Warner Bros. Home Video presents

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)

"Zoinks! It's a regular zombie jamboree!"- Shaggy

Stars: Scott Innes, Billy West, Mary Kay Bergman, Frank Welker, B.J. Ward
Other Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Mark Hamill
Director: Jim Stenstrum

Manufacturer: wamo
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (occultism, comic violence)
Run Time: 01h:10m:0s
Release Date: 2001-03-06
Genre: animation

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B	B	B+	B+	B-

 

DVD Review

This entry in the venerable Hanna-Barbera Scooby-Doo franchise is great fun.

The old Mystery Inc gang has gone their separate ways. Velma is running a mystery book shop; Shaggy, the erstwhile beatnik, and Scooby, the erstwhile dog, are working at the airport, sniffing baggage for contraband food. Daphne and Fred are producing a television show called "Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake." Entering their second season, Daphne decides to take the show on the road to find a real haunted house to show her viewers. Fred calls the other members of the gang to accompany them and the reunited crew head to New Orleans.

After striking out by revealing that all of the haunts they can find are fakes, the dishearted gang is encouraged to visit Moonscar Island by Lena, who they meet in the marketplace. On the way to the island, they encounter Snakebite Scruggs and his hunting pig, Mojo, when Scooby and Shaggy fall overboard and are chased by alligators.

Moonscar island is owned by Simone Lanois who declares that the island is indeed haunted. Mysterious things begin to happen quickly when some writing that tells the mystery crew to get off the island, as well as the ghost of a pirate, is seen on their videotape.

Our heroes are used to de-bunking such phenomena and don't believe that the hauntings are real. Plus, it doesn't help that most of the supernatural happenings involve Scooby and Shaggy as they continue their eternal search for food and battle the herd of cats that also inhabit the island. There are some very amusing bits as Scooby and Shaggy encounter the hot, hot peppers that are grown on Moonscar Island.

After dark, things get crazy as zombies begin to make their appearance. Nice touches of homage to well-known zombie films appear in some of the scenes.

This film has all the elements that make the Scooby-Doo series enjoyable for kids. The comic relief of Scooby and Shaggy is like... hilarious. Some points in the story might get a little intense for smaller children when the ghosts, zombies and other monsters make their appearances.

This Scooby movie was nominated for an Annie award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Home Video Production.

Other notable notes: Alternative group Third Eye Blind performs the classic Scooby Doo Where Are You? song. Adrienne Barbeau does a great job as the voice of Simone Lanois. Rumor has it that there is a live-action Scooby-Doo in the works involving Mike Myers.

Rating for Style: B
Rating for Substance: B

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	no
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: The video here is top notch-animation. Colors are rich and the original style of the Scooby-Doo cartoons is well-preserved and enhanced. I could find nary a distraction.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English, French, Portuguese, Spanish	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The sound is delightful. The music is a distinguishing characteristic of this show and adds greatly to the enjoyment. Nice foley work on the sound effects is carried over excellently. The soundtrack is finely conceived from beginning to end.

Audio Transfer Grade: B+ 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
Scene Access with 26 cues and remote access
Cast and Crew Biographies
1 Original Trailer(s)
1 Featurette(s)
Packaging: Amaray
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extra Extras:

1. The Scooby-Doo Dare - Trivia Quiz
2. Sneak Peeks of Scooby Videos

Extras Review: A fair selection of extras, although what is billed in several locations as "behind-the-scenes" material is really an extended trailer. There are some humorous bios for each of the Mystery Inc members. The trivia quiz pertains to things that went on in the movie. The "Sneek Peaks" are quick trailers for other Scooby videos and I am personally looking forward to the Scooby-Doo and the Cyber-Chase coming later this year.

Extras Grade: B-
 

Final Comments

Zoinks! Scooby, Shaggy and the Mystery Inc gang reunite in a very enjoyable visit to a mysterious island to find some real ghosts. Scary and funny... it is quintessential Scooby-Doo.

Jesse Shanks 2001-04-22