Have you watched the DTV Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island?
Share your thoughts below...
Have you watched the DTV Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island?
Share your thoughts below...
I’d like to be honest:
I primarily steered clear of this movie due to thinking that it would be terrible, and because it looked too scary for my taste. Especially after seeing a trailer that pretty much seemed to give the whole rundown of it all.
However, I found myself interested in giving this movie a shot based on its popularity and the positive comments I've been reading. So, when I discovered its availability on Netflix, I couldn't resist giving it a shot.
I'm happy to say that it isn't as terrible as I expected. But, it isn't what I'd like to call the best Scooby-Doo installment either.
Among the things I enjoyed about this movie was its animation. I loved how the animators were obviously making great use of their budget and were really extending themselves, giving the film an impressive look for a direct-to-video release. I especially enjoyed the animation used with the settings, and the light that would cast itself down to bring the zombies to life.
The music composed by Steve Bramson was another one of the film's most compelling elements. It truly amazed me how Bramson was able to make his music so cinematic for a direct-to-video movie, and the song "It's Terror Time Again" was enjoyable enough to upload to your Music App.
Despite this, though, there were things about the film I was far from fond of.
For instance, I found myself having mixed opinions on the voice acting and characters.
I will definitely say that I enjoyed the developments of Fred, Daphne, and Velma throughout this film, and Shaggy and Scooby really put a smile on my face. For his first reprisal of Fred from the classic installments of the franchise, Frank Welker did a phenomenal job at proving that he owns the role. Plus, the film's supporting players sounded like they were having a great time portraying their characters.
But, I wasn't exactly fond of the performances of Scott Innes, Billy West, Mary Kay Bergman, and B.J. Ward as Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, and Velma in this film. On one hand, I grew up with Bergman's work as Daphne in "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" and Innes's and Ward's work in that film and "Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase", so I think it must've had something to do with the voice direction.
Frankly, I absolutely loathed Billy West's portrayal of Shaggy. I thought that he certainly tried his best, but every time I heard Shaggy's voice I couldn't help but note that he had this extremely annoying squeak that was far from tolerable, which was enough to affect his comedic-timings too.
Snakebite Scruggs turned out to be a pointless character in the long run, if I may say. He was interesting, and Mark Hamill did a great job portraying him. But, when it turned out that he had little to do with the overall mystery, it became apparent his only purpose was to curse the heavens about tourists every time Scooby and Shaggy got in his way.
Finally, the direction by Jim Stenstrum, the screenplay by Glenn Leopold, and the story by Leopold and Davis Doi, weren't exactly what I'd call a delicious Scooby snack.
As a comedy, the film seemed to offer little in the way of humor. Whatever jokes that the film even had seemed to fall flat, and they lacked the Hanna-Barbera touch. The movie did have a mystery that helped keep things interesting, but at the end of the day...making the monsters real seemed to translate the film into a horror movie more than a mystery, taking away all the fun and making it less than family-friendly. It didn't help that it had a rather dark and intense premise that would give children nightmares.
In the end, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" isn't what I believe to be the greatest Scooby-Doo film ever made. Everything appeared to be in place, and the team behind it was obviously quite ambitious and willing to take risks. But yet, the purpose and meaning behind the film seemed to be lost, and it did little to capture the spirit of the franchise.
So, I rate "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. It's a decent film, just not a great one.
I primarily steered clear of this movie due to thinking that it would be terrible, and because it looked too scary for my taste. Especially after seeing a trailer that pretty much seemed to give the whole rundown of it all.
However, I found myself interested in giving this movie a shot based on its popularity and the positive comments I've been reading. So, when I discovered its availability on Netflix, I couldn't resist giving it a shot.
I'm happy to say that it isn't as terrible as I expected. But, it isn't what I'd like to call the best Scooby-Doo installment either.
Among the things I enjoyed about this movie was its animation. I loved how the animators were obviously making great use of their budget and were really extending themselves, giving the film an impressive look for a direct-to-video release. I especially enjoyed the animation used with the settings, and the light that would cast itself down to bring the zombies to life.
The music composed by Steve Bramson was another one of the film's most compelling elements. It truly amazed me how Bramson was able to make his music so cinematic for a direct-to-video movie, and the song "It's Terror Time Again" was enjoyable enough to upload to your Music App.
Despite this, though, there were things about the film I was far from fond of.
For instance, I found myself having mixed opinions on the voice acting and characters.
I will definitely say that I enjoyed the developments of Fred, Daphne, and Velma throughout this film, and Shaggy and Scooby really put a smile on my face. For his first reprisal of Fred from the classic installments of the franchise, Frank Welker did a phenomenal job at proving that he owns the role. Plus, the film's supporting players sounded like they were having a great time portraying their characters.
But, I wasn't exactly fond of the performances of Scott Innes, Billy West, Mary Kay Bergman, and B.J. Ward as Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, and Velma in this film. On one hand, I grew up with Bergman's work as Daphne in "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" and Innes's and Ward's work in that film and "Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase", so I think it must've had something to do with the voice direction.
Frankly, I absolutely loathed Billy West's portrayal of Shaggy. I thought that he certainly tried his best, but every time I heard Shaggy's voice I couldn't help but note that he had this extremely annoying squeak that was far from tolerable, which was enough to affect his comedic-timings too.
Snakebite Scruggs turned out to be a pointless character in the long run, if I may say. He was interesting, and Mark Hamill did a great job portraying him. But, when it turned out that he had little to do with the overall mystery, it became apparent his only purpose was to curse the heavens about tourists every time Scooby and Shaggy got in his way.
Finally, the direction by Jim Stenstrum, the screenplay by Glenn Leopold, and the story by Leopold and Davis Doi, weren't exactly what I'd call a delicious Scooby snack.
As a comedy, the film seemed to offer little in the way of humor. Whatever jokes that the film even had seemed to fall flat, and they lacked the Hanna-Barbera touch. The movie did have a mystery that helped keep things interesting, but at the end of the day...making the monsters real seemed to translate the film into a horror movie more than a mystery, taking away all the fun and making it less than family-friendly. It didn't help that it had a rather dark and intense premise that would give children nightmares.
In the end, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" isn't what I believe to be the greatest Scooby-Doo film ever made. Everything appeared to be in place, and the team behind it was obviously quite ambitious and willing to take risks. But yet, the purpose and meaning behind the film seemed to be lost, and it did little to capture the spirit of the franchise.
So, I rate "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. It's a decent film, just not a great one.
I know what you mean. I wasn't too crazy about it either, especially with all them zombies and the plot twist near the end.
A Spy in Concealment wrote: I’d like to be honest:
I primarily steered clear of this movie due to thinking that it would be terrible, and because it looked too scary for my taste. Especially after seeing a trailer that pretty much seemed to give the whole rundown of it all.
However, I found myself interested in giving this movie a shot based on its popularity and the positive comments I've been reading. So, when I discovered its availability on Netflix, I couldn't resist giving it a shot.
I'm happy to say that it isn't as terrible as I expected. But, it isn't what I'd like to call the best Scooby-Doo installment either.
Snakebite Scruggs turned out to be a pointless character in the long run, if I may say. He was interesting, and Mark Hamill did a great job portraying him. But, when it turned out that he had little to do with the overall mystery, it became apparent his only purpose was to curse the heavens about tourists every time Scooby and Shaggy got in his way.
Finally, the direction by Jim Stenstrum, the screenplay by Glenn Leopold, and the story by Leopold and Davis Doi, weren't exactly what I'd call a delicious Scooby snack.
As a comedy, the film seemed to offer little in the way of humor. Whatever jokes that the film even had seemed to fall flat, and they lacked the Hanna-Barbera touch. The movie did have a mystery that helped keep things interesting, but at the end of the day...making the monsters real seemed to translate the film into a horror movie more than a mystery, taking away all the fun and making it less than family-friendly. It didn't help that it had a rather dark and intense premise that would give children nightmares.
In the end, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" isn't what I believe to be the greatest Scooby-Doo film ever made. Everything appeared to be in place, and the team behind it was obviously quite ambitious and willing to take risks. But yet, the purpose and meaning behind the film seemed to be lost, and it did little to capture the spirit of the franchise.
So, I rate "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. It's a decent film, just not a great one.
That attitude is clearly what’s wrong with the cartoon industry today. Always want to be kid vanilla like trash. Personally everything you said is exactly why I like this Scooby-Doo material way better, unlike the rest of the franchise.
RollOverTheFloor wrote:
A Spy in Concealment wrote: I’d like to be honest:
I primarily steered clear of this movie due to thinking that it would be terrible, and because it looked too scary for my taste. Especially after seeing a trailer that pretty much seemed to give the whole rundown of it all.
However, I found myself interested in giving this movie a shot based on its popularity and the positive comments I've been reading. So, when I discovered its availability on Netflix, I couldn't resist giving it a shot.
I'm happy to say that it isn't as terrible as I expected. But, it isn't what I'd like to call the best Scooby-Doo installment either.
Snakebite Scruggs turned out to be a pointless character in the long run, if I may say. He was interesting, and Mark Hamill did a great job portraying him. But, when it turned out that he had little to do with the overall mystery, it became apparent his only purpose was to curse the heavens about tourists every time Scooby and Shaggy got in his way.
Finally, the direction by Jim Stenstrum, the screenplay by Glenn Leopold, and the story by Leopold and Davis Doi, weren't exactly what I'd call a delicious Scooby snack.
As a comedy, the film seemed to offer little in the way of humor. Whatever jokes that the film even had seemed to fall flat, and they lacked the Hanna-Barbera touch. The movie did have a mystery that helped keep things interesting, but at the end of the day...making the monsters real seemed to translate the film into a horror movie more than a mystery, taking away all the fun and making it less than family-friendly. It didn't help that it had a rather dark and intense premise that would give children nightmares.
In the end, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" isn't what I believe to be the greatest Scooby-Doo film ever made. Everything appeared to be in place, and the team behind it was obviously quite ambitious and willing to take risks. But yet, the purpose and meaning behind the film seemed to be lost, and it did little to capture the spirit of the franchise.
So, I rate "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. It's a decent film, just not a great one.
That attitude is clearly what’s wrong with the cartoon industry today. Always want to be kid vanilla like trash. Personally everything you said is exactly why I like this Scooby-Doo material way better, unlike the rest of the franchise.
I have no problem with you being a fan of this movie, but for me...this film wasn’t as great as people were making it out to be. Particularly because, in my opinion, the portrayals of West, Innes, Ward, and Bergman as Shaggy, Scooby, Velma, and Daphne were too annoying, Snakebite Scruggs was a rather pointless character, and the comedy was awfully flat.
Witch’s Ghost was way better, that’s for sure.
A Spy in Concealment wrote:
RollOverTheFloor wrote:
A Spy in Concealment wrote: I’d like to be honest:
I primarily steered clear of this movie due to thinking that it would be terrible, and because it looked too scary for my taste. Especially after seeing a trailer that pretty much seemed to give the whole rundown of it all.
However, I found myself interested in giving this movie a shot based on its popularity and the positive comments I've been reading. So, when I discovered its availability on Netflix, I couldn't resist giving it a shot.
I'm happy to say that it isn't as terrible as I expected. But, it isn't what I'd like to call the best Scooby-Doo installment either.
Snakebite Scruggs turned out to be a pointless character in the long run, if I may say. He was interesting, and Mark Hamill did a great job portraying him. But, when it turned out that he had little to do with the overall mystery, it became apparent his only purpose was to curse the heavens about tourists every time Scooby and Shaggy got in his way.
Finally, the direction by Jim Stenstrum, the screenplay by Glenn Leopold, and the story by Leopold and Davis Doi, weren't exactly what I'd call a delicious Scooby snack.
As a comedy, the film seemed to offer little in the way of humor. Whatever jokes that the film even had seemed to fall flat, and they lacked the Hanna-Barbera touch. The movie did have a mystery that helped keep things interesting, but at the end of the day...making the monsters real seemed to translate the film into a horror movie more than a mystery, taking away all the fun and making it less than family-friendly. It didn't help that it had a rather dark and intense premise that would give children nightmares.
In the end, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" isn't what I believe to be the greatest Scooby-Doo film ever made. Everything appeared to be in place, and the team behind it was obviously quite ambitious and willing to take risks. But yet, the purpose and meaning behind the film seemed to be lost, and it did little to capture the spirit of the franchise.
So, I rate "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. It's a decent film, just not a great one.
That attitude is clearly what’s wrong with the cartoon industry today. Always want to be kid vanilla like trash. Personally everything you said is exactly why I like this Scooby-Doo material way better, unlike the rest of the franchise.
I have no problem with you being a fan of this movie, but for me...this film wasn’t as great as people were making it out to be. Particularly because, in my opinion, the portrayals of West, Innes, Ward, and Bergman as Shaggy, Scooby, Velma, and Daphne were too annoying, Snakebite Scruggs was a rather pointless character, and the comedy was awfully flat.
Witch’s Ghost was way better, that’s for sure.
And once again, that kind of attitude is exactly why they hardly ever push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable on kids’ television with the exception of far fewer television series in general (Invader Zim, Goosebumps etc). Your explanation about the voice acting in the film has nothing to do with why I disagreed with you either. Although I do find that quite absurd and a blatant exaggeration. They were annoying because...? I don’t know. You “just” do just because...
Comedy was awfully flat? Why does every cartoon in the world have to be funny and family-friendly in order to be a good show? You already have such shows like Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, Ed, Edd n Eddy, SpongeBob SquarePants, and others for that purpose. The second Scooby Doo direct-to-video film (the Witch’s Ghost) is just like what you expect from any Scooby Doo related material in the Scooby Doo franchise. In my honest opinion, Scooby Doo works way better as a horror, darker, and intense series rather than some mystery solving family friendly vanilla series and Zombie Island proves it. I never thought the franchise was funny either, not even Zombie Island. But whatever. I already know we’re gonna agree to disagree. I never liked the Scooby Doo franchise anyway (besides the first four direct-to-video films). I honestly thought this franchise was utterly boring given how the monsters turned out to be fake at the end all the time so it’s like all that wild mystery solving for nothing...the art style and animation in the classic Scooby Doo series looked ugly as hell, and don’t get me started on that jerky, sloppy framing within the animation and art within those classic Scooby Doo cartoons either. I was also never really found of the brighter lighting in the What’s New Scooby Doo series and the films released after the Cyber Chase one came out either. The What’s New series should have used the darker, more realistic lighting animation and art style from the Cyber Chase movie. But sadly they didn’t.
So you rather prefer this trash franchise to be fake and safe from the beginning rather than horror, darker, and intense? My dude, this is not the Powerpuff Girls or the Fairly OddParents. Any series or franchise that deals with ghosts, monsters, zombies, etc, I expect it to be above your typical average family friendly vanilla like crap. I’m sorry. But whatever. Your attitude is exactly why the animated industry lacks so much variety to this very day.
RollOverTheFloor wrote:
A Spy in Concealment wrote:
RollOverTheFloor wrote:
A Spy in Concealment wrote: I’d like to be honest:
I primarily steered clear of this movie due to thinking that it would be terrible, and because it looked too scary for my taste. Especially after seeing a trailer that pretty much seemed to give the whole rundown of it all.
However, I found myself interested in giving this movie a shot based on its popularity and the positive comments I've been reading. So, when I discovered its availability on Netflix, I couldn't resist giving it a shot.
I'm happy to say that it isn't as terrible as I expected. But, it isn't what I'd like to call the best Scooby-Doo installment either.
Snakebite Scruggs turned out to be a pointless character in the long run, if I may say. He was interesting, and Mark Hamill did a great job portraying him. But, when it turned out that he had little to do with the overall mystery, it became apparent his only purpose was to curse the heavens about tourists every time Scooby and Shaggy got in his way.
Finally, the direction by Jim Stenstrum, the screenplay by Glenn Leopold, and the story by Leopold and Davis Doi, weren't exactly what I'd call a delicious Scooby snack.
As a comedy, the film seemed to offer little in the way of humor. Whatever jokes that the film even had seemed to fall flat, and they lacked the Hanna-Barbera touch. The movie did have a mystery that helped keep things interesting, but at the end of the day...making the monsters real seemed to translate the film into a horror movie more than a mystery, taking away all the fun and making it less than family-friendly. It didn't help that it had a rather dark and intense premise that would give children nightmares.
In the end, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" isn't what I believe to be the greatest Scooby-Doo film ever made. Everything appeared to be in place, and the team behind it was obviously quite ambitious and willing to take risks. But yet, the purpose and meaning behind the film seemed to be lost, and it did little to capture the spirit of the franchise.
So, I rate "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. It's a decent film, just not a great one.
That attitude is clearly what’s wrong with the cartoon industry today. Always want to be kid vanilla like trash. Personally everything you said is exactly why I like this Scooby-Doo material way better, unlike the rest of the franchise.
I have no problem with you being a fan of this movie, but for me...this film wasn’t as great as people were making it out to be. Particularly because, in my opinion, the portrayals of West, Innes, Ward, and Bergman as Shaggy, Scooby, Velma, and Daphne were too annoying, Snakebite Scruggs was a rather pointless character, and the comedy was awfully flat.
Witch’s Ghost was way better, that’s for sure.
And once again, that kind of attitude is exactly why they hardly ever push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable on kids’ television with the exception of far fewer television series in general (Invader Zim, Goosebumps etc). Your explanation about the voice acting in the film has nothing to do with why I disagreed with you either. Although I do find that quite absurd and a blatant exaggeration. They were annoying because...? I don’t know. You “just” do just because...
Comedy was awfully flat? Why does every cartoon in the world have to be funny and family-friendly in order to be a good show? You already have such shows like Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, Ed, Edd n Eddy, SpongeBob SquarePants, and others for that purpose. The second Scooby Doo direct-to-video film (the Witch’s Ghost) is just like what you expect from any Scooby Doo related material in the Scooby Doo franchise. In my honest opinion, Scooby Doo works way better as a horror, darker, and intense series rather than some mystery solving family friendly vanilla series and Zombie Island proves it. I never thought the franchise was funny either, not even Zombie Island. But whatever. I already know we’re gonna agree to disagree. I never liked the Scooby Doo franchise anyway (besides the first four direct-to-video films). I honestly thought this franchise was utterly boring given how the monsters turned out to be fake at the end all the time so it’s like all that wild mystery solving for nothing...the art style and animation in the classic Scooby Doo series looked ugly as hell, and don’t get me started on that jerky, sloppy framing within the animation and art within those classic Scooby Doo cartoons either. I was also never really found of the brighter lighting in the What’s New Scooby Doo series and the films released after the Cyber Chase one came out either. The What’s New series should have used the darker, more realistic lighting animation and art style from the Cyber Chase movie. But sadly they didn’t.
So you rather prefer this trash franchise to be fake and safe from the beginning rather than horror, darker, and intense? My dude, this is not the Powerpuff Girls or the Fairly OddParents. Any series or franchise that deals with ghosts, monsters, zombies, etc, I expect it to be above your typical average family friendly vanilla like crap. I’m sorry. But whatever. Your attitude is exactly why the animated industry lacks so much variety to this very day.
Hey, now that’s just mean.
If I recall correctly, I’ve seen cartoons take plenty of risks and variety.
The point I was trying to make with this movie was that, for me, it lacks in one very thing:
Fun.
Nothing about the movie was fun at all. Or intriguing.
I called the comedy flat because it hardly seemed very inspired despite the film being classified as a comedy, and I called the portrayals of West, Innes, Bergman, and Ward in this movie annoying because they sounded too whiny or squeaky. The premise hardly even had much to be intrigued by despite being called a mystery film.
When considering this movie, I have to compare it to the earlier trio (Boo Brothers, Ghoul School, Reluctant Werewolf) and against the other three released after it (Witch's Ghost, Alien Invaders, Cyber Chase).
I liked Zombie Island better than the old ones, mainly because it featured the entire gang and it used the more obscure werecat rather than relying on the more common werewolves. Zombie Island was a welcome refreshment, but it wasn't what I would call the "peak".
The peak would occur with Witch's Ghost when we got an infusement of new-age goth characters. "It's Terror Time Again" ranks below the Hex Girl music, though it does a very good job of setting the mood. In contrast, Alien Invaders and Cyber Chase were mediocre in comparison.