Scoob!

Scoob! is a 2020 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group and based on the Scooby-Doo franchise. The film is directed by Tony Cervone from a screenplay by Adam Sztykiel, Jack Donaldson, Derek Elliott, and Matt Lieberman, and a story by Lieberman, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart. It stars the voices of Frank Welker (who, as the title character, is the only member of the original cast to reprise his role), Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, Zac Efron, and Amanda Seyfried as the Scooby gang, with Mark Wahlberg, Jason Isaacs, Kiersey Clemons, Ken Jeong and Tracy Morgan as other classic Hanna-Barbera animated characters. It is a reboot of the Scooby-Doo film series, and is intended to be the first installment in a series of films set within a Hanna-Barbera shared cinematic universe. It is the fifty-second Warner Animation Group film.

Plans for a new Scooby-Doo film began in June 2014, when Warner Bros. announced that they would reboot the Scooby-Doo film series with an animated film. Cervone were initially hired to direct the film in August 2015, with Dax Shepard being brought to co-direct it in September 2016. By October 2018, Shepard was no longer a part of the project. Much of the cast were hired in March 2019. Animation services were provided by Reel FX Animation Studios. Released to video on demand on May 15, 2020, the film was initially set to premiere in theaters on the same date, but the theatrical release was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plot[edit]
Ten years ago, a young, lonely Shaggy Rogers befriends and adopts a talking stray Great Dane pup, whom he names Scooby-Doo. On Halloween night, Scooby and Shaggy meet three young detectives named, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley, before venturing into a haunted house. Inside, the kids encounter a ghost, whom they capture and unmask as costumed thief Mr. Rigby. Inspired by the experience, they decide to form a group, Mystery Inc., to solve mysteries together.

In the present day, Mystery Inc., having solved numerous mysteries, goes into business with entrepreneur Simon Cowell as their investor, but Cowell refuses to do business with Scooby and Shaggy involved. Later that night, Shaggy and Scooby are terrorized at a bowling alley by shape-shifting scorpion robots called Rottens. The pair are rescued by Dee Dee Skyes, Dynomutt, and Brian, the son of the masked superhero, Blue Falcon, who has recently retired and passed the mantle to Brian. The Rottens are then revealed to belong to supercriminal Dick Dastardly who wants to capture Scooby as part of a plan involving the Great Dane's mysterious connection to the supernatural mystery behind Cerberus' three skulls.

Meanwhile, Fred, Daphne, and Velma head off to Dastardly Demolition and investigate what Dick Dastardly wants with Scooby and Shaggy, as they reminisce about the good times they had with Shaggy and Scooby before discovering that the pair are investigating the mystery behind Scooby himself with The Falcon Force, with Dastardly imprisoning the trio. Escaping with help from one of the Rottens, they make contact with Dee Dee, via Dynomutt. Velma explains that she and the others are being taken to Messick Mountain, where the last skull is located. The group then finds out that Dastardly's plan is to open the gates to the Underworld, in order to rescue his dog, Muttley, who was trapped during an attempt to steal the Underworld's riches. Dick Dastardly needs Scooby to unlock the gates, since he is the last remaining descendant of Alexander the Great's favorite dog, Peritas.

Scooby, Blue Falcon, Dynomutt, and Dee Dee arrive at Messick Mountain and head underground to a hidden Mesozoic island. There, they find the last skull being guarded by Captain Caveman. Following a short battle, Fred and Shaggy arrive, but Fred is revealed to be Dastardly in disguise as he steals the last skull. The Rottens then throw the real Fred, Daphne, and Velma out of his airship and Dastardly destroys the Falcon Fury. Dastardly then captures Scooby and takes him to Athens. After Shaggy speaks out about how he felt like Scooby's importance would change things and tear him and Scooby apart, he gives an inspiring speech, and everyone works together to reconstruct the Mystery Machine, in order to pursue Dastardly.

Arriving in Athens, Dastardly uses the three skulls to reveal the gates to the Underworld and attempts to use Scooby's paw to open it, only to be interrupted by Scooby's friends in a flying Mystery Machine. The Rottens shoot them down while Dastardly releases Cerberus; unaware that Dynomutt landed them safely. As Scooby, Dastardly, and the civilians flee from the rampaging Cerberus, Scooby runs to the crash site and reunites with his friends, while Dastardly happily reunites with Muttley in the Underworld and they escape while stealing some of Alexander the Great's treasure. While determining how to trap Cerberus, Velma discovers more of the mystery behind Scooby's ancestry and its connection to the Underworld. With help from the Rottens, Mystery Inc. and friends successfully trap Cerberus back into the Underworld. However, Shaggy sacrifices himself to lock the gate, following the prophecy of Alexander the Great and Peritas' bond. The gang realizes that there is another exit that continues their prophecy, which Scooby unlocks, and Shaggy is reunited with Scooby and the gang. The Rottens turn on Dick Dastardly, who is unmasked upon the revelation of stealing Simon Cowell's identity to break the gang up and take advantage of Scooby for his spooky plot against the gang, since the start. Dastardly, along with Muttley, are taken into custody by The Falcon Force and are arrested.

Back home, at Venice Beach, the gang unveils their official Mystery Inc. headquarters and celebrates with The Falcon Force, who in turn gives the gang an upgraded Mystery Machine, before they reignite their team to go solve another mystery together again.

Voice castedit | edit source

 * Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo
 * Will Forte as Shaggy Rogers
 * Iain Armitage as Young Shaggy
 * Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly
 * Zac Efron as Fred Jones
 * Pierce Gagnon as Young Fred
 * Mark Wahlberg as Blue Falcon
 * Gina Rodriguez as Velma Dinkley
 * Ariana Greenblatt as Young Velma
 * Amanda Seyfried as Daphne Blake
 * Mckenna Grace as Young Daphne
 * Ken Jeong as Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
 * Tracy Morgan as Captain Caveman
 * Kiersey Clemons as Dee Dee Sykes
 * Simon Cowell as Himself
 * Ira Glass as Himself
 * Billy West as Muttley

Developmentedit | edit source
On June 17, 2014, Warner Bros. announced that they would end the Scooby-Doo film series with Randall Green writing a new film. On August 17, 2015, Tony Cervone was hired to direct the animated film on the script by Matt Lieberman, while Charles Roven and Richard Suckle would produce the film along with Allison Abbate. Dan Povenmire would be involved in a creative capacity and would executive produce the film.

At 2016 CinemaCon, the film's official title was announced to be S.C.O.O.B., about Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Machine gang working for a larger organization. The film is intended to lead into a cinematic universe based on Hanna-Barbera properties. In September 2016, it was reported that Dax Shepard would be directing the film along with Cervone, whilst he would also write the script along with Lieberman. In October 2018, it was announced that Shepard was no longer a part of the project and was replaced by Kelly Fremon Craig as screenwriter.

Castingedit | edit source
In March 2019, Frank Welker was revealed to be reprising his role as Scooby-Doo, while Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, and Tracy Morgan signed on to voice Shaggy, Velma, and Captain Caveman, respectively. Later that month, Zac Efron and Amanda Seyfried joined the voice cast as Fred and Daphne.

Matthew Lillard and Grey Griffin, the longtime voices of Shaggy and Daphne, respectively, claimed that they had not been contacted about the decision to recast their roles. Efron's casting as Fred also marks the first time the character will not be voiced by Welker, not counting the times the character was a child or portrayed in live-action.

In April 2019, Ken Jeong and Kiersey Clemons were announced to be joining the cast. In May 2019, Mark Wahlberg and Jason Isaacs were added to the cast, with Mckenna Grace, Iain Armitage, Ariana Greenblatt and Pierce Gagnon cast as young versions of Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and Fred, respectively.

Releaseedit | edit source
The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on July 9, 2020. Previously, the film was set for a September 21, 2018 release.

On March 24, 2020, it was announced that the release of the film would be delayed due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.

On April 21, 2020, it was announced that the film would be released on VOD on the day of it's original theatrical release. Since it was released on VOD, the theatrical release with Trolls World Tour of the film had yet to be announced.

Receptionedit | edit source
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 50% based on 109 reviews, with an average rating of 5.25/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Scoob! is fun enough for youthful viewers and some hardcore fans, but never quite solves the mystery of why audiences shouldn't watch old episodes instead." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

Triviaedit | edit source

 * This marks the first time Tom Holkenborg composes a music score for an animated film.
 * This is the second Warner Bros. animated film for a May 15th release after Quest for Camelot.
 * Due to being released on video on demand, it was Warner Animation Group's first attempt to temporarily test the waters to give more support to their film for a worthy re-release in theaters.
 * This is the only Warner Animation Group film to have a limited theatrical release in selected countries, due to the COVID-19 paramedic.
 * Scoob! was going to be the first time ever the Mystery Inc. in animated form came onto the big screen, but when it's theatrical got cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it now makes it still remain the only Scooby-Doo movies that did premiere in theaters were the live-action ones, Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
 * This is the first Warner Animation Group film to have separate DVD and Blu-ray releases (with each still including a digital code) instead of having a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital combo pack, due to most of the recent theatrically-released (or theatrically-produced) Warner Bros. being given the same treatment, including Doctor Sleep.
 * Not counting DreamWorks Animation's Trolls World Tour (which had both digital and limited theatrical releases), this is the first animated film to be released straight to digital instead of having a theatrical release following the COVID-19 paramedic; the next being Paramount Animation/Nickelodeon Movies' The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (which was theatrically released exclusively in Canada). However, the film would eventually get a theatrical release in selected markets of the United States beginning May 21, 2021.
 * This marks the first time the 2019 MPA logo appears in the end credits for a Warner Animation Group film.
 * This is the last film to use the 1999 Warner Bros. Pictures logo; further films beginning with Tenet would start using the new 2020 Warner Bros. Pictures logo (with the exception of The Witches and Godzilla vs Kong, both of which still used the 1999 logo).
 * This is the last film to use the 2009 Warner Animation Group logo, further films beginning with Tom and Jerry would start using the new 2021 Warner Animation Group logo in addition to the new 2020/2021 Warner Bros. Pictures logo.