Scooby-Doo! e la leggenda del vampiro

Voice actor Frank Welker is to voice acting what Lon Chaney & Lon Chaney Jr. were to acting through layers of makeup. But while Frank has done just about everything from people to animals to special creature vocalizations to killer robots (he voiced 13 of the original Decepticons on "Transformers"), to some people Frank will ALWAYS be the voice of Fred from "Scooby-Doo". But for some reason, Frank has been pulling double duty lately as both Fred and Scooby, who was previously voiced by Scott Innes, who got the job after the original voice of Scooby, Don Messick, died. Frank's still a good Fred, but despite his considerable vocal talent, his Scooby is something of a disappointment: he never quite captures Don's Scooby pitch the way Scott did and for the most part his Scooby sounds too much like Fred. Which is strange considering that Frank's been with Scooby from the beginning. That's just one of the dis-pleasures of this entry.

The gang heads down under for vacation and ends up investigating the goings on at a rock festival which leads to a group of alleged vampires. Though colorfully drawn and full of gags, it never reaches the height of "Zombie Island", "Witch's Ghost", "Alien Invaders" and even the original show itself. The best bit is probably Fred carrying the whole gang across a rope bridge. Velma also sings with the voice of Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Still, it's nice to have the old crew back together - Nicole Jaffe as Velma, Heather North as Daphne (though technically Daphne #2) and Casey Kasem as Shaggy (who was absent from the previous entries). The "commentary" by Fred, Shaggy and Scooby is mildly amusing.

I re-watched this film for the first time in years yesterday, and it was really nothing special. After four animated Scooby-Doo films that took risks and offered us stuff that is new ("Zombie Island" through "Cyber Chase"), we get a forgettable entry that really doesn't do much outside of the old Scooby-Doo formula.

The gang are their usual selves, which is pretty nice, I guess. It was also cool that we get to see the Hex girls again, even if they didn't do much. As usual, we get some funny scenes here and there and I will admit that the design for the vampire was pretty cool.

It doesn't offer much outside of that. The story is typical Scooby-Doo fare, and there wasn't anything to make it feel like a real "movie." This was really nothing more than an extended TV episode. Several Scooby-Doo movies suffer from this, but this is one of the worst cases.

It took too long for the plot to get started. There were too many filler scenes that added nothing and felt like they were there only to pad out the movie's length. The supporting characters aside from the Hex Girls were also nothing to write home about.

The climax in the mountains is kind of routine, and the reveal was nothing shocking. However, I kind of liked the gang performing the Scooby-Doo Theme Song at the end.

This is definitely one of the most by-the-numbers entries in the long-running franchise. I would say it's okay to watch if you've got nothing better to do. However, it isn't really that much worth your time and there are better Scooby-Doo movies out there.

RATING: C

Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

I was always a fan of the TV show so I thought I'd check out one of the movies since this is the only month that seems fitting. Scooby and the gang go to Australia for a rock concert but band members start turning into vampires. I was really, really disappointed in this thing because everything that made the TV show entertaining is missing here. I guess you could say this movie was dumbed down for kids but expanding this out of a 30-minute running time also hurts thing because often times the mystery is put on the back burner while we see stupid stuff ranging from concerts to other items. The actual mystery that is here seems watered down and gets boring after the first twenty minutes. I wasn't too impressed with the vocals either, which is strange since four of the original members were together again for this.

I wasn't sure if taking the gang out of their usual locale of haunted mansions and creepy amusement parks and sending them to Australia was a good idea. While it is still a cool movie it would have worked just as well in Death Valley than in the Outback.

The villain this time is a Vampire called Yahoo-Yahweh, a bit of stupid name. It never sounds right when the characters say it. That minor quibble aside it's another solid entry in the recent Scooby Made For TV feature-length mysteries. Frank Welker (who's birthday it is today, coincidentally) is back as Fred and Scooby and Kasey Kasem is back as Shaggy (tho Scott Innes was perfect in the previous instalments and it puzzles why he didn't do Scooby's voice in the movie). It feels like a slickly animated version of the original show. Especially considering how Warner have decked the characters in their original clothes after fans objected to the modern clothes in the previous efforts. I have no opinion on this matter.

It was cool to see the Hex Girls return and the music this time has a slightly hipper, more techno feel and lacks the orchestral fantasy of Louis Febre's scores for Alien Invaders and Cyber Chase. It's a shame there's no soundtrack CD for this one. I'd definitely buy it.

The extras consist of a childish game and a commentary by Shaggy, Scooby and Fred. Which should be fun. The DVD is presented in bright and colorful 1.33:1 full frame (as drawn) with an above average Dolby 5.1 soundtrack.

Like others have said the story and animation aren't up to par this time. I don't mind the look of the gang being classic, it fits with the inspired soundtrack. But the biggest issue for me is the soundtrack never stops. There doesn't seem to be a moment where there isn't something playing in the background, at times it makes it hard to hear the excellent voice cast.