Scooby-Doo (also known as Scooby-Doo: The Movie) is a 2002 American fantasy adventure comedy film based on the long-running animated franchise of the same name. The first installment in the Scooby-Doo live-action film series, the film was directed by Raja Gosnell from a screenplay by James Gunn, and stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini and Rowan Atkinson. Neil Fanning provides the voice of the titular character. The plot revolves around Mystery Incorporated, a group of four young adults and a talking dog who solve mysteries, who reunite after a two-year disbandment to investigate a mystery at a popular horror-themed tropical island resort.
Filmed in and around Queensland, Australia, on a budget of $84 million, Scooby-Doo was released on June 14, 2002, and grossed $275 million worldwide. Reggae artist Shaggy and rock group MxPx performed different versions of the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme song. The Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, a ride based on the film, was built at Warner Bros. Movie World in Gold Coast, Australia in 2002. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized its script and humor, although Lillard's performance received praise. This is the last time William Hanna served as an executive producer before his death on . A sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, was released on March 26, 2004.
Plot
After Mystery, Inc. solves the mystery of the Luna Ghost at a toy factory, long-brewing friction between Fred, a self-obsessed glory hog; Daphne, who has become sick of being the one who always gets captured; and Velma, from whom Fred regularly steals credit for her plans, causes the gang to argue and subsequently disband, abandoning a dismayed Scooby and Shaggy and leaving them to care for the gang's van, the Mystery Machine. Two years later, they are all invited to solve a mystery on a horror-themed tropical resort named "Spooky Island" at the behest of owner Emile Mondavarious, who believes the visiting tourists have fallen under a demonic curse.
While Shaggy and Scooby hope this will bring the gang back together, Velma, Fred and Daphne are all intent on solving the mystery on their own. Velma attends a ritualistic performance given by actor N'Goo Tuana and his henchman, famous luchador Zarkos. N'Goo claims ancient demons once ruled the island, but have been plotting revenge ever since they were displaced by the resort. Meanwhile, Shaggy falls for a girl named Mary Jane, distancing himself from Scooby in the process.
The gang are all led separately to the resort's haunted house ride. After some slight arguments between Fred, Daphne, and Velma, they all decide to get along for the time being in order to split up and search for clues. Fred and Velma discover a film that educates inhuman creatures about human culture, while Daphne discovers a pyramid-shaped artifact called the "Daemon Ritus". Later, at the resort's hotel, Fred, Velma and Mondavarious are kidnapped and later possessed by the island's demons. Mary Jane calls the Coast Guard for help, but ignores them. The next day, after trying and failing to tell Shaggy that Mary Jane is secretly a demon in disguise, the two have a falling-out that causing Scooby-Doo goes missing as well; Zarkos steals back the Daemon Ritus from Daphne, who is also captured and possessed.
Shaggy goes in search of his friends underground and finds a vat of protoplasm containing the souls of all those possessed. He finds and frees the souls of Daphne, Fred and Velma, who quickly discovers sunlight destroys the demons. A voodoo priest who lives on the island informs the gang the demons are to perform their "Darpokalypse" Ritual, which will see them rule the world for ten thousand years if a pure soul is sacrificed in the Daemon Ritus. The gang realizes that the pure soul is Scooby-Doo, whom Mondavarious brought to Spooky Island for this true reason. Finally realizing their mistake, Fred, Daphne, and Velma decide to put aside their differences for good and work together with Shaggy to save Scooby and the world.