| Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Jim Stenstrum |
| Written by | |
| Based on | Scooby-Doo byJoe Ruby andKen Spears |
| Produced by | Cos Anzilotti |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Rob DeSales |
| Music by | Louis Febre |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Home Video |
Release date |
|
Running time | 66 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States[2] |
| Language | English |
Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost is a 1999 Americandirect-to-videoanimatedsupernaturalhorror comedy film, and the second of thedirect-to-video films based uponScooby-DooSaturday morning cartoons. It was produced byHanna-Barbera Cartoons andWarner Bros. Animation. The film was released on VHS on October 5, 1999, then on DVD on March 6, 2001.
The plot involves Mystery Inc. travelling to theNew England town of Oakhaven after being invited by horror writer Ben Ravencroft. Like a number ofdirect-to-videoScooby-Doo animated films released in the late-1990s and early-2000s,The Witch's Ghost features real supernatural elements instead of the traditionally fabricated ones the franchise is associated with, giving the film a darker tone. The film has been adapted into a book.[3]
It is the second of the first fourScooby-Doo direct-to-video films to be animated overseas by Japanese animation studioMook Animation. The film marks the first time voice actor and radio-personalityScott Innes voicedShaggy, asBilly West (who voiced Shaggy inScooby-Doo on Zombie Island) needed time for his voice work onFuturama. This was also the final film starringMary Kay Bergman that was released during her lifetime. A sequel to the film,Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders was released in 2000.
After Ben Ravencroft, a famous horror writer of whomVelma Dinkley is a fan, assists her and Mystery Inc. in solving a case at a museum inSan Francisco, he invites them to his hometown of Oakhaven, Massachusetts. When they arrive, they find the town's Mayor Corey has converted it into a tourist attraction based on the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft, Ben's ancestor who was persecuted as a witch and executed by the Puritan townspeople in 1657. Ben disputes this, claiming that Sarah was aWiccan who used herbal remedies to heal the less fortunate and that he has spent years searching for her medical diary to prove her innocence.
WhileScooby-Doo andShaggy Rogers are chased by Sarah's ghost, the others are drawn tothe Hex Girls, an all-female gothic rock band led by Sally "Thorn" McKnight, during one of their rehearsals.Fred Jones andDaphne Blake follow Thorn and, upon discovering her seemingly performing a ritual, believe the Hex Girls are witches.
Upon capturing Sarah's ghost, Velma reveals her to be Mr. McKnight, Thorn's father and Oakhaven's pharmacist who posed as the ghost as part of a town-wide publicity stunt meant to stimulate Oakhaven's failing tourist economy and that he did so after digging up Sarah's grave despite not finding her body. Additionally, Thorn reveals the "ritual" she was performing was actually an herbal remedy for soothing her vocal cords and that she is one-sixteenth Wiccan.
Upon realizing that a buckle Scooby found earlier is actually the lock from Sarah's diary, the group return to where he found the lock and dig up Sarah's diary. To the gang's horror, the book is actually a witch's spellbook. A gleeful Ben reveals he is a warlock; the stories of Sarah being a witch are true and she was imprisoned in her book by the Wiccans of her time. Furthermore, he engineered the museum mystery to manipulate Mystery Inc. into helping him and, though he did not account for Oakhaven's publicity stunt, used it to his advantage nonetheless. He subsequently uses the book to awaken his magical powers and release Sarah in the hopes that she will help him rule the world. However, she chooses to destroy it as revenge for her imprisonment instead.
Disillusioned, Ben attempts to re-imprison Sarah, but she reveals only a Wiccan can do so and traps him in a magical sphere. Mystery Inc. attempts to get the book back, but Sarah brings several pumpkins and trees to life and enlarges a turkey to stop them. Amidst the chaos, Velma convinces Thorn to re-imprison Sarah. As the plan succeeds, the vegetation is restored, the turkey is freed from her control, and she is pulled back into her book, taking Ben with her. A burning branch falls onto the book, incinerating it and preventing the Ravencrofts from returning. Afterwards, Mystery Inc., the townsfolk, and the turkey celebrate with a concert held by the Hex Girls to raise money to repair the town.
After the success ofScooby-Doo on Zombie Island, which received better sales than Warner Bros. had expected, the team were tasked with creating a secondScooby-Doo direct-to-video film. Its predecessor was considered a one-off experiment and, as such, the crew producing it worked with little oversight from executives. ForWitch's Ghost, this creative freedom was scaled back considerably. Warner Bros. suggested screenwritersRick Copp andDavid A. Goodman, which insulted the team that had produced the first film in total autonomy. In addition, the studio requested the filmmakers "tone down" their content, as they fearedZombie Island had proved too scary for its intended audience.[4]
Copp and Goodman's script concluded with the revelation that the townspeople were using the witch as a publicity stunt. The original team found this unsatisfactory, so Glenn Leopold and Davis Doi re-wrote the last third of the film, introducing the concept that the ghost is real.[4]
To coincide with the release ofScooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Warner Bros. decided to release the albumScooby-Doo's Snack Tracks: The Ultimate Collection. It went on to peak at number 5 onBillboard'sKid Albums chart and stayed in the top 25 for over 26-weeks.[5][6] This popularity inspired Warner Bros. to release a full length soundtrack for their next film,Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost.
Kid Rhino partnered withWarner Home Video andCartoon Network to release the soundtrack for the film. According to Rhino VP Carol Lee, "We [worked] closely with Warner Home Video so that we're part of everything they do." She added the soundtrack to the film was, "treated like that of a theatrical release. We created aMusic Video which appeared on the home video."[7]On September 14, 1999, the soundtrack was released on CD and Audio Cassette, featuring songs byThe Hex Girls, andBilly Ray Cyrus performing "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?".[8]
| No. | Title | Recording artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" | Billy Ray Cyrus | 1:02 |
| 2. | "Hex Girl" | The Hex Girls | 1:43 |
| 3. | "Earth, Wind, Fire and Air" | The Hex Girls | 1:55 |
| 4. | "The Witch's Ghost" | The Hex Girls | 3:10 |
| 5. | "It's a Mystery" | The Hex Girls | 3:08 |
| 6. | "Scooby Snacks" | The Hex Girls | 3:19 |
| 7. | "Zoinks!" | The Hex Girls | 3:10 |
| 8. | "Those Meddlin' Kids" | The Hex Girls | 3:17 |
| 9. | "Ghost Story" | Louis Febre | 3:13 |
| 10. | "The Ghost Is Here[a]" | Joe Pizzulo, Gary Falcone | 2:21 |
| 11. | "Terror Time[a]" | Joe Pizzulo, Gary Falcone | 2:55 |
| 12. | "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" (Instrumental Mix) | David Mook, Ben Raleigh | 2:43 |
| Total length: | 31:55 | ||
Notes
Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost was released onVHS on October 5, 1999, then onDVD on March 6, 2001. The VHS included the pilot episode forCourage the Cowardly Dog entitledThe Chicken From Outer Space shown at the end. In 2024, it was released onBlu-ray for the first time through theWarner Archive Collection, packaged withScooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders.[9]
The film earned a 50% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[10] David Parkinson ofRadio Times, gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "This full-length cartoon featuring the ghost-hunting teenage detectives is something of a mixed bag."[11] Joe Neumaier fromEntertainment Weekly said, "Though slyly written, it doesn't have the punch of last year'sScooby-Doo on Zombie Island – but it's still scarier thanThe Blair Witch Project."[12]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Animated Home Video Production | Nominated | [13] |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
