What could be the best gift for you, with Halloween around the corner? I guess a spooky mystery with Scooby-Doo and his friends. The new animated movie Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo is more of a tribute to the animated series, but has a few surprises on the way. The movie has a new villain, and a new-look Mystery Machine, the van in which the gang commutes.

The fun begins when Mystery Inc (the gang’s name) catches Cat Man in Nepal’s city of Kathmandu. When they find out that all weird costume crimes, including this one, are linked to a designer named Coco Diablo, they decide to investigate. During a successful sting operation, Coco is arrested, but it is learned that the mastermind was someone else and life comes to a standstill for Scooby and his friends.

Without villains to chase, Mystery Inc. no longer has a purpose. They are reduced to locating missing wallets, unclogging drains and searching for needles in haystacks, which make them feel dejected. Fred attempts to drum up a new business by setting up a booth at the Coolsville fair, while Shaggy and Scooby long for candies with Halloween approaching.

Their combined dream of candies was shattered when the team is attacked and the Mystery Machine is destroyed. The doppelganger ghosts of the Scooby crew then show up in the town and threaten Halloween. The team has no option but to partner with Coco in order to unmask the latest scoundrel and save their Halloween. However, in the dying moments, a mass prison break brings all of the old Scooby-Doo villains back into the world!

The film offers plenty of treats, but no tricks, and enough laughs to keep things light and enjoyable. Teamwork is the key to solving mysteries and Scooby-Doo movies are proof of it.

The 77-minute movie features the usual vocal talents of Frank Welker (Scooby-Doo and Fred Jones), Grey DeLisle (Daphne Blake), Matthew Lillard (Shaggy of course!), and Kate Micucci (Velma Dinkley) while Myrna Velasco lends her vocals for Coco Diablo.

Funny, colourful, and full of nostalgia, Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! is a delightful cartoon caper perfect for Halloween. There’s a villain, a number of suspects, a chase sequence, some new characters and a mystery along the way. Unlike previous versions, there are several subplots attached, with Fred stressing about the gang, Velma fawning over Coco Diablo and Scooby and Shaggy frustrated at not being able to ‘trick or treat’.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 29th, 2022