Scooby Doo on Zombie Island (1998)

Part 3 of my 13 Ghost Movies of Halloween!

• Directed by Hiroshi Aoyama, Kazumi Fukushima
• Starring Scott Innes, Billy West
• Written by Davis Doi, Glenn Leopold
• Animated, Family, Mystery
• Rated G
• 1hr 17mins.
• 22 September 1998

Synopsis

After Scooby and the Gang have split up and put Mystery Inc. behind them after growing sick of the monster always being a man in a mask, they’re all brought together again to celebrate Daphne’s birthday by finding her a real, live ghost story. In New Orleans, they meet a woman who tells them she works at a haunted house on an island in a bayou and welcomes them to come investigate the ‘definitely haunted’ Moon Scar Island. When they get there, what they find on Moon Scar Island is more than they ever expected.

How’s the Story?

This is a great story! It’s one of the very best of all the Scooby Doo movies there are, and trust me, there’s a LOT of Scooby Doo movies. Look, spoiler alert: the ghosts are freaking real. This is the best of my beloved childhood Scooby Doo movies (and oh God did I ever love Scooby Doo as a kid …. and maybe on into adulthood) because for once the ghosts and monsters were real!

How’s the (voice) Acting?

The voice acting is pretty great in this one. The thing about Scooby Doo is that the talent is linked to how much like the original TV voice actors the characters sound, and this is a wonderful fit. You would think that Billy West was Casey Kasem, he sounds so much like Shaggy. The accents on the southern lady and the french-Cajun lady are kinda funny sounding, but hey, it’s a kids movie. Things are always meant to be exaggerated.

How’s the Writing/Directing?

How cool is it that the writers decided, ‘screw it! REAL zombies!’??? Man, this one is just so good. Also I like the way the story is developed to have all these little side-plots that bring more to what’s on the screen than just a straight up episode of Scooby Doo. I really love how the plot unfolds in this one and how much gravity there is here. This one is pretty morbid. I mean, there’s real death involved in this one. It’s not nearly as light-hearted as most of these types of movies.

How’s the Cinematography Animation?

For 1998, straight-forward animation, this one is pretty solid. I really like the ghosts. The way they look and move are really interesting. Also, it keeps that ‘Scooby Doo’ aesthetic of ‘the thing they will interact with is more detailed than everything else’ is so fun. I love that detail and I love that it’s included in this movie decades after the original TV show.

Is It Worth Watching?

I love this movie no less at 26 than I did at 8 years old. It’s just good. It’s a good, solid Scooby Doo movie. If you like that type of thing, you’re going to love this one.

(Although ‘going to’ is kinda weird to me, since I generally assume everybody under the age of 35 grew up watching this one.)

I’m going to score this one comparing it to all the other Scooby Doo movies that I’ve seen, so it gets a solid high score!

My Rating: 8/10