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STUDIO: Warner Home Video
MSRP: $15.99
RATED: Not rated
RUNNING TIME: 73 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Scooby Doo’s Shangri-La Showdown
• Pirates Song Music Video
• Deleted scene
• Trailers
The Pitch
The Scooby Gang are on the case when a Yeti is making things abominable for everybody on Mt. Everest.
The Humans & Dog
Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, Alphonse LaFleur, Dell Chillman, High Lama, Pemba, Minga, Abominable Snowman.
Definitely the weirdest episode of Scooby Doo, Where Are You? was the tribute to Robert E. Lee and Stalin episode…
The Nutshell
On their way to rendezvous with the rest of the gang in Paris for a vacation, Shaggy and Scooby get sidetracked to the Himalayas, where they encounter the Abominable Snowman, a crazy French hunter named Alphonse LaFleur, Professor Jeffries and his guide Pemba and his sister Minga, and their old pal Dell Chillman, who’s set up shop as a weather station DJ at 27,000 feet. After Fred, Daphne and Velma rush there to their rescue, the entire Scooby gang has to keep their cool to solve the mystery of the Abominable Snowman and the secret of the lost civilation of Shangri-La.
Luckily John Kricfalusi was available to draw a couple of frames…
The Lowdown
This was actually a pretty good movie all things considered. It’s nicely animated and there’s hijinks o’plenty as Scooby and Shaggy spend half the movie trying to outfox the Abominable Snowman long enough to hook up with the rest of the gang. I thought the spirit of the movie was very much in keeping with the classic Scooby cartoons I grew up loving. The Scooby Gang has been updated a bit, but don’t stray too far from their iconic characterizations from 35 years ago. What’s nice is that Frank Welker and Casey Kasem, who were two of the original voices of the Scooby Gang from the beginning of Scooby Doo, Where Are You? have returned, although Welker, an iconic voice actor, has switched over to Scooby in addition to Fred in place of original Scooby voice actor, the late Don Messick. Rene Auberjonois, Alfred Molina and James Hong also lend their voices.
The first – and last – time that Shag and Scoob tried to down some Scooby Snacks that were past their expiration date.
The story is pretty simple, as Dr. Jeffries is looking for the lost city of Shangri-La, while Alphonse LaFleur is looking for the Yeti, and Shaggy and Scooby are in the wrong place at the wrong time as usual. But the writers have crafted enough twists and turns in the adventure to keep the story moving along fairly nicely. What is seriously lacking though is the actual mystery itself and the resolution to who or what the Yeti is is, well, dare I say it, fairly abominable. Nevertheless, you’re not going to get Mamet in a Scooby Doo flick (but wouldn’t that be cool though? “Scooby, you fucking mutt, fuck you, stop fucking around with that fucking Yeti and let’s get the fuck out of here you fuck…”). The kids should like this and it’s even watchable for us older kids.
The Package
The movie looks fantastic. The animation is sharper than I’ve ever seen for a Scooby flick or show (anybody seen that new joint, Scooby Doo, Get a Clue? pathetic animation), although it’s TV standard rather than widescreen. Sound is okay in Dolby 5.1 Surround. There are basically three features: a series of interactive games for kids called Scooby Doo’s Shangri-La Showdown, a music video, Pirates Song Music Video, and a deleted scene.
Gentleman, start your spanking (you sickos).