Scooby Doo And The Loch Ness Monster (Animated) (DVD)

Scooby doo and the Loch Ness Monster is one of the newer Scooby doo full length feature cartoon movies that has recently been released on DVD. I would love to say that I just bought this for the kids but I am an avid collector of all things Scooby doo including the DVDs- however the kids did watch it so I can include their opinions in the review!

CAST AND PLOT

Obviously the film is animated but the main characters are
...upon and solving mysteries. Scooby is the scardey-cat big dog, Shaggy his scaredy-cat friend. Fred is the more courageous man in Mystery Inc, whilst the girls Velma and Daphne provide the brains and looks respectively.
In this mystery the gang go to Scotland on holiday to visit Daphne's ancestral castle and to see the Highland Games. The castle is on the shores of Loch Ness. Here the gang come upon their latest mystery- Does the Loch Ness ... more

Scooby doo and the Loch Ness Monster is one of the newer Scooby doo full length feature cartoon movies that has recently been released on DVD. I would love to say that I just bought this for the kids but I am an avid collector of all things Scooby doo including the DVDs- however the kids did watch it so I can include their opinions in the review!

Obviously the film is animated but the main characters are
Scooby doo (voice by Frank Welker)
Shaggy (voice by Casey Kasem)
Velma (voice by Mindy Cohn)
Fred (voice by Frank Welker)
Daphne (voice by Grey Delisle)
As I'm sure most people are aware, these 5 characters are members of the Mystery Inc club who travel all over the place in their van stumbling upon and solving mysteries. Scooby is the scardey-cat big dog, Shaggy his scaredy-cat friend. Fred is the more courageous man in Mystery Inc, whilst the girls Velma and Daphne provide the brains and looks respectively.
In this mystery the gang go to Scotland on holiday to visit Daphne's ancestral castle and to see the Highland Games. The castle is on the shores of Loch Ness. Here the gang come upon their latest mystery- Does the Loch Ness Monster really exist???
During the film the gang meet the usual range of wacky and suspicious characters including:
Shannon Blake, Daphne's cousin and lives in the Scottish castle.
Sir Ian Locksley, the man charge of the National Heritage Museum in Scotland. He is adamant that the Loch Ness monster does not exist.
Professor Fiona Pembrooke, a scientist who is trying to find the monster and firmly believes in its existence. Her voice is done by pop star Sheena Easton!
Sure enough the Loch Ness monster does put in an appearance early on when the gang arrive at the castle and Shaggy and Scooby stumble upon him/her when exploring the castle for a late-night snack.
True to the original formula of Scooby Doo films the rest of the show involves Scooby and Shaggy dressing up in various disguises, being chased by the monster in their quest to unravel the mystery. Various clues are also stumbled upon which enable the rest of the gang to solve the mystery of Nessie.
The plot was fairly thin but also easy enough for young kids under 10 years to follow. More could have been made of the Highland games but these were hardly shown in the film. The characters were funny and the dialogue written well for young children. The story for 72 minutes was too repetitive as all it really was was chase scenes in different locations. One good point that I appreciated was the absence of Scrappy Doo in the film as I couldn't stand that character.

Since the film is based in Scotland, the Scottish accents in the film are a bit exaggerated and over the top and don't actually sound particularly Scottish. The accents were so bad that even the kids commented on them.
The animation in the film is superb. The colour and pictures of the cartoons is really sharp and clear. The Loch Ness monster was also really great looking but did frighten the 5 year old watching the film.
The soundtrack to the film was basically unmemorable but added to the chase scenes.

Certificate U (contains mild threat)
Running time 72 mins
Price: £4.99 at play.com
The DVD came with the following extras
National Geographics Inside Scoop: here some actually useful information about the Loch Ness monster was given such as what type of dinosaur it actually could be ;what animals/fish people could actually mistake the monster for; various Loch Ness monster hoaxes and some information on Loch Ness.
Bloopers: various funny scenes such as Fred wearing a mini-skirt thinking it was a kilt.
How to speak Scottish: here there are brief descriptions of
Scotland and various aspects of Scottish culture.

The kids did enjoy this. If you are buying it for children it will probably be most appreciated by the younger audience under about 10 years. The characters were funny, the soundtrack catchy during the chase scenes, the animation outstanding and the story was a good idea. The extras included in the DVD were both plentiful and unusual. Both myself and the kids found the Bloopers section hilarious and the National Geographic and Speak Scottish sections informative. Although the kids (5,7 and 9 years) did enjoy the film none wanted to watch it again (normally if they really like a film it is repeated several times in a row).
For me as a collector of Scooby doo memorabilia this was not a patch on the earlier cartoons from several decades ago. My advice is rent this rather than buy! If you are a Scooby doo collector don't worry if your collection does not contain this!

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