Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004) ***/*****
Before we begin, I want to give a shout out to my all time favorite resource for all things Scooby. The indispensable Scoobypedia.
We have reached the 7th movie in the Scooby DTV series, and this time the gang heads to Scotland. Which sounds cool, but Mark Turosz has returned.. he is easily one of the worst Scooby writers of ALL TIME!
Fantastic opening sequence, where the camera zooms through a lake bed and makes its way up to the surface. Kinda reminded of the opening to the 1st Pokemon movie.
While I love the setting, I'm not so sure about some of the Scottish accents. But then I've only ever truly enjoyed the clearly over the top intentionally cartoonish brogues of Looney Tunes, and the warm Scottish tones of Alan Young and David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck in their respective Ducktales series. In regards to US animation anyway.
Anyway, my first thought after the opening few minutes was WTF is Marty Feldman doing there?
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| Duncan the Dockmaster voiced by Michael Bell |
The creature design is pretty cool and far darker than one might think for a Scooby cartoon, but is a little much to suspend disbelief.
Underwater sequences are handled quite well, but the whole central conceit at the heart of the solution is a little hard to swallow, and puts us firmly in fantasy as the technology does not exist quite yet to back up the resolution of the plot. Maybe the seedier side of Oz or something.
Everything falls apart at the end when suddenly the terrifying monsters are revealed to be rubber, canvas, and electronics. But there is a surprise last second cameo from the "real" Nessie.
Overall, it's a superior effort to Cyberchase and Legend of the Vampire, but the handling of the characters clearly suffers at the hands of Turosz. It works in spite of him, and is worth watching at least once. A solid middle of the road effort that doesn't really bring anything new to the franchise.
This is the first movie done in the style of "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and also the first to unite the cast in the DTV series.
And for those die-hard Scooby fans who feel like they've seen this before, "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour" had an episode with a similar premise. "A Highland Fling with a Monstrous Thing (1978).". Which I have no recollection of, but it was a bit trivia I found while looking up info for this review.
Love the soundtrack, it's a nice homage to the musical soundscape, uncultured Americans such as myself, associate with the region.
Click on artists name to listen on Youtube.
| "Brothers Forever" | Lyrics by Tom Chase and Joe Sichta Produced by Tom Chase | Chris Thompson |
| "Brown Dog" | Written by Keith Roberts, Brendan Holmes, Chas Waltz, Bob Boulding and Dave Ingraham | The Young Dubliners |
| "Scotland the Brave" | Traditional | Pipe Band, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo (during Highland Games) |
| "Come and Get It" | Lyrics by Tom Chase and Joe Sichta Produced by Tom Chase | Maureen Davis and Molly Pascetti |
| "Back on the Train" | Written by Trey Anastasio and Tom Marshall | Phish |
Mystery Inc cast [Fred, Scooby, and Shaggy remain unchanged, while Grey DeLisle resumes her role and Mindy Cohn makes her first appearance in the movie series]
Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, Lachlan Haggart, Loch Ness MonsterCasey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers
John DiMaggio as Colin Haggart, Volunteer #1. Far too many to list here
Phil LaMarr as Angus Haggart, Volunteer #2 Far too many to list here
Sheena Easton as Professor Fiona Pembrooke
- Zombie Island
- Alien Invaders
- Monster of Mexico
- Witch's Ghost
- Loch Ness Monster
- Cyberchase
- Legend of the Vampire
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