- This article is about the film. For the DVD, see Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! DVD.
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! is the thirty-first in a series of direct-to-video films based upon Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons. It was released on September 15, 2020, as an early Walmart exclusive, before its general release everywhere on digital HD and DVD on October 6, 2020.
It was marketed and promoted as the first Halloween-themed movie, despite the fact, there has already been Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King and Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery, as well as the DTV short film Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow.
Premise[]
After defeating the Scarecrow, the gang saved Halloween for everyone in the town, but the nightmare of this mystery isn’t over as the Jackal-Lanterns come to life and attack everyone in the town! With help from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and famous scientist Bill Nye, the gang must overcome this menace before they over run the town!
Synopsis[]
On Halloween night, the gang are all at Elvira’s Halloween of Horrors Parade in Crystal Cove, trying to capture the Haunted Scarecrow.
The Haunted Scarecrow comes flying out of a store window and begins to terrorize the parade crowd with gas grenade drones, while Shaggy and Scooby hide out in the Mystery Machine, eating candy and enjoying each other's company.
A party float crashes into the Mystery Machine, throwing it into the air! The Mystery Machine crashes on the ground, smashed.
Velma hacks into the drones, disabling them, and pins the Haunted Scarecrow to a tree.
He is unmasked and revealed to be "regular" Scarecrow, or rather his alter ego, Dr. Johnathan Crane, a recent escapee from Arkham Asylum.
Daphne tries to get Dr. Crane to say the infamous "Meddling Kids" line but he doesn't, because he claims he is "getting away with it."
Suddenly, a bunch of yellow drones carrying canisters of fear gas come flying out of nearby buildings.
Everyone begins to panic, but soon the drones begin exploding, with Shaggy and Scooby shooting them with pieces of Halloween candy.
Mystery Inc. is treated as heroes by the parade-goers and everyone begins to party, but the Sheriff shuts them down, as the area is now a federal crime scene.
Velma later reveals that they were able to catch him because they traced a piece of fan mail sent to Elvira back to him. She then explains that they tracked a gas leak with an air quality meter that she assumed was from him.
Right before Dr. Crane is taken away by the feds, he claims that he only steals Toe Omnitech gear, and that it doesn’t leak, implying that the tracked gas leak was from something else. He says to Velma that, while he is caught in chains, they are both stuck “in the same trap.”
Fred saying that is trap is really an "app" after the Sheriff congratulated them.
Fred later goes to the Mystery Machine, which looks wrecked beyond repair.
Shaggy and Scooby decide to go trick'r treating while they can because they aren't scared of solving a mystery at the time. They throw together costumes made out of Halloween candy and head out to begin the festivities.
Velma stating that Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are too old for trick or treating.
They head towards the pumpkin patch, where one of Dr. Crane's drones is lying, glitching and having somewhat of a break down. Shaggy rubs off some dirt and sees the words "Tot AlLi Frame" that was engraved into the drone.
They notice a truck full of toxic waste leaking into the pumpkin patch.
Suddenly, one of the pumpkins touching the toxic waste grows a face and comes to life! Many pumpkins begin to come to life, including a ginormous one, which begins stalking towards Shaggy and Scooby.
The smaller pumpkins begin to fly, chasing Shaggy and Scooby. Scooby accidentally swings a branch at one of the pumpkins, smashing it and chasing off the others.
Shaggy gets covered in the smashed pumpkin.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Mystery Incorporated gang has a run-in with the Sheriff, who tells them that ever since they captured the Trash Monster of Scranton, he's been telling them not to mess with law enforcement. He warns them that they brought "whatever happens next," onto themselves, thus there's blood in their hands as well. The gang is confused, as they caught Dr. Crane, but they ignore his warning, as they know they did the right thing in catching him.
They meet Mike and Michelle, a father and daughter pair of civilians who are thankful that they caught Dr. Crane. Mike offers his help to them, if they ever need it in the future.
They then begin to be interviewed by a group of television reporters but Shaggy and Scooby run in, trying to tell everyone about the living pumpkins, whom they name "Jackal-Lanterns."
Daphne takes Shaggy and Scooby away to try and calm them down, as people don’t believe them about the Jackal-Lanterns.
Trying to calm down.
Bill Nye calls Velma and Fred, who are just finishing up their interviews, and tells them that he gets them a gift. A package flies in from the sky and transforms into the "Mystery Machine X," a white, modern, electric version of the Mystery Machine. When they go inside, Bill Nye pops up as a hologram, who tells them that he will be able to guide them when they are in the car. While Velma loves the new car, Fred is less excited, as he wants to keep the old Mystery Machine.
The reporters suddenly scream, and when Velma and Fred get to them, they say that one of the reporters was taken by flying pumpkins!
Meanwhile, Elvira is packing up her car and Daphne runs up to her, asking if she would be willing to mentor her. Elvira agrees and starts by having Daphne load her luggage into the car.
Back where Shaggy and Scooby are, another pumpkin comes to life and grabs onto Shaggy!
The two pals try to squash the pumpkin before it became alive!
Fred and Velma find the reporter in the pumpkin patch, but they are too late, as she is eaten by the giant Jackal-Lantern and is spit out, now transformed into a Jackal-Lantern herself.
The gang all begins to run away from the Jackal-Lanterns where they are. They all meet up in the center of the town, but they are separated by a giant crack in the ground, which has begun to form. Shaggy and Scooby run into the car of Mike and Michelle, who are running away themselves.
The huge, giant Jackal-Lantern attacks the two pals again.
Now, with the gang separated in three different cars, Fred and Velma in the Mystery Machine X, Daphne with Elvira in her car, and Shaggy and Scooby with Mike and Michelle, they all drive onto the highway to escape the Jackal-Lanterns who are following them closely behind.
The Jackal-Lanterns following the gang.
A long car chase ensues!
Velma trying to think and solve this mystery.
The gang eventually catch up with the Sheriff on the highway, who still doesn't know about the Jackal-Lanterns. Velma asks to be patched through to the Feds’ truck, where Dr. Crane is being held. When the Sheriff notices that the Jackal-Lanterns are driving cars and following them, he freaks out and falls behind, soon getting consumed by Jackal-Lantern crowd.
The creatures are closer to them!
Velma finally gets into the Feds' truck, where Dr. Crane is held and, accompanied by Shaggy and Scooby, goes to question him.
Dr. Crane claims he has nothing to do with the Jackal-Lanterns and offers to help the gang beat them. Velma agrees, trusting him, and gives him his Scarecrow gear.
The Mystery Machine: the second before it crashed and exploded.
Everyone crosses into Elvira’s car and while Scarecrow holds off the Jackal-Lanterns, allowing everyone to get ahead of them, he is soon grabbed and consumed by them.
Elvira's car runs out of gas, just as the Jackal-Lanterns start to catch up with them. Everyone gets out of the car and runs into the nearby woods.
Fred, with his shirt ripped off and battle-paint on, begins to set a giant-scale trap for the Jackal-Lanterns.
Velma tries to concentrate to go to her "mind palace," but can't get there. Shaggy suggests that if they all take Scooby snacks, Shaggy and Scooby and Shaggy will be able to join them there. They all take Scooby snacks, and they are suddenly transported into her mind-palace, which is a fantastical visualization of the Mystery Machine floating in space.
They begin to revisit events that took place earlier on that night, and Velma begins to piece the mystery together.
Velma is starting to remember everything in her mind palace.
They arrive back in reality, where the Jackal-Lanterns are almost at Fred's trap.
They begin to fight off the Jackal-Lanterns, smashing them left and right! When it appears as if they’re outnumbered, Velma takes a leap of faith and, trusting that the Jackal-Lanterns aren't real, jumps into the mouth of the giant one.
It suddenly shuts down, and Velma comes out safely, revealing that the giant Jackal-Lantern was mechanical and all the smaller ones were drones. She reveals that what was actually written on the drones was T.O.T. Aluminum Lithium Frame.
All the people who were consumed by pumpkins are found trapped inside of the giant Jackal-Lantern, except for the Sheriff and Dr. Crane.
Velma begins to explain that there was a proposed lithium mine in Crystal Cove but that it was never approved, because it would damage the environment, like the collapsing of the town square.
Velma starts to explain everything in this Halloween mystery.
A hologram begins to play from the giant Jackal-Lantern, with the Sheriff revealing that he was behind the whole scheme. He is actually a man named Culter Toe, the head of Toe Omnitech, who was also behind the mystery of the Trash Monster of Scranton. After being released from jail, he began to disguise himself as a local Sheriff to drive the gang out of business, hence he planned the whole scheme so that he could mine the lithium without interference from Mystery Inc.
Velma tracks his hologram's location and the Feds start heading towards where he is. Just before his hologram cuts off, the Scarecrow jumps onto his car, ultimately capturing him, thus allowing the Feds to confiscate his car.
The end of the Halloween mystery adventure.
Now that everything is ok, the gang heads to a Halloween party to enjoy the rest of Halloween! Elvira is talked into giving her wig to Daphne to complete her outfit after having already switched clothes, but Elvira hasn't been wearing a wig, but a macaque, who needs to be fed fruit a couple of hours. She then walks off onto a stage with curtains, saying goodbye to an unseen audience, then she makes an even bigger surprise than before by turning her head around to reveal a spider-like face, and wishes the audience a "Happy Halloween!"
The gang gets help from Nye in building the Super Mystery Machine, although Fred changes the blueprints to simply rebuild the old Mystery Machine; Shaggy and Scooby look for parts in a junkyard and imagine what they find to be food, perhaps versions of their own mind palaces. The gang pay off Nye by working at a kitchen.
Characters[]
Main characters:
- Mystery Inc.
- Scooby-Doo (main story and flashback)
- Shaggy Rogers (main story and flashback)
- Fred Jones (main story and flashback)
- Daphne Blake (main story and flashback)
- Velma Dinkley (main story and flashback)
Supporting characters:
Villains:
- Haunted Scarecrow (only appearance)(Scarecrow's disguise)
- Scarecrow (Jonathan Crane's disguise)
- Dr. Jonathan Crane
- Alpha Jackal-Lantern (only appearance)
- Jackal-Lanterns (only appearance)
- Sheriff (main story and flashback)
- Cutler Toe
Other characters:
- Agent Malarkey (only appearance)
- Victoria Haselbum (only appearance)
- Red Herring (cameo)
- Farmer Morgan (no lines)(flashback only)
- Mrs. Malveaux (no lines)(flashback only)
- Phyllis Diller (mentioned)
- Three Stooges (mentioned)
- Parent (only appearance)
- Uncle Ernie (only appearance)
- Hank (only appearance)(no lines)
- Meredith (only appearance)(no lines)
- Aquaman (mentioned)
Locations[]
- Crystal Cove
- Mall (flashback only)
- Old Timey Toys (flashback only)
- Mall (flashback only)
- Gotham City (mentioned)
- Arkham Asylum (mentioned)
- Louisiana (flashback only)
- Moonscar Island (flashback only)
Objects[]
- Daily Stuff
- Drones
- Pumpkins
- Scooby Snacks
- The Crystal Epitaph
Vehicles[]
- The Mystery Machine
- Mystery Machine X
- Elvira's car and parade float
- Mike's station wagon
- Prison van
- Red Herring's Party Screams truck
- Plymouth Fury
Suspects[]
| Suspect | Motive/Reason |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Crane as the Scarecrow | He was set up by Cutler Toe to keep Mystery Inc. away from his mining plot, making him the scapegoat of the case until he assisted them on ultimately capturing him. |
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/Reason |
|---|---|
| Cutler Toe as the Sheriff and the Alpha Jackal-Lantern | He disguised himself as the Sheriff to drive the gang out of business so that he could mine for lithium without their interference. |
Songs[]
| Song | Credits | Performed by |
|---|---|---|
| "The Spookiest Time of the Year" | Written by Maxwell Atoms & Steve Rucker |
Morgan Kibby & Steve Rucker |
| "Look At Us Now" | Written by Andy Sturmer | Susanna Benn & Andy Sturmer |
Cast[]
Continuity[]
The end credits.
- The Sheriff from the immediate previous DTV movies Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost and Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island comes back and is revealed to have been the villain all along, having him be a culprit of an old case of the gang (which happened off-screen). This came with literal flashbacks to those two movies during the reveal, giving a conclusion to this "trilogy".
- The members of the gang are called "young adults", which means they are 18 or over. This means that the events of this film take place at least a year after Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost.
- Velma's attitude in the previous two films is also explained, thus giving a conclusion to her arc.
- Fred mentions having solved the case of "The Ghosts of the Three Stooges". The gang met the Three Stooges in the The New Scooby-Doo Movies episodes, Ghastly Ghost Town and The Ghost of the Red Baron.
- When Velma was interviewed, she said "We've been doing this forever, since we got a pup named Scooby-Doo", which refers to them starting solving mysteries from a very young age as the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency.
- Scarecrow first appeared in the Scooby-Doo! Team-Up stories Who's Scared? and A Super Friend in Need. He later made a cameo appearance in the DTV Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Despite not being references to those encounters, the movie doesn't contradict them either since Mystery Inc. seemed to have already been familiar with him. Crane didn't seem to know the gang's members' names until later in the movie but he didn't have much of an interaction with them in his previous appearances.
- Elvira first appeared in the previous DTV Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island.
- Bill Nye first appeared in the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? episode Space Station Scooby, making this the very first modern show that has a direct connection with a DTV.
- The setting of Crystal Cove is used in the movie, which was the place the gang lived during Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
- Daphne calls Fred, "Frederick Herman Jones". The middle name was first addressed in the DTV Aloha, Scooby-Doo!
- Shaggy mentioned "having solved three cases with Phyllis Diller until they found out". They found out that either it was Daphne in disguise or that Daphne was slowly trying to take over her life. While it most likely refers to the former due to the personality adopted by Daphne in this film, it could be taken as the latter and have it be a direct reference to the The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode A Good Medium is Rare, in which they do solve a case with Phyllis Diller.
- Elvira asks Daphne if she has done circus work before, to which she replies "Not officially for a circus, no." This either means that she did it for fun or that she did do it for a circus, but not officially. While it most likely refers to the former due to the personality adopted by Daphne in this film, it could be taken as the latter and have it be a reference to the few times in which she did do some circus stunts, some of those include the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode Bedlam in the Big Top, and the DTV Big Top Scooby-Doo!
- Red Herring, a recurring character from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, makes a small cameo and his truck is seen during the chase scene.
- Elliot Blender, from What’s New Scooby-Doo?, makes a small cameo in the dance scene.
Notes/Trivia[]
- Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! | Cast Interview & Sneak Peek with director Maxwell Atoms and the voice cast (Frank Welker, Grey Griffin, Matthew Lillard, Kate Micucci and Cassandra Peterson) was posted online on October 11, 2020 on the New York Comic Con YouTube channel.
- How Mystery Inc. got the Mystery Machine back after Fred sold it in Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost is unexplained.
- Miss Hasselbaum falls and loses her glasses when Fred and Velma arrive to rescue her. She then exclaims "My glasses. I can't see without my glasses!" as she scrabbles on the ground trying to find them. This is a reference to Velma’s catchphrase of losing her glasses.
- Grey Griffin was uncredited as Miss Hasselbaum.
- Scarecrow says that Velma reminds him of Batman, since he described Velma as fearless, intelligent, proud and, in his view, very stubborn.
- He could also have meant himself.
- According to Maxwell Atoms, Marilyn Manson and Pamela Anderson were considered to star in the movie but were scrapped. In Manson's case, the network immediately passed on it and for Anderson, while her reps agreed to it, the network had self-doubts on her relevance to the target audience, and by the time the network made a decision, Anderson's reps passed on her involvement.[1]
- This is the second time Daphne has dressed up as Cassandra Peterson's character, having previously dressed up as Drella Diabolique in LEGO Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood.
Cultural references[]
- Fred screaming over the destroyed Mystery Machine is a reference to the final scene of the movie Planet of the Apes.
- The hologram of Bill Nye telling Fred and Velma to "Hang on Nye Riders" recalls the 1980s TV series Knight Rider - which also had a talking computer which could take control of the vehicle.
- Mike directly references the 1973 movie and 2010s HBO series Westworld when trying to convince Michelle that the chase is all part of a hallucination spurred by too much Westworld and pizza.
- Westworld was previously a central metaphor in Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo: Strange Encounters of a Scooby Kind and What's New, Scooby-Doo?: Go West, Young Scoob.
- Velma ordering the Mystery Machine X "Ludicrous Speed. Engage!" parodies both:
- Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, including the hand gesture, and
- Spaceballs with the "ludicrous speed" setting for light speed travel.
- When the Mystery Machine X is unable to fire its laser weapons, Mike laments quoting "Game over, man! Game over!" from Aliens.
- Velma laments that she accused Dr. Crane (Dwight Schultz) of "a crime he didn't commit", a possible reference to the title narration of the 1980s action series The A-Team, also starring Schultz.
- The scene with Fred setting up the traps is a parody of a scene in the 1987 movie Predator.
- The final credits scene parodies the 1931 movie Frankenstein with Fred declaring "It's Alive!".
Animation mistakes and/or technical glitches[]
- None known.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- Although Jonathan Crane is a prominent character from the Batman mythology, the movie is not advertised as a crossover.
- Near the beginning of the movie, when Scooby and Shaggy are eating candy in The Mystery Machine, they aren't removing the wrappers first.
- At one point, the Mystery Machine X is seen being driven by the Jackal-Lanterns.
- During the battle with the Jackal-Lanterns, Elvira loses one of her black high-heeled shoes, the left one. Daphne subsequently retrieves it, however it now appears to be a right shoe.
- While Shaggy tells Daphne "You gotta have candy to earn candy", when she writes it down, she uses a pencil for her phone.
- The Sheriff's appearance and attire is different in this movie than in Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost and Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island. He appears to be less built and less muscular in this movie.
- How did Daphne and Elvira switch clothes while in the car?
- This could be allowed by the Scoobyverse tradition of disguise tricks.
- It could also be a reference a memorable scene in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), a movie which also had Cassandra Peterson in it.
Home media[]
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! DVD released by Warner Home Video on September 14, 2020.- Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! DVD (Walmart exclusive) released by Warner Home Video on September 15, 2020.
- Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! DVD released by Warner Home Video on October 6, 2020.
- Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! DVD released by Warner Home Video on October 7, 2020.
- Scooby-Doo! 5 Film Collection DVD Box set released by Warner Home Video on November 25, 2020.[2]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Quotes[]
Velma: I mean, we've been doing this forever. Since we got a pup named Scooby-Doo. |
Fred: Mystery Incorporated... INCORPORATE! |
Fred: There’s no "I" in Mystery Incorporated... except for the obvious one. |
External links[]
- Buy from Amazon Video (US)
References[]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcxD8FZ4pPE
- ↑ [1] 5 Film Collection