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SCOOBY-DOO

If the Flintstones can go to Rock Vegas and Casper can score with Christina Ricci, then Scooby Doo can most certainly save spring break. Hanna-Barbera’s favorite cartoon dog gets a CGI makeover and hot teen film stars to take the Mystery Machine out for one more spin.

Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Velma (Linda Cardellini), and Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar) are reunited after a three-year hiatus to get Mystery Inc. back together and investigate strange happenings on Spooky Island. Soon enough the kids are caught up in an evil scheme that involves brainwashing spring-break students for the purpose of world domination. Matthew Lillard plays a perfectly fleshed-out Shaggy, but the rest of the cast can’t hope to outdo the Doo, and Sarah Michelle Gellar has the added challenge of trying to keep her micro-mini PG. Director Raja Gosnell maintains the campy spirit of the original cartoon, and the result has broad appeal, with self-conscious humor for the twenty-and-thirtysomething crowd that grew up asking, "Scooby-Doo where are you?" This family film sneaks some racy innuendo under the radar, but not enough to have children asking their parents why smoke is coming from Shaggy’s van, or why Fred is wearing an ascot.

BY JONATHAN STERN

Issue Date: June 13 - 20, 2002
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