Showing posts with label Matthew Lillard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matthew Lillard. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Review: "Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare" a Great New Spin on Classic Scooby-Doo

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 84 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare (2010) – Video
Running time: 72 minutes (1 hour, 12 minutes)
DIRECTORS: Ethan Spaulding with Kirk Tingblad (animation director)
WRITERS: Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas
PRODUCERS: Spike Brandt and Tom Cervone
EDITOR: Joseph Molinari

ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring: (voices) Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey DeLisle, Mindy Cohn, Dee Bradley Baker, Mark Hamill, Phil LeMarr, Scott Menville, Stephen Root, Tara Strong, Lauren Tom, Grant Goodeve, and Neve Campbell

Beginning in 1998 with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Warner Bros. has released direct-to-video animated movies based on the Scooby-Doo cartoon franchise. There has been at least one per year (except for 2003 and 2005, when two movies were released in both years). Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare is the 15th in this direct-to-video series.

Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Grey DeLisle), Velma Dinkley (Mindy Cohn), Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) take their summer vacation at Camp Little Moose, Fred’s old summer camp. Fred can’t wait to be a camp counselor, but he learns from the head counselor, a jolly old fellow named Burt (Stephen Root), that the monsters that were the stars in many Little Moose campfire stories have come to life.

The Woodsman (Dee Bradley Baker) was a green-faced, ax-wielding creep, and favorite of campfire tales. Now, he is a real monster running around the woods, threatening campers with his ax, destroying the camp grounds, and demanding that everyone leave Little Moose. The Fishman (Dee Bradley Baker) haunts the nearby, man-made Big Moose Lake, and the Spectre of Shadow Canyon (Dee Bradley Baker) threatens death on anyone who enters the Shadow Canyon.

Burt and three newly-arrived campers: Trudy (Tara Strong), Luke (Grant Goodeve), and Deacon (Mark Hamill) stick it out. They join Fred, Daphne, Velma, and (reluctantly) Shaggy and Scooby in trying to solve a wide-ranging mystery that revolves around Camp Little Moose. But the Woodsman and his spooky cohorts are ready to deliver bodily harm if they don’t leave.

After the back-to-basics approach of Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo, this Scooby-Doo animated movie series has new life. The main characters are back to wearing their original outfits, and the two most recent films are just as fun and enjoyable as the 1969 series that started it all, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The ghost chasing, mystery solving, and action comedy is as good as ever.

Camp Scare, like Abracadabra-Doo, reveals differences from the original Scooby-Doo cartoons. Now, the ghosts, monsters, and general supernatural adversaries are darker and edgier. They certainly act as if they would like to seriously hurt (if not kill) the Mystery Inc. gang and the other good characters. Daphne’s attraction to Fred is more obvious than ever, and she is openly jealous of and hostile to rivals for his attention and affection. Velma is a little more taciturn and sardonic, but she is also more aware of what other people think and how they feel. Shaggy and Scooby are happily still the same – always looking for a meal and a way out of ghost chasing.

Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare is not only classic Scooby-Doo; it is also simply good. Very well done with quality animation (especially the beginning and end credits), it is honestly a must-see for fans of Scooby and the gang.

8 of 10
A

The Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare DVD has two extras. First, in “Scooby-Doo! Spooky Camp Stories, an actor telling campfire stories. The second extra is “Beware the Beast From Below,” the pilot episode of the new series, “Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.” The gang takes on a slime mutant that lives in the caves below Crystal Cove, the hometown of the Mystery Inc. gang. They also encounter their new nemesis, “Mr. E.”

-------------------------------


Friday, March 26, 2010

DVD Review: Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo







TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo (2010) - Video
DIRECTOR: Spike Brandt
WRITERS: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, and Misty Lee; from a story by Alan Burnett (based upon the characters created by (Joseph Barbera and William Hanna)
EDITOR: Jhoanne Reyes

ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring: (voices) Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey DeLisle, Mindy Cohn, Dave Attell, Danica McKellar, Dee Bradley Baker, Olivia Hack, Diane Delano, John Di Maggio, Brian Posehn, James Patrick Stewart, Crystal Scales, and Jeffrey Tambor

Beginning in 1998 with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Warner Bros. started releasing direct-to-video animated movies based on the Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoon series. There has been at least one per year (except for 2005, when there were two). The latest film, Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo, is the 14th in the series.

Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Grey DeLisle), Velma Dinkley (Mindy Cohn), Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard) and, of course, Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) are the Mystery Inc. gang. After wrapping up their latest mystery, Velma gets a call from her mother asking her to check on her younger sister Madelyn (Danica McKellar). The gang heads Whirlen Merlin Magic Academy, where Madelyn has been studying stage magic. The school is run by acclaimed magician, Whirlen Merlin (James Patrick Stewart), who was a child prodigy at magic, with the help of his older brother, Marlon Merlin (Brian Posehn), a special effects whiz.

Whirlen Merlin Magic Academy is being terrorized by a giant griffin, which has been scaring all the students away. Smelling trouble and suspecting a conspiracy, the gang decides to investigate. Is the griffin the ghostly servant of the man who built the castle that now houses the academy? Or is the entire situation a plot to force Whirlen Merlin to sell the school? Suspects include Whirlen’s assistant, Crystal (Crystal Scales), housekeeper Alma Rumblebums (Diane Delano), Amos the Groundskeeper (John Di Maggio), and ice cream mogul, Calvin Curdles (Jeffrey Tambor), who wants to turn the castle into an ice cream parlor. The gang must deal with a banshee, a lion, and a spooky castle, but Shaggy has to deal with Madelyn, who has fallen in love with him.

Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo has a back-to-the-basics approach and theme that will endear it to longtime Scooby-Doo fans. The main characters are back to wearing their original 1969 outfits. The animation here is quite good, featuring excellent character movement and action; it is almost as good as what viewers will find in direct-to-DVD Disney animated features. The art direction is superb and the backgrounds are rich in detail and decoration, creating the perfect sets, environment, and atmosphere for this movie.

The storytelling is equally good. Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo offers an engaging, fun mystery that also harks back to the early years of the series. Scooby and company are back in form, and the supporting/guest characters are just about as good as the main players. The voice acting is good, but not great. Right now, I’m not quite buying Matthew Lillard as the voice of the animated Shaggy Rogers, although Lillard played Shaggy (well) in both live-action Scooby-Doo movies.

One of best things about this new movie is the giant griffin, a killer villain, the kind of cartoon monster that has traditionally made Scooby-Doo cartoons memorable. No Scooby-Doo fan, young or old, should miss Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo, and it is an excellent choice for introducing people to the world of Mystery Inc.

8 of 10
A

The Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo has three extras. Two are just commercials for other Scooby-Doo DVDs. One is a short feature about creating homemade puppets.


Buy Scooby Doo: Abracadabra-Doo