Scooby Doo Movie
Scooby Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang meddle their way into a bona fide mystery that leads them into murky and possibly supernatural waters. Though Scooby's whereabouts are currently unknown, his clever crime-solving cohorts are, as always, on the case.
Release Date: June 14, 2002 Nationwide.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER
| Starring: | Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Rowan Atkinson |
| Raja Gosnell | |
| Charles Roven, Richard Suckle | |
| Written by: | James Gunn (II), Craig Titley, James Gunn, Andrew Gunn, John August |
| Distributor: | Warner Brothers |
Animation Note: This movie will be live-action with CGI animation for Scooby-Doo and possibly other characters (ghosts, boogie-men, etc.).
Cast Note: (2/20/02) An anonymous tip has come in that Scott Innes may have been "dumped" (their words, not mine) from the project as the voice of Scooby-Doo. If it's true, there should be further confirmation from WB soon.
Who's Linda Cardellini?: The young actress playing the frumpy Velma is best-known as a costar of TV's Freaks & Geeks.
Characters: This long-running series has basically 6 central characters, 5 of which will definitely be in the movie (the 6th, Scrappy Doo, won't):
Based upon: The various Saturday morning animated TV shows that started in 1969 with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, and continued through the late 1980's, often with Scrappy-Doo as well. The last few years have seen a Scooby-Doo renaissance with a series of video movies. Here's a bit of trivia... Scooby-Doo's cast was loosely based upon the characters in the Beatnik teen sitcom, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. (well, not Scooby)
Series Premise: The show itself was about a band of 4 teenagers who travelled around in a van, running a private investigation business called Mystery, Inc. They specialized in ghosts, monsters, etc., though the menaces usually turned out to be one of the supporting characters in a mask.
Premise: The hard details about this story aren't yet known, except that it will be very much in the vein of the original series, and also compared by WB to Ghostbusters and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The very broad plot summary is given as "Scooby and the gang will be called upon to save the world". (source: The Hollywood Reporter, 4/14/00) Undoubtedly, the bad guys would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddlin' kids. (3/14/02) More specifically, the story revolves around Spooky Island, a strange place where a magical force is being awakened which may make slaves of the entire human race if the Mystery Machine kids don't stop the dialobolical plan first.
Premise Note: There were rumors that this movie would be similar to The Brady Bunch Movie, with the kids being displaced in time, etc., but that was most likely the Mike Myers script that will not be used.
Filming: Filming started on this movie on February 13th, 2001 in Australia, in Queensland and the Gold Coast. (6/30/01) Filming wrapped earlier this month.
Greg's Preview Thoughts: (4/17/00) This movie has been one of those that online fans have been curious about for years, but this site waited until WB was clearly ready to start filming soon to cover it, which with a 4/14/00 announcement that the film is fasttracked, appears to be soon/now. There aren't a lot of hard details, though fans the 'net over have had fun trying to guess-cast the various parts. Since WB has a Shaggy and a Daphne already in talks, I'll just throw out a suggestion that Mena Suvari (American Beauty) could wear really thick glasses and be a funny (and offbeat) choice to play Velma (maybe). As to Fred, you could probably pick any of a dozen different hot young actors (Chris Klein, James Van der Beek, etc.).
Anyway, the next step in the process will either be the assignment of a director, or more firm details about the cast (either signings of Myers and Hewitt or that of other characters). There's no filming date, and also no firm word on when the movie might be released... but all that should be coming soon, now that the project is solidly on its way to actually happening.
(7/7/00) With Mike Myers looking to be tied up in litigation (some of which may prevent him from making any new movies until it's settled) over dieter, that raises some questions about this project. Will Warner Bros. wait patiently for Myers, or will they move ahead with someone else as Shaggy? Signs seem to point to the latter, especially since Myers has expressed disinterest of late in the part anyway. Maybe we'll hear more soon.
(7/24/00) AICN has posted a rumor that Raja Gosnell (Big Momma's House) may be leaving the Fantastic Four project to helm this movie instead. If it's true, I think it's a good move on everyone's part. I wasn't particularly fond of Never Been Kissed, but Big Momma's House was consistently funny, and that's what you need, first of all, with a Scooby-Doo movie. Get the funny down, and all else will follow. We'll hear soon enough if this rumor is on the money or not.
(10/17/00) Variety confirms that Raja Gosnell has signed to direct, with filming to start in February, 2001 in Australia. Expect casting news soon. One person you won't be hearing about is Mike Myers, who is no longer in the running to play Shaggy. Officially, Warner Bros. isn't giving any casting news just yet, but earlier this year, there was a buzz that Jennifer Love Hewitt might play Velma. However, the timing conflicts with her role as the devil in The Devil and Daniel Webster, so you can scratch her off the list.
Another name that's been buzzing around for awhile is Dustin Diamond, the young actor who plays "Screech" on Saved by the Bell. Last year, an image of Diamond as Shaggy showed up online (about halfway down this Dark Horizons news page) that is reportedly legit, but I have my suspicions... there's a few things (the eyes, the cut of the shirt) that look "fan-made" to me. PC's are capable of amazing things. Regardless of whether that image is real, Diamond has indeed been mentioned by so many sources you can't rule him out entirely, except that he hasn't been mentioned by the one place that matters: Warner Bros..
(10/26/00) If this article at The Age is accurate, the first three actors to be in talks are Christina Ricci, Brendan Fraser, and Heather Graham.
(10/31/00) Corona reports that Go screenwriter John August has come aboard to help with some rewrites while James Gunn was off getting married, on his honeymoon.
(11/3/00) According to The Hollywood Reporter, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar have been approached to play Fred and Daphne, which seems to shoot that Australian newspaper's report that Heather Graham was in talks (who else would she play besides Daphne?).
(11/16/00) According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scream star Matthew Lillard is in talks to play Shaggy... seems logical to me. I'm not sure how excited I am about Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Fred (first of all, he's not tall and blonde; he also doesn't look like the ascot type), but Lillard as Shaggy... they could do worse (like Screech). Should both Prinze and Lillard sign on, this will mark their fourth time working together, after Wing Commander, She's All That, and the upcoming Summer Catch. They're quick on their way to becoming the Gen-Y version of Martin and Lewis.
(12/1/00) According to The Hollywood Reporter, Linda Cardellini of Freaks & Geeks (a short-lived NBC TV show) is in talks to costar as Velma, which throws out the chance of Christina Ricci in the role. Comparing Ricci and Cardellini, it's quite possible this came down to salary (though Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar earn roughly what Ricci does). Speaking of the rest of the cast, they are also apparently signed now. There's still no word on what heroic efforts are going to be taken to transform Freddie Prinze, Jr. into the tall, Moosey looking blonde guy, Fred. Perhaps it'll be one of those 3-hour makeup jobs? (haha) I've got no problem with the other three costars, but Prinze just doesn't look like Fred, and imagining what he'd look like in the role is just... scary. This is not an anti-Prinze thing; it's just a "you just don't look like Fred" thing. That tall blonde guy from Beverly Hills, 90210 wasn't available? Going back to Linda Cardellini, her signing on may depend upon whether a suitable schedule can be worked out between this film and Uncle.
(2/19/01) By way of Corona (and Australia's TV Week) comes the news that Isla Fisher is playing Mary Jane, a girl that Shaggy falls for. Of course, I don't think it's a surprise to anybody that Shaggy loves the Mary Jane...
(2/22/01) The first set image has shown up online; here's an IGN FilmForce page with a Mystery Machine photo. So, it looks like, if you were worried they were going to revamp the van's design, you don't have many worries... that's pretty much exactly the sort of 60's-style VW van I would expect to see.
(2/26/01) Just a note here to confirm that yes, Freddie Prinze, Jr. is sporting a blonde dye for his role as Fred. He looks... like Val Kilmer, sort of.
(2/28/01) There's going to be an exclusive first look on Access Hollywood, complete with images from the set: Prinze, Gellar, Lillard, etc. AICN has posted the video of the teaser for the footage, and one thing we learn is that Freddie *does* wear a wig as Fred: a huge fluffy one. Also, Fred doesn't wear an ascot, but gets the same look by wearing a white sweater over a red shirt. They all look a little goofy, but what I can't deny is that they do look a lot like the cartoon characters come to life. The question is... is that a good thing?
(3/5/01) The good lads at Corona got quite a scoop handed to them today from Warner Bros., in the form of a decent group photo, and a working logo graphic. We won't see Scooby himself for some time, I suspect, but we now have an idea of what these actors look like in the costumes (almost exact duplicates) of the cartoons. Obviously, realism is not something they're aiming for.
(7/9/01) Corona has gotten the scoop of who will be providing Scooby's voice. Perhaps not surprisingly, it's Scott Innes, who's done it on the recent direct-to-video features, and other stuff for the past few years. That leaves images of the actual CGI Scooby-Doo as the next Holy Grail of this project (actually, that's always been the biggest question mark).
(9/23/01) Harry Knowles of AICN has scored a fairly major scoop, with two very official looking (though not officially) images of the title pooch. It's pretty much what you'd expect, straddling that lines between a real dog, a CGI-created dog (mostly), and the dog as we see it in cartoons. What means is you have a fairly realistic body (not counting the cartoon's spots) with a very CGI-looking head. Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back actually came pretty close with its own version. The new cast photo also shows Shaggy and Fred in different lights (sort of) than we've seen before. Lillard still looks great as Shaggy. As for Prinze, well, I'm getting to where I'm starting to think that his casting is sort of part of the film's humor... it might work. The blonde hair is cartoonish, but... this is Scooby-Doo. What do you expect?
"Scott Innes was unceremoniously DUMPED as the voice of Scooby, the voice created by his late friend, Don Messick. Scott got the job because he sounded just like Messick. The director and Warner's decided to go with an (unnamed) Australian native for the dog's voice. Scott spent 3 days in Australia voicing last June and only found out Feb. 2002 that he didn't get the gig. Scott was also replaced in the new KidsWB series by Shaggy originator Casey Kasem (does Casey need money?) and by Frank Welker doing the voice of Scooby-Doo! Someone must just have a big hate on for Innes."
If Scott Innes is still indeed the voice of Scooby-Doo in the film, I'd expect WB to release some sort of confirmation soon. If it's true, then the confirmation of that would be an official word about whom the new voice is.
(3/14/02) MovieFone.com has scored the scoop of the full trailer, which I have to say... makes it look like a fun movie. I'm still not a fan of Prinze as Fred, but Matthew Lillard's Shaggy voice and performance is uncanny. This is just a teensy taste, but he seems to have the right chemistry with Scooby-Doo (significant, considering Scooby is a CGI creation so he was essentially talking to himself on the set). I'd expect this trailer to appear in theaters tomorrow with Showtime and Ice Age (though trailer placement probably varies by theater).
