Customer Reviews

Scooby-Doo in Pirates Ahoy!

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Okay, I will completely admit that even as I approach the ripe, ol' age of 33, I've never let the little kid in me grow up. I'm still a huge Scooby fan who has every Scooby DVD out there and I still watch Scooby and the gang on a regular basis. So I was really stoked to hear that a new movie was coming out and scooped up a copy over the weekend.

Now that I've watched it, I can honestly say it's a pretty good Scooby flick, however adults who can't enjoy kid-friendly entertainment shouldn't apply. Pirates Ahoy sticks to the 'old' Scooby format of finding clues, setting traps and unmasking villains.

It was nice to see Fred's parents folded into the story line. Other than A Pup Named Scooby Doo, I don't ever remember seeing them in the regular shows. There aren't very many plot twists in Pirates Ahoy and the ones that do occur seem a little odd...like when the Billionaire with the Jet Pack lands on the ship...however none of them really detract from the story. Besides, you don't watch a Scooby cartoon expecting realism.

The movie is completely kid-friendly, no need to worry about adult themes, subjects, or even real monsters. If your little tyke loves Scooby, he/she will certainly love this film as well.

If you love classic Scooby, where all the scary guys have masks that come off in the end you will love this Scooby. Fred's parents treat the kids to a mystery cruise into the Bermuda triangle. Needless to say mysteries ensue, the kids design some traps and "those meddling kids" unmask the bad guys in the end.
The nice thing about this movie over the classic cartoons is that it is more watchable for adults since there is no laugh track and the animation is top notch.
This is comparable to Aloha, Scooby Doo, if your kid's liked the tiki's they will love the pirates.

Scooby-Doo in Pirates Ahoy! is the silliest of the ten animated Scooby movies that I'm aware of since 1999. They're all pretty silly...deliberately...but they are usually quite entertaining--if not captivating--to children 3+...okay, and me too.

In an unofficial poll taken of my own kids ages 3 through 7, the results are in and Pirates is at the bottom. Here's the list, according to the experts, of the Scooby Doo animated movies that we...I mean...THEY liked the best:

1-Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999)
2-Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
3-Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)
4-Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
5-Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)
6-Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico (2003)
7-Aloha, Scooby-Doo (2005)
8-Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
9-Scooby Doo in Where's My Mummy? (2005)
10-Scooby-Doo in Pirates Ahoy! (2006)

With the exceptions being switches of #1 & #2 and #7 & #8, the kids pretty much liked 'em best in the order that they came out. So let's hope that the pattern breaks in 2007! But for now, if your kids haven't seen any (or all) of the releases prior to Pirates, you might want to grab one to go along with, or in place of, this one.

Side note: Warner apparently got so many parent complaints about the first 4 films including "real monsters" (respectively: a real ghost, real zombies, real aliens and a computer virus that comes life) instead of villains in masks that starting in 2003 they abandoned the "real" idea.

I am 34 and still love watching Scooby Doo. I love this one. It is definetly a keeper. It was nice to see Freddie's parents. The mystery cruise was a good idea. Scoopy and Shaggy thought they were getting a vacation. Once again no-way. I recommend any Scooby Doo fan to buy this movie. It is one I will watch over and over again. The graphics are great and the story line is fun.

I wasn't so keen on watching this Scooby adventure as it has the shortest running time of all of them so far and I figured that it couldn't possibly have a substantial mystery worth taking an interest in.

And while that's true for the most part, they do make a huge effort to keep the viewer guessing by throwing in lots of distractions, more so than any other Scooby adventure. And despite it's brief running time it does manage pack in a fair amount of characters and guest voices, so in a sense they give more AND less.

The Mystery Inc. gang head off on a tropical cruise for Fred's birthday but things turn sinister when they pick-up a drifter floating in the water. No one believes his tale of ghost pirates (they're on a "mystery cruise" and are becoming quite jaded to the novelty), but only when said pirates show up do they gradually accept that it's real.

There's a few more in-jokes than normal in this one too. And while I usually hate in-jokes it's forgivable, and perhaps welcome, in a Scooby-Doo mystery. I am aware that the infamous Bermuda Triangle was the focus of a lower-wattage mystery in the third season of Scooby-Doo back in the early 70s, but this one is considerably better.

It looses points for being short, but it's still a worthy mystery.

Giving you a brief rundown of where I stand, my favorites are (# 1) "Scooby Doo On Zombie Island," (# 2) "Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost," and (# 5) "Scooby Doo and the Legend of the Vampire." I consider (# 8) "Aloha Scooby Doo" and (# 9) "Where's My Mummy?" the healthy runnerups. I have respect for (# 7) "Loch Ness Monster." (# 6) "...Monster of Mexico" has its moments. I don't much care for (# 3) "...Alien Invasion" or (# 4) "...Cyber Chase." This 10th chapter is surprisingly good. Along with Fred's parents, Scooby Doo and the gang go on a cruise featuring entertainment mysteries. It all seems in good fun at first, but reality enters when the ship wrecked Rupert is rescued. (You'll probably notice that he has a resemblence to Johnny Depp.) One thing that will occur to most people is that in the event something does happen, the reality is our heroes are at sea, and escape will not be so readily available. Not much later, what appears to be a crew of ghost pirates appears. And even if we can readily suspect that they are just 'bad guys in masks,' the element of horror stays in tact when these pirates abduct Fred's parents. Fred cleverly avoids the cliche: "This time, it's personal." It is interesting that our favorite cowardly hero Scooby does not even demand any Scooby snacks before helping Fred try to find his parents. In fact, Scooby even gets disappointed with Shaggy for wanting the usual Scooby snack bribe. (Nice new element!) At the risk of over simplifying, Fred manages to find his father. But he is still weighed down with the emotional burden of trying to find his mother while also trying to figure out what the ghost pirates are up to. (Another nice new element!) Fred is no stranger to solving mysteries that are linked to criminal activity. BUT, this time he has to use a certain amount of care if he hopes to find his mother. And of course since they are at sea, there is no help to run to. Except for the gang, Fred is in fact on his own this time. If I say much more, I'll probably ruin the movie for those of you who haven't seen it. But I will say that while this 10th chapter of Scooby Doo brings back some elements from past episodes and movies, it ALSO adds new twists and elements. It is interesting that Hollywood seems to pour out more and more shoot em up filth, and yet this 10th chapter of Scooby Doo is able to hold our attention with Fred trying to save his parents. Thanks for the great movie Scooby, and I hope to see you in chapter 11 really soon!

I was pleasantly surprised with this DVD. The movie is much better than the recent "What's new Scooby Doo" episode collection DVDs. This is a stand alone movie rather than a collection of 22 minute episodes.

The film has humor that adults/ parents will catch that may escape the kids. The movie is entertaining and fun for the whole family. The animation is better too with some CGI water and ocean shots added to the normal quality animation.

I'm a big Scooby fan, who is raising three small Scooby fans. This video was very disappointing. The story was even more ridiculous than the previous movies. This is probably the worst of the recently released movies. The only good thing that I can say about it is that Scrappy is not in it... That being said, the movie does hold my kids' attention, so I guess it is not a complete waste...

This DVD arrived on time, but was badly damaged before it got here, but I called Amazon, and a few days later, I received a replacement DVD with no extra shipping charges or any other charges. I am so very satisfied by the merchandise, as well as the splendid care they show their customers.

Scooby Doo in Pirates Ahoy is on the lighter end of Scooby Doo movies. Cute rather than really mysterious. What can be better than the Scooby gang and pirates? Ahoy!