Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost

Rating:
Summary: Proselytizing!
Review: Gosh, let's just stop and think a little. Not for children under 8? Oh, are your kids insane or what? Sorry, but this DVD it's NOT scary, I mean it! The most frightening thing that you will find here are walking pumpkins...if this is scary, you'd better go to a doctor. This movie has a perfect soundtrack, perfect animation, perfect story...
This is my opinion, and Warner Brothers haven't still produced a movie that could be better than this one. Not even the Scooby Doo - Motion Picture, the real movie, is better than this. So, if you would not buy this one 'cuz u think it's 2 scary, forget it. It's perfect, kids will love it.

Rating:
Summary: bad
Review: I am honestly STUNNED by the shocking narrow-mindedness displayed by God-fearing, puritan Christians in other reviews of this DVD. There ARE other religions out there, exposing your children to them is no big deal, shielding them from it is both fascist and dangerous. And to dismiss them as evil is pure insanity. Especially Wicca. This is not a 'satanic' or 'devil-worshipping' religion and saying so only promotes further ignorance. Surely something was learned from the Dark Ages and the Salem Witch hunts. But reading other reviews here...I'm having second thoughts.

I'm actually quite glad Warner had the balls to have a plot involving Wicca and witches in a Scooby Doo cartoon. Okay, so ONE of them ultimately turns to be evil but there are evil people of all religions. Witch's Ghost is NOT pure Wiccan propaganda, it merely educates and enlightens on what is a highly misunderstood way of life. I would definitely prefer children to watch this.

The movie itself was one of the earlier efforts in the Scooby Doo revivals. Meaning that the monster is real and the writing is stronger and the gang have updated outfits. Tim Curry has a role as whacko writer Ben Ravencroft, a sort cross between HP Lovecraft and Sutter Cane, plus there is a Goth Girl Group called The Hex Girls who have a couple of cool songs. Billy Ray Cyrus sings the theme tune this time around.

There's a decent amount of mystery and humor, obviously nothing too sophisticated, to keep anyone, not just the kids, entertained. It's perfect family fun and I suggest you give it a ago and pay no attention to the insane reviews of Christian fundamentalists.

The DVD is in 1.33:1 fullscreen, as drawn, with Dolby 2.0 sound. However, my Region 2 release has a Dolby 5.1 track that was surprisingly loud and forceful with plenty of surround effects and deep bass. Sorry, but this ain't on the Region 1 version. A small amount of okay extras are included too. This DVD is an awful snap case but my Region 2 is a sturdy keepcase. If you can play multi-region DVDs get the UK version.

Rating:
Summary: Scooby and the gang are back...to entertain us
Review: I couldn't believe some of these reviews on here, I am still laughing! People up in arms because of a CARTOON. "Secret agendas?" I think some of you people need to open your minds and get a life. I can't believe the way people have to hate things that they fear and refuse to understand.

Anyways, Scooby and the gang get tricked into helping horror writer, Ben Ravencroft. He assures the gang that his ancestor, Sarah, was merely a Wiccan healer, not an evil witch, as the town legend says. Ben needs the gang to help him uncover the location of Sarah's ancient spell book. His secret agenda is to invoke Sarah's ghost which is trapped in the book. Great Halloween entertainment. Great music, my daughter had to get the soundtrack she enjoyed it so much. Some people said that The Witch's Ghost is not for children under 8 or so. My daughter seen this when she was 4 and she loved it, thought it was very funny. She has been a Scooby fan since she was about 3 and collects all the movies. You have to know your child and how well they decipher real life from television. Use common sense. If ghosts and witches scare your kids, don't let them watch this.

I was impressed that the creators were brave enough to educate the viewers on Wicca, a very misunderstood way of life. It is a shame that some of the other religions pull out all the stops to be sure that Wicca stays misunderstood with the general public. The real truth about Wicca can be found in many a reputable publication (see my other reviews on these books) by anyone who is open minded enough to learn something new. Someone else had mentioned that they had a problem with some of the songs in the movie talking about loving nature. Since when is that a crime? Look at the state our environment is in right now. Perhaps if more people learned to love nature and treasure it we wouln't have so many of the environmental issues we live with today. Some people need to chill out on the religious hang-ups with this cartoon. It is ENTERTAINMENT. Lets not forget it is a free country with freedom of religion. If something in this cartoon makes you feel threatened, then I feel sorry for you.

Rating:
Summary: Great for Halloween Purposes, and for Just Whenever!
Review: Scooby's been around since 1973. Then, 26 years later, they make a great movie for a new generation. Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is a wonderful movie with rockin' songs, a great plot, loads of laughs, beautiful animation, but even though it has all of these qualities, I would not recommend it for children under six. The movie starts where a common TV episode would stop. They are having the final chase trying to catch the villains. And as always, their plan goes whacko when Scoob and Shagg goof. But still they catch them. Then from out of the blue, Velma's favorite author, Ben Ravencroft, shows up and invites the gang to join him on a trip back to his home-town. Velma, never resisting something that wonderful, readily aggrees. When they get there, the normally peacefull town of Oakhaven is jam-packed with tourists! Ravencroft asks the Mayor what's all the hubbub about. When he says that they built a Puritan Village Tourist Park, he learns about how the ghost of his ancestor, has "come back to haunt the town." After about what would typically happen in a regular Scooby-Doo Where Are You? episode, they discover that many of the shop-owners in town, including the Mayor, put on the whole charade to attract tourists. But even though it was just a scam, the gang finds out that during the construction of the P.V. they dug up the grave of Ravencroft's ancestor. They go to the spot where they dug it up, and planned to search for any remains. [We interrupt this review to bring you a special announcement: Now's probably a good time to tell you that Ravencroft's ancestor was accused of being a witch. Thank You.] Scooby dug into the ground, and found an old box. In the box, they find what, unknown to the gang, what Ravencroft had been looking for for so many years. They found the Witch's old spellbook. Everyone was horrified as Ravencroft ressurected the Witch! After that everything old Mr. Obsessed-With-Magic had planned went wild. The Witch caused total and complete chaos!! After all hope seemed lost to cease the destruction, they finally found the spell to imprison the Witch again. Henceforth, the Witch, Ravencroft, and all of the evil magic that had been released, was trapped in who knows where again, and since a tree was burning during the destruction, a burning branch fell down on the evil spellbook, and the Witch was never seen again. The DVD has some cool bonus features that you can do after you watch the movie. There's a trivia game, a music video, a documentary, character bios, but you might have lost your remote or something so I'm just telling you now, it's not something you need to plan your day around. Well, that's it. I hope this review has helped you and encourages you to get this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: really, really BAD
Review: We normally love Scooby Doo, the bad guys always get caught and no one gets hurt--however this movie is explicit in its portrayal of witchcraft, spells and Wiccans. Unlike other movies in the end a very real witch is pulled back into a spell book and pulls her author/ancestor with her to be imprisoned forever. No bad guys are left muttering "You meddling kids". There's an unfinished/uneasy feeling throughout the movie. My husband who was not watching the movie and was two rooms away(but could here it ) got the creeps.
We will never watch this again.