Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is the second in a series of direct-to-video animated films based upon Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons. It was released on October 5, 1999, and it was produced by Warner Bros. Animation (although with a Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. copyright). The Mystery, Inc. gang, which includes Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma, travel to a New England town called Oakhaven after being invited by horror writer Ben Ravencroft. Like a number of direct-to-video Scooby-Doo animated films released in the late-1990s and early-2000s, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost features real ghosts instead of simple bad guys in masks. The videos sold well and received generally positive reviews in the press.

Plot
Ben Ravencroft, a famous horror writer of whom Velma is a big fan, assists The Mystery, Inc. gang in solving a case at an museum. Afterwards, Ben invites the gang to his home town of Oakhaven. But when they arrive at Oakhaven, they find that the town has been built up by its Mayor into a tourist attraction, complete with a replica of the town in the 17th century and a supposed ghost of a witch who haunts the town. The Mayor and pharmacist Mr. McKnight explain that the ghost is of Sarah Ravencroft, a relative of Ben's, who was persecuted as a witch by the town in the 1600's. But Ben says that Sarah was actually a Wiccan who used natural herbs to heal people, and even has a diary of all her patients that Ben wants to find to prove her innocence. Scooby and Shaggy find what appears to be a shoe buckle, and then go to a local diner for food, owned by the friendly Jack.

Ben, Fred, Daphne, Velma, and many visitors stay out late and order to see the witch, but do not. But Scooby and Shaggy are chased by the fireball throwing witch, and run into Ben and the gang returning home. The gang finds some broken branches at the scene, as well as a local goth girl rock band named the "Hex Girls", comprised of Luna, Dusk, and Thorn. Then the gang split up; Fred and Daphne follow the Hex Girls, Velma and Ben explore an old barn, and Scooby and Shaggy follow the Mayor. Fred and Daphne see Thorn doing some sort of ritual, and become convinced that the Hex Girls are actually witches. Velma and Ben find a cherry picking truck in the barn. Scooby and Shaggy see the Mayor talking to and giving things to many of the townspeople. They then run into the witch again, who chases them past to Mayor and into Velma and Ben. Velma then tells the Mayor that she has a plan to catch the witch. The Gang, Ben, and the Hex Girls meet in the woods. The witch appears and gives chase, but is captured by Daphne and Fred. The witch is revealed to be McKnight, who is Thorn's father. Velma then locates the truck in to trees. She explains that the truck lifted the witch and made her appear to fly, and also deduces that many townspeople were in on the trick, including Jack and the Mayor. Ben scolds the people involved for exploiting Sarah's good name for their benefit. Back at Ben's house, the gang apologize to the Hex Girls, and Thorn explains the ritual was just to improve her vocals, and that she is actually 1/16th Wiccan. The Mayor and McKnight then arrive, explaining that they had to use the witch to boost the towns economy because of lack of tourists. They then say that they did find the head marker for Sarah's grave, but still don't know where the grave is located. Velma then remembers that the buckle Scooby found is that same one one Sarah's diary in a painting Ben has.

The gang, Ben, The Hex Girls, McKnight, and the Mayor go to the spot where Scooby found the buckle. Scooby digs deeper, and discovers a chest. A excited Ben opens the chest to find not a diary, but a spell book. He then explains to a horrified Mysetry Inc. that Sarah was indeed a witch, and that he created the case at the museum in order to meet the gang so they could find the book for him. Becoming insane with his new magical powers derived from the book, Ben captures McNight, The Mayor, and the Hex Girls before resurrecting Sarah. But Sarah's ghost rejects Ben idea of ruling the world together, and instead wants to destroy it. Horrified by this, Ben attempts to imprison Sarah back in to book, but she says only a Wiccan can return her. Velma then gets an idea, and frees Thorn and asks her to read the spell, and sends Scooby and Shaggy to get the book. The gang tries to get the book many times, but Sarah keeps turning pumpkins, trees, and even a turkey into monsters to stop them. Eventually, the gang obtains the book, each throwing it to another person when they get captured, until it reaches Thorn. Thorn reads to spell, sending the witch and Ben, whom she grabbed hold of at the last second, back into the book. A burning branch falls on the book, disintegrating it. The gang then free the others, and the witch's monsters turn back to normal. The film ends with the Hex Girls and the gang giving a concert to the townspeople and the tourists.

Cast

 * Scott Innes - Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers
 * Frank Welker - Fred Jones
 * Mary Kay Bergman - Daphne Blake
 * B.J. Ward - Velma Dinkley
 * Tim Curry - Ben Ravencroft
 * Jennifer Hale - Thorn
 * Neil Ross - Mayor Corey
 * Jane Wiedlin - Dusk
 * Kimberly Brooks - Luna
 * Tress MacNeille - Sarah Ravencroft
 * Peter Renaday - Mr. McKnight
 * Bob Joles - Jack

Trivia

 * Daphne asks Fred why the two of them are always splitting off from Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby and going off alone. Fred has no awareness of the implication being made.  This is a nod to the original series, where this happened a lot.
 * Billy Ray Cyrus sings the Scooby-Doo theme song in the museum scene.
 * Daphne wears the same purple suit she wore in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.
 * Ben Ravencroft seems to be a play on H.P. Lovecraft, who is also a horror writer.
 * The scene at the end with the gang playing along with The Hex Girls is a nod to what the original Scooby-Doo series was originally supposed to be before the idea was changed. Originally,the show going to be a group of teens who are in a band with their dog that travel around performing while solving mysteries.  The instruments the gang plays are the same ones they were going to play in the show which even included Scooby on the bongos.