Released in 1988, Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School was a made-for-television movie that clocks in at one hour and thirty-two minutes. It was the fourth Television Film, preceded by Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers. Even though this was a made for TV movie and released in the late 80s, it seems to have a fair-sized following online, but is it worth the following?
The plot focuses on Shaggy, Scooby-Doo and the little runt Scrappy as they take up a new job at a girl school as gym teachers. However, when they get there, it turns out that it's also a ghoul school, hence the title. The trio help the girls get in shape for a volleyball tournament, but all the while, an evil witch is watching them and plotting something evil.
The movie let's you know from the get-go that this isn't really going to be that serous. It opens with a fourth wall break. It's not really funny, and that sets the tone for the movie honestly. Most of the humour in this movie is bad puns and cartoony shenanigans. I personally enjoy me some bad pun-ishment, but the wordplay in the movie wasn't clever. The vampire girl, Sibella, keeps making bat puns and saying "Fang-tastic", and only a handful of the bat puns were cute. The little Mummy girl, Tanis, is the center of a lot of wrapping puns for another example. This is most of the humourous dialogue, there's no real clever wordplay or punchlines, and the puns get old fast.
As for the cartoony shenanigans, well, this is a late 80s production. While the artstyle is well detailed, a lot of the psychical impact is left out of the film, making a lot of these more a set-up without a punchline.
The animation itself is fine for this time period. I think a few shots and cels might have been reused, but I couldn't name them off the top of my head.
Character is another thing that isn't done great with this movie. Outside of a couple characters, I couldn't really name a personality trait of any of the characters. Shaggy and Scooby are typical Shaggy and Scooby, they're cowardly and silly, but they ultimately end up doing the right thing in the end. Scrappy is Scrappy and that's all I can say about him, outside of his little rap at the end of the film, yes, I'm not joking. The only characters I can really say have personality is the mummy girl, Tanis, and the ghost girl Phantasma. Tanis actually has a goal in the movie, but that gets resolved quickly, and Phantasma... well, Phantasma is a lot of fun. It's clear she's having fun with what she does, as most of what she does is laugh and run around. I think she's become a fan favourite character, and it's not hard to see why. It's funny because I remember having a crush on Sibella when I was a child.
The villains are pathetic, Revolta and Creeper have a decent plan, and are threatening at first, but at the end of the movie, they stand around while the girls escape, and when they chase after them, some rogue spell shoots them out of the air. The one thing I hate more than a pathetic villain is a decent villain that goes out like a chump. There is also this cadet school, but lord help me if I could remember them. They really only serve to made the volleyball subplot function and come back in the climax to save the day.
With that said, at no point did I ever end up hating the movie. I found the girls to be charming, the backgrounds well detailed and the scenarios to be enjoyable. Outside of the ending with Scrappy's rap song, there was very little to really dislike about this movie. It had an interesting set-up, charming characters and scenarios and a fairly decent villain to start.
I guess I am giving it some leeway because this is a late eighties production, and it would be a few years before Animaniacs would come out to give the finger to the strict censors. Still though, I would love to see this get remade. Maybe as a spin-off show where Shaggy and Scooby still coach the girls, and maybe add in a few more, like maybe a zombie girl, a demon girl. There is a lot of potential for something pretty great here, but as is, the movie isn't bad. It's enjoyable for what it is, and I do think that it has earned some kind of following, although considering what would come of the Scooby-Doo movies, there have been a lot worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment