As some fans might be already aware of, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a Japanese company called Mook produced four Scooby-Doo direct-video movies which were Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, and Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders, which are based on the classic cartoon series first created way back in 1969. Fans have been clamoring for the movies to be released on Blu-ray. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase and Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island were finally released earlier this year and now the other two, Scooby-Doo! And the Witch’s Ghost and Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders were just released as part of their humongous output of classic cartoons and television series from yesterday courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection.
Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost is an animated supernatural horror comedy film that was released in 1999, which was their second of four direct-to-video releases. Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders is the third direct to video animated science fiction which is romantic comedy mystery film and is probably one of the more unique Scooby-Doo adventures.
Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost has Scooby-Doo (voice of Scott Innes, who also voiced Shaggy) and the Mystery Gang invited to visit the hometown of famous horror writer Ben Ravencroft (voiced by screen legend Tim Curry, Legend, It) Oakhaven, Massachusetts to see some of the odd happenings going on there. The novelist has an ancestor who is rumored be a witch, who appears and scares Shaggy and Scooby. The Mystery Gang (Fred, Daphne and Velma) steps in to solve the mystery of the ghost which leads to some startling developments. This is a fun movie that includes a vampire band called The Hex Girls who play not just a few tunes, but they also play an important part of the film. The story has a few twists and turns to make this an exciting thrill-ride!
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders has Scooby-Doo having a Close Encounter of the Scooby Kind where he and Shaggy meet a lady and her dog during an investigation of Aliens. Scooby and Shaggy fall in love (Shaggy sings a love song!), but there is a dark secret about the lady and the pet dog that might ruin everything in an out-of-this word alien adventure story with aliens, flying saucers. The Mystery Gang are up to their ears in a mystery like no other they’ve ever encountered!
The two immensely popular Scooby-Doo movies have arrived on Blu-ray courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection, much to the delight of their fans and they shouldn’t be disappointed. The two films are on a single Blu-ray, and both simply look marvelous. The colors are rich, bold and strong throughout the presentation. I didn’t notice much in the way of film grain, but I still did not really feel like the image had too much digital noise reduction either. Both movies now look exceptionally clean. I don’t think kids, who these are intended for will mind, maybe some adults who like them might notice just how clean they appear. Overall, in my opinion the picture quality for both movies is highly satisfactory.
For both features on this Blu-ray disc, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 was used and the dialogue, action sounds, and musical numbers come in perfectly clean. Nothing sounds overly aggressive, yet the audio presence is quite strong. No hissing, crackling or audio issues were detected. English subtitles are available for this release
Special features for this release include a making-of featurette and promotional trailers for both films. Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Curse includes a music video.
Scooby-Doo fans should enjoy this double-feature with excellent audio and video quality plus a few extras to boot. Easily, this Blu-ray is recommended!
Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost / Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders
Director – Jim Stenstrum
Cast- Scott Innes, B.J. Ward, Frank Welker
Country of Origin-USA
Distributor – Warner Brothers
Number of Discs –1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date – 8/21/2024