''Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost'' is a 1999 American

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

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

horror comedy film, and the second of the

films based upon ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...

Saturday morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre was a ...

s. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...

. The film was released on VHS on October 5, 1999, then on DVD on March 6, 2001. The plot involves Mystery Inc. travelling to the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

town of Oakhaven after being invited by horror writer Ben Ravencroft. Like a number of

'' animated films released in the late-1990s and early-2000s, ''The Witch's Ghost'' features real supernatural elements instead of the traditionally fabricated ones the franchise is associated with, giving the film a darker tone. The film has been adapted into a book. It is the second of the first four ''Scooby-Doo'' direct-to-video films to be animated overseas by Japanese animation studio Mook Animation. The film marks the first time voice actor and radio-personality

Scott Innes Scott Innes (born October 1, 1966) is an American voice actor, author, songwriter and radio personality. He is best known for his voice over work in various Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera animated films, television shows, video games and commercia ...

voiced Shaggy, as

Billy West William Richard Werstine (born 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor, comedian, radio personality, impressionist and musician. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'', the title characte ...

(who voiced Shaggy in '' Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island'') needed time for his voice work on ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

''. This was also the final film starring

Mary Kay Bergman Mary Kay Bergman (June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999), also briefly credited as Shannen Cassidy, was an American voice actress and voice-over teacher. She was the official voice of the Disney character Snow White from 1989 to 1999 and the lead fem ...

that was released during her lifetime. A sequel to the film, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders was released in 2000.

Plot

After Ben Ravencroft, a famous horror writer of whom

Velma Dinkley Velma Dinkley is a fictional character in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. She is usually seen wearing a baggy orange turtleneck sweater, a short red pleated skirt, knee high socks, Mary Jane shoes, and a pair of black square glasses, which she ...

is a fan, assists her and Mystery Inc. in solving a case at a museum in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, he invites them to his hometown of Oakhaven, Massachusetts. When they arrive, they find the town's Mayor Corey has converted it into a tourist attraction based on the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft, Ben's ancestor who was persecuted as a witch and executed by the Puritan townspeople in 1657. Ben disputes this, claiming that Sarah was a

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

n who used herbal remedies to heal the less fortunate and that he has spent years searching for her medical journal to prove her innocence. While

and

Shaggy Rogers Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional character and one of the main characters in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. He is characterized as an amateur detective, and the long-time best friend of his dog, Scooby-Doo. Character description Shaggy ...

are chased by Sarah's ghost, the others are drawn to the Hex Girls, an all-female gothic rock band led by Sally "Thorn" McKnight, during one of their rehearsals. Fred Jones and

Daphne Blake Daphne Blake is a fictional character in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. She is a core member of Mystery Incorporated and is depicted as coming from a wealthy family. She is noted for her beauty, fashion sense, and her knack for getting into dan ...

follow Thorn and, upon discovering her seemingly performing a ritual, believe the Hex Girls are witches. Upon capturing Sarah's ghost, Velma reveals her to be Mr. McKnight, Thorn's father and Oakhaven's pharmacist who posed as the ghost as part of a town-wide publicity stunt meant to stimulate Oakhaven's failing tourist economy and that they did so after digging up Sarah's grave despite not finding her body. Additionally, Thorn reveals the "ritual" she was performing was actually an herbal remedy for soothing her vocal cords and that she is one-sixteenth Wiccan. Upon realizing that a buckle Scooby found earlier is actually the lock from Sarah's journal, he returns to where he found the lock and digs up Sarah's journal. To the gang's horror, the book is actually a witch's spellbook. A gleeful Ben reveals he is a warlock, the stories of Sarah being a witch are true and she was imprisoned in her book by the Wiccans of her time. Furthermore, he engineered the museum mystery to manipulate Mystery Inc. into helping him and, though he did not account for Oakhaven's publicity stunt, used it to his advantage nonetheless. He subsequently awakens his magical powers and releases Sarah in the hopes that she will help him rule the world. However, she chooses to destroy it as revenge for her imprisonment instead. Disillusioned, Ben attempts to re-imprison Sarah, but she reveals only a Wiccan can do so and traps him in a magical sphere. Mystery Inc. attempts to get the book back, but Sarah brings several pumpkins and trees to life and enlarges a turkey to stop them. Amidst the chaos, Velma convinces Thorn to re-imprison Sarah. As the plan succeeds, the vegetation is restored, the turkey is freed from her control, and she is pulled back into her book, taking Ben with her. A burning branch falls onto the book, incinerating it. Afterwards, Mystery Inc., the townsfolk, and the turkey celebrate with a concert held by the Hex Girls to raise money to repair the town.

Voice cast

and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers * B.J. Ward as

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

as Fred Jones and Turkey *

, Witch’s Ghost and Girl *

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 L ...

as Ben Ravencroft * Jennifer Hale as Sally "Thorn" McKnight and Butter Churner * Neil Ross as Mayor Corey, Perkins and Exhibit Voice *

Jane Wiedlin Jane Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actress, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the new wave music, new wave band The Go-Go's. She voices Dusk, the drummer and ba ...

Dusk Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enoug ...

* Bob Joles as Jack and Dr. Dean *

Kimberly Brooks Kimberly Brooks is an American voice actress. Brooks has voiced characters in video games since the mid-1990s. She has played the voice of Luna in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise as part of The Hex Girls, Ashley Williams in the ''Mass Effect'' s ...

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

as Sarah Ravencroft * Peter Renaday as Mr. McKnight

Production

After the success of '' Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island'', which received better sales than Warner Bros. had expected, the team were tasked with creating a second ''Scooby-Doo'' direct-to-video film. Its predecessor was considered a one-off experiment and, as such, the crew producing it worked with little oversight from executives. For ''Witch's Ghost'', this creative freedom was scaled back considerably. Warner Bros. suggested screenwriters Rick Copp and David A. Goodman, which insulted the team that had produced the first film in total autonomy. In addition, the studio requested the filmmakers "tone down" their content, as they feared ''Zombie Island'' had proved too scary for its intended audience. Copp and Goodman's script concluded with the revelation that the townspeople were using the witch as a publicity stunt. The original team found this unsatisfactory, so Glenn Leopold and Davis Doi re-wrote the last third of the film, introducing the concept that the ghost is real.

Soundtrack

To coincide with the release of '' Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island'', Warner Bros. decided to release the album '' Scooby-Doo's Snack Tracks: The Ultimate Collection''. It went on to peak at number 5 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s Kid Albums chart and stayed in the top 25 for over 26-weeks. This popularity inspired Warner Bros. to release a full length soundtrack for their next film, ''Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost''. Kid Rhino partnered with

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

and

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

to release the soundtrack for the film. According to Rhino VP Carol Lee, "We orkedclosely with Warner Home Video so that we're part of everything they do." She added the soundtrack to the film was, "treated like that of a theatrical release. We created a

Music Video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

which appeared on the home video." On September 14, 1999, the soundtrack was released on CD and Audio Cassette, featuring songs by The Hex Girls, and

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

performing " Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?". Notes * From '' Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island''.

Release and reception

''Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

on October 5, 1999, then on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on March 6, 2001. The VHS included the pilot episode for '' Courage the Cowardly Dog'' entitled ''The Chicken From Outer Space'' shown at the end. In 2024, it was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

for the first time through the Warner Archive Collection, packaged with '' Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders''. The film earned a 50% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. David Parkinson of ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'', gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "This full-length cartoon featuring the ghost-hunting teenage detectives is something of a mixed bag." Joe Neumaier from

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

said, "Though slyly written, it doesn't have the punch of last year's ''Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island'' – but it's still scarier than The Blair Witch Project."

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Warner Bros. animation and comics 1999 films 1999 American animated direct-to-video films 1999 children's films 1999 comedy horror films 1990s monster movies 1990s supernatural horror films 1990s comedy mystery films 1990s mystery horror films 1990s children's comedy films American comedy horror films American mystery films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated mystery films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Jim Stenstrum Films scored by Louis Febre Animated films based on animated series Animated films set in Massachusetts Warner Bros. Animation films Warner Bros. direct-to-video animated films Scooby-Doo direct-to-video animated films Animated films about witchcraft Hanna-Barbera animated films Fiction about publicity stunts American supernatural horror films 1990s children's animated films 1999 science fiction films English-language comedy horror films English-language science fiction horror films Films about Wicca