Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)

*** (out of 4)

Fast and fun feature has Scooby, Shaggy and the gang breaking down in the desert so they walk to the nearest town where they hear about strange lights and cattle missing. Soon the gang is going up against some alien invaders and this is where the mystery begins. SCOOBY-DOO AND THE ALIEN INVADERS is certainly an entertaining little film that offers up a pretty good mystery, a nice story and certainly some very funny moments throughout. I think this one benefits from a short (71-minutes) running time and the fact that it really doesn't have any boring moments or down time. I think the best thing about the film are the actual aliens. I thought the animation throughout the entire thing was extremely good but the look of the aliens was quite good and it was a joy whenever they were in action. Another major plus is that the mystery itself is good. This here certainly isn't going to win any Scooby Snacks for greatness but I found it easy to get caught up in solving the mystery. The vocal work by all was good as usual and this here even threw in some romance with Shaggy and Scooby. The film's best critic was my three-year-old who was constantly having laughing fits throughout the picture. He was obviously having a blast with it. He loves everything Scooby but I've never seen him react so positively to a film.

Scooby and the gang stumble into another mystery involving aliens, government scientists, a suspicious coffee shop cook, a waitress with a crush on Freddy, a cranky garage mechanic, a crazy old man convinced he was abducted by aliens, a nature photographer and her dog.

While this episode follows the same basic formula as the last two Scooby films ("SD on Zombie Island" and "SD & The Witch's Ghost"), there is a new element added: Shaggy and Scooby fall in love. They meet a nature photographer (Crystal) and her dog (Amber) in the desert fall head-over-heels. There is a really fun song Shaggy sings while fantasizing about his and Scooby's lives with Crystal and Amber which is a whole side of Shaggy never seen before.

This film is much more light-hearted that its two predecessors and the villains aren't nearly as wicked as Simone & Lena (Zombie Island) or Ben Ravencroft (Witch's Ghost). Freddy pops off some genuinely funny sarcastic remarks throughout the movie and there are a couple of good pokes at the original TV series ("meddling kids", paint-job on the van, etc.)

Sadly, this will be the last film that features Mary Kay Bergman as the voice of Daphne. She died last November and the ending credit of the film dedicates the film "In Loving Memory of Mary Kay Bergman". She did an admirable job as Daphne and the makers of these films will be hard-pressed to find a worthy replacement.

A must-see for any respectable Scooby fan!

The mystery may be a little weaker than in previous Scooby movies but this is still well worth your time and showcases the huge potential in the revamped Scooby franchise.

The Mystery Inc. gang break down in the desert (déjà vu?) and have to stay the night in a nearby town where the locals rant about aliens kidnapping cattle. So obviously they are up for investigation.

I still don't like those stupid sound effects that are STILL (!!!!!!) used when Scooby or Shaggy BEGIN to run away. You know what I'm talking about. It sounds like someone rattling a quarter around in a tin can. It's pretty lame, considering all the thought and effort that has went into updating the franchise, that these old-fashioned and cruddy sound effects are being used in this day and age.

But that aside there is a lot of fun to be had as Shaggy falls in love (his song is way cool), is kidnapped by the aliens along with Scooby and the gang suspecting a rather unfriendly mechanic.

Scooby Doo is going places (even further if they do away with those sound effects) and next time the writers should focus more on plot and mystery as this one was wrapped up in a disappointingly short 74 minutes. The movies that followed progressively got weaker and weaker.

I was initially just expecting this 2000 "Scooby-Doo" animated movie to be a run-of-the-mill archetypical one in the bunch of all the other animated stories. But still, as I hadn't already seen it, of course I opted to watch it.

And color me impressed. Writers Davis Doi, Glenn Leopold and Lance Falk put together one of the better stories and plots that I have seen in the many, many "Scooby-Doo" animated movies that I have seen. I was genuinely surprised with the writing and the plot in "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders". And I have to admit that I was pleasantly entertained throughout the course of the 74 minutes that the animated movie ran for.

The voice acting in "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" was good, though it was not the familiar voices of the more recent animated movies. But there were some familiar voices here and there, with the likes of Frank Welker, Mark Hamill and Kevin Michael Richardson.

The animation and art style in "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" is good, and it is the familiar style used in the franchise. So that definitely adds to the overall enjoyment of the animated movie.

If you enjoy "Scooby-Doo" animated movies or series, then you definitely have to sit down and watch the 2000 "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders". It was nice to see a plot that broke the usual formula with the ending.

My rating of director Jim Stenstrum's 2000 animated movie "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

I loved this movie, when it came out, and despite one or two minor flaws, it is like a trip down Memory Lane. The animation is faultless, and i loved the music in the opening credits, with the planets, totally relevant to the title of the film. The voice talents, as is usually the case with the Scooby movies, save a couple of exceptions are excellent, a notable standout being Mark Hamill as Steve. Jeff Bennett was also really entertaining as Lester, and I loved the constant fighting over the Scooby snacks. The plot, overall was good, not the best, but those aliens to a young child are pretty scary. My only complaints are the sweet but rather soppy love song in the diner, and although I liked the romance between Shaggy and Crystal, it got a little distracting from the plot. All in all, I really liked it, and I hope it has a decent rating like Witch's Ghost and Goblin King. 8/10 Bethany Cox