''Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire'' is a 2003 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

film, and the fifth in a series of direct-to-video films based upon the ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...

'' Saturday morning cartoons. It was completed in 2002, and released on March 4, 2003 and it was produced by

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...

, but included a copyright for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc.. It is the first ''Scooby-Doo'' direct-to-video film to have the flatter, bright animation style of the ''

What's New, Scooby-Doo? ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Kids' WB. It is the ninth incarnation of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise that began with Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' and ...

'' series, departing from the darker shading and effects used in the four prior released films, the first to return to the original format where the monster is not real and the first to return to a lighter tone than that of the prior and darker ''Scooby'' made-for-video films. This film served as Joseph Barbera's first solo animated production effort without longtime partner

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the anim ...

(who died on March 22, 2001, due to throat cancer) and is one of two direct-to-video films to reunite the surviving classic 1969–73 voice cast consisting of

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...

Nicole Jaffe Nicole Cowgill Jaffe (born May 23, 1941) is a retired Canadian actress, best known as the original voice actress for Velma Dinkley in Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoon series from 1969 to 1973. Biography A life member o ...

, and

Heather North Heather May North (December 13, 1945 – November 29, 2017) was an American actress, best known for voicing Daphne Blake in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. Early years North was born in Pasadena, California. Heather was close with actress and v ...

. Since Don Messick (the original voice of Scooby) died on October 24, 1997, Welker provides Scooby's voice (in addition to voicing Fred Jones).

Plot

and the Mystery Inc. gang have arrived in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for a

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

. After seeing various sights throughout

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, the gang decides to go to the

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

and see the music festival at Vampire Rock. When they arrive, they meet

the Hex Girls The Hex Girls are a female eco- goth-rock band created by writers Rick Copp and David A. Goodman, and portrayed by actresses and singer-songwriters Jennifer Hale (as lead singer and guitarist Thorn, real name Sally McKnight), Jane Wiedlin (as ...

(the

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

the gang had met before in ''

Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost ''Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost'' is a 1999 American direct-to-video animated supernatural horror comedy film, and the second of the direct-to-video films based upon Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoons. It was produced b ...

'' and have since become close friends with). They also meet the managers of the show, Daniel and Russell, and Daniel's eccentric grandfather, Malcolm, who is against the festival and warns Daniel about what has happened and drives off. Daniel tells them that most of the performers have left because Matt Marvelous was kidnapped by vampires. Daniel and Russell tell them about Wildwind, a musical group who performed last year. It is believed that the members of Wildwind - Dark Skull, Stormy Weather, and Lightning Strikes - have been turned into vampires by the Yowie Yahoo, a vampire who lives in Vampire Rock.

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

decides the best way to solve the mystery is to enter the contest as a band to drive the Yowie Yahoo to capture them. While they are practicing (not very well), a golf cart approaches them driven by Jasper Ridgeway, and his band, the Bad Omens, King, Queen and Jack. The gang learns that Jasper was once the manager of Wildwind and grows suspicious of him, thinking he might have put his band up to masquerading as vampires and getting rid of the other performers to win. They split up, with Fred, Velma and

Daphne Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in whi ...

going to Jasper's trailer and

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer * Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse * Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspor ...

and Scooby staying at the food stands. At the trailer, Fred, Velma and Daphne find that Jasper has mementos of Wildwind, including the old stage costumes. They also wonder why Jasper did not come to his trailer (revealed he was trying to get the Hex Girls sign him as their manager after Wildwind) when he said he was going to. Meanwhile, Scooby and Shaggy get chased by the Wildwind Vampires and eventually lose them. They end up back at the stage, where the Bad Omens are rehearsing, witnessing the vampires capture them the same way they captured Matt Marvelous. Fred decides that everyone should sleep at the same place, so no one gets taken. During the festival, the Yowie Yahoo and Wildwind appear and capture the Hex Girls, leading the gang to chase them into the caves. Inside, Fred, Velma and Daphne find the Wildwind vampires and get chased. Scooby and Shaggy get trapped by a group of

dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...

es. The sound of Fred, Velma and Daphne running scares off the Dingoes, but then the gang gets trapped by the vampires. They avoid them until the sun comes up, which destroys Yowie Yahoo but Wildwind are not affected by the sun or water, and chase the gang until they and Daniel trap them. The gang reveals the Two Skinny Dudes, a band they met prior, and Russell. Daniel and Jasper are surprised, and get even more so when it is shown that the Skinny Dudes and Russell are really the members of Wildwind in masks. They explain how they wanted to start up their career and were planning to perform again. However, when they realized that they were not allowed to, they disguised themselves as vampires, and sabotaged the other performers so they may make a 'miraculous comeback'. The Yowie Yahoo was just a hologram. When asked about the missing performers, they said they sent them away on free

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

Scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

tours except for the Hex Girls, who were dumped in the Outback when they refused to play along. The members of Wildwind are arrested and Daniel realizes that since all the other bands are out of the competition, that makes Scooby and the gang the winners by default. The film ends with the gang performing to the cheering crowd and getting their band name, the Meddling Kids, joined by the Hex Girls.

Voice cast

and

as Velma *

Phil LaMarr Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include J ...

as Daniel Illiwara and King *

Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the Johnny Bravo, eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in ''Gargoyles (TV series), Gargoyles'' and List o ...

as Jasper Ridgeway, Jack and Lifeguard #1 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Malcolm Illiwara, the Yowie Yahoo *

Jennifer Hale Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as ''Baldur's Gate'', '' Mass Effect'', '' Metal Gear Solid'', '' BioShock Infinite'', '' Metroid Prime'', ''Overwatch'', and '' Sta ...

as Thorn and Queen *

Jane Wiedlin Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician and singer, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the new wave band The Go-Go's. She has also had a successful solo career. The Go-Go's w ...

as Dusk *

Kimberly Brooks Kimberly D. Brooks (née Lawson) is an American voice actress who works in the voice-over, film, video games, and theatre industry. She has voiced in video games since the mid-1990s. She has played Ashley Williams in the ''Mass Effect'' serie ...

as Luna * Michael Neill as Russell/Dark Skull and Matt Marvelous *

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

as Harry/Stormy Weathers, Barry/Lightning Strikes and Lifeguard #2

References

External links

* * {{Warner Bros. animation and comics 2003 animated films 2003 direct-to-video films 2003 films 2000s American animated films American mystery films American direct-to-video films Films set in Australia Warner Bros. Animation animated films Warner Bros. direct-to-video animated films Scooby-Doo direct-to-video animated films Vampires in animated film American children's animated adventure films American children's animated mystery films American children's animated comedy films 2000s children's animated films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Scott Jeralds