CHILL OUT SCOOBY DOO
(not rated)
MOVIE: *** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
STARRING
Frank Welker as SCOOBY DOO/FREDDY
Casey Kasem as SHAGGY
Mindy Cohn as VELMA
Grey DeLisle as DAPHNE
Rene Auberjonois as ALPHONSE LAFLEUR
Jeff Bennett as DELL CHILLMAN
Created by: Joe Sichta
Studio: Warner Bros.
BY KEVIN CARR
As a child of the 70s, I grew up with Scooby Doo, both after school and on Saturday mornings. They’re still making the cartoons, some as television shows and some as original movies. The latest original Scooby Doo movie is “Chill Out Scooby Doo.”
This adventure takes the kids of Mystery, Inc. from their Paris vacation to the Himalayas, where they have a run-in with the Abominable Snowman. On their way, they stumble around Mount Everest, into Shangri-La and through ancient ruins.
Unlike the classic, yet rustic, cartoons of the 1970s, these new Scooby Doo mysteries have a slick look with crisp animation. However, the chemistry among the characters is still alive. The bulk of the action happens with Scooby Doo and Shaggy getting into scrapes and running from the monsters. A lot of the corniness is gone, but there’s still a few in-jokes for the adults who remember the original show.
This mystery offers a nice mix of supernatural phenomena and fantasy, which is a nice deviation from the old stories that taught us ghosts couldn’t exist but talking dogs could. “Chill Out Scooby Doo” follows the basic Scooby Doo formula, but puts the gang in a new setting at the top of the world.
As children’s videos go, “Chill Out Scooby Doo” is pretty watchable, mainly because of my love for the old television show. There’s enough story there that it doesn’t get boring, and the kids enjoy the antics of Scooby and Shaggy.
Included on the disc is the “Pirate’s Song” music video and a pretty slick interactive game that plays more like a real video game than most DVD set-top features.