Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf

Plot synopsis:
Every year, all of the classic Hollywood monsters (consisting of Frankenstein's monster, his wife Repulsa, a Mummy, the Witch Sisters, Bone Jangles the Skeleton, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Snyde, Swamp Thing, and Dragonfly) gather at Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania for the "Monster Road Rally", an ultimate road race similar to Wacky Races, awarding the winner with the "Monster of the Year" award as well as many other prizes only monsters would enjoy (and one prize — a trip to Hawaii — that none of the monsters want). This year, however, Dracula receives a postcard from the Wolfman stating that he has retired to Florida and will not be participating.
Lacking one of the most well known monsters, Dracula fears they will have to cancel the race. Luckily, Dracula's minion Wolfgang notifies him there is another option, namely, to create a new werewolf. After searching an old book for information, it is revealed that every five centuries, the moon comes into a "perfect position" to transform a human into a werewolf, on three nights in a row that begin the following night. The one next in line to become the next werewolf is revealed to be is none other than Shaggy Rogers, who recently demonstrated his skills on the racetrack by winning a funny car race with the help of his pet dogs that serve as his pit crew, a talking Great Dane named Scooby-Doo, and Scooby's young nephew Scrappy.
Dracula sends his hunchbacked henchmen (the mush mouthed, incomprehensible Crunch and the well-articulated British Brunch, together known as "The Hunch Bunch") to America to transform Shaggy into a werewolf, and bring him back to his castle. The first night, they attempt to cut a hole in the roof above Shaggy's bedroom to let the moon shine on him, but Scooby learns of their plan and rescues Shaggy just in time, but fails to convince Shaggy and Scrappy of the Hunch Bunch's presence. The second night, they go after Shaggy while at a supermarket, but they again miss their window thanks to Scooby. On the final night, while the trio is at a drive-in movie, along with Shaggy's girlfriend Googie, the Hunch Bunch manage to expose Shaggy to moonlight by dropping the sunroof of his customized race car, causing Shaggy to be finally transformed into a werewolf.
However, a snafu enters the Hunch Bunch's plan when they learn that Shaggy has the hiccups, and changes between human and werewolf with each hiccup. Googie, failing to see him as a werewolf, sends him to the snack bar for something to cure his hiccups, and he attracts horror from the other movie watchers along the way. Scooby, hearing them speaking of a werewolf loose in the theater, hides in a nearby car. The Hunch Bunch attempts to grab Shaggy, who flees, and is then forced to flee from the crowd when they see him as a werewolf. Upon meeting Scooby and seeing his reflection, Shaggy flees the drive-in with his car, Scooby, Scrappy, and Googie in tow, escaping his pursuers with the car's customization. The Hunch Bunch then knocks the group out with moon dust from their "bat-copter" and flies back to Transylvania, towing the car.
Upon reviving the group and quashing their hopes that the current situation is a nightmare, Dracula informs Shaggy that he was turned into a werewolf in order to fill the missing slot in his monster road rally. Shaggy, having no desire to be a werewolf, is displeased with his current situation, and refuses. Dracula tries all manner of coercion: speaking of the pre-race party and all its rewards, showing the awards for the race, imprisonment in one of the guest bedrooms, and even trapping him in a room with a needle wall. Ultimately, however, Shaggy still refuses, forcing Dracula to strike a bargain with him: if he agrees to drive in the race, and wins, Dracula will change him back to a human, and allow him and his friends to leave. Shaggy accepts the bargain.
They are given good lodgings and treated like guests in the castle, allowed all the food they wish for breakfast (though the food in question is flavored with "scream beans", much to their displeasure). Dracula then shows them the trail that Shaggy will have to follow for the race, and consents to allowing them to navigate the track in their own race car, with the Werewolf Wagon currently undergoing maintenance for Shaggy. Dracula attempts several rotten tricks on the track out of sadistic pleasure, but regardless, Shaggy completes the course expertly, creating anxiety for the vampire that he may lose his werewolf. He subsequently changes the racetrack, sabotages the Werewolf Wagon, and has the Hunch Bunch deprive him of sleep but to no avail.
Shaggy is still asleep the following morning. Googie's help revitalizes Shaggy, and upon beginning the race with Scooby in the passenger seat, he has little difficulty repairing the Wagon. The Hunch Bunch, a couple of the racers, and Dracula himself try their best to sabotage him, but thanks to Googie and Scrappy, who follow along in their own car as their pit crew, they end up doing more harm to themselves than him. At one point, the Hunch Bunch tries to dispose of the duo, forcing Shaggy to save them, but even this only serves as a minor inconvenience, and Shaggy keeps first place for most of the race. Finally, losing his temper, Dracula unleashes his trump card, a massive beast named Genghis Kong who manages to halt their progress. As the other racers near the finish line, however, Googie and Scrappy come up once more and rescue Shaggy and Scooby, then both pairs work together to make the monster fall down on the other cars, leaving an easy path to victory for Shaggy.
Dracula, furious, refuses to revert the spell, stating that there is no way to turn Shaggy back. However, after Dracula's dim-witted wife Vanna Pira unwittingly reveals that the solution of how to turn a werewolf back into a human is in Dracula's spell book, the heroes steal the book and make their getaway. Dracula chases after them in his weaponized car, and then his plane after the car is destroyed due to Shaggy's cleverness. The four only barely manage to dodge Dracula's powerful gadgets, and right before Dracula gets the best of them, a thunderstorm ensues and Dracula's plane is struck by lightning, sending him plummeting into the ocean below where he is chased off by a shark.
In the end, Googie uses the book to change Shaggy back to normal. That night, the gang all sit down to watch another horror movie and eating pizza, glad that their problems are over, but in the final scene, Dracula, Brunch and Crunch sneak up behind their window, and say "We're baaaack!".

Tags: psychedelic, horror

Review:
Many of the usual cast -- Fred, Velma and Daphne -- are Missing In Action, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.But for those of us who aren't huge fans of the cartoon, there's really not much appeal.
The monster race takes up about 50% of the movie, simply Shaggy and Scooby driving along while Dracula continually thinks up new ways for him and his cronies to stop them.
Don't get me wrong -- I don't mind Scooby in small doses, but ninety minutes of this was just about all I could take without my brain melting.Good for big fans, and maybe for kids, but not much appeal for anyone else..
Too Long but Still Fun. Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)** 1/2 (out of 4) Monsters from around the world gather at their annual car race but the werewolf is missing so Count Dracula demands that they get another.
The Hunch Bunch decide to turn Shaggy into a werewolf so Dracula tells him that if he takes part in the race and wins that he'll lift the curse.
Scooby, Scrappy and Shag's girlfriend must make sure he wins.
SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF is a fairly entertaining feature but the biggest problem is that it feels incredibly long at 91-minutes.
With that said, outside the length this here contains some pretty big laughs including the highlight, which takes place during a drive-in horror movie where Shaggy first gets turned into a werewolf.
The film features all sorts of monsters like Dracula, the mummy, Frankenstein's monster, swamp thing, the bride and various others.
My favourite character has to be Dracula, he was charming and wickedly funny, especially with his line "I guess the bats were a little undercooked" in reference to the batburgers, the sunblock one was great too.
I also thought the monster car race was great fun though some of it could have easily been trimmed down.
You know a Scooby-Doo feature is bad when Scrappy seems benign relative to everything else.
Actually the little guy for once does a good job of refraining from irritatingly hogging the spotlight in this one, but unfortunately we just might have been better off if he had.The basic plot is that Dracula turns Shaggy into a werewolf and forces him to win an all-monster road race to have any chance of becoming human again.
The race itself tries to cross the Wacky Races with the Coyote/Road Runner shorts but after the 527th failed effort to put Shaggy and Scooby out of the race and the 83rd time Dracula whines about things not going his way (with no end in sight), it gets just the tiniest bit tedious.This (in conjunction with the concurrent "Pup" series) was the point where the Scooby-Doo franchise hit absolute rock bottom, and the cowardly great dane and friends went into a long-overdue semi-retirement..
Reluctant Werewolf is very fast moving and funny thanks to a tight script cartoon vetran Jim Ryan.There is no Mystery Inc or Mystery Machine in this movie.
It's just Shaggy (wearing a red shirt instead of a green one), now making a living as a racecar driver, Scooby, and Scrappy (in his last appearance) and Shag's girlfriend Googy.
Shaggy lives in an alarmingly large, mansion-esque house and is chosen by Count Dracula to become a werewolf so he can take part in a race for monsters.Despite looking cute and cuddly as a Werewolf, Shaggy obviously doesn't want to do it but Dracula promises to change him back to human if he wins.
What follows is a Scooby Doo version of the Wacky Races as insane customized cars battle it out on an anything-goes Transylvanian race-course.
It's also new to see Shaggy not jump into Scooby's arms every time he sees a monster, and this time they're real too, not just some guy in a mask.I would definitely recommend this to Scooby fans and casual viewers (like me).
Not so Rad Racing, corny puns and Scrappy's final appearance mar this awful made for TV Scooby film.
This Scooby-Doo film came at the end of 80s era, when Hanna-Barbara, by far, produced their worst shows.
It's actually pretty interesting that this cartoon came out in 1988, the same year as the debut of "A Pup Named Scooby Doo," which tried to radically alter the style of the 80s Scooby cartoons and return to the former 60s and early 70s glory days of actually being a detective show (while still dumbing the premise down for kids).Beginning in 1979, it was an era of real monsters, no detective work, a loss of most of Mystery Inc.
(only Scooby and Shaggy remained near the end of the decade), and most importantly, Scooby's nephew Scrappy-Doo. THE MOST ANNOYING CARTOON CHARACTER OF ALL TIME!!
Scooby-Doo had betrayed itself by becoming a pale version of its once former glory.The story for "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf", if there is such a thing, involves Shaggy (who is now a race car circuit star for some reason) being cursed into being a werewolf in order to compete in a race in Transylvania.
He has a new girlfriend named Googie that is not given much personality, add that to the fact that she is never seen again in any future incarnation of the show which lets you know how awful she really was.In order to lift the curse, Shaggy agrees to race in the competition, which is littered with so many road obstacles (some living!) and evil fellow drivers you'd think it was invented by the producers of "Survivor." It plays like a horror version of "Wacky Races", but when you have Dracula filling in for Dick Dastardly you know you're in trouble.The film is basically a collection of lame humor, such as Dracula's race color commenter Vanna Pira's statements ("There's a red!
Dracula gets the only two funny lines in the whole movie, one about sunblock that even I'll admit made me crack a smile, and the second a riff at how "dead" his audience is since they're not laughing at his jokes.
I know just how they feel, Drac.And of course there's Scrappy, the little turd that for once I'd wish Shaggy and Scooby wouldn't save!
The only thing good about him in this movie is the fact that this is his final appearance; once "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" came along he was gone for good.
And good riddance.H-B has since thankfully learned from its past sins, making some excellent direct to video Scooby-Doo cartoons in the late 90s and early 00s.
:) ) In any case, the formula has been improved, and Scooby-Doo is once again interesting to watch.Watch this movie as a final reminder of how off-base the series had gotten before H-B decided to take a breather and then return to the old mystery solving format.
It's the last vestige of the Scrappy era stupidity, and like the other products of its time it's pretty much indistinguishable from every other 80s Scooby cartoon.
In the end it was shallow, overlong and ultimately pointless, and I don't think Scrappy would want it any other way.5 out of 10, mostly because of Dracula's two good jokes and the happy feeling I have knowing Scrappy is out of the picture!.
The last animated Scooby film to "star" Scrappy!.
Following up "Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School," the Hanna-Barbera studio churns out another made-for-TV Scooby-Doo movie for their "Hanna-Barbera Superstar" series, "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf!" This looks different from the two previous films, but that might be because they used a digital coloring system and some cheap computer graphics here.
This film seems like a cross of "Scooby-Doo," "Fangface," "Wacky Races," "The Groovy Goolies" and "Drac Pack." It is a pretty funny spoof of those old werewolf films.
However, Shaggy doesn't really look much like a real werewolf (the one that "retired" at the beginning of this film (as well as Scooby's wolf mask) looks more like the Wolfman from "Van Heisling").
Plus, in this film, Scrappy-Doo is a bit useful, and not as annoying as he is in his earlier appearances!
This tv movie is only slightly funny because of Scooby Doo and Shaggy.
They actually have an interesting plot and very surprisingly, Scrappy Doo doesn't ruin it.
How they could turn entertaining channel into trash ?Anyway , this movie is a TV movie made shortly after "Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School".
Just like in "SDATGS" there is no Fred , Daphne , Velma and Mystery Inc. It's just Scooby , Scrappy and Shaggy.
The good thing that made me remember this movie is the fact that our trio meets REAL MONSTERS , not some costumed freak .
I guess that was Hanna- Barbera tactic for whole trilogy at that time – bring real monsters ( the trilogy includes : "Ghoul School " , "Reluctant werewolf" and "The Boo Brothers").
The story seems to be a combination of old werewolf movies and Wacky Racers.
I was surprised by the appearance of Googy , Shaggy's girlfriend (LOL) .
Maybe I missed something here.It was great to see that our heroes are actually good in something (racing) .
The most entertaining characters were Dracula and his bride.The movie is well paced and fun from start to finish .
This time, Count Dracula forces Scooby-Doo and Shaggy to come to his castle to participate in a race with a bunch of other monsters, since the werewolf has retired and Shaggy is due to become the next one.The best part is the race itself, as the monsters pull all sorts of tricks to undermine their opponents' performances.
Throughout the movie, I kept wondering why Dracula ever hired Crunch and Bunch to begin with*, given how they pretty much do what Wile E.
Well, Bunch is tolerable, but Crunch would have driven me nuts.So, there's probably nothing special about "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf", but it's OK for a few laughs.
I seem to recall a different one where Shaggy and Scooby go to a castle and the owner gives Shaggy a medallion that turns him into a werewolf.*Similarly, why did the Skipper ever hire Gilligan in the first place, given what a disaster area the latter is?.
Scooby-Doo is one of those animated series that was never REALLY funny in the first place, but its charm made it worth watching (also the plot of the originals were better) but the problem is that Scooby-Doo and the reluctant werewolf tries to cater to really young audiences and has no plot to it whatsoever other than Shaggy is racing monsters in a race.
In summary: Scooby-Doo and the reluctant werewolf isn't funny, is too long, has no mystery, and has no reason to be watched.
Oh yeah and Scooby and Shaggy are the only main characters in it.
When we first see Shaggy in this film, he apparently now has a career as a race car driver.
Once the big monster car race gets started, it turns into an extended version of Hanna-Barbera's other show, "The Wacky Races", and is really very tedious..
It does have Scrappy, for warning, but it seems to have him along with the understanding that people don't really like him as much as they used to.It's also Scooby Doo made in the 1980s that still feels like its set in the 1970s so there is another rather odd feeling with this, not unlike the feeling that Scooby Doo goes to Hollywood leaves one with.And it seems to debate if it's a movie or a cartoon and can't decide which, so a lot of it has a rushed half-an-hour feel despite its actual length.But, it's still funny.
The humor is still there even if it's dated and it is still a lot of fun to watch.The only real problem is that it can't seem to decide it it's a cartoon or a cartoon movie and because of that a good chunk of the film feels like it's just thrown in there..
...DIE HARD fans of ANYTHING to do with Scooby Doo, people who don't mind stupid jokes too much, people who like long races and people who prefer Scooby and Shaggy to the rest of the gang.The kind of people who would not like this film so much are people who do not like Scooby Doo, people who do not like tedious and repetitive parts in a cartoon so much, people who prefer witty jokes to endless amounts of stupid, similar ones and people who like the rest of the gang just as much as Shaggy and Scooby.Good things about this film for people who may not like it all that much:Among an endless seeming plot, there are quite good, clever jokes, clever bits in general (like the fact that Dracula has a Transylvanian accent), exciting points and that is about it.In this film with only Scooby Doo and Shaggy who are in the gang in this film, Shaggy is a race car driver with a brilliant car and with a cute girlfriend.
Meanwhile, in Transylvania, Dracula is going to have a car race soon and needs a werewolf, which he does not have.
He discovers that on three close nights, there is one person who can be turned into a werewolf - Shaggy!
Watch on to find how the reluctant werewolf copes.About two fifths of this film is taken up by the big race, which is probably the most tedious part of the film..
While "Zombie Island" was the return of the original concept and the movie that made Scooby-Doo popular again.
I think the "Reluctant Werewolf" is Scooby's real comeback!To begin with the concept is actually pretty interesting and good, the characters are pretty amusing, the movie is funny, and above all this is not only Scrappy's final appearance but Scrappy has such a small role that at times you forget he's even there!
And when you do realize he's there he's actually doing something useful.Also the monster car race was pretty cool and way better then those of Hanna-Barbera's Wacky Races cartoon's from the `60s.
However, I quite liked it even if it did have a few faults.This is an adventure featuring Scooby, Scrappy, Shaggy and Googie (Shaggy's new girlfriend).
Shaggy is now a racing car driver.
Fred, Velma and Daphne are nowhere to be seen unfortunately but don't let that spoil your enjoyment of the film.Back in Transylvania, Dracula needs a werewolf to compete in a car race.
For some bizzare reason, he sends a disgusting pair of hunchbacked little boys (called The Hunch Bunch) to go to the U.S. and turn Shaggy into a werewolf so he can compete in the race.
After a couple of failed attempts, The Hunch Bunch manage to turn Shaggy into a werewolf and bring him to Transylvania to race.
The only way Shaggy can turn back to a human is by winning the race.
There's plenty of fun in the film and The Hunch Bunch are a funny pair.
They get up to plenty of mischief in the film and are probably the best thing about this film.All the monsters are here-Dracula, Frankestein, The Mummy and a few others (look out for Genghis Kong).
And there's plenty of fun throughout.Tow more points about the characters-Googie is the girlfriend of Shaggy and it's a shame she didn't ever make a comeback to Scooby-Doo. She'd have made a great addition to the team.
Secondly, I like Scrappy-Doo and I think it's a shame he has been missing from the recent animated movies.
Scrappy was a courageous little puppy and the stories had a great variety when he came on board.
The pre-Scrappy years consisted mainly of the gang unmasking a monster/ghost who turned out to be a normal guy.
Dracula needs a werewolf for his annual race and decides Shaggy is the perfect fit.
With the help of a couple of bumbling idiots, Shaggy is turned into a reluctant werewolf.
With the help of the infernal Scooby, Shaggy must win the race before he is stuck in Transylvania forever.
The only problem is that Dracula has every intention of rigging the course to make sure Shaggy loses.
This one is lacking Fred and the gang, but Shaggy and Scooby are up to the task in entertaining us like always.
One involves Shaggy's hiccup troubles in the midst of turning into a werewolf.
Shaggy's girlfriend was pretty cool, though.
Scooby fans will love this movie!
Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf is an underrated masterpiece in the Scooby-Doo saga*SPOLIERS AHEAD*Plot: Dracula turns Shaggy into a werewolf and kidnaps him, Scooby-Doo, Scrabby-Doo, and his girlfriend Googie.
In order for Shaggy to return to being a human he most compete in the Monster Road Race and win first place.The Good News: The film may have an effect of nausea on you.
From Scrabby-Doo from at the time hit T.V. show to Shaggy's old red shirt and the cartoon animation it reminds you what has happened over the years to the recent What's New Scooby-Doo?
The three repeated ways to turn Shaggy into a werewolf are pretty original and my favorite one has to be at the supermarket.
The drive in movie scene was also a long and fun sequence and the idea that the hiccups cured a werewolf and turns the victim from a werewolf and then to a person and so on and so on was pretty neat and used to great degree.
Shaggy's girlfriend was a good character and the movie surprisingly didn't need the rest of the gang.
The way the whole castle is rigged and every escape and hope turns out to be a trap is pretty smart and something most kid movies don't think of.
If all else reason to see this fails then the practice round and the actual race are standout sequences which are action packed and fully entertaining from beginning to end and is a great way to end a film.
It's fast, entertaining, action packed, and has a slam bang ending.Conclusion: Recommend to everyone and especially for Scooby-Doo fans.