How Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island Changed Scooby for the Better

Courtesy of Warner Bros

For over fifty years, Scooby-Doo has been Hanna-Barbera’s most popular brand, as well as one of Warner Bros.' most popular franchises. The franchise that started back in 1969 has created many shows, TV movies and specials, home video movies, live-action movies, video games, toys, and even some theme park attractions. People of all ages grew up on Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby solving mysteries, getting scared, and unmasking bad guys in masks. While not every Scooby-Doo project hits, and some are way better than others, one project remains the king of Scooby-Doo projects. That is Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.

In the 1990s, the Scooby-Doo series for a time took a break. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo ended in 1991, which was sort of a babyification of the gang following a trend classic cartoons were doing at the time. Before that, the Scooby-Doo franchise hit rock bottom. The Scrappy-Doo era that once saved Scooby-Doo brought the series down. Between 1991 and 1998, there was only Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights in 1994, which only featured Scooby and Shaggy telling stories featuring other Hanna-Barbara characters and the Mystery Inc. gang guest-starring in a Johnny Bravo episode named “Bravo Dooby Doo" in 1997.

The Scooby-Doo franchise regained popularity with reruns on Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network premiered in 1992, and when Turner purchased Hanna-Barbera, many Hanna-Barbera cartoons aired their reruns as original cartoons wouldn’t appear on the new network for a few years. Scooby-Doo was the most popular. Between that and the series approaching its thirtieth anniversary, as well as Scooby testing well in surveys, it was time for a new Scooby-Doo project. Jim Stenstrum, who had been with the series since 1983, would direct the movie. There was a clash among the directors and writers as to whether or not they should include real monsters. The movie would later have a combination of the usual bad guys in masks, real monsters, and still a mystery to solve, which was the disappearances on Moonscar Island.

Most of the cast was new to the series at the time. Frank Welker would be the only original cast member of the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! to return, still voicing Fred. Casey Kasem was meant to return as Shaggy, but due to disagreements with the creative team and wanting to make Shaggy a vegan like Kasem was in real life, he left the role. BJ Ward, who voiced Velma a year before in the Johnny Bravo crossover, would return as Velma. The original voice of Daphne, Heather North, was originally going to voice Daphne and even recorded lines the first day before being replaced by Mary Key Bergman. Scooby’s original voice actor, Don Messick, retired from voice acting in 1996 and then a year later passed away. Scott Innes would take on the role of Scooby. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island would be dedicated to Messick. Scrappy-Doo, who dominated the Scooby series for most of the 1980s, would not appear, nor would he be referenced, marking an official return to the original gang without any additions. Also providing voices for the movie are Tara Strong, Mark Hamill, Jim Cummings, and Adrienne Barbeau.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island starts with an intense opening chase sequence with the gang in their classic outfits, solving the mystery of the Moat Monster in a castle. Even though he only appears in the beginning, the Moat Moonster right away looks like the scariest monster the gang encountered, even after it turned out to be another guy in a mask. He’s clawing at the gang, trying to actually hurt them and destroy stuff in the castle. Daphne and Velma nearly fall off a castle ledge, with Fred’s shirt getting ripped. We know right away this isn’t going to be a typical Scooby-Doo project. It’s later revealed that Daphne is telling the story of the Moat Monster case in a live interview and hosts a show where she is looking for real ghosts, and the gang went their separate ways after getting bored with the typical mysteries. This actually is a great symbolism to the times the Scooby-Doo series was struggling when viewers were getting bored with the usual same old formula in the 1970s and later 1980s.

When Daphne admits she misses the old gang, Fred, who is now Daphne’s cameraman, decides to reunite the gang. They head to Louisiana to try and find real ghosts. It turns out to be the usual same old stuff until a girl named Lena tells them about the island she lives on, Moonscar Island, where weird happenings and disappearances have occurred throughout the years. It turns out zombies live on the island. Fred believes it’s the usual bad guys in a mask, looking for old pirate treasure. However, in a brilliant plot twist, it turns out to be Lena, a woman named Simone who lives on the island, and the ferry driver Jacques, sucking the life out of people who came to the island, and they are these scary cat creatures.

The movie does so well in setting up the plot. It establishes some characters as possible suspects, like Jacques, Beau the grumpy gardener, and Snakebite Scruggs. When the zombie appears, outside of approaching the characters, they never try to harm them or intentionally scare them. They try to warn the gang, but since the zombies can’t speak, the gang doesn’t realize it. The design of the zombies is great and well-animated. We see the zombie outfits vary from pirates to settlers, Civil War soldiers to tourists. It also shows how many years Simone and Lena had sucked the life out of people and just how many people they killed.

The backstory and motivations of Simone and Lena work well, too. Simone and Lena were part of a group of settlers who came to the island for a better life that also worshipped cat gods. When Morgan Moonscar and his crew arrived, they chased most of the people into the bayou, where alligators killed them except for Lena and Simone. They pray to their cat god to curse the pirates, becoming cat monsters to get their revenge. This adds to the dark, tragic tone of the movie. Simone and Lena killed Moonscar and his crew, but were now cursed as well. Every harvest moon, they lure people to the island to drain their lives. That explains the tourist zombies, as well as zombies who were once people who settled on the island throughout the years, like soldiers. Jacques would help bring them by ferry in exchange for immortal life like them. Nearly thirty years later and after a ton of Scooby projects, including some live-action movies, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island remains the darkest Scooby project. It also turns out that Beau was an undercover detective looking for evidence and would help the gang.

Another welcome change is to some of the members of the gang. Fred and Velma get a much-needed upgrade in personalities and are more than just the leader and brains of the group. Fred is more comedic and reluctant to admit the zombies are real while still being the leader. Velma isn’t just a stoic smart character, but seems more in the middle of the situation on Moonscar Island, more focused on Beau being a suspect. The best change is to Daphne. Instead of being danger-prone Daphne, who usually falls through trap doors and is the damsel in distress, she takes more of a leadership role, determined to find real ghosts for her show, and doesn’t back down from disagreeing with Fred on whether the zombies are real or not. Shaggy and Scooby still are the main duo of the group who are the most scared and love to eat, but this time, Scooby seems to hate cats more than he did in past shows and movies. The most heartfelt moment of the movie is when the gang surprises Daphne on her birthday, reuniting. It feels like another symbolic moment where the gang is once again together, something fans hadn’t seen in years at the time the movie was released in 1998. Also, the gang are no longer teenage sleuths, but adults trying to find and work on their careers. It made our favorite characters grow up and bring needed change.

The movie’s music is also great. A new version of the original Scooby-Doo theme song is performed during the Moat Monster chase sequence by Third Eye Blind that sets the tone of the movie and sequence. Skycycle performs two songs for this movie that have become fan favorites. The first one is “The Ghost is Here” during a mystery montage of the gang unmasking monsters. The second one is “Terror Time Again” where Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, and Daphne are being chased by the zombies. These songs fit the shift in tone of the movie perfectly.

The success of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island sparked a series of direct-to-video Scooby movies for over twenty years. From 1998 to 2001, the Scooby-Doo movies would focus on real monsters and ghosts as well. In 2002, Scooby-Doo came out in theaters as a live-action movie. It had similar elements to Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island with real monsters, the gang splitting up and reuniting, and solving a mystery on an island. Also in 2002, What’s New Scooby-Doo would premiere as the next new Scooby-Doo cartoon. Not only did Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island bring Scooby’s popularity back, but it also helped spark new Scooby projects and interest back, as well as change the formula and characters for the better. For me, it’s still the best Scooby-Doo movie and project made. If I were to grade Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, I would give it an A. Years later, I still rewatch it around Halloween at least once a year.

What are your thoughts on Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island? Let us know in the comments below.