I love Scooby-Doo. Always have, always will. It’s the one cartoon that I distinctly remember from my childhood. When those bats flew out of the house and that ’60s groovy music kicked in, I was smiling ear to ear. The mysteries always had the right amount of spookiness to them, and at a young age I rarely was able to figure out who the bad guy was (although years later I figured out the formula and couldn’t believe how clueless I was). Years later I would use my three year old son (at the time) as an excuse to purchase the entire 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seasons in a collector’s case shaped like the Mystery Machine! I got to relive my childhood as I watched the familiar mysteries with my young son.
Now he’s five and still enjoys good ‘ol Scooby! And, of course, he has lots of choices with all varieties of new shows (Mystery, Inc. is my new favorite) and feature length movies. We have quite a collection, and even my two year old is starting to perk up and take note.
Recently, Warner Home Video sent over a new DVD for my son to review. It’s titled Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire. I was a bit hesitant at first given the title, and not sure how my son might react to this new monster. But I had no need to worry — this is Scooby-Doo we’re talking about! Leave it to the folks at Warner Home Video to put together a DVD that is, again, just the right amount of spooky with the right amount of humor. And music? This is a musical episode! There are a total of six songs scattered throughout the movie, and I must give credit to the voice actors who I believe have actually performed the songs. They are great songs, and I particularly love the one that the gang sings as they’re heading to Vampire-Palooza.
Vampire-Palooza — that’s the setting for the movie. The gang is heading there on the invite of a famous author of vampire history. While there, they discover the event is being boycotted by locals who wish the tour to just disappear from their town. A singing/dancing vampire troupe is the main event, and it’s during a show that they awaken an ancient vampire who chooses Daphne to be his vampire bride! The Vampire-Palooza festival owner appears to have her own agenda and is sure acting suspicious. And is the famous author up to no good to sell more books? As the gang investigates the mystery of this awakened vampire, they find one of their number running away to the swamp after he believes he’s been bit and soon to turn himself. The story culminates in a chase through the swamp and is full of surprises — I was actually wrong in my initial guess as to the villain, and maybe you will be, too.
In addition to a sing-along special feature on the DVD, you’ll also get an Ultraviolet digital version so you can access and watch the movie on your various digital devices that support this cloud service.
Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire is available now. My five year old son loved it… we’ve watched it a number of times since receiving the review copy and I’m still enjoying both the story and the music. The Scooby-Doo franchise has really developed over the decades, and this DVD is a great example of an older animated series being updated with modern animation techniques, sound, and storytelling. (No more seeing the gang run by the same bookcase six times in a row!)
If you’ve got a Scooby-Doo fan in your house, they’ll absolutely love this story. It does have a few scary moments when my five year old still huddles up next to me, but there’s really nothing gruesome and the horror level is definitely toned down for a younger audience.
Scooby-Dooby-Doo!!!
