Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost

The second direct to video Scooby home movie is a pleasant surprise with elements of the old series resurfacing in an updated storyline. Scoob and the gang are in the thick of things as the video opens, solving another mystery, and meeting a new friend in the process. Mystery writer Ben Ravencroft, one of Velma's idols, meets the crew and invites them up to his old country home to see the fall colors. But when the gang gets there, they find the town being haunted by a creepy witch. The legends say the witch is the spirit of Sara Ravencroft, Ben's ancestor who he believes was actually a Wiccan -- a healer, misunderstood by those who persecuted her.

The classic Scooby-Doo episodes of the first two seasons had a mix of mystery, musical numbers and silly humor. Much of that mix was absent in the first video, Zombie Island. This video recaptures that formula nicely, with a couple of musical numbers performed by the "Hex Girls", who also figure into the plot. The story is well-done, with the ending not coming where you expect it. Voice talents are a strong point here, with Tim Curry as Ben Ravencroft, Tress McNeill (of Animaniacs fame) as the Witch, and Scott Innes returning as the voices of both Scooby and Shaggy.

Overall, a great family movie and a must for any serious Scooby fan... well worth the price of the video.

'Scooby-Doo And The Witch's Ghost (1999)' is one of four direct-to-video feature films starring Mystery Inc. These four films are, in essence, a sort of pseudo meta update of the well-loved television show, bringing the gang into early adulthood as well as the nineties. They act as light commentaries on the characters and tropes that the series solidified over its fruitful run. To me, these four films represent the most iconic versions of their characters, primarily because they are the 'Scooby-Doo' films I've seen the most (I watched 'Scooby-Doo and The Cyber Chase (2001)' almost on repeat as a child). Nostalgia aside, they're also just really solid films overall. The animation is handled by Japanese studio Mook Animation, which is likely why the movies look so darn good. They may be direct-to-video, but they don't look cheap. The visuals represent this conceptually odd yet ultimately successful mix of Western and Eastern animation styles. It's hard to explain why, but they just look superb; there's clearly a lot of care and attention behind them. 'Scooby-Doo And The Witch's Ghost (1999)' is a really solid mystery thriller. It leans into audience expectation to make its ultimate subversion all the more satisfying. It's a fun adventure with a couple of really good visual gags, plenty of charm and a surprisingly dark finale. The climax is actually really exciting, with genuine stakes and lots of visual splendour. Plus, it features Agnes Skinner herself cackling at our heroes. The film isn't spectacular, of course. It isn't especially deep and, despite its subversion, it's also sort of predictable. It's engaging, but not exactly gripping. The likability of its characters, quality of its animation and competence of its story more than make up for its issues, though. It's an enjoyable and well-achieved animated mystery that knows exactly what to do with its iconic characters. It's surprisingly fun, to be honest. 7/10.

Whilst investigating a haunted museum the gang meet horror writer Ben Ravencroft and get invited back to his hometown. When they get to Oakhaven they find the tourist season at full flow – attracted by tales of the ghost of Ben's ancestor who was burnt as a witch. The gang begin to try and unravel the town's mystery despite the many red herrings.

This update of Scooby Doo is much better than you'd expect it to be. The plot is just what you expect from Scooby Doo (witch haunting town – but is it real or is someone up to no good etc). However it does have a little added spice by having some modern twists – like the fact that Fred always wants to go off with Daphne when they split, or Fred being tired getting called a `kid', or Thelma's geeky status nicely kept.

The plot is good for the most, with plenty of red herrings to make it less than obvious as to who's behind everything. The animation is good – the gang are nearly identical to the original, with the exception maybe of Fred. However the feel of the film is quite like the dark mood of the Batman animated series. The only complaint is that you can that it is modern by the use of car chases, supernatural battles and Batman-type fights. However it is good to see the characters in a well animated adventure – even if some of the ghosts are more scary and less comedy that they are usually.

The voice work is good – except Fred doesn't sound quite like he should. Tim Curry is good but really you know that if he's going to do the voice then his character is going have some meat on it. The `ghost' is poor – all `thee' and `thou'. But in the most case the voices are fine.

Overall it is a modern telling so we really do have ghosts etc, but apart from this it's actually very enjoyable – the humour, the pop culture references etc all made it much better than I thought it would be, even if some of (The Hex Girls) doesn't work very well. Oh – and did we need to have the Scooby Doo theme song by Billy Ray Cyrus?

In this follow up to "Zombie Island", Velma finally gets a shot at romance when she and the gang meet Ben Ravencroft, a horror author with a shady family history - was his great, great, great grandma a witch of a wiccan? Well, someone's terrorizing his home town - is it a genuine witch or are the towns people trying to pull a scam? Do those creepy Vampire Singer girls have anything to do with it? The usual gags and calamity ensue.

In addition to Velma's love story, another innocent observation is made about Fred & Daphne - namely that Fred is always pairing himself with Daphne when the gang splits up. Shaggy finally shows interest in women, which later becomes a big factor in "Alien Invaders". Shaggy also appears to be shorter here than he used to be; he was always the tallest of the bunch but now appears to be hunched over. Must be the new animation.

But this is really about Velma and her long ignored need for love and affection (hinted at when she got all giggly around the rugged detective gardener at the end of "Zombie Island"). Never before has Velma ever had this kind of treatment in an animated Scooby feature, and odds are she won't get it again. And backing her up is the usual gang and good animation. Probably not for little kids though.

I have been a really big fan off scooby doo for as long as I can remember I literally grew up watching episodes of the gang exploring ghost and ghouls and I loved every minute of every episode. I soon discovered the films and got them all on tape and to this day I still watch them all the time even as I've grown they haven't got any less enjoyable. Scooby Doo & The Witch's Ghost is some really good fun and an enjoyable film for all ages the story is interesting and like most of the films has a surprising ending it's always someone you don't suspect! Scooby Doo & The Witch's Ghost is funny and has all the loving gang in it the music is also good the soundtrack being unique. I would recommend this film to anyone and especially to a scooby doo fan! Really is some enjoyable harmless fun.