suspense and jump-scenes like the original movies did, though. They also go with a somewhat original plot for once, too! The gang has already come across too many tiki monsters, mummies, pirate ghosts, snow monsters and samurai ghosts that it seemed the writers were beginning to run out of ideas. But they REALLY surprised us with this one. The inclusion of Velma having a sister was fun, as was Daphne getting jealous over Fred going gaga over the lovely female assistant. Speaking of Fred, he isn't as stupidly-portrayed as he was in the previous films, or even "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and "What's New, Scooby-Doo." Scooby-Doo also has quite a bit of dialogue too, and they cleverly parodied the old formula here as well (such as a danger-prone Fred, and Shaggy using ventriloquism on a wolf puppet to mimic the famous "meddling kids" line.) Voices aren't too bad either. Sure, Frank Welker's Scooby-Doo still sounds like Brain from "Inspector Gadget," but I've pretty much gotten used to it by now. As for Matthew Lillard, he's actually a pretty good Shaggy! Sure, he's not as good as Casey Kasem, but he's better than Billy West and Scott Innes, and definitely better than Scott Menville! It does sound a little strange hearing the live-action Shaggy's voice coming out of the animated Shaggy, but after a while I got used to it. He also managed to make Shaggy sound hip and young again! The sound effects are also similar to the early made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies, only limiting the classic H-B sound effects to the Scooby and Shaggy scenes or exaggerated comedy sequences. They even managed to use the classic haunted "Castle Thunder" sound as one of the magic-spell sound effects (ala "The Powerpuff Girls"), but the other thunder sounds are pretty much identical to the earlier made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies, too.

The animation is also very good, too. As I mentioned, it is in a much darker style now, but the Scooby gang is drawn as how they appeared in the early 1970s, complete with wearing their original outfits! It looks much better than the "What's New Scooby-Doo"-esquire style of the past movies.

Overall, this is definitely a step up from the last several Scooby-Doo movies. It seems they're finally going in the right direction. Not only that, this film didn't even end with a Hanna-Barbera logo like the others did, which is actually somewhat of a good thing because Hanna-Barbera didn't make this movie; Warner Bros. Cartoons did. Definitely recommended!

I actually enjoyed this Scooby movie. It included some of the fun I love seeing. The magic school concept is fun. I also loved how Shaggy wanted to be the brave hero this time around. Sure it was boring at parts but the new Shaggy voice is terrific. Plus many of the voice actors/actresses were great in their roles. The plot moved along well and didn't lag. Overall, it's just a fun time and probably won't be a favorite.