An adaptation of Scooby-Doo has been hailed as the definitive version of the classic comedy, though fans were somewhat disappointed by one major addition to the film
There are countless adaptations of the Scooby-Doo franchise in film and television, but one has been praised as the definitive version. Even though the film received harsh criticism on release, members of the public have fond memories of the big-screen classic, and say it’s the best of all the various Scooby-Doo adaptations.
The Mystery Incorporated gang have been brought to big and small screens for decades but an effort from the director of Superman and Guardians of the Galaxy has been hailed as the best of all. James Gunn wrote the script for two Scooby-Doo adaptations, with the first one being released in 2002.
It’s such a strong adaptation that several of the cast members were kept on to voice their respective characters in future instalments of the franchise.
Scooby-Doo featured Matthew Lillard, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Sarah Michelle Gellar. It also had supporting roles from Rowan Atkinson and Isla Fisher, who were both praised by fans of the adaptation.
A viral post to X had viewers praise the film as one of the best interpretations of Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Incorporated team to date.
One person wrote: “Very funny how this movie very clearly loves every aspect and era of Scooby-Doo except for one very specific thing.” The one specific thing in question is supporting character Scrappy-Doo, who is written off as a joke villain for the feature.
Another added: “Adults hated Scrappy, but the kids liked him, but because the adults were more vocal, it left a cultural impression that he was universally hated. Then the kids grew up and were able to defend him.”
A third shared: “Scrappy is a fitting name after all the scraping of the history the character has gotten since the 80s, they keep scraping his concept but he keeps coming back.”
Others believe the film gets better with age as many of the jokes are written for adults. One person shared: “I remember watching this as a kid and my parents loved the jokes and I was like what is this, this isnāt a kids movie.”
Another added: “I think I read somewhere this was supposed to be a comedy for adults and then they had to do a bunch of late in the game rewrites to family friendalize [SIC] it for tweens at the studio behest.”
Some were not as convinced by the charms of the Scooby-Doo film though, and say one other major change to the series is the reason they can’t get on board for Gunn’s vision.
One person wrote: “The problem I had with the Scooby-Doo movies is that they made them actually supernatural. The classic Scooby-Doo I grew up on always ended with the gang figuring out that it was just a normal bad guy.”
Another added: “Honestly my biggest issue with the movie was making monsters real; theyāre like occasionally real in the show.”
