Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow (2013) Reviews

• A perfect addition to the Scooby-Doo shorts

  bonbonsyum2014-05-30

  Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Scarecrow (2013) Voices: Mindy Cohn, Frank Welker, Grey DeLisle-Griffin, Matthew Lillard, Kelly Hu, Josh Keaton, Wendie Malick. Run Time: 22 min. Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Scarecrow is a great Halloween short for the series and it has great animation at that. The gang arrives at a town called Cobb Corner and they investigate the mystery of a scarecrow that comes to life after a witch cast a spell on the town for driving her away. The gang comes across many suspicious faces and they have to figure out who is actually doing behind the mystery and also find out who had hidden the money in the cornfield as well. This short will not disappoint and your children or yourself will enjoy it as part of your collection.

• Fun and spooky if over-familiar

  TheLittleSongbird2016-06-06

  While none of them are up there with the very best of Scooby Doo, the six specials are very enjoyable diversions and are more than likely to please die-hard fans. 'Scooby Doo! Spooky Scarecrow' is not one of the best of the specials, but it is very fun stuff and succeeds also in having a spooky atmosphere. It is let down somewhat by its lack of originality, a lot of the story having too much of an over-familiar feeling (having seen episodes from 'What's New Scooby Doo' and 'The New Scooby Doo Movies' that also have scarecrows for villains, and the set-up's not that hugely different here), making it not stand out as much as it could have done. Other than that, there is not much actually that's wrong. The animation is colourful, atmospheric and beautifully drawn, while the music is groovy with some suitably eerie moments too. 'Spooky Scarecrow' is very funny, sometimes it's goofy but in an endearing sense and the jokes and dialogue are sharp, nimbly timed and always above amusing level. The best of it comes from Shaggy and Scooby, though Fred also has a hilarious moment involving mistaking a guy for a mask. Despite being over-familiar, 'Spooky Scarecrow' moves quickly and never drags in its short running time, it's always fun, the mystery's diverting enough and the climactic chase between the gang and the villainous scarecrow Cornfield Clem has the right amount of thrills, fun and horror. The identity of the perpetrator is not as surprising as those of some of the other specials, which had more suspects, but Clem was a cool and quite intensely scary (without being at the risk of being too traumatising for children) villain. The gang carry the story incredibly well, and it was refreshing to see them being treated with respect. Shaggy and Scooby are likable and funny, their friendship amusing, charming and affecting and Fred, Velma (who is a little more likable than she has been in recent years) and Daphne are true to personality. Voice acting is solid. All in all, over-familiar but well-made, fun and spooky. Recommended. 8/10 Bethany Cox

• Solidly done, decent tribute to the old episodes

  Horst_In_Translation2017-07-01

  "Scooby-Doo! Spooky Scarecrow" is a 22-minute animated short film from 2013, so this video release will have its 5th anniversary last year. The people who made this (writers, director) are all fairly experienced filmmakers and even have a pretty successful history with the Emmys. The cast also includes some known names I guess like Frank Welker (the original Scooby), Gary Anthony Williams from Boston Legal and Golden Globe nominee Wendie Malick among others. They basically used all the ingredients that make the old Scooby series so worth watching. There is a mysterious creature in the cornfields of some American town and according to an old tale, it is an evil spirit set free by a witch for revenge because she was hunted away by the townsfolk. And just like with the old series, there is really nothing supernatural about the solution at all in the very end. But the ending was still maybe a bit random and the weakest part. Velma knowing everything and also who did it did not feel authentic this time, especially with how scared she was right before that. The robbery plot made little sense. And in general, it was a decline in quality compared to the 15-20 minutes before that. But thanks to these minutes, I still enjoyed the watch. The witch tale was nicely done. The roller-coaster sequence with scarecrow chasing Scooby and Shaggy was also one of the highlights. All in all, they did more right than wrong here, also by going the traditional path and not including any 3D or anything. I recommend these slightly over 20 minutes. Nice to see new episodes still being made today that go with the old tradition. Pretty much a must see for Mystery Incorporated fans.