Scooby Doo: Ghoul School [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Inspired by Hanna-Barbera's popular cartoon series, Scooby-Doo stars in Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, his second full-length film (made in 1988). Shaggy has accepted a job as a gym teacher at Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Ghouls, a gothic girls' school that instructs the daughters of frightfully famous monsters such as Dracula, Werewolf, Mummy and Frankenstein. Once Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy get over their spooky welcome, they settle into academic and athletic routines (like scarobic exercises) and enjoy an otherworldly relationship with the delightful Miss Grimwood and her gals. Shaggy prepares his students for a big volleyball tournament against the boys' military academy next door, a setup for all sorts of ghoulish gimmicks. And, of course, there's Back to School Night, where the girls' parents attend an enjoyable Who's Who event of monstrous proportions. Meanwhile, amid all the happy hauntings, Revolta, the Witch of the Web, is scheming to be "the most feared name in the monster world" and to make the girls' school "part of her evil team forever". In a final showdown, the boys and girls must join together to combat the evil Revolta and her spider-bat flunkies.

This predictable modern-day cartoon is a disappointing departure from Scooby's classic 1970s episodes, those campy detective romps that were full of lunacy and quirky humour and sprinkled with slapstick suspense. Scooby-Doo fans will also miss his wacky cohorts Freddy, Daphne and Velma, as well as their invincible Mystery Machine. At least the original voices remain the same, namely Don Messick as Scooby and Casey Kasem as Shaggy. (Ages 5 to 10.) --Lynn Gibson, Amazon.com