Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King (2008) Reviews

• Back to real ghosts and monsters!

  wile_E20052008-09-27

  This is the first post-Sander Schwartz Scooby-Doo made-for-video movie. And it's a good one, too! Because when Warner Bros. Animation originally began producing the made-for-video Scooby-Doo movies 10 years ago, starting with "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island," they broke away from the typical "fake ghost and monster" formula and broke new ground, using real ghosts and monsters. (This wasn't the first time they did so either, they did so back in the 1980s with "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo" and a few TV movies.) "Zombie Island" and the following "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost" (the best of the "real monster" movies) were much darker compared to the older Scooby-Doo cartoons. But when Sander Schwartz took over in 2002, he made them switch back to fake monsters and ghouls, the first two were good ("Legend of the Vampire" and "Monster of Mexico") which were practically like 70-minute episodes of "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?", and after that it would vary. They basically became 70-minute episodes of "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and typically focused on Fred and Daphne. But beginning with "Scooby-Doo in Where's My Mummy?" they began toying around with the old formula again, which somewhat became the norm for the later films, which started to get better over time. Now that Sander Schwartz is gone from Termite Terrace (thank god!) I guess they decided to experiment again. Bringing back real ghosts and monsters helped liven up this recent installment in the Scooby-Doo made-for-video series of movies! It also helped put a bit of creepiness back into the Scooby franchise, something that "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and the 2001-2007 made-for-video Scooby movies completely avoided. (Even the original "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" had quite a bit of creepiness in it, too.) However, now it's on to reviewing the actual movie itself. Even though this was probably the umpteenth time they did a Scooby-Doo story that revolves around Halloween (such as "The Headless Horseman of Halloween," "To Switch a Witch," "A Scooby-Doo Halloween" and many others), I still enjoyed it, mainly because Halloween is my favorite holiday! And I really liked that fairy princess. I guess that proves not all real supernatural creatures in this movie have to be bad! The real ghouls and dark setting helped bring this movie up to "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost" level. As far as voices go, we still have the same voice cast from "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and the other past made-for-video movies. And I am so glad that Casey Kasem was still able to voice Shaggy, because I won't go into details on Scott Menville's crappy Shaggy voice in the "Get a Clue" series. Frank Welker has improved a little on his Scooby-Doo voice. It's starting to sound less like Brain from "Inspector Gadget" and more like Scott Innes's Scooby-Doo voice! It seems Mindy Cohn's Velma voice changed a little, and Grey DeLisle's Daphne voice hasn't changed a bit since 2001. The music is pretty good, too, with a bit of lively musical numbers by the monsters! At that part it seemed to remind me of "Scooby-Doo and the Boo Brothers." As far as the sound effects go, they haven't changed them much since 1998. They only use the classic H-B sound effects for exaggerated comedy scenes with Scooby, Shaggy, the goblin guards and Krudsky the Magician, similar to when Warner Bros. Animation was making the Cool Cat cartoons for WB/Seven Arts 40 years ago. And this may be a minor gripe, but the people at WB STILL haven't used the Haunted Castle Thunder sound effect like the classic Scooby-Doo cartoons did! This annoys me mainly because the crappy "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" series used it, so why not have the made-for-video movies use it? They're MUCH better than "Get a Clue!" Instead it sounds like they just sent the Foley editor into a real storm to record the thunder. But speaking of "Get a Clue," now on to the animation. The characters are thankfully not drawn in that ugly "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue" style, and the animation is quite decent, though not as good as the animation in "Zombie Island" and "Witch's Ghost." There are also extensive uses of CGI effects/animation in this movie, which I don't think the previous direct-to-video Scooby movies even attempted! And as far as the classic character personalities go, Scooby and Shaggy have never changed since 1969. Daphne did not complain at once about her hair or clothes in this film, and it was nice to see a more intelligent and serious version of Fred again (after dumbing him down in "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" and "What's New, Scooby-Doo?"). Velma fainting at the sight of a real fairy was just hilarious! I'm surprised she didn't do that at the real monsters in the late-1990s made-for-video movies! My only main complaint about this movie is that they STILL didn't dedicate any of the recent Scooby-Doo movies, including this one, to Joseph Barbera! Since he died before this film was even thought up, it would've been nice to dedicate the movie to one of Scooby-Doo's creators. But nevertheless, they still insisted on using that zooming "1970s Hanna-Barbera" logo at the end, which is still completely inaccurate and has been since 1998, since Warner Bros. Animation produced the movie, and now that both Bill and Joe are gone, it makes no sense to have another company's logo (even if it's owned by WB) at the end of a WB movie! Imagine seeing it at the end of a Looney Tunes cartoon of the 1950s, and it'd be just as weird, if not weirder. However, this is admittedly better than the 2004-2007 made-for-video Scooby movies, and it's WAY better than "Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!" I highly recommend this one, especially if you loved the 1998-2001 Scooby-Doo movies! Oh and P.S., the werewolf Scooby-Doo and Shaggy come across when first entering the monster world is AWESOME!

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• Well made piece of Scooby light entertainment

  policy1342009-03-11

  You gotta love him! 40 years of silly antics and still quite popular with the kiddies. The old TV show was annoyingly repetitive. Scooby and the gang get involved with a phony ghoul of some kind and Velma and Fred solve the case, while Scooby and Shaggy get to be live bait. Then came the live action movies. They tried but failed to be anything more than actors overshadowed by too many visual effects and stories that much like the old TV show were tedium incarnate. The retooling of the old TV show was an improvement. What's New Scooby-Doo was bold enough to play with conventions and actual decent animation. But soon they began to be repetitive too. Here's another retooling. The monsters are real! There's no unmasking and Fred, Daphne and especially Velma are kept off screen for much of the running time. Scoob and Shag has to save the day and they do it without being doped up by Scooby snacks. It's pretty amazing how many celebrities were involved in this. For instance Lauren Bacall of all people. Jay Leno (actually funny here) as a pumpkin. Is this a stab at the size of his head? Hmmm... Tim Curry, as close as a cartoon in live person as you can get and Jim Belushi and his sidekick from According to Jim. The animation assisted by lots of CGI makes you head hurt but the voice talent elevate this from being a total dud. Wayne Knight as a megalomaniac? Predictable? You bet and it still make you chuckle of appreciation. Looking forward to what's next? No. But I can't help but watching. Something where you don't have to think will definitely always be on my to do list a couple of times each year.

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• An absolute delight for Scooby Doo fans

  TheLittleSongbird2009-01-30

  I am 16 and I enjoyed it more than the other Scooby Doo movies. It isn't as good as Witch's Ghost though, but I also really enjoyed Zombie Island and Alien Invaders. Children will love it, and adults will love the clever Halloween jokes. The animation was way better than Shaggy and Scooby: Get a Clue, which is just atrocious in every aspect. The songs were actually really catchy, especially Goblin Boogie, which also played in the end credits, which were a delight to watch. It was a simple, but well told story, that picked up so quickly when you thought it was going to drag. As for the voice talents, they were the main reason why I liked this film as much as I did. Wayne Knight was a little over the top, but he was fine, and Casey Kasem is a sheer delight as Shaggy. James Belushi was funny as one of the goblins, and as the Goblin King, Tim Curry was both sinister and fun. I loved the twist at the end, which was typical of Scooby Doo. I also loved the fact that it was real monsters, the old formula was getting tired. My favourite bit was the Headless Horseman chasing Jack O'Lantern,(an unrecognisable Jay Leno) Shaggy and Scooby. Well recommended! 9/10. Bethany Cox

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• Interesting change of pace

  julcltr2009-05-07

  No, seriously, I really think that a Scooby-Doo movie going after a musical genre is a really good change of pace. Sure, it may not be as good as Zombie Island, and it may not live up as a Halloween musical classic the same way The Nightmare Before Christmas did, but it's still not bad for a beginner. The Halloween creatures are a big plus; they're absolutely creepy. Some of the musical numbers might need a little work, but at least they're something that you can't walk out on. But, man! Oh, man! I can never get over that ending! I'm not gonna tell you though; it'll just spoil the surprise. The bottom line: it's a delight for the whole family, especially if you're a Scooby-Doo fan.

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• Lots Of Puns and Fun, Heh Heh Heh

  chicagopoetry2008-12-21

  Zoinks! Like, ruh roh, Raggy, don't rook now, but just when you were about to ask "where are you" there's a reaky new Scooby Doo movie available on rideo. Yeah, reaky. Gulp. And in this one, the whacked out warlock isn't just a guy wearing a mask. Heh heh heh. Like, no way man, but this wunnerful creepy old time animation is completely on the mark and ten times as fun as th-th-th-the rive action Scooby Doo movies. Like,trust me, old friend, old buddy, old pal, there are even a bunch of scary moments that will make you rump off your chair. Boing! There is also a runch of musical numbers. I especially liked the one that went romething like "Woararoarawoararoarawoar." Yikes! The kids will love the Goblin King, and the adults will laugh at the inside rokes: "Oh no! Velma's fried!" or "Now that is something you just do not do to a guy's van." Why do I get the feeling this one should have been on the big screen? Way to go old Scooby Dooby movie makers. You should totally rent Scooby Dooooby Dooooo and the Goblin King: jeepers, maybe there's food inside the box.

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