Scoob! (Johnsonverse)

Scoob! (stylized as SCOOB!) is a 2020 American traditionally animated mystery comedy film based on the Scooby-Doo franchise, produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and distributed by Johnson Films. It is a reboot of the theatrical Scooby-Doo film series and the third theatrical film based on the characters, following Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). Set in a shared Hanna-Barbera animated multiverse, the film's story follows Mystery Incorporated investigating their biggest and most challenging mystery behind the secret legacy and the true purpose of their own mascot that connects with a plan to unleash Cerberus.
The film is directed by Tony Cervone (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Tim Johnson. It stars the voices of Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Mindy Cohn, and Grey Griffin (all reprising their regular roles), alongside Diego Luna, Gina Rodriguez, Ken Jeong, Simon Cowell, and Christina Hendricks.
Plans for a new Scooby-Doo theatrical film began in June 2014, when Hanna-Barbera announced that it would reboot the Scooby-Doo film series with an animated film. Cervone was hired to direct the film in August 2015, with Dax Shepard being brought to co-direct it in September 2016, until he was no longer as part of the project by October 2018.
Scoob! was originally set for a worldwide theatrical release on May 15, 2020, by Johnson Films. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic causing the closure of theaters across the globe, Johnson made the film available to own digitally in the United States on the same date it was planned to be released in theaters. Scoob! topped digital rental charts in its first three weekends of release, following a theatrical release in select countries beginning in July 2020 and a secondary theatrical release in the United States beginning on May 21, 2021. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation, voice acting, writing, and sense of nostalgia.
A spin-off, titled Scoob! Holiday Haunt, was released on December 22, 2022, while a sequel titled Scoob! 2 was released on February 17, 2023.
==Plot==
In a world co-populated by Hanna-Barbera characters, a young, lonely Shaggy Rogers befriends and adopts a young talking stray Great Dane, whom he names Scooby-Doo. On Halloween night, Scooby and Shaggy meet three young children—Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley—before venturing in a haunted house, where they capture a thief disguised as a ghost, which inspires them to form Mystery Inc. and solve mysteries together.
After ten years of solving mysteries, with Scooby's nephew Scrappy-Doo joining them during that time, Mystery Inc. goes into business. During an investor meeting with Simon Cowell, he refuses to do business with Scooby and Shaggy involved due to their childish behavior, claiming friendship is useless. The pair quit the group and storm out to the Takamoto bowling alley, where they are terrorized by shapeshifting robots.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS
==Voice cast==
Additionally, director Tony Cervone cameos as the voices of Ghost/Mr. Rigby as well as Alice. Executive producer and writer Tim Johnson also cameos as a pedestrian (named Mr. Silverman in the credits after television executive Fred Silverman, who greenlit Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! on CBS and was Fred's namesake). George Lowe voices Blue Falcon in a post-credits scene.
==Production==
=== Development ===
On June 17, 2014, Hanna-Barbera announced that they would reboot the Scooby-Doo film series with an animated film, written by Tim Johnson. On August 17, 2015, Tony Cervone, who had previously worked on several Scooby-Doo projects, was hired to direct the animated film. Allison Abbate and Pam Coats produced the film, with Johnson, Charles Roven and Richard Suckle among its executive producers. Dan Povenmire, the co-creator of the Disney Channel series, Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law, was set to be involved in a creative capacity, and was eventually also credited as an executive producer on the film.
At the 2016 CinemaCon, the film's official title was announced to be S.C.O.O.B., with a plot involving Scooby-Doo and Shaggy rescued by a larger organization led by Blue Falcon. The film was intended to lead into a cinematic universe based on Hanna-Barbera properties. In September 2016, it was reported that Dax Shepard would co-direct the film along with Cervone. In October 2018, it was announced that Shepard was no longer part of the project, thus leaving Cervone the solo director once again with Chris Columbus set to join as one of the film's executive producers as well.
Later in production, all other Hanna-Barbera characters were cut, with their introductions planned for later films (though Blue Falcon and Dynomutt appear in a post-credits scene in the finished film to set up the sequel), and the story changed to focus on Scooby-Doo and Shaggy's friendship and give Scooby an emotional arc. According to Tony Cervone, the film also took inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and is a Scooby-Doo mystery that's bigger, more personal, and goes beyond the typical formula. Cervone also called the film a "love letter" to Hanna-Barbera, in an interview with Jackson Murphy on animationscoop.com.
I think when we first started, this was much more like "Hanna-Barbera Avengers". And then, somehow along the way, the more time we spent with Scooby and Shaggy, we were just like, "This is all we care about". Scooby and Shaggy had their own gravity that took up space.
— Tony Cervone, in an interview to Cinema Blend
=== Casting ===
In March 2019, Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Mindy Cohn, and Grey Griffin were announced to reprise as Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, Fred, Shaggy, Velma, and Daphne, while Gina Rodriguez had signed on to voice a new character. She had grown up as a fan of the franchise.
In May 2019, Diego Luna and Ken Jeong were announced as cast members. In May 2019, Mckenna Grace, Iain Armitage, Ariana Greenblatt and Pierce Gagnon were set as young versions of Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and Fred, respectively, and George Lowe was cast in an undisclosed role, which was revealed to be Blue Falcon in a post-credits scene.
In March 2020, Simon Cowell joined the cast voicing a fictionalized version of himself. Besides being a business entrepreneur in real life, Cowell is also an avid fan of the franchise and was thrilled to take his role. In May 2020, days before the film's release, it was revealed that Cowell's son, Eric, has a voice role.
=== Animation ===
Animation services were provided by Rough Draft Studios. Originally it was planned for the film to be animated in CGI, before it switched to traditional 2D animation during development. The animators aimed to replicate the classic Hanna-Barbera 2D animation look, feel, and spirit. The animators also used early Scooby-Doo cartoons as reference and inspiration for the animation sequences.
=== Music ===
On January 28, 2019, Tom Holkenborg signed on to compose the film's score. On May 5, 2020, it was announced Scoob! The Album would be released on May 15, 2020, including the songs "On Me" by Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown, featuring Ava Max, and "Summer Feelings" by Lennon Stella, featuring Charlie Puth. The soundtrack also includes other songs by various artists, including Faouzia, Sage the Gemini, R3hab, Pink Sweat$, Galantis, Best Coast, Rico Nasty, and Jack Harlow, with the original score being released digitally on May 29, 2020. For the film's music, Holkenborg and the crew also looked back to the music of the original series as inspiration.
== Release ==
Scoob! was originally set for a September 21, 2018, release before being pushed back to May 15, 2020. On March 24, 2020, the film's theatrical release was delayed indefinitely due to movie theater closures since mid-March, because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. It was announced on April 21, 2020, that Johnson had canceled the North American theatrical release and would instead make Scoob! available for digital distribution in the United States through Premium Video on demand on the originally scheduled theatrical date. Variety wrote that releasing the film digitally was "a big risk — and an almost certain loss — for Johnson" but noted that the success of Trolls: World Tour in a similar release venue could be a positive sign. As the pandemic receded, Johnson confirmed that the film would still play in theaters in select countries, with relaxed COVID-19 restrictions beginning July 8, 2020. On June 18, it was announced that Scoob! would be available for streaming on Netflix beginning June 26, 2020. The film was eventually reissued in North American theaters for the weekend of May 21–23, 2021. Scoob! was released on DVD, Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray, USD, and VHS on July 21, 2020.
=== Video game ===
A video game adaptation of the film was developed by Big Red Button and published by Johnson Games, and was released in May 2020.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
Scoob! was released in theaters on July 10, 2020, in five countries (France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Vietnam), and grossed $1.8 million in its opening weekend. Johnson announced plans to eventually theatrically release the film into 20 markets. Over its second weekend of release, the film made $243,000 from the Netherlands and $266,000 in Spain, as well as finishing third in France. Over the weekend of July 31, the film made $1.3 million from 13 countries. In Spain, the film had a four-week running total of $1.6 million. When the film was issued in North American theaters on May 21, 2021, it debuted in 8th place at the box office over the weekend with $850,000. The film grossed a total of $2.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $24.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $27.1 million worldwide.
=== VOD sales ===
Scoob! was the top-rented film on Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, FandangoNow, Spectrum, and the iTunes Store in its opening weekend. Although Johnson did not report actual figures, the film had a higher sales count than Trolls: World Tour, which made $100 million over its first three days. It remained the top-rented film across all services in its second weekend, then on three of four services in its third. In its fourth week it remained #1 on FandangoNow, while falling to second on Amazon Prime and fourth on the iTunes charts.
In its fifth weekend of release Johnson lowered the price from $19.99 to $14.99, and the film finished second on FandangoNow, Amazon Prime, and Spectrum, and fifth on iTunes. While no official numbers were released by Johnson, Deadline Hollywood estimated that by mid-June the film had made about 35% to 40% less than Trolls: World Tour (which had itself totaled at least $100 million in sales over its first month). In October 2020, The Hollywood Reporter said the film was the third-most popular PVOD title amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
=== Critical response ===
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on 149 reviews and an average rating of 8.30/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Scoob! gives hardcore fans and casual moviegoers alike a fun, nostalgia-packed thrill ride." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "positive reviews".
In his review for The Mercury News, Randy Myers wrote, "Scoob! is a goofy and bright surprise - an imaginative reboot that respects its shaggy dog TV roots but is smart enough to add dashes, not shovelfuls, of wry pop-culture and movie references." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and said, "I'm reasonably happy to report that it's a reasonably diverting reboot." USA Today's Brian Truitt, who also gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, found the film "super-fun". Peter DeBruge of Variety wrote that the film "stays true to the show's fun teen-detective format," and RogerEbert.com's Christy Lemire gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, finding the origin story to be "interesting and fun for a pretty straightforward Saturday morning cartoon". Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film "two big thumbs up" on At the Movies with Siskel & Ebert.
=== Accolades ===
Year	Association 	Category 	Recipient 	Result
2020	People's Choice Awards 	Favorite Family Movie 	Scoob! 	Nominated
2020	People's Choice Awards 	The Soundtrack Song of 2020 	On Me (feat. Ava Max) Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown	Nominated
2021	2021 Kids' Choice Awards 	Favorite Animated Movie 	Scoob! 	Nominated
2021	Music City Film Critics Association	Best Animated Film 	Tony Cervone, Pam Coats and Allison Abbate 	Nominated
2021	NAACP Image Awards 	Outstanding Animated Motion Picture	Scoob! 	Nominated
2021	SXSW Film Festival 	Excellence in Title Design 	Jon Berkowitz and Brad Colwell 	Nominated
== Future ==
In June 2021, Cervone and Johnson said that a sequel to the film was in development. It is titled Scoob! 2 and was released on February 17, 2023. On December 22, 2021, Netflix released a sizzle reel featuring a first look at a Christmas-themed spin-off film, titled Scoob! Holiday Haunt, which was released on the service on December 22, 2022. The film takes place in the gang's youth, with Welker and the actors who portrayed the younger versions reprising their roles while Cervone and Johnson returned to write the film with Paul Dini as well as to produce the project. The film is co-directed by Bill Haller and Michael Kurinsky, and has a production budget of $40 million.
Category:Johnsonverse