Coming
nineteen years after the cowardly canine detective’s debut, SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF ($20) is something of a creative low point
for the character. This movie length program jettisons most of the members
of Mystery Inc., as well as the premise that the SCOOBY-DOO series
was built upon. Instead, SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF
tells the story of a racecar driving Shaggy, who ends up being transformed
into a werewolf by Count Dracula, because the vampire wants him to drive
in a monster auto race after his regular werewolf retires to Florida.
Of
course, Shaggy doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life as a werewolf
and pleads with the Count to be made human again. Dracula agrees to change
Shaggy back to his former self, but only if Shaggy consents to drive in
the monster auto rally and wins the race. What follows is a series of
dirty tricks perpetrated by the Count’s hunchback henchmen to keep Shaggy
from winning the race and remaining a reluctant werewolf forever. SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF was obviously aimed a more juvenile audience
than the classic SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? TV series- as the presence
of Scrappy-Doo and the level of the film’s humor will certainly attest.
Still, younger kids will certainly enjoy SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT
WEREWOLF for its goofy humor, however longtime adult fans of Scooby-Doo
might be better served by picking up one of the newer direct to video
adventures, all of which have shown up on DVD.
Warner
Home Video has made SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF available
on DVD in a full screen presentation appropriate to the original television
broadcast. The quality of the animation is decidedly low budget and the
transfer is an accurate representation of that fact. While the image is
definitely watchable, it has a very flat appearance and many shots appear
decidedly soft. Colors are generally vibrant and are reproduced without
any significant signs of smearing. Digital compression artifacts never
really make their presence known on the DVD.
As
you might have guessed, this 1988 television production features a monaural
soundtrack, which has been encoded into Dolby Digital. The sound has that
slightly compressed television quality, but it is nothing that the kids
will notice. Dialogue is always completely understandable, so one isn’t
likely to miss the jokes- even the groaners that are worth missing. French
and Spanish language soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are
English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few extras.
Get The Picture shows how to draw Scooby-Doo. There is a
Scooby And Shaggy Love To Eat music video, plus And
The Race Is On interactive game included on the DVD. In a brilliant
bit of marketing, a trailer for the upcoming live action SCOOBY-DOO
movie has been provided on the DVD. Trailers for other Scooby-Doo DVD
titles and other animated titles close out the DVD’s extras. SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF is also DVD-ROM enabled, offering game
demos and web links.
SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF doesn’t
represent the cowardly canine detective’s finest ninety minutes, but younger
kids will find it funny and diverting. Older fans should stick with DVD
titles like SCOOBY
DOO’S ORIGINAL MYSTERIES or SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE ALIEN INVADERS.
Coming
nineteen years after the cowardly canine detective’s debut, SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF ($20) is something of a creative low point
for the character. This movie length program jettisons most of the members
of Mystery Inc., as well as the premise that the SCOOBY-DOO series
was built upon. Instead, SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF
tells the story of a racecar driving Shaggy, who ends up being transformed
into a werewolf by Count Dracula, because the vampire wants him to drive
in a monster auto race after his regular werewolf retires to Florida.
Of
course, Shaggy doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life as a werewolf
and pleads with the Count to be made human again. Dracula agrees to change
Shaggy back to his former self, but only if Shaggy consents to drive in
the monster auto rally and wins the race. What follows is a series of
dirty tricks perpetrated by the Count’s hunchback henchmen to keep Shaggy
from winning the race and remaining a reluctant werewolf forever. SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF was obviously aimed a more juvenile audience
than the classic SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? TV series- as the presence
of Scrappy-Doo and the level of the film’s humor will certainly attest.
Still, younger kids will certainly enjoy SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT
WEREWOLF for its goofy humor, however longtime adult fans of Scooby-Doo
might be better served by picking up one of the newer direct to video
adventures, all of which have shown up on DVD.
Warner
Home Video has made SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF available
on DVD in a full screen presentation appropriate to the original television
broadcast. The quality of the animation is decidedly low budget and the
transfer is an accurate representation of that fact. While the image is
definitely watchable, it has a very flat appearance and many shots appear
decidedly soft. Colors are generally vibrant and are reproduced without
any significant signs of smearing. Digital compression artifacts never
really make their presence known on the DVD.
As
you might have guessed, this 1988 television production features a monaural
soundtrack, which has been encoded into Dolby Digital. The sound has that
slightly compressed television quality, but it is nothing that the kids
will notice. Dialogue is always completely understandable, so one isn’t
likely to miss the jokes- even the groaners that are worth missing. French
and Spanish language soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are
English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few extras.
Get The Picture shows how to draw Scooby-Doo. There is a
Scooby And Shaggy Love To Eat music video, plus And
The Race Is On interactive game included on the DVD. In a brilliant
bit of marketing, a trailer for the upcoming live action SCOOBY-DOO
movie has been provided on the DVD. Trailers for other Scooby-Doo DVD
titles and other animated titles close out the DVD’s extras. SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF is also DVD-ROM enabled, offering game
demos and web links.
SCOOBY-DOO
AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF doesn’t
represent the cowardly canine detective’s finest ninety minutes, but younger
kids will find it funny and diverting. Older fans should stick with DVD
titles like 