A really fun episode.
In this episode, Daphne's uncle invites the gang to Costa Rica to see a new museum exhibit on dinosaurs. However when the gang sees a 3-D movie about dinosaurs in the museum's theater, a giant dinosaur hops out of the screen and attacks the museum. Before you can say "jinkies" the gang has another mystery on their hands.
There is a lot to enjoy here. Strangely enough before this episode the gang did not meet too many dinosaurs. The only real exception being The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show episode, The Dinosaur Deception (1983). The use of the dinosaur here is really effective. While his design is not especially creepy, it is very well done and threatening. The chase scenes with the dinosaur are also simply a lot of fun. The museum is a very effective and atmospheric setting for a Scooby mystery, especially during the night scenes. The mystery is very well done and every suspect is completely believable. Due to the focus being on the mystery aspect we feel like we get to solve the mystery along with the gang, which makes it feel all the more fun.
My one real problem with this episode is that the humor often times feels like it should have been funnier. There are a few good gags but most of the jokes fall kind of flat.
This episode was directed by Tim Maltby. Maltby had previously been a storyboard artist for the Scooby-Doo! direct to video films Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (1999), Scooby-Doo! and the Alien Invaders (2000) and Scooby-Doo! and the Cyber Chase (2001). This episode was written by Ed Scharlach. This was his first time writing for Scooby-Doo. However he go on to write more episodes of this series as well as the direct to video movies, Scooby-Doo! and The Loch Ness Monster (2004), Aloha Scooby-Doo! (2005) and Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy (2005).
All in all this is a fun episode, even if it doesn't rank among one of my favorite Scooby-Doo mysteries.
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