Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster

Recently watched this with my (at time of review) 6 year old son. He's Scooby Doo daft and have recently comeback from a trip to Loch Ness. He absolutely loved it, I thought it was good for Scoob.

The only thing I wasn't so sure on was some of the Scottish accents. But then I'm sure people from other nations are like that when they here actors trying to do thier nations actions.

My son Adam (5 years old) is a big Scooby Doo fan. He like this film a lot. He particularly liked when the Loch Ness monster tried to attack Shaggy and Scooby. The vote score is his choice and reflects his love of the characters.

Having seen the "Vampire Rock" film first, this, not surprisingly, was very similar as they repeat a well worn basic plot in a different setting.

Few adults will come across this without having their own memories of the TV cartoon series and even fewer will watch it without children. You either like this or love it. I loved Scooby Doo for half an hour as a kid, I am happy my son loves it, I can just about put up with it now.

One of quite a few cartoon Scooby Doo films, "Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster" turns out to be entertaining, exciting, interesting, funny and also does a surprisingly good interpretation of the Highlands of Scotland. One annoying aspect of the film is the voices of many of the characters - American people trying to sound Scottish in this film are unfortunately not succeeding all that well (although some people do better Scottish accents than others).

Daphne has come to the Highlands to see her cousin Shannon and the Highland games at Blake Castle. Gravely Shannon tells the gang that she believes to have seen the Loch Ness Monster. When yet more chaos arises, the Mystery Inc Gang have another mystery on their hands...

Good for Scooby Doo fans and for people who want to find out more about Scotland! Enjoy "Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster"! :-)

Scooby Doo and the Monster of Mexico was no doubt the weakest of the modern Scooby Doo animated features. Loch Ness Monster is a considerable improvement.

This time the gang head off to Scotland to see the Highland Games and visit Blake castle, Daphne's ancestral home. And wouldn't you know, the castle happens to be in the 'quaint' fishing village of Drumnadrochit, on the shores of Loch Ness.

During their stay they meet a few interesting folks. First there is Fiona Pembrooke, a scientist who has drowned all of her money into finding the Loch Ness Monster.

Sir Ian Locksley, the boss of the National Heritage Museum of Scotland, he is staunch non-believer of Nessie.

The Haggarts, the own a cozy Inn on the shores of the loch. The sons are a couple of local jokers, always into mischief.

Del Chilman, a wild, paranoid hippie dude who is convinced the monster is out there and will stop at nothing on find her.

And finally, Duncan MacGubbin, the dock master who has seen Nessie too many times to count.

Most of these characters are stereotypes, which gets a bit annoying as this is teaching younger audiences a load of crap and giving the wrong impression. However if you can immune yourself to it you'll be alright. Being from Scotland I can't help but wince at the awfully mimicked Scottish accents. Fact: We DON'T sound like that.

Soon enough Nessie, looking rather more demonic than 'usual', shows up and causes havoc. Looks like the gang have another mystery on their hands. The usual chase scenes, clues and Shaggy's wacky disguises follow. There are plenty of laughs. The animation is splendid, with some atmospheric scenes and locations. And the plot a lot better than Monster of Mexico.

The only bad thing this time around is the music. I miss Louis Febre's scoring and the songs here are pretty rotten too. Where are the Hex Girls when you need 'em?

The region 2 DVD is in crystal clear 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen (the region 1 ain't) with Dolby 5.0 sound. Some okay extras are included. Definitely worth getting.

Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)

** (out of 4)

Scooby and the gang head off to Scotland to see family members when the legendary sea creature shows up. This here is a minor step up over Legend of the Vampire but it still falls short when compared to the TV show. The animation is a little better here and even the voices seem more energetic this time out. Also worth mentioning is that there are some fun supporting characters and the mystery is decent. Once again the big problem is that the film is so dumbed down that it's hard to get too involved.