''Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright'' is a 2013

direct-to-DVD 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 strateg ...

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 ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

film, and the twenty-first entry in the

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 ...

series of ''

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 ...

'' films. It was released on August 20, 2013, by Warner Premiere, the last film to be released under this label due to its dissolution the previous year. The movie made its linear premiere on

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 ...

in the United States on March 25, 2023.

Plot

The Mystery Inc. gang head to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

for a talent show, called ''Talent Star'', hosted by Brick Pimiento, where songwriting duo Fred and Daphne are finalists. Upon arrival, they learn that the opera house in which the show will be held is being terrorized by a Phantom, who is intensely lauding one of the finalists to win, Chrissy, a spoiled girl whose noisy parents are no more polite than she is. Fred and Daphne also befriend one of the finalists, Emma Gale, a violinist. Not long after checking in for the talent show, the Phantom appears in the opera house and Fred, Daphne and Velma attempt to catch him using the surveillance cameras, but are unsuccessful due to the Phantom’s ability to seemingly appear in multiple places at once. While being chased by the Phantom, Shaggy and Scooby notice the Phantom has a strange lemon scent and afterwards, the gang split up to search for clues. Fred and Daphne meet the owner of the opera house Mel Richmond. They learn from Richmond that a Phantom once terrorized the opera house thirty-five years ago when it was a disco. The dress rehearsal commences the next day. Fred and Daphne meet Emma’s parents, who are hoping to get the prize money to save their home from bankruptcy. During the dress rehearsal, the Phantom sabotages most of the finalists’ acts, leaving Chrissy, Emma, and Fred and Daphne as the only contestants left. Due to these attacks, Fred and Daphne decide to use themselves as bait to lure the Phantom out. The gang manage to track down a Phantom, only to find it is the original Phantom, a man named Steve Trilby. Steve admits to the gang that he vandalized the opera house due to his hatred for disco music, but that now he only goes into the opera house to get food. The gang return to the stage to find the Phantom setting fire to the opera house. With the help of Steve, they catch the Phantom, who is revealed to be Mel Richmond, hoping to collect the insurance money on the opera house. However, the gang learn that Richmond is not the Phantom they are after when they hear another Phantom threatening to destroy the place. Later that night, using Emma as bait, the gang manage to capture the Phantom, who turns out to be Chrissy's father Lance. However, Shaggy and Scooby find out that assistant director Dewey Ottoman is also a Phantom, when they see him putting on lemon-scented hand sanitizer. They rush to Ottoman's office and find a magazine about the Soap Diamond, which is on display at a mineralogical center nearby. They rush to the mineralogical center and find Ottoman running out of the building. Ottoman trips and drops the Soap Diamond, which Scooby catches. Ottoman pursues the gang toward a drawbridge, where Fred tricks him into jumping into a barge filled with garbage. Ottoman is arrested and the gang return to the opera house just in time for Fred and Daphne to participate in a tie-breaker performance. When they realize what the loss would mean to Emma, they decide throw the competition allowing Emma to win. At the end of the show, Pimiento confesses that he only used the Phantom to boost the show's ratings. During the credits, the gang stops at a gas station where they see the news that Steve has become the new host of ''Talent Star'' after the show has been renewed for a tenth season. Velma advises Daphne to talk to Fred about their possible relationship as Shaggy and Scooby advise Fred to do the same. Then they head out to Goose Lake to solve the mystery of the Goose Lake Monster.

Voice cast

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 ...

and Fred Jones *

Matthew Lillard Matthew Lyn Lillard (born January 24, 1970) is an American actor. His film work includes Chip Sutphin in '' Serial Mom'' (1994), Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein in '' Hackers'' (1995), Stu Macher in '' Scream'' (1996), Stevo in '' SLC Punk!'' ...

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 ...

Grey DeLisle Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On September 27, ...

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 ...

, Amy *

Mindy Cohn Melinda Heather "Mindy" Cohn (born May 20, 1966) is an American actress. She starred as Natalie Green in the sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' from 1979 to 1988, and is known for voicing Velma Dinkley in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise from 2002 to 2015 ...

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 ...

* Isabella Acres as Emma Gale *

Troy Baker Troy Edward Baker (born April 1, 1976) is an American voice actor and musician. He is known for his numerous roles in video games, including Yuri Lowell in ''Tales of Vesperia'' (2008), Joel Miller in ''The Last of Us'' franchise, Booker DeWi ...

as Phantom, Lance Damon *

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian voice actor based in the United States. He is mostly known for voicing several ''Looney Tunes'' characters, for which he won three Emmy Awards for his performances in '' Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (20 ...

as K.T. *

Jeff Bennett Jeff Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor. He voiced the titular character of ''Johnny Bravo'', Dexter and Dee Dee's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', List of The Powerpuff Girls characters#Ace, Ace, List of The Powerpuff Gi ...

as Mike Gale, Mel Richmond *

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular cast member on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host of the daytim ...

as Brick Pimiento *

Vivica A. Fox Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964) is an American actress and producer. She began her career on ''Soul Train'' (19821983) and played roles on the daytime television soap operas ''Days of Our Lives'' (1988) and ''Generations (American TV s ...

as Lotte Lavoie * Kate Higgins as Meg Gale, Cathy *

Peter MacNicol Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954) is an American actor. He received a Theatre World Award for his 1981 Broadway debut in the play '' Crimes of the Heart''. His film roles include Galen in '' Dragonslayer'' (1981), Stingo in '' Sophie's Choic ...

as Dewey Ottoman *

Candi Milo Candyce Anne Rose Milo (born January 9, 1961) Timestamps: (00:27:12-00:27:45) Milo states that she is "firmly 51". (00:06:40-00:06:47) Milo states that she was born in Palm Springs. (00:16:23-00:16:25) She says her birthday is in January. (00:48 ...

as Barb Damon *

John O'Hurley John George O'Hurley Jr. (born October 9, 1954) is an American actor and game show host. He played Jacopo Peterman, J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld'', provided the voice for King Neptune on ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', and hosted the game s ...

as The Great Pauldini * Cristina Pucelli as Colette *

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

Security Guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, factory guard, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) ...

#1, Hotel

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

Paul Rugg Paul Kevin Rugg is an American screenwriter, producer, voice actor, and puppeteer. He is best known for his starring roles in shows like ''Freakazoid!'', ''Pig Goat Banana Cricket'', and ''Earth to Ned''. Biography Rugg has worked extensively ...

as Steve Trilby *

Tara Sands Tara Sands is an American voice actress and co-host of Cartoon Network's ''Fridays'' from 2005 to 2007. Sands has voiced in anime dubs and cartoons, including Bulbasaur in the ''Pokémon'' anime series, Spyler in '' I Spy'', Kari Kamiya in '' ...

as Nancy *

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' The Fair ...

as Donna,

News Anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

Travis Willingham Travis Willingham is an American voice actor known for his character portrayals in video games and English anime Dubbing, dubs. His notable roles include Roy Mustang in the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' franchise, Cleo in ''Glass Fleet'', Ginko in ''L ...

as Waldo *

Ariel Winter Ariel Winter Workman (born January 28, 1998) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Alex Dunphy in the ABC sitcom '' Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she and her several costars won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Ou ...

as Chrissy Damon * Keith Ferguson as

Critical response

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose revie ...

'' offered that the plot was an unoriginal "rip-off of the classic ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

''" mixed with "overtones of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

''" as well as other "reality based music shows". They also offered that while Blu-ray quality gives the film a ghoulish quality, it would be scary to only the youngest viewers. They noted

as the voice of Fred, being the only holdover from the original series, and

's return as the voice of Shaggy. They also offered that

"fits in well as nerdy Velma" and that

, and

in supporting roles "make the film slightly more interesting for adults who want to play the 'is that so-and-so's voice?' game." They concluded that for children, the film "will probably be a lot of fun and somewhat thrilling", due to the car and foot chases and its various adventures, but that "adults will find it to be a bit tedious, but if that surprises you, clearly you haven't spent much time around children's entertainment." ''

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

'', in their review of the film, deemed it a generic Scooby-Doo movie, giving it 3 out of 5 stars, while noting the greater degree of romance it compared to most other Scooby-Doo films. They praised Brady's performance as Brick Pimiento, calling it "extremely believable".

References

External links

* {{Warner Bros. animation and comics 2013 films Scooby-Doo direct-to-video animated films Films about television Films set in Chicago 2013 direct-to-video films 2010s American animated films Animated films based on animated series Films based on The Phantom of the Opera American children's animated mystery films American children's animated musical films American children's animated comedy films 2010s children's animated films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Victor Cook Animated films set in Illinois Films produced by Sam Register