publication date: Mar 30, 2010
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author/source: Alex Bell
It's hard to believe that
Scooby-Doo has been scouting out
ghosts, ghouls and goblins since 1969. Scooby-Doo and his gang – Freddie, Daphne, Velma and Scooby's sidekick Shaggy – spent the 70s and 80s driving around in their customised van, the
Mystery Machine, solving supernatural
puzzles in all manner of
spooky locations.
Adults of a certain age remember the series
fondly, mainly for the
stock endings that saw the team unmask the villain wearing some kind of
ghostly disguise in order to conduct a convenient haunting. The
villain would grumble and curse "
those meddling kids" a phrase that has practically entered the contemporary language.
Abracadabra-Doo is a feature-length
film created using the
classic Scooby-Doo formula.
Toby, five, knows nothing of the
Scooby-Doo history. To him Scooby-Doo and Shaggy were bumbling,
entertaining characters, who took the edge off the
scary-faced villains through their exaggerated fear and
slapstick escapes.
I'm happy to say that this
new film stays visually
faithful to the
70s originals, with just a subtle scattering of
computer-generated effects. Set at the
Whirlen Merlin Magic Academy, an ancient Irish castle with definite shades of
Hogwarts, where Velma's sister
Madelyn is studying under the master magician, the team are soon
knee deep in screaming
banshees, a soaring gryphon and
mysterious characters.
Abracadabra-Doo held Toby's attention for the entire
hour and 15 minutes and he claimed not to be
scared although there were a couple of moments that might have made
nervous children jump. He said it
wasn't suitable for his
two-year old sister, a feeling I shared, and he relished the "older" qualities of a
programme about ghosts and monsters.
Reassuringly the adventure includes all the
essential Scooby-Doo elements – a creepy castle, creepy groundskeeper and even a
creepy businessman who wants to buy the castle from the owners a reduced price. The
traditional costumes and familiar team were the part that made it
fun for me to watch with Toby but the
real enjoyment was in his
delight at Scooby and gang's victory over the
villains.
Abracadabra-Doo made for a very
fun movie night and is available from Amazon. To order,
click the link below:
Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo [DVD] [2010]
