Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island | |
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Directed by | Jim Stenstrum |
Screenplay by | Glenn Leopold |
Story by | Glenn Leopold Davis Doi |
Based on |
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Produced by | Cos Anzilotti |
Starring | |
Edited by | Paul Douglas |
Music by | Warner Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 77 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated mystery comedy horror film based on the Scooby-Doo franchise. In the film, Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Velma and Daphne reunite after a year-long hiatus from Mystery, Inc. to investigate a bayou island said to be haunted by the ghost of the pirate Morgan Moonscar. The film was directed by Jim Stenstrum, from a screenplay by Glenn Leopold.
Popularity for Scooby-Doo had grown in the 1990s due to reruns aired on Cartoon Network. The channel's parent company, Time Warner, suggested developing a direct-to-video (DTV) film on the property. The team at Hanna-Barbera, collaborating with Warner Bros. Animation (whom was in the process of absorbing Hanna-Barbera at the time), consisted of many veteran artists and writers. Many of the original voice actors of the series were replaced for the film, although Frank Welker returned to voice Fred Jones. It was also the first of four Scooby-Doo direct-to-video films to be animated overseas by Japanese animation studio Mook Animation. Rock bands Third Eye Blind and Skycycle contribute to the film's soundtrack. The film is dedicated to Don Messick, Scooby-Doo's original voice actor who died in October 1997.
Zombie Island contains a darker tone than most Scooby-Doo productions, and is notable for containing real supernatural creatures rather than people in costumes. The film was released on September 22, 1998 and received positive reviews from critics, who complimented its animation and its story. The film is also notable for being the first Scooby-Doo production featuring the entire gang (sans
Two decades after the film's release, Warner Bros. Animation developed a standalone sequel, Return to Zombie Island, released in 2019.
Plot
Mystery, Inc. goes their separate ways after becoming bored of mystery-solving due to their monstrous culprits always being people in costumes.
That night, Shaggy and Scooby are chased by a horde of zombies. Velma suspects Beau while Fred and Daphne capture a zombie, believing it is a human culprit until Fred pulls its head off, revealing that the zombies are real. As the horde chases them, the gang gets separated and Daphne accidentally causes Fred to drop his video camera in quicksand, losing film evidence for their show. In a cave, Shaggy and Scooby discover wax voodoo dolls resembling Fred, Velma, and Daphne and play with them, unknowingly controlling their friends until the pair disturb a nest of bats.
The rest of the gang and Beau discover a secret passageway in the house, where Lena claims the zombies dragged Simone away. The passageway leads to a secret chamber for voodoo rituals, where Velma confronts Lena about her lie, having seen Simone's footprints instead of drag marks. After trapping the gang with the voodoo dolls, Simone and Lena reveal themselves and Jacques as evil
While being chased by Jacques, Shaggy and Scooby disrupt the werecats' draining ceremony, allowing the gang to free themselves. The werecats surround them, but realize too late that the harvest moon has passed, causing them to disintegrate to dust and put the zombies' souls to rest. Beau reveals himself as an undercover police officer who was sent to investigate disappearances on the island. Daphne asks Beau to guest star on her show, and they all leave the island in the morning.
Voice cast
- U.S. Customsdog.
- Billy West as Shaggy Rogers, a member of Mystery Inc. who is Scooby-Doo's owner and works as a U.S. Customs agent.
- Mary Kay Bergman as Daphne Blake, a member of Mystery Inc. who hosts her show called Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake.
- Frank Welker as Fred Jones, the de facto leader of Mystery Inc. who works on Daphne Blake's show as her cameraman; Welker also voices Simone Lenoir's cats, the owl, and one of the zombies.
- B. J. Ward as Velma Dinkley, a member of Mystery Inc. who owns a bookshop.
- Adrienne Barbeau as Simone Lenoir, the leader of the werecats.
- Tara Charendoff as Lena Dupree, a werecat who lured Mystery Inc. to the island.
- Cam Clarke as Detective Beau Neville, a police detective who was sent to Moonscar Island undercover as a gardener to investigate the disappearance of its visitors.
- Jim Cummings as Jacques, a werecat who serves as Simone and Lena's ferry driver; Cummings also voices Morgan Moonscar (and his zombie self) and the plantationer in a flashback.
- Mark Hamill as Snakebite Scruggs, an aggressive resident on Moonscar Island who attempts to catch a catfish called Big Mona; Hamill also voices the airport manager for whom Shaggy and Scooby work before Mystery Inc. gets back together.
- Jennifer Leigh Warren as Chris, a hostess on Daphne's show.
- Ed Gilbert as Mr. Beeman, a real estate agent who is unmasked as the Moat Monster at the beginning of the film. This was Gilbert's final film role before his death the following year.
Production
Origins and story
The Scooby-Doo franchise, which by the time of the film's release was nearing its 30-year mark, had entered into a period of diminishing returns in the early 1990s. After the conclusion of the sixth iteration of the series,
The team assembled, to work on the production were veterans of the animation business, and had most recently worked on
Casting
Casey Kasem was originally set to reprise his role as Shaggy, but Kasem, a vegetarian, had refused to voice Shaggy in a 1995 Burger King commercial and went on to demand that Shaggy also give up eating meat in future productions.[7] The creative team rejected this, as eating anything was a hallmark of the character. Additionally, production on Zombie Island had already begun, with the film featuring a scene with Shaggy eating crawfish. Shaggy was recast with voice actor Billy West. Kasem was given a last-minute opportunity to fill the role and redub over West, but he made another refusal.[4] Radio personality Scott Innes voiced Scooby-Doo, as Don Messick, the character's original voice actor, retired in 1996 and died in 1997; Zombie Island was dedicated to his memory. Heather North was set to reprise her role as Daphne, but after a day of recording, Mary Kay Bergman replaced her, while B. J. Ward, who played Velma in a Johnny Bravo crossover episode, reprised her role for this film.
Frank Welker is the only actor from the original series to reprise his role, as Fred Jones. He had initially worried that the producers would replace him as well, given that the producers believed his voice had gone down an octave. The voice director kept requesting Welker perform the voice at a higher pitch. Welker insisted his voice was the same, as Fred's voice is close to his natural speaking voice. The team went back and viewed early Scooby-Doo episodes and found that Welker's impression was more or less the same. Bob Miller, of Animation World Network, suggested that the reruns of Scooby-Doo aired on Cartoon Network perhaps gave them a false idea of the character's voice, as the episodes were typically time-compressed (or sped-up) to allow more room for commercials, thus giving all of the show's soundtrack a higher pitch.[8]
Animation
Japanese animation studio
The group were trusted by the studio's management as they had worked together for a long time, and all involved on the film had a real passion for the project. Drew Gentle was the main background designer for the project, with Falk contributing to the film's color key. Occasionally, the crew would hire freelance artists to contribute to ancillary designs. In addition, the group enlisted the assistance of Iwao Takamoto, the original designer of Scooby-Doo, still on salary at Hanna-Barbera, for advising on scenes. Takamoto called the film "a good solid mystery", and storyboarded several sequences of interplay between Shaggy and Scooby.[9]
Music
Composer Steven Bramson, who is known for Tiny Toon Adventures, JAG and the Lost in Space film, scored and conducted the film. The soundtrack for the film features three songs composed specifically for the film. "The Ghost Is Here" and "It's Terror Time Again", both written by Glenn Leopold, were performed by Skycycle. The title track, "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!", was performed by Third Eye Blind.
All lyrics are written by Glenn Leopold; all music is composed by Tom Snow, except track 1 written by David Mook and Ben Raleigh
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" | Third Eye Blind | 1:03 |
2. | "The Ghost Is Here" | Skycycle | 2:21 |
3. | "It's Terror Time Again" | Skycycle | 2:42 |
Total length: | 6:06 |
Release
Originally, the film was planned to be released theatrically, but when Warner Bros noticed the strong market on home media, particularly their successful direct-to-video animated Batman films, it was later decided to release it on
The film was aided by a reportedly $50 million promotional push, as advertisers believed the character's iconic nature would generate strong sales, and deserved "equal visibility to a theatrical release."
Reception
On
Later assessments of the film have been similarly positive. Michael Mallory at the Los Angeles Times credited it and its subsequent features for "[spinning] the characters into more modern treatments of action and horror, and toyed with [a] self-spoofing quality."[25] Mariana Delgado of Collider writes "a notable shift in tone and aesthetic departs from its source material [...] It's how the film injects the situation with enough realism to seem like a live-action horror film while still staying true to the animation."[26] A 2022 Variety ranking placed Zombie Island as the best Scooby offering, with Carson Burton claiming "The film is at once extremely rooted in the classics yet willing to do something never seen before [...] The greatest of them all, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island gets everything right."[27]
In 2011–12, British comedian Stewart Lee dedicated an extensive section of his live show Carpet Remnant World to the "jungle canyon rope bridges" in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island,[28] linking what he described as the parlous state of such bridges with the austerity regime of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[29]
Sequel
A direct sequel, titled Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island, had its world premiere at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2019, followed by a digital release on September 3, 2019, and a DVD release on October 1, 2019.[30]
References
- ^ Carter, Bill (February 19, 1992). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Turner Broadcasting Plans To Start a Cartoon Channel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- ^ Cawley, John (December 20, 2006). "The Nine Lives of Scooby-Doo". Animation World Magazine. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ Lander, Mark (September 23, 1995). "Turner To Merge Into Time Warner; A $7.5 Billion Deal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- ^ a b c Jozic, Mike (interviewer); Falk, Lance (interviewee) (February 7, 2017). APNSD! Episode 03: Interview With Lance Falk (Podcast). Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ a b Stailey, Michael (March 21, 2003). "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island - DVD Review". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on October 13, 2003. Retrieved March 21, 2003.
- ^ a b c Jozic, Mike (interviewer); Falk, Lance (interviewee) (March 8, 2017). APNSD! Episode 04: Interview With Lance Falk (Podcast). Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "Casey Kasem: The Voice of America". Time. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
- ^ Miller, Bob (April 1, 2000). "Frank Welker: Master of Many Voices". Animation World Magazine. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ISBN 9781604734775.
- ^ Mapes, Jillian (October 23, 1998). "Ghosts, Goosebumps Celebrate Halloween". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ Liebenson, Donald (October 29, 1998). "SELECTION OF HALLOWEEN TITLES FOR PRESCHOOLERS GETS A BOOST". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ a b Peter M. Nichols (September 18, 1998). "Home Video; Fall Zombies And Ghosts". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ Anne Sherber (March 6, 1999). "Toy Fair Provides Video Inspirations" (PDF). Billboard. p. 85. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ Moody, Annemarie (February 12, 2008). "Zombie and Alien Scooby-Doo on DVD Tuesday". Animation World Magazine. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Newbie Scooby movie". Animation World Magazine. September 24, 1998. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ "N/A". Brandweek. 39. 1998. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
Come fall, the theory could be tested with Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, a direct-to-video release set to get a Warner Bros.-backed $50 million promotional push, with partners that include Campbell Soup, MCI, Lego and others.
- ^ Eileen Fitzpatrick (August 8, 1998). "Kathy Smith Signs with Sony; Mystery Machine Rides Again". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 32. p. 60. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ Wirt, John (October 30, 1998). "Scooby's Zombie Island TV premiere is Halloween treat for lucky dog Innes". The Advocate. Retrieved January 27, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Maurstad, Tom (October 31, 1998). "Scooby-Doo, where . . . oh, there you are". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
- ^ "Car number 9 in 1988 NASCAR Sprint Cup". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- ^ Donald Liebenson (September 24, 1998). "Barking Up A New Tree". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 8, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ Joe Neumaier (September 25, 1998). "EW reviews Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ Heffley, Lynne (October 29, 1998). "They're Just in Time for Halloween: Seasonal Treats to Delight Kids". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ Mallory, Michael (May 5, 2002). "What Will Scooby Do?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ Delgado, Mariana (September 1, 2021). "Why 'Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island' Is One of the Best & Scariest Films of the Franchise". Collider. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ Wilson Chapman, Carson Burton; Chapman, Wilson; Burton, Carson (September 1, 2022). "Zoinks! The 10 Best 'Scooby-Doo' Films, From 'Monsters Unleashed' to 'Zombie Island'". Variety. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
- ^ "Stewart Lee, Leicester Square Theatre, London". The Independent. 2011-11-27. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
- ^ "Stewart Lee - Carpet Remnant World". Squeamish Bikini. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
- ^ Dixon, Kerry (July 1, 2019). "Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Premiers 'Batman: Hush', 'Teen Titans Go!', More at San Diego Comic-Con 2019". San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog. Archived from the original on 2019-07-09. Retrieved July 7, 2019.