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These days, it feels like James Gunn is at the center of the universe. With an incredible run at Marvel Studios thanks to his acclaimed "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy, Gunn has also made a name for himself in bringing some of the best film and television series based on DC Comics. His bold, abrasive, yet surprisingly sweet take on "The Suicide Squad" helped rehabilitate that series' brand reputation amongst audiences, and the sequel series "Peacemaker" is one of the few remnants of the now-defunct DC Extended Universe that will be implemented into the canon of the new Dcu, which Gunn himself is the creative spearhead of, thanks to his position as the co-chairman and co-ceo of DC Studios.

We can debate about whether or not James Gunn's plans for the canon of the new Dcu will confuse general audiences, but it is clear that based on his critical success...

Scooby-Doo has been a fixture in pop culture for over fifty years, spanning dozens of hits, classic television shows, and animated films. The basic story sees Scooby-Doo, a cowardly but lovable great dane, go on spooky adventures with his four friends, Shaggy, Velma, Fred and Daphne, across the world to solve terrifying mysteries with ghouls, goblins and more. While Scooby-Doo didn't coin the term, it's probably the most famous example of the monster-of-the-week formula, where characters encounter and combat a new villain or monster in every episode. The franchise has seen many hits, such as shows like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, What's New, Scooby-Doo? and Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, as well as many hit movies like Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.

However, the franchise has recently died down due to a lack of interest. Although Scooby-Doo has faced low points like this before, he's never been out of...

Scooby-Doo: Where Are You? premiered on CBS in September 1969, creating a legacy that would span generations of fans. According to a Cartoon Research article, the "beloved format and characters almost didn't make it to television" until Fred Silverman changed it into what soon became a hit for "young and older audiences."

Thanks to Silverman getting the Scooby-Doo Franchise off the ground, fans have enjoyed solving mysteries for 55 years. The franchise isn't stopping anytime soon, as Variety reported the exciting Netflix live-action series news in March. After being announced in April 2024, the streamer confirmed that they ordered an eight-episode live-action television series for Scooby-Doo. Although this isn't the first live-action, fans will surely enjoy it.

A Scooby-Doo live-action series is coming to Netflix!

In this modern reimagining, old friends Shaggy and Daphne team up at summer camp with scientific townie Velma and the strange but handsome Fred to solve the mystery...

Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? We got some work to do now! This just in: Netflix has officially ordered a live-action Scooby-Doo series, and we couldn't be more excited! Back in April 2024, the show was reportedly said to be in development at Netflix. Now, the streaming giant has given the green light to move forward with production, and the first season will consist of eight episodes.

This won't be the first live-action Scooby-Doo adaptation to hit the screen. The most well-known is the 2002 film Scooby-Doo, starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini, with Neil Fanning providing Scooby's voice. This was followed up by a live-action sequel in 2004, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which saw the return of the original cast.

Then, you had the live-action TV films Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009) and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010) and the live-action direct-to-video film Daphne & Velma (2018). With Netflix's upcoming series,...

The “Scooby-Doo” live-action series is officially moving forward at Netflix, with the streamer picking up the show for eight episodes.

First reported to be in development at Netflix in April 2024 with a script-to-series commitment, the show will delve into how Mystery Inc. and their beloved Great Dane first teamed up together.

As previously reported, Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg serve as writers and showrunners and will also executive produce along with André Nemec and Jeff Pinkner under their Midnight Radio banner. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman will executive produce via Berlanti productions. Warner Bros. Television will produce. Berlanti Productions is currently under an overall deal at Wbtv, with the studio controlling the rights to the Hanna-Barbera characters.

“Mystery, Inc. is back in business! We’re excited to bring Scooby-Doo to TV as a live-action series for the first time,” said Peter Friedlander, vice president of scripted series for Netflix.

The world of Scooby-Doo is wild and wacky and has continued to grow over the past fifty years. Everything from the theme songs to the monsters to the format of the characters have quickly become iconic fixtures in pop culture. It's hard to deny the incredible reputation of Scooby and the Mystery Gang as they continue to grow to this day. And as there's such a long history following Scooby-Doo, many fans have seen quick glimpses into his family tree. Where does he come from? How did he meet Shaggy? And most interestingly, what does Scooby's family tree look like? Through different clues and characters sprinkled throughout the shows, there are several hints and connections fans can make to solve this mystery.

Scooby-Doo’s family tree is one of the quirkiest and most amusing elements of the long-running franchise, often used to introduce eccentric and memorable relatives of the titular Great Dane.

James Gunn is one of the busiest men in Hollywood right now. Following the success of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Gunn jumped ship to become the new co-president of DC Studios with Peter Safran. The filmmaker now spends his days reading and approving scripts from writers and filmmakers, as well as directing his own fair share of new DC projects. But before Gunn became known for superhero films, he worked with another beloved IP, and his two films under the Scooby-Doo label are about to arrive on Netflix.

Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed stream on Netflix on January 1. Gunn wrote the screenplays for both movies, with Raja Gosnell directing. Scooby-Doo was the first attempt to bring the beloved paranormal detectives to the big screen. Released in 2002, the film stars Freddie Prinze Jr. (Fred Jones), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Daphne Blake), Linda Cardellini (Velma Dinkley), Matthew Lillard (Shaggy Rogers...

A 2002 Sarah Michelle Gellar movie is trending on Max after two decades, and its popularity is proof that the actor needs to complete her trilogy. Sarah Michelle Gellar has starred in several acclaimed movies and shows over the course of her career. From her most iconic role as the eponymous Buffy the Vampire Slayer to classic movies like Cruel Intentions, Gellar has had a very successful career. Even with so many highlights, however, the actor has also had some relative misfires and mistakes.

One of Gellar's so-called misfires may not have been a mistake at all. After 22 years, a film Gellar starred in that was widely panned by critics is now experiencing a resurgence in popularity on the streaming service Max. The newfound popularity is a great sign in its own right, but it could even be an indication that Gellar should return to complete the trilogy that was planned but never came to fruition.

“And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids.” This is undoubtedly one of the most famous lines in the history of animated television and practically everyone will recognize it as the most famous phrase from the Scooby-Doo series. The phrase usually signified the end of a case when Scooby and the gang would explain the solution and prove that the guy they caught in the costume red-handed did it. The villain would then utter these words, cursing his ill-fated encounter with Mystery Inc., without which his plan would have succeeded, as it was otherwise perfect.

While the Scooby-Doo series is primarily an animated work, there have been live-action and CGI adaptations of the series as well. And while the CGI Scoob! movie was better received than the live-action movies, no adaptation has managed to come even close to the charm of the original animated series,...

Fire up the mystery van because Netflix is about to close a deal for a live-action TV series based on the Hanna-Barbera animated series Scooby-Doo.

Sources say that the live-action Scooby-Doo project has a script-to-series commitment, which, assuming the script hits the right buttons, would mean it would receive a straight-to-series order. Josh Appelbaum & Scott Rosenberg (Cowboy Bebop) are set to write the series, as well as produce alongside André Nemec and Jeff Pinkner through their Midnight Radio banner. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman will executive produce the project via their Berlanti Productions banner.

Related Scooby-Doo

Created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! debuted in 1960 and revolved around Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Shaggy Rogers, and Scooby-Doo as they solved mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures. Over the decades, the franchise has spawned numerous spin-offs, TV specials, direct-to-video animated movies, comics, video games,...

Mystery Mistress.

After kicking off March with discussions of the Kristen Stewart vehicle Personal Shopper (listen) and Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (listen), we’re getting a little silly with a deep dive into Raja Gosnell‘s live-action cartoon sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) for its 20th anniversary!

In the film, canine sleuth Scooby-Doo (Neil Fanning) once again joins his pals Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar) when the Evil Masked Figure breaks into the Coolsonian Criminology Museum and steals a bunch of costumes that belonged to Mystery Inc.’s previously unmasked foes! What’s worse? E.M.F. is using them to create real monsters! It’s up to the gang to stop the monsters’ attack on Coolsville, while dodging the libelous attacks of television journalist Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone), who is out to discredit their investigations.

Be...

Matthew Lillard has been voicing Shaggy in Scooby-Doo movies and TV series since the first live-action theatrical film in 2002. After replacing original voice actor Casey Kasem, Lillard has lent his voice to Shaggy in every Scooby-Doo animated TV series since 2010, except in the 2023 HBO spinoff Velma. Warner Bros. produced 25 direct-to-video animated Scooby-Doo movies from 2010-2023, all featuring Lillard as Shaggy.

An upcoming installment in the Scooby-Doo franchise will see Matthew Lillard returning as the voice of Shaggy, a role he's been playing in movies and TV shows for the past 22 years. After starring in films like Hackers, Scream, and She's All That, Matthew Lillard took on the role of the snack-loving and easily spooked Shaggy Rogers in the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo film. He later reprised this role in the 2004 sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Years later, when longtime Shaggy voice actor Casey Kasem announced his retirement due to health problems, Lillard...

The live-action Scooby-Doo movies of the early 2000s are a great example of how to do live-action reboots right, capturing the essence of the cartoons while adding a different spin to the characters. The films feature an incredible cast that perfectly brings the characters' quirks to life, especially Matthew Lillard's portrayal of Shaggy, which led to him becoming Shaggy's full-time voice actor in later cartoons. The movies are hilarious, with jokes rooted in the characters and clever throwbacks to the Scooby-Doo franchise, making them a perfect reflection of the cartoon while also serving as an introduction to new viewers.

While they may get a bad reputation, the live-action Scooby-Doo movies of the early 2000s are actually great. With franchise reboots in abundance, and rarely executed well, these movies are a great example of how to do it right. The original live-action Scooby-Doo films managed to capture the...

At the beginning of 2002’s Scooby-Doo, the Gang encounters their worst nightmare. No, not the Luna Ghost nor any of the other spookies they’ve uncovered in their long career as Mystery Incorporated. Rather, the movie begins with the Gang breaking up.

Of course, by the end of the movie, the team has reunited and put their differences besides them. Realizing that they work best as a team, the quintet learns how to share the glory. But in real life, the situation was far more fraught. In a recent interview with Esquire Magazine, Freddie Prinze Jr., who played team leader Fred alongside his wife Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, revealed the drama behind the fictional Gang’s exploits.

The problems began when Prinze Jr. and his co-stars learned that they would not be making the movie they had intended, a PG-13 script by a post-Troma/pre-DC Studios James Gunn.

Years before he became one of Hollywood’s top superhero movie directors, James Gunn wrote two live-action “Scooby Doo” movies. “Scooby-Doo” and “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” both starred Linda Cardellini, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Neil Fanning as the beloved Hanna-Barbera characters, with Raja Gosnell directing both movies. While the material might seem like a natural fit for Gunn’s comedic sensibilities, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” director is not thrilled with how the finished products.

Gunn recently took to Twitter to air his grievances about what he saw as unnecessary interference from Warner Bros. on the films. When an official Netflix Twitter account announced that the films will be streaming on Netflix next month, Gunn responded by expressing his distaste for how the films turned out.

“Destroying mysteries 20 years later,” he wrote.

According to Gunn, the first movie was planned as a comedy aimed at...

Long before James Gunn became one of Hollywood’s most exciting tentpole directors thanks to his work on the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, he got his start in the studio system writing the scripts for Warner Bros.’ live-action “Scooby-Doo” movies. The 2002 “Scooby-Doo” release was directed by Raja Gosnell and was a box office hit with just over $257 million worldwide. The film was followed by a 2004 sequel, “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed,” which reunited Gunn and Gosnell. Gunn recently revealed on Twitter that it was his plan from the start to make Velma “explicitly gay” in his “Scooby-Doo” movies, but Warner Bros. did not allow it and slowly phased out any story points that pertained to Velma’s homosexuality.

Responding to a fan on social media who urged Gunn to return to the Scooby-Doo franchise and make a live-action gay Velma, Gunn wrote, “I tried! In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script.

Though writer/director James Gunn has become known for movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel, as well as his more intimate, but overtly violent work that includes the likes of Super and Slither, it may surprise you to learn that Gunn wrote the screenplays for both 2002's Scooby-Doo and its 2004 follow-up Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. In an attempt to distract people at home from the craziness that is going on in the world around them, Gunn has taken to social media to reveal his plans for the third Scooby Doo movie, and, things get pretty deep for Shaggy and his canine companion.

"The Mystery Ink gang are hired by a town in Scotland who complain they're being plagued by monsters but we discover throughout the film the monsters are actually the victims & Scooby & Shaggy have to come to terms with their own prejudices & narrow belief systems.

An all-new Scooby-Doo animated movie will be hitting theaters next year, and the project is nailing down its lead cast. Reportedly, Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth) has signed on to provide the voice of Shaggy. Having voiced Abraham Lincoln in The Lego Movie and its sequel, Forte is no stranger to voice acting. His brainiac pal Velma has also been cast with the voice of Gina Rodriguez, best known for starring on Jane the Virgin.

Additionally, 30 Rock actor and comedian Tracy Morgan has also joined the cast, set to voice the Hanna-Barbera character Captain Caveman. Frank Welker, known for voicing Fred Jones since 1969 and Scooby-Doo since 2002, will be voicing Scooby in the movie; it's not yet clear if he'll be voicing Fred again as well.

Along with Will Forte as Shaggy and Gina Rodriguez as Velma, Tony Cervone (The Looney Tunes Show) directs, with Chris Columbus (Harry Potter...

Warner Bros. is in the early stages of crafting a Scooby Doo reboot for the big screen, with the studio hiring Randall Green to write the screenplay.

It isn't known if it will be a live-action version like 2002's Scooby Doo and the 2004 sequel Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, or if it will be an animated feature like the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! TV series.

Raja Gosnell directed both Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which starred Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Matthew Lillard as Shaggy, Linda Cardellini as Thelma and Neil Fanning as the voice of Scooby Doo. The original Scooby Doo made $275 million worldwide from an $84 million production budget in 2002, although the 2004 sequel Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed didn't fare quite as well, pulling in $181.4 million worldwide.

Sony is planning a similar reboot with its franchise The Smurfs. After two...

Scooby-Doo is an iconic character, but his film franchise apparently needs to go back to the drawing board.  According to Deadline, Warner Bros. is ready to reboot Scooby-Doo.  The 2002 live-action/CGI picture grossed $275 million worldwide starred Matthew Lillard, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Linda Cardellini as Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma, respectively with Neil Fanning providing the voice of Scooby-Doo.  The sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed only grossed $181 million. So does Scooby-Doo just need a hiatus and a new cast to be a hit again?  Deadline says they're starting from scratch and "setting Randall Green to craft a new adventure."  Spoiler: It was the old man who ran the amusement park.

The post Ruh-Roh: Warner Bros. Rebooting Scooby-doo appeared first on Collider.

According to Variety, Warners is ready to answer the age-old question, “Scooby Doo, where are you?” The studio is prepping an animated feature for the world’s most famous sandwich-eating dog with the same producers that worked to bring the 2002 live-action/CGI hybrid to life. Charles Roven and Richard Suckle will be producing from a script from Matt Lieberman who recently wrote the Short Circuit reboot. The studio isn’t revealing the concept, but they won’t get away with it if the meddling internet has anything to say. The character has been through a ton of incarnations (the best, of course, involving the Harlem Globetrotters), but anytime someone plans new Scooby Doo, there’s a potential for goofy greatness. Naturally it’s difficult to see new stuff without Don Messick voicing Scoobs, but maybe there’s a great vocal talent that can do the character justice. Neil Fanning was passable in the live-action movies, and...

My two-year-old has been known to scream .Doo Doo. on occasion. It.s not that he needs diaper assistance but he wants his favorite show on the television. Scooby Doo and his meddling friends has been a staple for many generations so it shouldn.t surprise that the big screen called and this set collects both films. He.s only two, but he has learned to scream .Scooby Doo. instead of .Doo Doo. (although some may say that the latter might describe these two movies precisely). Those meddling kids, Fred (Freddy Prinze Jr.), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Shaggy (Matthew Lilliard), and their dog Scooby (a CGI creation voiced by Neil Fanning) solve mysteries. Scooby Doo (2002) had the...

Opens

Friday, March 26

In a rare sequel-making situation, the big-screen "Scooby-Doo"'s original director (Raja Gosnell) and original screenwriter (James Gunn) both came back to do "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed."

But rather than taking an if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach to the follow-up to their $150 million-plus-grossing hit, they've instead chosen to take those beloved Hanna-Barbera characters and give them a garish, extreme makeover.

What managed to capture that goofy, far-out charm of the animated series has been reduced to a loud, obnoxious mess of lame humor, CGI overload and (jinkies!) the Mystery Inc. gang stopping the action dead to confront their own personal demons during extended self-analysis sessions.

Given the broad appeal of the first installment, parents will dutifully trot their kids out to this one, though the prevailing level of intensity could prove a little much for the younger ones.

Without the added benefit provided by a summer release, however, not to mention all those nostalgic, curiosity-seeking twenty- and thirtysomethings who came out in droves the first time around, the sequel's got a ghost of a chance of matching the original's total take.

Still basking in the glow of their previous crime-solving caper, Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby (voiced by Neil Fanning) have become the collective toast of their Coolsville, USA, hometown.

In addition to having moved from their humble Mystery Inc. digs into swank corporate headquarters, they're being honored at an evening affair at the Coolsonian Criminology Museum, which is exhibiting the costumes of all the ghoulish villains they've unmasked over the years.

But all hell breaks loose when the Pterodactyl Ghost costume turns out to be The Real Thing and Scoob and company find themselves at the center of an ugly smear campaign.

Could the masked figure responsible be "Old Man" Wickles (Peter Boyle), the former Black Knight Ghost out to avenge his jail time?

Or how about the annoying Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone), a TV reporter who seems intent on making Mystery Inc. look bad?

Or Patrick Wisely (Seth Green), the museum's curator with whom Velma has become incurably smitten?

Actually, the biggest mystery is why Gosnell and Gunn, who nailed the tone so effectively the last time, have seen fit to sabotage the enterprise by, among other things, introducing ridiculous character arcs that have the kids taking time out to look within and do some psychological unmasking.

And then there's the sequence in which brainy Velma is given a slinky Bond-girl makeover (goodbye specs and, apparently, considerable pounds) in order to be more attractive to Wisely.

By the time they're done with all the tinkering, "Scooby-Doo" ends up bearing as much a resemblance to Hanna-Barbera as the recent "Cat in the Hat" did to Dr. Seuss.

Stripped of their defining traits, Gellar and Prinze (who has been given a new, un-Freddie-like do) don't have much to do except run a lot, leaving the physical comedy, as in "all fart jokes all the time," to Lillard and his CGI pal.

But even Lillard, who so convincingly stole the show last time, seems to run out of creative steam as the bug-eyed, frantic guy with the zoned-out Casey Kasem voice, giving the kiddies a lot less opportunity to laugh.

If it hadn't been for those meddling filmmakers ... .

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Mosaic Media Group production

A Raja Gosnell film

Credits:

Director: Raja Gosnell

Producers: Charles Roven, Richard Suckle

Screenwriter: James Gunn

Based on characters created by: Hanna-Barbera Prods.

Executive producers: Brent O'Connor, Kelley Smith-Wait, Joseph Barbera

Director of photography: Oliver Wood

Production designer: Bill Boes

Editor: Kent Beyda

Costume designer: Leesa Evans

Visual effects supervisor: Peter Crosman

Music: David Newman

Cast:

Fred Jones: Freddie Prinze Jr.

Daphne Blake: Sarah Michelle Gellar

Shaggy: Matthew Lillard

Velma Dinkley: Linda Cardellini

Patrick Wisely: Seth Green

Jeremiah Wickles: Peter Boyle

Dr. Jonathan Jacobo: Tim Blake Nelson

Heather Jasper-Howe: Alicia Silverstone

Scooby-Doo (voice): Neil Fanning

MPAA rating: PG

Running time -- 88 minutes...

Opens

Friday, March 26

In a rare sequel-making situation, the big-screen "Scooby-Doo"'s original director (Raja Gosnell) and original screenwriter (James Gunn) both came back to do "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed."

But rather than taking an if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach to the follow-up to their $150 million-plus-grossing hit, they've instead chosen to take those beloved Hanna-Barbera characters and give them a garish, extreme makeover.

What managed to capture that goofy, far-out charm of the animated series has been reduced to a loud, obnoxious mess of lame humor, CGI overload and (jinkies!) the Mystery Inc. gang stopping the action dead to confront their own personal demons during extended self-analysis sessions.

Given the broad appeal of the first installment, parents will dutifully trot their kids out to this one, though the prevailing level of intensity could prove a little much for the younger ones.

Without the added benefit provided by a summer release, however, not to mention all those nostalgic, curiosity-seeking twenty- and thirtysomethings who came out in droves the first time around, the sequel's got a ghost of a chance of matching the original's total take.

Still basking in the glow of their previous crime-solving caper, Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby (voiced by Neil Fanning) have become the collective toast of their Coolsville, USA, hometown.

In addition to having moved from their humble Mystery Inc. digs into swank corporate headquarters, they're being honored at an evening affair at the Coolsonian Criminology Museum, which is exhibiting the costumes of all the ghoulish villains they've unmasked over the years.

But all hell breaks loose when the Pterodactyl Ghost costume turns out to be The Real Thing and Scoob and company find themselves at the center of an ugly smear campaign.

Could the masked figure responsible be "Old Man" Wickles (Peter Boyle), the former Black Knight Ghost out to avenge his jail time?

Or how about the annoying Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone), a TV reporter who seems intent on making Mystery Inc. look bad?

Or Patrick Wisely (Seth Green), the museum's curator with whom Velma has become incurably smitten?

Actually, the biggest mystery is why Gosnell and Gunn, who nailed the tone so effectively the last time, have seen fit to sabotage the enterprise by, among other things, introducing ridiculous character arcs that have the kids taking time out to look within and do some psychological unmasking.

And then there's the sequence in which brainy Velma is given a slinky Bond-girl makeover (goodbye specs and, apparently, considerable pounds) in order to be more attractive to Wisely.

By the time they're done with all the tinkering, "Scooby-Doo" ends up bearing as much a resemblance to Hanna-Barbera as the recent "Cat in the Hat" did to Dr. Seuss.

Stripped of their defining traits, Gellar and Prinze (who has been given a new, un-Freddie-like do) don't have much to do except run a lot, leaving the physical comedy, as in "all fart jokes all the time," to Lillard and his CGI pal.

But even Lillard, who so convincingly stole the show last time, seems to run out of creative steam as the bug-eyed, frantic guy with the zoned-out Casey Kasem voice, giving the kiddies a lot less opportunity to laugh.

If it hadn't been for those meddling filmmakers ... .

Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Mosaic Media Group production

A Raja Gosnell film

Credits:

Director: Raja Gosnell

Producers: Charles Roven, Richard Suckle

Screenwriter: James Gunn

Based on characters created by: Hanna-Barbera Prods.

Executive producers: Brent O'Connor, Kelley Smith-Wait, Joseph Barbera

Director of photography: Oliver Wood

Production designer: Bill Boes

Editor: Kent Beyda

Costume designer: Leesa Evans

Visual effects supervisor: Peter Crosman

Music: David Newman

Cast:

Fred Jones: Freddie Prinze Jr.

Daphne Blake: Sarah Michelle Gellar

Shaggy: Matthew Lillard

Velma Dinkley: Linda Cardellini

Patrick Wisely: Seth Green

Jeremiah Wickles: Peter Boyle

Dr. Jonathan Jacobo: Tim Blake Nelson

Heather Jasper-Howe: Alicia Silverstone

Scooby-Doo (voice): Neil Fanning

MPAA rating: PG

Running time -- 88 minutes...