BCDB: Cartoon Reviews: Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island

After "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" left the airwaves in 1991, Scooby-Doo took his longest hiatus since his first show began in 1969. Hanna-Barbera was sold to Turner, who were more interested in a new generation of animation. After Turner was merged with Time Warner, however, Warner Bros. Animation became very interested in revisiting on of the most reliable cartoon franchises in TV history. In 1998, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" arrived on video store shelves.

After such a long time with nothing new in the Scooby-Doo universe (besides ceaseless marketing), I have to say I was disappointed. There are a few reasons. Firstly, there were major stylistic changes. The backgrounds and music were very reminiscent of WB's "Batman: The Animated Series," which were not very appropriate to a show that relies on a lot of slapstick comedy. Also unusual was the storyline itself. Rather than going the mystery route, it became more of a horror film, in the vein of "Night of the Living Dead". There were some good humorous moments, but overall the gags were not up to the Marx Brothers standard of humor that Scooby fans have grown accustomed to.

The fact that the movie feels more like a WB adventure cartoon than a H-B comedy/mystery is what really ruins this attempt. It is not so horrible as some of Hanna-Barbera's own past experiments with Scooby-Doo, but it is still a long way off from being the type of Scooby entertainment we all know and love.