Chill Out Scooby-Doo! (2007)

 

A delightful direct to video Scooby-Doo! movie. 

In this movie the gang decides to take a vacation to France. However, while Velma, Daphne and Fred are in Paris, Scooby and Shaggy find themselves in trouble. Their flight over there goes south and the two find themselves lost in the Himalayas, where the Abominable Snowman is said to have been sighted. Velma, Daphne and Fred head over to save their friends. 

What makes this movie work so well is the very splitting up of the gang. While the gang always splits up on purpose, having Scooby and Shaggy lost in a place with a monster without their friends gives this film not only a more unique feel but also a greater sense of suspense. Also having the rest of the gang more concerned about saving their friends than solving the mystery also gives this film a unique feel. Adding to this is that the Himalayas is a perfect setting for a Scooby mystery. There is a very atmospheric and threatening feel to how the mountains are designed. This is especially true during the nighttime scenes as the look of the dark clouds upon the mountains is simply wonderful to look at. The design of the monster is also fantastic. Though the gang has faced snow monsters before this, this one isn't a copy of any of them. In fact, this monster looks creepier and more threatening than the previous snow monsters. 

This movie also has a good sense of humor. While there are a few jokes that fall flat, the majority of them work very well. There are quite a few moments which made me chuckle. Some of the humor is even quite clever. One of these includes Shaggy filling in for a radio DJ. Of course, Casey Kasem, Shaggy's voice artist, was a real-life radio DJ. 

This film also benefits from some surprisingly good supporting characters. While these characters may not be deep or complex, they are likable and do their jobs in the film quite well.  

A fault with this film is one that dates back to the earliest Scooby mysteries. This is that there is a lack of suspects, therefore making solving the mystery not as fun. If you are able to solve this mystery, it is not because you have given it much thought but because there are not that many people to suspect. However, since the mystery takes a back seat to the adventure in this movie, this is not as big of a fault as it could have been. The songs in this movie are also not that great.  

This film's director and co-writer, Joe Sictha had directed the gang facing a snow monster before with the What's New Scooby-Doo! episode, There's No Creature Like Snow Creature (2002). His co-writer Adam Scheinman was a writer on such live action movies as Little Big League (1994) and Mickey Blue Eyes (1998) as well as the direct to video animated movie, Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.! (2004). THis film was dedicated to Iwao Takamoto, who had passed away shortly before this movie's release. Takamoto had been a character designer for Hanna-Barbera and had designed Scooby himself.   

This movie is a pure delight for Scooby fans.