scooby_doo | "Scooby Doo: Spooky Games" review

Turns out there’s a brand new mini-movie (in the style of recent films like Camp Scare) included in the recent Laff-A-Lympics DVD. When I heard this, I just HAD to get it.

You may be wondering if a new, 30 minute movie is worth paying $15 for the DVD. I’m here to give you a run down so you can decide for yourself.

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It starts with the gang catching a ghost at a track meet.

A British woman on a goofy segway notices how Shaggy outruns all the professional track stars and asks him if he ever thought of running competitively.

Turns out she’s a scout for the World Invitational Games. The “World Invitational Games” are basically the Olympics; but for some reason (copyright?) the cartoon doesn’t call it that.

Shaggy is unsure. But Scooby ends up accepting the offer for him because he likes the idea of being Shaggy’s coach

Anyhoo….CUTE ANIMATED INTRO!!

There’s no song this time; but we get peppy instrumental music instead. And, unlike the other recent animated movie, all the characters look adorable in the intro (even Velma! YAY!)!

Apparently, the British TSA will let anyone board a plane. XD

Apparently, ping-pong is an Olympic sport now. Who knew?

It’s nice to see the franchise remember that old-school Shaggy was a pretty good athlete. Having him compete in the Not-Olympics is a really cool idea for a movie!

Anyhoo, the gang touches down in London

And they get primo seats to watch Shaggy compete for America!

America! ZOINKS YEAH!!

And the British Lady goes on about the super rare and valuable statue that Britain acquired (and totally won’t be a big plot point later on)

Oh, surprise surprise, Shaggy gets along famously with the Jamaican team.

During the games, Shaggy and the gang get to stay in Not-Olympics village.

And the girls get to meet the handsome American pole vaulter. And Fred pouts like a baby because another pretty boy is getting more attention than him

So Freddy claims to be a super awesome pole vaulter in order to get the girls to start paying attention to him again.

Unfortunately, Fred’s plan doesn’t work out too well.

I don’t want to go on anymore because I don’t want to spoil it. So I’ll just say that a giant monster stirs up trouble and the gang has to stop it from ruining the games and keeping Shaggy and Pole Boy from getting gold medals. It’s short and quickly paced; but the mystery is well done and, like all recent movies, it’s really pretty to look at. It probably isn’t worth it to pay $15 just for this movie; but if you ever see it on TV or in the discount bin, it’s definitely worth a look.

As for the actual Laff-A-Lympics show (i.e. the thing that takes up 99% of this DVD set)….it’s boring as dirt. I really hate to say it, but it’s true. Even for hardcore Hanna-Barbera fans (like me), the novelty of seeing all these different characters from different shows hanging out together gets old pretty fast. They don’t have cool adventures or do anything fun; they just compete in sports games and the good characters have to deal with the cheating villains.

SPOILER ALERT: The villains never win despite all the cheating they do. And no one ever thinks to ban them from playing even though they actively try to sabotage every game. And, despite the fact that you see them in the intro; Velma, Daphne, and Fred never make an appearance.
There, you now know the plot of every Laff-A-Lympics episode.