Scooby-Doo y la carrera de los monstruos

I have a lot of fond memories of this as a kid.

I suspect a lot of people will scoff at how it abandoned the Classic Scooby formula by not having a mystery or how the fantasy elements are actually real but I actually quite like that. I also personally like Scrappy. Maybe it was because I hadn't been exposed to him that long or because I hadn't grown used to the classic series for there to be anything to ruin but I like the ensemble of Scrappy, Scooby and Shaggy, emphasising the comedy part of the series alongside a brilliant homage to vintage horror.

Dracula is our bad guy here and he is a stunning one that both commands threat and doesn't dampen that when he is used for more comic moments.

There's even a cute girl who's into shaggy. It maybe not have much of a "soul" but for those who aren't the Scooby purists this is a delightful adventure with much to bring to the table.

I will admit, until I saw this for the first time yesterday since the last time I saw it 3 years ago, I never used to like this film. Seeing it yesterday actually changed my initial perception of Reluctant Werewolf. True the animation isn't always that great and the plot is a bit slow in places. I also didn't think much of the music, despite the admittedly groovy Tom Jones-sounding song playing in one scene, neither did I find the Hunch Bunch particularly entertaining. Still there is still a lot to like about it, namely a terrific voice cast, Casey Kasem and Don Messick are great as always, and Jim Cummings and Ron Paulsen stand out too. Best of all though was Hamilton Camp, who was gleefully enjoyable and was quite frankly born to voice Dracula. The characters in general were fun, even Scrappy wasn't as contemptible as people make him out to be. My favourite character has to be Dracula, he was charming and wickedly funny, especially with his line "I guess the bats were a little undercooked" in reference to the batburgers, the sunblock one was great too. When I saw it for the first time a long time ago, i didn't think much of the script, thinking it cheesy and unfunny. Boy was I wrong, most of the time it was the complete opposite. I also thought the monster car race was great fun though some of it could have easily been trimmed down. All in all, Reluctant Werewolf was much better than I thought it was. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This tv movie is only slightly funny because of Scooby Doo and Shaggy. They actually have an interesting plot and very surprisingly, Scrappy Doo doesn't ruin it. The monsters are also amusing. Certainly not Scooby Doo's best, but much better than Ghoul School or Boo Brothers.

Okay, okay ... first the good stuff. Some of the colors here are very cool, particularly the intense greens and blues in Dracula's castle. But that's not what Scooby-Doo is about, right? It's about corny jokes, frightened squeals and Ghostbuster-style monsters. And there's plenty of that here, if that's what you want. Many of the usual cast -- Fred, Velma and Daphne -- are Missing In Action, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

But for those of us who aren't huge fans of the cartoon, there's really not much appeal. The monster race takes up about 50% of the movie, simply Shaggy and Scooby driving along while Dracula continually thinks up new ways for him and his cronies to stop them. As soon as they get past each of the obstacles, they're straight in the lead again. And that's pretty much what this movie has to offer. Well ... I say 'movie' ... really it's just an extended cartoon episode. There's nothing here to suggest that it's a departure from that, aside from the running time. Don't get me wrong -- I don't mind Scooby in small doses, but ninety minutes of this was just about all I could take without my brain melting.

Good for big fans, and maybe for kids, but not much appeal for anyone else.

This Scooby-Doo film came at the end of 80s era, when Hanna-Barbara, by far, produced their worst shows. Everything H-B made in the 80s stunk, because their plots were reduced to stupid gimmicks and lame humor instead of the catchy themes that kept the animation studio unique. And no other H-B creation suffered more in this decade than Scooby-Doo.

It should be pointed out that "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf" was the last entry in the 80s era Scooby cartoons. It's actually pretty interesting that this cartoon came out in 1988, the same year as the debut of "A Pup Named Scooby Doo," which tried to radically alter the style of the 80s Scooby cartoons and return to the former 60s and early 70s glory days of actually being a detective show (while still dumbing the premise down for kids).

Beginning in 1979, it was an era of real monsters, no detective work, a loss of most of Mystery Inc. (only Scooby and Shaggy remained near the end of the decade), and most importantly, Scooby's nephew Scrappy-Doo. THE MOST ANNOYING CARTOON CHARACTER OF ALL TIME!! (And I can say that with a clear conscience, since so many people agree with me.) A character so reeking of "cuteness" his appearance was obvious from the start; to warp the minds of little children with his presence! Scooby-Doo had betrayed itself by becoming a pale version of its once former glory.

The story for "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf", if there is such a thing, involves Shaggy (who is now a race car circuit star for some reason) being cursed into being a werewolf in order to compete in a race in Transylvania. He has a new girlfriend named Googie that is not given much personality, add that to the fact that she is never seen again in any future incarnation of the show which lets you know how awful she really was.

In order to lift the curse, Shaggy agrees to race in the competition, which is littered with so many road obstacles (some living!) and evil fellow drivers you'd think it was invented by the producers of "Survivor." It plays like a horror version of "Wacky Races", but when you have Dracula filling in for Dick Dastardly you know you're in trouble.

The film is basically a collection of lame humor, such as Dracula's race color commenter Vanna Pira's statements ("There's a red! There's a green!") Stop it, you're killing me! Literally! Dracula gets the only two funny lines in the whole movie, one about sunblock that even I'll admit made me crack a smile, and the second a riff at how "dead" his audience is since they're not laughing at his jokes. I know just how they feel, Drac.

And of course there's Scrappy, the little turd that for once I'd wish Shaggy and Scooby wouldn't save! Just let him try some of that Puppy Power on Frankenstein, I'd love to see Scrappy become a puppy pancake! The only thing good about him in this movie is the fact that this is his final appearance; once "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" came along he was gone for good. And good riddance.

H-B has since thankfully learned from its past sins, making some excellent direct to video Scooby-Doo cartoons in the late 90s and early 00s. The whole Mystery Inc. gang is back again, and Scrappy has mysteriously disappeared (hopefully Shag and Scoob finally realized how much an annoying hanger-on he really was and just left him behind in Transylvania to be eaten by the monsters! :) ) In any case, the formula has been improved, and Scooby-Doo is once again interesting to watch.

Watch this movie as a final reminder of how off-base the series had gotten before H-B decided to take a breather and then return to the old mystery solving format. It's the last vestige of the Scrappy era stupidity, and like the other products of its time it's pretty much indistinguishable from every other 80s Scooby cartoon. In the end it was shallow, overlong and ultimately pointless, and I don't think Scrappy would want it any other way.

5 out of 10, mostly because of Dracula's two good jokes and the happy feeling I have knowing Scrappy is out of the picture!