Scooby Doo

Scooby Doo is a beloved children’s cartoon which has been airing on television shows for twenty-four seasons. It involves following a gang of mystery solvers, which involves the characters Velma, Shaggy, Daphne, Fred, and a dog named Scooby Doo. In 2002, this cartoon show jumped to the big screen. A movie based off the series was created.  However, instead of being a cartoon, this film was going to be a live adaption of the show. As an eleven your old fan of the series, I was excited to go to a theater to see the movie. Unfortunately, the special effects used to create the character Scooby Doo were so atrocious that it hindered my experience as a viewer.

            For the live adaption of Scooby Doo, special effects were going to be relied upon to create the character of Scooby Doo. To fit in with the live human actors, relying on hand drawn traditional animation could not work for the film as it did for the cartoon. Instead, it would need to be created by computers, “which produce images that are created digitally” (Giannetti 33). The goal of creating such an animation is to make it appear as close to a realistic dog as possible. The end result, however, had no such luck. Scooby looked so forged that it appeared he belonged in a movie like Shrek. This took away from the credibility of Scooby’s character. Credibility is key to allow audiences to trust and validate what they are viewing (Lunsford 42).  As a viewer, it was hard to take any scene with Scooby seriously. He could not blend in with the rest of the live cast. The film was asking the audience to make a large willing suspension of disbelief to get past the poor animation. Seeing as Scooby is a major role in the film, the end result was a loss of sincerity for the entire film.

            The character of Scooby Doo is one of the most recognizable and loved icons in the United States. His voice and call of “Scooby dooby doo” is identifiable by almost all. However, the poor special effects which created his character in the film did not only cost this role its credibility, but the likability of Scooby Doo as well. It was almost annoying to watch Scooby as a clear digital animation wondering around with the actors. This inability to fall in love with Scooby Doo due to his unrealistic nature was a huge hindrance to my viewing experience. Here was a character that I had watched for years. Before, however, he had been a cartoon in a cartoon setting. Scooby was not distracting because he blended in with the other characters. As a digital simulation, his character was impossible to like because of the distraction he caused in every scene.

            The special effects used in the film Scooby Doo ruined the entire movie. It was distracting from the plot line and the other characters. It created a lack of credibility for the entire film, and the animation caused it to be impossible to like one of history’s most lovable characters. Scooby Doo’s special effects earn 1 out of 3 tickets.