"SCOOB!" Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

[RoyalRubble]

The never-before told stories of Scooby-Doo’s origins and the greatest mystery in the career of Mystery Inc.

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SCOOB!
Release Date - May 15th, 2020 (On-Demand)

Synopsis: SCOOB! reveals how lifelong friends Scooby and Shaggy first met and how they joined with young detectives Fred, Velma and Daphne to form the famous Mystery Inc. Now, with hundreds of cases solved and adventures shared, Scooby and the gang face their biggest, most challenging mystery ever: a plot to unleash the ghost dog Cerberus upon the world. As they race to stop this global “dogpocalypse,” the gang discovers that Scooby has a secret legacy and an epic destiny greater than anyone imagined.

Starring in SCOOB! are Will Forte (Booksmart, TV’s The Last Man on Earth) as Scooby-Doo’s best friend, Shaggy; two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter, The Departed) as Blue Falcon; Jason Isaacs (the Harry Potter films, TV’s The OA) as the infamous Dick Dastardly; Gina Rodriguez (Deepwater Horizon, TV’s Jane the Virgin) as Velma; Zac Efron (The Greatest Showman, the Neighbors franchise) as Fred; Amanda Seyfried (the Mamma Mia! films, Ted 2) as Daphne; Kiersey Clemons (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, TV’s Angie Tribeca) as Falcon Fury pilot Dee Dee Skyes; Ken Jeong (Crazy Rich Asians, The Hangover trilogy) as the Falcon Force’s Dynomutt; Tracy Morgan (What Men Want, TV’s 30 Rock) as Captain Caveman; and Frank Welker (the Transformers franchise) as Scooby-Doo.

SCOOB! is directed by Tony Cervone, Annie Award nominee for the feature Space Jam and two-time Emmy nominee for his work on Duck Dodgers. The film is produced by Pam Coats and Allison Abbate. Serving as executive producers are Adam Sztykiel, Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Jesse Ehrman, Dan Povenmire, and Chris Columbus. The screenplay is by Adam Sztykiel and Jack C. Donaldson & Derek Elliott and Matt Lieberman, story by Matt Lieberman and Eyal Podell & Jonathon E. Stewart, based on characters created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Cervone’s creative team includes editors Ryan Folsey and Vanara Taing, and composer Tom Holkenborg.

*The film is rated PG for some action, language and rude/suggestive humor.

Comments?

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Other relevant links:
"S.C.O.O.B." (Animated Scooby Doo theatrical movie reboot) Pre-Release Discussion (Spoilers)

WB Invites Fans to ‘Pawtastic’ Virtual Premiere for ‘Scoob!’

 

[Pooky]

Looks like the release is limited to the US and Canada for now, or at least it's not out in the UK

 

[DeanBurrito25]

Grey Delisle-Griffin gives her thoughts:

Meanwhile, on Matthew Lillard's end:

These characters had voices before the current cast, they will have new ones afterwards. It's not a personal attack, it's the nature of the business for better or worse and I'm positive seasoned industry professionals like Griffin understand that. Both Frank Welker and Billy West were in SCOOB, for what it's worth. We wouldn't even have Lillard (a mostly live action actor) as Shaggy had his performance in the 2002 adaptation not been so well received. It's a complicated matter.

 

[wiley207]

I sure enjoyed it, even with the somewhat different designs and voices. It was fun seeing the Scooby gang, Dynomutt and the son of the Blue Falcon, Captain Caveman and Dick Dastardly all in the same movie like that, and I LOVED all the Hanna-Barbera in-jokes in the background and such; an advantage of it going to VOD is that you can pause to get a good look at the background jokes (I got a chuckle out of the scene at Takamoto Bowling, with Scooby bowling like Fred Flintstone. Did anyone else also catch the Hex Girls poster in the amusement park?) I also enjoyed how Dastardly was somewhat of a master of disguise, with way better masks and suits than he used in the original "Wacky Races!" I also liked the flashback to when they were young; it did give me these "Pup Named Scooby-Doo" vibes, even if it didn't have Red Herring. They even used plenty of Hanna-Barbera sound effects, but largely only in comic moments (especially with Scooby and Shaggy, Brian the Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, and Dick Dastardly and Muttley); otherwise they'd be more realistic or modern, typical for a CGI animated film (I wasn't surprised to hear the "Dolby Digital Thunderclap" at one point, like in "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated" and the two live-action theatrical films and various DTV animated movies.)
The main plot was a nice break from the usual mystery formula, and a good start to this H-B Cinematic Universe. But there were a few things I DIDN'T like, such as some of the use of pop songs, Fred and the Blue Falcon's scatterbrained ditziness (with Brian and Dynomutt, it was pretty much the opposite of the original show!) and that pterodactyl droppings gag... ewwww!!! But otherwise it was such a fun movie. I'm glad I rented it, and soon I should actually be buying it.

 

[Light Lucario]

Meanwhile, on Matthew Lillard's end:

These characters had voices before the current cast, they will have new ones afterwards. It's not a personal attack, it's the nature of the business for better or worse and I'm positive seasoned industry professionals like Griffin understand that. Both Frank Welker and Billy West were in SCOOB, for what it's worth. We wouldn't even have Lillard (a mostly live action actor) as Shaggy had his performance in the 2002 adaptation not been so well received. It's a complicated matter.

I'm sure that she does understand that, but I can also see why it would still hurt for her to see someone else performing the role she has had for so long. It might be a different matter if she was unable to do the role in the movie for whatever reason, but since it was basically done because the studios wanted to get bigger names to attract people to the movie, that might make it sting more for her personally.

 

[Frontier]

I'm sure that she does understand that, but I can also see why it would still hurt for her to see someone else performing the role she has had for so long. It might be a different matter if she was unable to do the role in the movie for whatever reason, but since it was basically done because the studios wanted to get bigger names to attract people to the movie, that might make it sting more for her personally.

Yeah, I mean, Grey has had roles with frequent turnover rates (like any of the Big Two Superhero cartoons) but she's basically been the voice of Daphne for close to a few decades by now and took over the role from one of her mentors, Mary Kay Bergman.

So I can understand why it would be hard to deal with being replaced with stunt casting, even if I think Amanda Seyfried sounds fine. But it's a fairly major and frequent problem in the voice casting industry.

 

[Fone Bone]

I'm sure that she does understand that, but I can also see why it would still hurt for her to see someone else performing the role she has had for so long. It might be a different matter if she was unable to do the role in the movie for whatever reason, but since it was basically done because the studios wanted to get bigger names to attract people to the movie, that might make it sting more for her personally.

Do you know the messed up thing to me? Nobody is gonna see this movie based on the voice cast. Nobody sees a Scooby Doo kids cartoon and says, "That looks dumb, but Amanda Seyfriend and Zac Efron are in it so I'll check it out." Not kids, not adults, not anybody. The studio basically screwed over the regular cast for no financial incentive whatsoever. Simply because it's been decided by studio execs that cartoon movies now need to be voiced by celebrities who have no training in voice acting. It's not only infuriating, it's tiresome.

I blame Dreamworks for starting the trend. Shrek does not get the proper disdain in pop culture for ruining all animated movies past it it deserves. It really should. It sucked and made all animated movies suck.

 

[Zanneck]

Do you know the messed up thing to me? Nobody is gonna see this movie based on the voice cast. Nobody sees a Scooby Doo kids cartoon and says, "That looks dumb, but Amanda Seyfriend and Zac Efron are in it so I'll check it out." Not kids, not adults, not anybody. The studio basically screwed over the regular cast for no financial incentive whatsoever. Simply because it's been decided by studio execs that cartoon movies now need to be voiced by celebrities who have no training in voice acting. It's not only infuriating, it's tiresome.

I blame Dreamworks for starting the trend. Shrek does not get the proper disdain in pop culture for ruining all animated movies past it it deserves. It really should. It sucked and made all animated movies suck.

I have no intention of sitting down to this "movie" anytime soon, since I'm not a A Scooby Doo fan like most of you (not even Mystery Incorporated, the so-called best effort, entices me all that much, to be honest.).

I'm here, because I love this comment, @Fone Bone. Shrek is overrated and the real cause of a lot of grief for American animated films to come before it and especially now. Not a day goes by where I miss 2D American films, myself. At the same time, films not bogged down by pop culture refs is something we should be past by now and we're simply only getting past that so much in general, only to see a quiet resurgence of it, now - thanks to obviously bad films like this, for example.

 

[Yippee Coyote]

So I personally thought there were some really captivating elements of the story, although I feel nostalgia will cloud the judgement of many in reviewing the movie as a standalone element of the franchise. We've already seen that with those so hung up on the voice actors. Keep in mind that TTGO! has the original TT main voice cast yet that didn't save the show's reputation either, so I think the argument is being overused in this case.

The Easter eggs were fun, the fact they reference so many important figures of the Hanna Barbera studio besides the main duo was pretty neat too. I never expected a HB character to utter "Messick" before.

There was also a gag regarding the TimeWarner/AT&T acquisition that might've flown over most viewers' heads. If you go to 0:28 in the clip below you can hear a 4-tone sound as the staircase on the Falcon Fury illuminates.

If it sounds familiar, that was the mnemonic for AT&T used in their branding for several years much like how Cartoon Network & Boomerang have had their own recently.

 

[Light Lucario]

Do you know the messed up thing to me? Nobody is gonna see this movie based on the voice cast. Nobody sees a Scooby Doo kids cartoon and says, "That looks dumb, but Amanda Seyfriend and Zac Efron are in it so I'll check it out." Not kids, not adults, not anybody. The studio basically screwed over the regular cast for no financial incentive whatsoever. Simply because it's been decided by studio execs that cartoon movies now need to be voiced by celebrities who have no training in voice acting. It's not only infuriating, it's tiresome.

While I don't think that the celebrity voice actors would be the main turning point for people to see the movie, it is basically a way to give a movie more attention. It still isn't the best idea, but it has proven to financially work, which is want studios want at the end of the day. They might have wanted to make it a bit more distinct from the typical Scooby Doo movies that com out every year, but that might be giving them too much benefit of the doubt when it's almost entirely because they wanted more money with more popular actors attached to the characters.

I blame Dreamworks for starting the trend. Shrek does not get the proper disdain in pop culture for ruining all animated movies past it it deserves. It really should. It sucked and made all animated movies suck.

To be fair, celebrity voice acting existed before Shrek. It definitely made it more popular and profitable, but it wasn't the first animated movie to pull that kind of stunt.

 

[Fone Bone]

While I don't think that the celebrity voice actors would be the main turning point for people to see the movie, it is basically a way to give a movie more attention. It still isn't the best idea, but it has proven to financially work, which is want studios want at the end of the day. They might have wanted to make it a bit more distinct from the typical Scooby Doo movies that com out every year, but that might be giving them too much benefit of the doubt when it's almost entirely because they wanted more money with more popular actors attached to the characters.

The only extra attention the voice cast has gotten is negative. There has been no buzz attached to the project over the celebrity voice casting. To the contrary, it's been widely panned.

To be fair, celebrity voice acting existed before Shrek. It definitely made it more popular and profitable, but it wasn't the first animated movie to pull that kind of stunt.

There have been celebrity voices in animated films before, yes. But Dreamworks started the trend of having people voice cartoon characters with voices completely unsuited for animation like Cameron Diaz and Will Smith. Shrek was the first property that hired actors for their box office marque rather than their talent, and after that it was normalized. I'm still pissed off about it.

 

[Light Lucario]

The only extra attention the voice cast has gotten is negative. There has been no buzz attached to the project over the celebrity voice casting. To the contrary, it's been widely panned.

I'm sure it helps that I haven't kept up with news about the movie that much, but I really haven't heard that much negative feedback on the voice acting yet. I haven't watched any reviews on the movie yet since I'll probably rent it at some point, so that could be a factor as well.

There have been celebrity voices in animated films before, yes. But Dreamworks started the trend of having people voice cartoon characters with voices completely unsuited for animation like Cameron Diaz and Will Smith. Shrek was the first property that hired actors for their box office marque rather than their talent, and after that it was normalized. I'm still pissed off about it.

At this point, I think I'm just too used to celebrity voice actors for animated movies. I don't blame you for being upset about it because it's pretty rare for it to really work and they are going for name brand recognition over talent, but it's so typical now that it's hard for me to get annoyed at despite the practice itself being pretty bad.

 

[spyke]

I thought that this movie was pretty good. It's pretty apparent that this movie was heavily influenced by SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERY INC. My only complaint was the recasting of the Mystery Inc gang via stunt casting. They could have saved a heck of a lot of money if they had kept the the voice actors from the last several Scooby-Doo TV series and movies. The stunt casting should have only been relegated to the other HB characters.

 

[SweetShop209]

I thought that this movie was pretty good. It's pretty apparent that this movie was heavily influenced by SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERY INC. My only complaint was the recasting of the Mystery Inc gang via stunt casting. They could have saved a heck of a lot of money if they had kept the the voice actors from the last several Scooby-Doo TV series and movies. The stunt casting should have only been relegated to the other HB characters.

Well, the director for the movie was co-creator of Mystery Incorporated, thus explaining any influences.

 

[Saotome2U]

I'm gonna check the movie out, maybe this weekend. Admittedly, I've been apprehensive of watching because honestly, none of the trailers really interested me. To get right down to it, I'm pretty much a Scooby-Doo superfan. Have loved the series since I first watched it 35 years ago (minus the Scrappy years of course, those don't exist IMO )

From what I've seen so far, I'm not so much bothered by the new voice casting, though yes, I would have loved if the current cast got it (except for Kate Micucci as Velma; she's good for the comedic Be Cool era, but it still doesn't "fit" well for me). My criticisms for the voices more comes from if the actor "fits" the role and how the character is portrayed. I'm okay with Velma being Latina, but I think her voice should still be nasally (ala Nicole Jaffe, Pat Stevens and Mindy Cohn), so Gina Rodriguez?...ehh, I don't think so. I think Zac Effron does a good job as Fred, but I've never been a fan of "stupid" Fred. Only in the Pup Named era did I enjoy him being ditzy. Amanda Seyfried isn't bad as Daphne, so that's okay, and Will Forte is perhaps the best of the bunch. His Shaggy gets a thumbs up in my book.

Honestly, I'm more annoyed with any Scooby-Doo series where they don't do animate the characters' walk animation, or either of the 2 run animations the right way (though they mostly only animate the Where Are You run animations).

Regardless, I'll check it out to give a fair shot to it, especially since it was directed by the co-creator of Mystery Incorporated, as that series I still consider the BEST Scooby-Doo series since Where Are You?, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and The Scooby-Doo show.

 

[Jonwo]

Celebrities voicing animated characters was been a thing before Shrek or even Aladdin. Universal and Hanna Barbera replaced Janet Waldo with Tiffany in Jetsons the Movie and that was in 1990!

 

[TnAdct1]

Celebrities voicing animated characters was been a thing before Shrek or even Aladdin. Universal and Hanna Barbera replaced Janet Waldo with Tiffany in Jetsons the Movie and that was in 1990!

Even before then, you had a number of animated films promoting the celebrity cast for adult viewers. Among the examples include the 1986 My Little Pony movie, Oliver and Company, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and the Filmation "sequels".

 

[TFormersMarvel]

Ever since the release of the film, some of the visual staff for SCOOB! have released some of their production work online.

Lead character designer and 2D animator Sandro Cleuzo (Emperor's New Groove; Klaus) posted a clean final design for Dastardly, along with an expression guide for Young Shaggy.

Spoiler: Dick Dastardly

Spoiler: Young Shaggy

Though things get super interesting when we bring in Zac Retz (Spiderverse)'s concept art, with contributions of Evgeni Tomov (Arthur Christmas; Mary Poppins Returns) and Sandro Cleuzo's 3D and 2D work.

Retz's work seems to play the H-B Crossover pitch, with appearances of Grape Ape, Jabberjaw, Atom Ant, Penelope Pitstop the rest of the Wacky Racers. Even Dick Dastardly, at one point, has a more circus ringleader motif combined with his classic lanky design.

Spoiler: Hanna Barbera Cinematic Universe

Moments of a darker tone also seem to present in Reitz's concept arts, along with a greater emphasis on supernatural existing (kaiju-like creatures and different empowered artifacts). Compared to the actual film, it seems that Mystery Inc. might have been together for a lot longer as a unit.

Spoiler: Scoobynatural...for kids!

John Nevarez (Disney * Pixar's Coco) further adds with a depiction of modern Dastardly confronting a Charon-like figure in the Underworld, and Grape Ape and Mystery Inc. trying to shut the Gates.

Furthermore, some vehicle redesign studies of the Mystery Machine (some of them reminiscent of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, Get A Clue! take), along with an alternate extended flashback of Shaggy's parents gifting him Scoob. If you have the film on iTunes or Vudu, you should have access to that deleted scene.

Spoiler: Gates, Apes, Cars and Parents

Finally, Tom Caulfield (Tangled: The Series) posted some character concept sketches of Shaggy and Scooby with the H-B characters.

Spoiler: Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Crew

Caulfield has also been answering some questions, which makes it appear that his content and presence were also very early in development. He was "bummed Penelope didn’t make it, but Dee Dee was a nice surprise" and "[the film] change[ed] Blue Falcon from when I was on it, Dynomutt too."

This post is just the tip of the iceberg of the released content, so I hope that if you're still interested, you'll check out each creator's posts on the matter for stuff I didn't get to share.

 

[Jonwo]

I think if they don't do a Scoob sequel, WB should consider doing a Wacky Races movie set in the same world with the core Wacky Racers and a sprinkle of other HB characters

 

[Eldorado]

I think if they don't do a Scoob sequel, WB should consider doing a Wacky Races movie set in the same world with the core Wacky Racers and a sprinkle of other HB characters

That's the whole point of a Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe. So that EVERY cartoon made by the company could all crossover with each other. In fact, I imagine the Wacky Races movie with Dastardly and Muttley as the anti-heroes of the movie, and combining elements of The Perils of Penelope Pitstop would have The Hooded Claw as the MAIN villain.