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STUDIO:
Turner Home Entertainment
MSRP: $14.98
RATED: Not
Rated
RUNNING TIME:
148 min.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
 

  • Making-of Featurette: Scooby’s
    Steps to Solving a Mystery
  • Character Bios
  • Movie Trivia
  • DVD-ROM PC Weblinks
    to Scooby-Doo stuff




The Pitch

A gang of hippies talks to a dog and solves mysteries.

The Humans

Scott Innes, Frank Welker, Mary Kay Bergman, Mark Hamill,
B.J. Ward, Jennifer Hale, Neil Ross, Billy West, Adrienne Barbeau, Tara Strong
and Jeff Bennett


Needless to say, United 93: The Animated Series never got past the pilot phase.

The Nutshell

Scooby-Doo: Double Feature proves that there’s no limit to
how far you can stretch a broken concept. Two Direct-to-Video Scooby-Doo movies
have been repackaged to give you more bang for your buck. Scooby-Doo and the
Alien Invaders
and Scooby-Doo on Zombie
Island
offers up two looks at the
new Scooby-Doo for a new generation. If you’re ready for adventures with real
monsters and real mysteries, then you’re in luck.

The Lowdown

The first film on the Double Feature is Scooby-Doo and the
Alien Invaders
. The Mystery Machine has broken down in a town that looks like
it came out of Bad Day at Black Rock. The gang finds out that there are some
local ruffians pretending to be aliens in order to scare the townspeople. But,
when Scooby and Shaggy go snooping around, they discover some far more
sinister. That’s right, kids. There are real aliens afoot.


Scooby and Shaggy always loved to re-enact their favorite scenes from Salo for complete strangers.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie
Islan
d plays well into the horror
mystery element that launched the show. The gang has drifted apart, as there’s
no real reason to hunt fake monsters anymore. When a mysterious bayou starts
producing strange creatures, the gang reunites with Scooby to slam some evil. This
film started a problem that I’ve come to see plague all of the Scooby
spin-offs. Why does everything have to be real?

When the gang arrives on Moonscar
Island
in Zombie
Island
, too much time is dedicated
to building up a tame level of horror that could work for children. Then
there’s the third act freak-out that tries to cram in Werecats, while you
wonder why the Scooby Gang are acting out of character. Animation fans will
tell you that you’ve got to accept the retooling of classic characters to sell
them to a modern generation. But, it’s just not working. There’s no comedy
anymore and the action is very cliché.


Who wants to kill a hitchhiker?

Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders was released later and
it attempts to buck the trend. Scooby and Shaggy are in the forefront, as they
try to take the lead with humorous results. Sure, the film keeps trying to push
real aliens on the audience. But, these aliens are friendly and not
intimidating in that lame King Zarkon sort of way. This is more traditionalist
approach to the characters is fun, but it seems like Warner Brothers has all
but dumped that approach.

You can’t ever return to childhood favorites and expect the
same things. This Double Feature DVD is
nothing but a cold reminder of that fact. Still, it’s got all the right elements
to get a new gaggle of Scooby fans interested. That’s got to be worth
something.


Terence Malick’s Transformers left a lot to be desired.

The Package

Scooby-Doo: Double Feature comes to DVD
with a flipper disc release. Both films have been released previously by Warner
Brothers and there’s nothing new added to the mix for this latest release. We
get to learn about the characters and we get the typical behind-the-scenes look
at the production. Then, there’s a wealth of DVD-Rom
links to keep your kids entertained after the movies have ended.

The A/V Quality on the DVD
is typical for its origins. You get the typical digital noise and grain that
comes with straight-to-video animated material. But, the Dolby Digital 2.0
track is clear and crisp. Surprisingly strong for films of this nature it keeps
the dialogue clear and pushes all of the Sound FX to the other front channels. It’s
worth a rental for your kids; otherwise I’d recommend skipping it.


I want to hear you squeal like a pig. Oh wait, I’m sorry. Ri rant roo rear ru real rike ra rig. Was that better?

4.6 out of 10