Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island/ Scooby-Doo! Return To Zombie Island (Double Feature) [Blu-Ray]

Director(s):Jim Stenstrum, Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton, Ethan Spaulding

Cast: Scott Innes, Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard (VOICES)

Release Date: May 7, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Get ready for far out fun in Scooby-Doo’s feature-length animated movie, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island! Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Fred reunite to solve the most frightfully funny mystery of their careers. The scream team’s headed to a haunted bayou island to investigate the ghost of Moonscar the Pirate. But it turns out the swashbuckler’s spirit isn’t the only creepy character on the island. The sleuths also meet up with cat creatures and zombies and it looks like for the first time in their lives these ghouls might actually be real. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is the most hilarious Scooby adventure of all time and dishes up equal portions of music, laughs, thrills and chills. The gang’s trip to ZOMBIE ISLAND became one of the most popular of Scooby’s feature-length adventures, and twenty years later led to a sequel! In Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island, Scooby, Shaggy and the Mystery Inc. gang win a vacation of a lifetime at Monster Island Resort. Velma, Daphne and Fred can’t help but notice how strangely familiar the surroundings are there. The gang soon finds that paradise has a price as they encounter an army of zombies and creepy cat people. Hop on board and travel with Scooby-Doo and the gang as they unearth the mystery of ZOMBIE ISLAND in this laugh-filled follow-up to the original classic.

First, in ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ a now broken up Mystery Incorporated gang that’s gone their separate ways reunites for Daphne’s birthday and heads out on a quest for real haunts to showcase on Daphne’s new, popular series. The quest eventually leads them to Moonscar Island which they are promised is in fact truly haunted and not just by a person in a mask. Originally hesitant to believe anything of the sort, the gang soon realizes that things are far more sinister and uncommon than they are used to and they might just have to find real answers if they hope to survive the visit which serves up horrifying surprises around every turn.

Next, in the animated sequel ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’, the Mystery Inc. gang returns to the site of one of their most baffling mysteries when Shaggy wins an all-expenses paid vacation that lands them back on Moonscar Island (with one letter changed naturally) and quickly leads to countless questionable moments and events that they must disregard as part of a promise to Shaggy and Scooby to not solve mysteries. It soon becomes unavoidable though as one terrifying situation after another leads to a hunt for answers about their previous trip and a handful of new mysteries revolving around the island.

‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ is directed by Jim Stenstrum. The film’s voice cast includes Scott Innes as Scooby-Doo, Billy West as Shaggy, Mary Kay Bergman as Daphne, Frank Welker as Fred and B.J. Ward as Velma, in addition to Adrienne Barbeau, Tara Strong, Cam Clarke, Jim Cummings and Mark Hamill.

‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’ is directed by Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton and Ethan Spaulding. This time around the sequel’s voice cast features the current lineup of voice regulars including Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo and Fred, Grey Griffin as Daphne, Matthew Lillard as Shaggy and Kate Micucci as Velma, while also co-starring Janell Cox, David Herman, John Michael Higgins, Cassandra Peterson as Elvira and more.

‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ was originally released in 1998 and offered a clever new twist on the franchise with some threats and situations that are actually real as opposed to yet another person in a mask, while also repeatedly poking some fun at the repetition of Scooby’s unmasking after unmasking over the years. Even with a very different voice cast aside from Frank Welker as Fred, it still keeps things exciting and different enough that it quickly becomes one of the more beloved and exciting mysteries the gang had took on in years; not to mention kicking off the numerous Scooby animated movies in the following years which are all typically a lot of fun, even if some are better than others. It certainly shouldn’t be any surprise that ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ remains a fan favorite after all of these years and fans should be absolutely thrilled to finally see this one arriving home on Blu-ray.

‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’ was released more than twenty years later in 2019 and brought the gang back to the site of their most baffling mystery in the way of a clear trap disguised as a prize that Shaggy is far too excited about to notice the plethora of coincidences piling up. The film definitely doesn’t come anywhere near recapturing the magic of its predecessor and takes things to places that are overly ridiculous and it often feels like a parody of the Scooby universe. At the same time though it’s still quite fun if you can ignore its purpose as a sequel and just roll with the goofy and hilarious situations that repeatedly pile up along the way. You can also read my initial thoughts from 2019 on the sequel in my DVD review for ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’ HERE.

Overall, Warner Archive Collection brings home the fan-favorite Scooby animated movie ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ for the first time ever on Blu-ray, paired with its far less praised sequel ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’ which also makes its Blu-ray debut. Both films arrive on Blu-ray for the first time here sporting quite beautiful high definition video presentations that should have fans very excited, paired with fully capable and solid DTS-HD MA soundtracks (stereo for the first film and 5.1 for the follow-up) which combined easily provide the best video and audio presentation that either film has ever been released in to the say the least. If you’re a diehard Scooby fan that loves all of the films or even if you’re just a big fan of the original ‘Zombie Island’ feature then this release should be right up your alley and is definitely highly recommended for anyone that’s already considering a purchase.

VIDEO:

The Warner Archive Collection Double Feature Blu-ray release of ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ & ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the original aspect ratio on both films; featuring a 1.33:1 4×3 presentation for ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ and a 1.78:1 presentation for ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’. The video presentations both look pretty spectacular altogether and deliver sharp, vibrantly colored and richly detailed presentations from start to finish that have each film looking far better than they ever have previously. The video presentation for ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ retains the original 4×3 presentation and the original hand drawn animation looks outstanding, clean and sharp, while some lines and marks from the source are still visible throughout, providing it a more natural and filmic appearance. The video presentation for ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’ on the other hand offers a clean, sharp and flawless presentation that looks marvelous down to every animated line and keeps everything looking immaculately smooth and bright. Overall, these are great high definition video presentations for both films that provide magnificent upgrades for each that should have fans ecstatic.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 2.0 channel DTS-HD Master Audio Soundtrack for ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ and a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack for ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’. The first film’s stereo soundtrack does its job well and serves up a clean, crisp and nicely balanced soundtrack that keeps all of the dialogue, music and effects sounding sharp and problem-free while never resulting in any simultaneously occurring audio elements clashing with one another along the way. The second film’s multichannel soundtrack sounds quite good as well and offers a similarly clean, sharp and rewarding soundtrack, simply with a more immersive and active presentation throughout that has some music and other tidbits expanding into the surround channels while still ensuring that everything balances properly and keeps each element sounding clean and fully audible. Overall, these are very nice DTS-HD MA soundtracks that each hold up well and shouldn’t elicit any complaints from fans.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Warner Archive Collection Double Feature Blu-ray release of ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ & ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’ features a Promo Trailer for each film (running approximately 2-3 minutes each).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’ & ‘Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island’ Arrive on Double Feature Blu-ray May 7, 2024 from Warner Archive Collection

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You can Purchase your copy of the ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island/ Return to Zombie Island’ Blu-ray on Amazon HERE!

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