Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo is a fun entry into the DTV line of animated movies. At only 76-minutes long, it’s a fine time-waster and I suspect families will enjoy this one.
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!
(2020)
Genre(s): Animation, Family, Mystery
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment | NR – 76 min. – $19.98 | October 6, 2020
Date Published: 09/26/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE – 3½/5 |
| Plot Synopsis: Scooby-Doo and Shaggy’s favorite holiday is upon us! With fake monsters and candy galore, Halloween in heaven for these hungry foodies going door-to-door. But this year, their sweet holiday turns sour when the neighborhood pumpkin patch is tainted in toxic ooze, creating high-flying jack o’-lanterns and a king-sized pumpkin leader that squashes everything in its path. It’s up to Scooby-Doo and the gang, who team up with their pals Bill Nye and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, to solve this mystery of gigantic proportions and save Crystal Cove.
Quick Hit Review: To varying degrees, I enjoy these direct-to-video Scooby-Doo animated movies. They generally don’t break new ground in terms of storytelling or even animation, but they tend to be fun short time-wasters, and Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo is no exception. While I did sort of like the CGI animated Scoob well enough, and thought most of the voice actors, Zac Efron as Fred was especially good, the group in the DTV section of the long-running franchise work well. Matthew Lillard still is great voicing Shaggy as are the others in the gang. The film, even by Scooby-Doo standards, is far from perfect. There is one glaring plot hole concerning the smaller pumpkins (won’t go further as to spoil the film) and Daphne is portrayed as if she had eaten several pot brownies because she acts a tad bizarrely at times, even more so than her usual peppy personality. Also in the cast of characters we get Dr. Jonathan Crane a.k.a. The Scarecrow, so interesting inclusion in a movie with no Batman; Dr. Nye the Science Guy plays an annoying hologram (I’m a bit biased, never been a fan of his tbh); and… Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, whom older fans will appreciate, but can’t imagine many younger viewers will know or understand (guess you’re never too young to explain what a mistress is). In all seriousness, while I know who she is, never grew up watching her. However, this is in-line with plenty other of the Scooby movies and their gimmick guest castings. But I digress, even with all of its faults, Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo is still an all around entertaining entry into the VERY long-running franchise and probably one of the better ones of the recent releases. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0/5 |
| There is a semi-glossy slip cover included but no actual features outside of Three Bonus Cartoons. |
VIDEO – 4/5, AUDIO – 3/5
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| The movie is presented with a 16×9 enhanced 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and even though it is standard definition (Warner has dropped giving these DTV films a Blu-ray release a couple years back), colors are still relatively bright with minimal artifacting when inspecting closer.
The included Dolby Digital 5.1 track is serviceable but hardly amazing, with the action-esque sequences hardly putting a dent into the surround sound, but at least vocals come through with good clarity. |
OVERALL – 3/5 |
| Overall, Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo is a fun entry into the DTV line of animated movies. At only 76-minutes long, it’s a fine time-waster and I suspect families will enjoy this one, even with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark going over the heads of some viewers. This DVD release has no bonus features and has okay audio and serviceable video. |
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