Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island

The core cast, as always, is the Scooby gang – Fred Jones (Frank Welker), Daphne Blake (Mary Kay Bergman), Velma Dinkley (B.J. Ward), Shaggy Rogers (Billy West), and Scooby-Doo (Scott Innes). Their ensembles are updated, though not entirely, in an effort to capture the passage of time; yet, the core silhouette remains intact. One can look at the poster of this film and instantly identify all five of them, just as had been intended when each character was initially created.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island sought to revisit the structure that had worked for decades through a modern lens that would, in its own way, deconstruct the archetypes of the characters and the formula. Where previous entries left the time period ambiguous, but clearly anchored to whenever the story took place, Zombie Island pushed the timeline forward. It portrayed the characters as young adults (college-aged at the youngest) and depicted them as having gone their separate ways. It treated previous shows as their backstory, in the broadest of strokes, so that it might pave the way for something new and a touch more mature. Yet, through this evolution, it refused to sacrifice the core identity of who Scooby-Doo and its characters were.

The thing is, Scooby-Doo as a franchise was essentially on life support by the late nineties. It had not had a long-running television series since the cancellation of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. From 1995 until 1998, the only “new” media entries were comic books. What had once been a crown jewel appeared to be destined for the dustbin of history, as every reinvention garnered less success and attention than its preceding entry. The only thing that, technically, hadn’t been tried was a darker, more mature approach to the material. It is imperative to keep in mind that, by its very nature, Scooby-Doo is a darker piece of children’s media; however, it always undercut the tension by having the bad guys be real people, and slapstick comedy was included to keep things from being too serious.

By taking the characters into adulthood, whether young or otherwise, Scooby-Doo was treading new territory, and its mysteries were designed accordingly. After having split up for seemingly the last time, Daphne’s talk show, Coast to Coast With Daphne Blake, has taken off in the ratings. She and Fred have stuck together over the yearlong hiatus as her cameraman, and her exasperation at each new ghost story they investigate proves to be just as fraudulent as their time spent as teen sleuths. Fred contacts Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby to reunite the group for Daphne’s birthday and to take the show on the road – and find a real ghost. Even knowing that it might be a fool’s errand, Daphne and the group rally, and we’re treated to a montage of investigations. None of which captures the real, live horror story Daphne wants to bring to her viewers at home.

Feeling like they may have wasted their time and effort, the group has come to New Orleans, known for its legendary hauntings, but nothing calls out to them – until Lena Dupree (Tara Chardendoff; more famously known as Tara Strong) catches their attention. She works on Moonscar Island, deep out in the bayou, and it is supposedly the most haunted place in America – terrorized by a pirate captain named Morgan Moonscar. Skeptical of the situation, the group ultimately agrees to go – food and lodging are, after all, great motivators. It is here, on this island with only one way on or off, that the group’s story takes place.

Thus, we begin the traditional aspect of all Scooby-Doo mysteries. An isolated, grand estate with a dark and troubling history, outfitted with a cast of potential suspects. The first person they meet on their way in is Jacques (Jim Cummings), the ferryman, who brings them through the waterway up to the island itself. Next, we have Snakebite Scruggs (Mark Hamill) and his boar, who has been trying to catch a catfish he’s nicknamed Big Mona for years. On the grounds itself is Beau Neville (Cam Clarke), the estate’s gardener. Finally, we have the madam herself, Simone Lenoir (Adrienne Barbeau), who owns the house and is reluctant about outsiders being anywhere near her home, especially with the curse of the island running rampant. Each character presents ample suspicious behavior, and the Mystery Gang dutifully works through figuring out who is the source of the evening’s events.

What begins as a typical Scooby-Doo adventure soon turns into a real, fantastical mystery when the monsters on the island are not only real, but zombies. With threats potentially lingering around every corner and questions filling their heads, the gang is forcibly split up at the start of the chaos and must independently figure out what is happening. With each passing hour, what they thought they knew is turned on its head, and the real monsters come with a twist that first-time viewers are hard-pressed to fully anticipate. Generally, there is little question about who the bad guy is – unless it’s a character who hasn’t been introduced ahead of time. Yet, in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, bonus points are not awarded for guessing who the bad guys are, but what they are.

This film made significant strides with the material, particularly in its interpretation of the characters and the formula for its mystery; it is always possible that those risks could have faltered in delivery. That was the beauty of this Scooby-Doo film, which kick-started a new era of direct-to-DVD films. Its leaps and risks were elegantly scripted, beautifully animated, and executed with care. The immediate follow-ups, Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders, and Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, were able to capture some of that lightning in a bottle. Witch’s Ghost proved to be just as popular, while the latter two films each have their fans. 2002 was the only year that did not see a direct-to-DVD animated film released, as the live-action film from James Gunn was released that year.

Until 2023, one or two animated films were released, totaling thirty-eight films. During that time, a renaissance began for the franchise, with a new series airing almost continuously since 2002 in one form or another. Each era brought its own unique identity, and, like every era since its inception, Scooby-Doo has appealed to someone, somewhere, no matter how zany its execution has become. Yes, even ‘Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!’ has fans out there in the world. Now, as Netflix and Cartoon Network prepare to release two different iterations – live-action and animated, respectively – we shall see if it has enough juice to propel itself into the next decade once again.