Scooby-Doo holds a special place in many Millennials and Gen Z-ers hearts. Maybe you were a Daphne girl like me, or maybe you were a Velma girl. Either way, you loved these movies. Here are my top ten animated Scooby-Doo movies, influenced by nostalgia, of course.
10. Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (2007)
The gang travels to the Himalayan Mountains, only to find out that the Abominable Snowman is wreaking havoc on the town located there. The gang meets an interesting cast of characters, and the Snowman is really cool and scary. In a twist ending, the Snowman saves Velma, and is revealed to be one of the good guys! It doesn’t stop there, it’s implied that a real Abominable Snowman does exist, but the audience is left to ponder that on our own.
9. Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)
The gang travels to Australia for a rock concert, but learns that a vampire is kidnapping the performers! This movie is special because the Hex Girls, my top three girl crushes, are in it. It turns out, the band Wildwind (who look an awful lot like Kiss) was the mysterious “vampire” the whole time. In classic Scooby-Doo fashion, they’re sent to jail after the big reveal.
8. Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (2011)
This movie is a wild ride. The gang goes down to New Mexico but encounters the ghost of a dinosaur. While all this is happening, as a side plot, Shaggy gets hypnotized and becomes confident and completely fearless. Then the movie gets even wilder; we find out that a real dinosaur is completely preserved in quartz, which is a lot to take in. Of course, the villains are sent off to jail in the end.
7. Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005)
The gang travels to Hawaii for a big wave festival, but the Hawaiians are upset by the hoards of surfers and tourists coming into their small town. Vengeful demons attack the town and kidnap their friend’s girlfriend! Later, their friend also gets kidnapped, and the gang is left to their own devices. Turns out, the friend and girlfriend were behind the demons the whole time! They wanted to scare everyone off so they could buy real estate and profit off of the resale. They (wait for it) get sent to jail.
6. Scooby-Doo! in Where’s My Mummy? (2005)
The gang travels to Egypt to visit Velma- she’s been restoring the Sphinx along with a Prince and other archeologists. Velma found Cleopatra’s necklace! Unfortunately, tomb robbers show up and unleash an ancient curse. The Prince and Velma are turned to stone, and everyone else is left to battle an army of mummies. In a surprise twist, Velma and the Prince played Cleopatra and the head guard, with the others at the site playing the army. They did this to scare the tomb robbers away- who eventually get sent to jail, no surprise there.
5. Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
The gang travels to Scotland to stay at the Blake Castle, which has been in Daphne’s family for generations. While there, the gang gets chased by the Loch Ness Monster, who also destroys the field set up for the highland games. They eventually gear up and go on a submarine to try and track the Loch Ness Monster down. Eventually, it’s captured and revealed to be a tricked-out submarine. Although that monster was fake, the movie leaves us thinking the monster might be real, with suspicious pictures captured underwater, and a shot of something swimming in Lake Loch Ness.
4. Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)
The gang is in Roswell, New Mexico, and accidentally stumbles across a government restricted area, and encounters a UFO. Of course, the gang encounters aliens too. Shaggy and Scooby are both given love interests, which adds an…interesting…dynamic to this movie. The bad guys behind the aliens are revealed; they were trying to steal gold from government land. But then this movie gives us real monsters! Sadly for Shaggy and Scooby, their love interests reveal themselves to be real aliens and leave the gang behind.
3. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
The gang learns that a video game is being made based off of their past adventures, and travel to the college where it’s being developed to test it out. The villain of the game has exited into the real world, and terrorizes them before all of them are sent back into the game. The gang battles the virus in the different game levels, each one with a unique setting. When the gang gets to level ten, they encounter past versions of themselves in their original outfits and all. They work together to defeat some of the most classic Scooby-Doo villains, defeat the virus and exit the game. They reveal who the culprit is, and he’s whisked away.
2. Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost (1999)
My personal favorite Scooby-Doo movie, Witch’s Ghost is a prime example of Scooby-Doo’s greatness as a franchise. The gang travels to a small town in Massachusetts with Velma’s favorite author, who is trying to recover his ancestor’s healing book. The town’s festivities are interrupted by the ghost of the author’s ancestor, but it turns out to be a fake. The gang meets the Hex Girls for the first time. Side note: the Hex Girls are icons, I love them and I will always stan them. The author finds his ancestor’s book, but it’s really a spell book full of evil writings that turn him into a warlock and release the vengeful spirit of his ancestor. The spirit destroys most of the town, but Hex Girl Thorn is also a witch and is able to send the spirit and the author into the book and end the terror. This is one of two Scooby-Doo movies to feature a real monster.
1. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
Zombie Island is the crème-de-la-crème of Scooby-Doo movies. The gang travels to New Orleans for Daphne’s television show. While there, they stay on a plantation and investigate the various hauntings that happen there. The gang gets attacked by the zombies of pirates, tourists and other people. Things turn sour when their hosts turn against them and reveal that they’re the true monsters. They turn into anthropomorphic cats every full moon and must steal the souls of humans to continue living for eternity. The zombies are the bodies of all the peoples’ souls they’ve used over hundreds of years. The zombies fail at stealing the gang’s souls and turn to dust. This frees all the stolen souls and the zombies pass on to the afterlife. This movie is genuinely scary at times, was the first of two to feature real monsters, and started a renaissance of Scooby-Doo movies. We have a lot to thank Zombie Island for.