Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire

'Scooby-Doo! And The Legend Of The Vampire' is the fifth in a series of direct-to-video animated films based upon the Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons. It was completed in 2002 and released on March 4, 2003, and it was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera Cartoons.

Premise
Mystery Inc. infiltrate a rock music festival after the Yowie Yahoo kidnaps the contestants.

Synopsis
There is a legend of a vampire named the Yowie Yahoo, who lives in Vampire Rock where the "Vampire Rock Music Festival" is being set up. Many people are excited for it, but some don't think it should take place because it would anger the Yowie Yahoo. One such person is Malcolm Illiwara, but the problem is, his own grandson Daniel is the manager of the contest! One night, as Malcolm and his son watch a sure-to-win performer named Matt Marvelous, the Yowie Yahoo appears! The Yowie Yahoo and its three vampire minions capture Matt Marvelous and take him away. Everybody is scared, and Malcolm blames the contest for what happened.

Meanwhile, Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. arrive in Australia for a vacation after solving the mystery of the Sea Serpent Smugglers on a cruise ship. After seeing the harbor, the gang decides to go to the outback and see the music festival. When they arrive, they meet the Hex Girls, (the band the gang had met before when they visited Oakhaven) who are the opening act. They also see Daniel, Malcolm, and Russell, who runs the contest with Daniel. Malcolm says he has warned Daniel about what has happened and drives off. Daniel tells them that most of the performers have left because they are too scared of the vampires. Daniel and Russell then tell them about Wildwind, a musical group who performed at the Vampire Rock Music Festival the year before. They tell the gang Wildwind put on a great performance, but only got third place. They then went into Vampire Rock to camp, but were never heard from again. There were three performers, Dark Skull, Stormy Weathers, and Lightning Strikes. Legend says that they have been turned into Vampires by the Yowie Yahoo. Daniel says he does not believe it, but then Russell reminded him that the three Vampires who were with the Yowie Yahoo when it kidnapped Matt Marvelous looked just like the members of Wildwind!

Fred decides the best way to solve the mystery is to enter the contest as a band, in order to drive the Yowie Yahoo to capture them. Russell is skeptical, but Daniel thinks it is a good idea. The Hex Girls make them look like rock stars, and soon they are on stage. While they are practicing, (but not very well), a golf cart approaches them. In it are Jasper Ridgeway, a snotty manager, and his band, the Bad Omens, who have three performers (King, Queen, and Jack). They criticize the gangs playing and make them leave the stage so they can practice. Then the gang learns that Ridgeway was once the manager of Wildwind, and says that Wildwind was the greatest band he ever managed and is sad that they disappeared. He then complains about the head and camping, and goes back to his "tent", leaving his band to practice. The gang grows suspicious of Ridgeway and thinks he might have put his band up to masquerading as vampires and getting rid of all the other performers. They split up, with Fred, Velma, and Daphne going to Jasper's trailer and Shaggy and Scooby staying at the food stands.

At the trailer, Fred, Velma, and Daphne find that Jasper has lots of mementos of Wildwind, including three copies of the suits the band members used. They also wonder why Jasper did not come to his trailer, (as they have been there); when he said he was going to. Meanwhile, Scooby and Shaggy get chased by the Wildwind Vampires, but eventually loose them. They end up back at the stage, where the Bad Omens are rehearsing. There, they witness the Yowie Yahoo and the Wildwind vampires capture the Bad Omens is the same way they captured Matt Marvelous. They tell the others. Jasper is sad they are gone, but then he says he should have gone back to his trailer, when in fact he was never there at all. Fred decides that everyone should sleep at the same place, so no one gets taken.

During the night, a band named Two Skinny Dudes arrives. They say they have been staying in Vampire Rock, but have not seen anything. Jasper quickly forgets the Bad Omens and asks Two Skinny Dudes if they wanted him to be their manager, which makes the gang suspicious. The next day the gang and Daniel go to see Malcolm. He explains how Wildwind was foolish to go into Vampire Rock. He also says how Vampires hate the sun, cannot run over running water, and cannot be seen in a picture. That night is the performance, and the Hex Girls start things off. However, the Yowie Yahoo and the Wildwind vampires appear and capture the Hex Girls! The crowd thinks it was an act, but the gang decides to investigate the rock.

Inside, Fred, Velma, and Daphne find lots of special effects equipment like fans and lights. However, they also find the Wildwind Vampires and get chased. Scooby and Shaggy get trapped by a group of dingoes. The sound of Fred, Velma, and Daphne running scares off the Dingoes, but then the whole gang gets trapped by the vampires and the Yowie Yahoo. The gang is able to avoid them until the sun comes up. The sun reflects off Scooby-Doo's collar, which shines on the Yowie Yahoo and destroys him. However, the Wildwind vampires are not affected by the sun or running over water, and give chase to the gang. The chase them until the gang and Daniel unleash a trap and capture the "vampires". Jasper and Daniel are confused at who did it, but the gang knows. After splashing water on the faces to get rid of the makeup, the gang shows that it was Two Skinny Dudes and Russell. Daniel and Jasper are surprised, but get even more surprised when the gang unmasks them and it is shown that the members of Wildwind are the actual Vampires. They explain how they wanted to start up their career, so they posed as dead and were planning to perform again. They used special effects to make the Yowie Yahoo and climbing equipment to fly around. When asked about the missing performers, they said they gave them free Great Barrier Reef scuba diving tours and sent them away. Then the Hex Girls and Malcolm show up. They say they were left in the outback because they did not want the trip, but Malcolm found them.

Wildwind are sent to jail. Daniel says that Mystery Inc.'s band is the only one left, so they win. The gang end the festival with a performance of "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" to the crowd, and getting their band name, The Meddling Kids.

Villains

 * Yowie Yahoo
 * Wildwind
 * Dark Skull
 * Stormy Weathers
 * Lightning Strikes

Villains from the opening theme song
 * Sea Serpent Smugglers as the shark creature, the peg leg captain, and the kelp monster

Locations

 * Sydney, Australia
 * Vampire Rock
 * Vampire Rock Music Festival
 * Cruise ship
 * Sydney Harbor
 * Sydney Harbor Bridge
 * Sydney Opera House
 * Bondi Beach
 * Malcolm Illiwara's home

Continuity

 * This is the second appearance of the Hex Girls; they previously appeared in Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost. Their appearance has been toned down dramatically to be less frightening.

Notes/trivia

 * This was the first time since the 1972–1973 series The New Scooby-Doo Movies that Frank Welker, Casey Kasem, Nicole Jaffe, and Heather North were all featured on a Scooby-Doo project.
 * This film would go back to the classic Scooby-Doo "just a guy in a mask" format.
 * It is revealed in this movie that Velma has an amazing singing voice.
 * This movie is done in the classic Hanna-Barbera style, designing characters and animation in the old H-B style, using the original Hanna-Barbera sound effects, including Castle Thunder and remaking the 1969 Scooby-Doo background music by Ted Nichols.
 * At the end of the movie, where the Dingoes are howling, one of them is holding it's leg in the air. This is an exact reference to Balto II: Wolf Quest. Aleu would hold her leg in the air when she howled.
 * The last Scooby-Doo movie to make use of the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme song and probably the last project to do so.
 * In one scene of the film, Daphne's legs are flesh toned.
 * In keeping with the references to the original era, the 1971 zooming Hanna-Barbera logo appears after the end credits, but with without the music.
 * Welker, the voice for Fred, voices Scooby-Doo in all direct to video movies from here on in.
 * From here until Scooby-Doo! And The Samurai Sword, Kasem returns to voice Shaggy.
 * In a further tribute to the classic series, this movie features a recreation of the 1968 zooming Hanna-Barbera logo (also known as "The Box") after the end credits, but without the music.
 * There is a running gag in the movie: each time Shaggy plays his guitar, a string breaks.
 * Nicole Jaffe reprises her role as Velma after 30 years since her retirement from acting.
 * Kasem and Welker do a commentary as Shaggy, Scooby, and Fred, for one of the DVD's special features. (During the opening credits, Shaggy humorously remarks, "Who's this, Casey Kasem, as Shaggy; I'm me, and I play myself, and Scooby wants to know who this, Frank Welker is.")
 * The word "Yowie-Yahoo" is seemingly a portmanteau of the Australian aboriginal terms "Yowie" and "Yara-ma-yha-who."
 * The Yowie is actually suppose to be a bipedal ape-like creature similar to Bigfoot and the Yeti.
 * The accents of Malcolm Illiwara, Daniel Illiwara and Russell are that of New Zealanders and not of Australians.
 * The animals featured in the film are kangaroos, frill-necked lizards, emus, bob cats, great white sharks, koalas, saltwater crocodiles, and Australian dingos.
 * Australia has no native cats (aside from domesticated cats), and the dingos seen in this episode look more like wolves rather than what they truly look like (large golden-yellow dogs with curved tails).
 * It is never explained how the Yowie Yahoo could use lightning beams to pull the performers up to him when he would attack and kidnap the bands.
 * The scuba gear Shaggy and Scooby quickly changed into while Wildwind explained they gave all the kidnapped bands free trips to the Great Barrier Reef, were the same exact ones they used in the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode, A Clue For Scooby Doo.
 * This film and Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico were dedicated to William Hanna as he was involved in pre-production of the films in 2001.

Home media

 * Scooby-Doo! And The Legend Of The Vampire DVD released March 4, 2003.
 * Scooby-Doo! And The Legend Of The Vampire Blu-ray.