Scooby-Doo: Pirates Ahoy! (2006)

 Scooby-Doo: Pirates Ahoy! (2006)  ****/*****

AAARGH, me mateys, 

This is the tenth entry of the DTV series. Is it worthy of that slot, or will we have to make it walk the plank?

Only one way to find out, join me as I sail this uncharted animated high seas adventure! YOHO! YOHO! it's a pirate's life and a box Scooby Snax for me!  

The Mystery, Inc. gang are caught in the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, while vacationing on a cruise, courtesy of Fred's parents for his birthday.

The opening credits are pretty cool for this one, even the title card rocks.

Well done and the music is pleasing as well.

And it has one of the coolest scenes in a Scooby movie and it perfectly homages and plays up the deliberate Pirates of the Caribbean inspirations. The movie doesn't even hide bother to hide it. Instead it has fun with it.

It's basically a toned down Pirates of the Caribbean mixed with the standard Scooby tropes, perfect introduction for both POTC and Scooby franchise. I wouldn't mind seeing this one developed into a live-action Scooby movie. 

 

With the exception of the pop songs, the score is really good and miles ahead of "Where's My Mummy?". That could be because it's a different composer. Steven Argila instead of Thomas Chase Jones. It's good enough that I would buy the CD if it was released.

The cgi is really well done and enhances the story, especially in comparison to "Aloha, Scooby-Doo". It's fairly well blended into the overall production.  Nothing groundbreaking, but not too jarring either.

That cruise, unbeknownst to the Mystery Inc. gang, is actually an interactive mystery theater, which we find out was the surprise part. Fred's parents knew how much the gang loved to solve mysteries and though the mystery cruise would be the best of both worlds. 

Now this leads to the most fun nod to the franchise history, keep in mind this is a fully booked cruise liner with hundreds of other guests, who also signed on to have a good time while solving mysteries, 

Unfortunately for them, Mystery Inc. solves what was supposed to be a weeks worth of mysteries in 2 days. Leading to this crowd shot.

Casey Kasem sounded horrible in this, I don't know if it was because he dealing with an illness or if his age finally caught up with him. He was 74 at the time this movie was released, though I think his health was starting to fail around this time. There are only 3 more movies where he voices Shaggy. "The Samurai Sword" is the last time he voiced the character.

 

Pretty fun outing., even though the solution is a little bonkers, and wouldn't hold up under any serious scrutiny. 

The songs are the most forgettable part of the movie, I am really yearning for the return of the Scooby-Doo theme during the chase sequences.  Any theme would be welcome. 

Song	Credits	Performed by
"Run For The Hills"	Music by Steven Argila Lyrics by Paul James Prendergast Produced by Steven Argila, Stephen Krause & Paul James Prendergast	Paul James Prendergast
"Blow Ye Winds"
"That's The Way We Go
"A Pirating We Go"
"A Pirate's Life"	Written and produced by Rich Dickerson and Gigi Meroni	Rich Dickerson and Gigi Meroni

Voice Cast

Mystery, Inc (No Change)

Casey Kasem as Norville "Shaggy" Rogers
Frank Welker as Fred Jones, Scooby-Doo
Mindy Cohn as Velma Dinkley
Grey DeLisle as Daphne Blake


Guest Cast                                                                                          Previous  Scooby Projects

Ron Perlman as Captain Skunkbeard/Biff Wellington        "Where's My Mummy?", "What's New, Scooby-Doo?"
Freddy Rodriguez as Rupert Garcia
Tim Conway as Skip Jones                                                          "The New Scooby-Doo Movies"
Edie McClurg as Peggy Jones/Sea Salt Sally                     "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries", "13 Ghosts"
Kathy Najimy as Sunny St. Cloud
Arsenio Hall as Captain Crothers
Dan Castellaneta as Woodenleg Wally/Mr. Mysterio ,                     "What's New, Scooby-Doo?"



Scooby-Doo will return in "Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!" The 11th entry in the DTV series.

Updated rankings. 

Zombie Island Alien InvadersWhere's My Mummy? Pirates Ahoy! Monster of Mexico Witch's Ghost Aloha, Scooby-Doo Loch Ness Monster Cyberchase Legend of the Vampire

As always, I am extremely grateful for the fantastic Scoobypedia.

And IMDB as well

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