Product Details

• Actors: Scott Innes, Frank Welker, Mary Kay Bergman, B.J. Ward (II), Jane Wiedlin
• Directors: Jim Stenstrum
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Turner Home Ent
• VHS Release Date: March 6, 2001
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000JQTX
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,760 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Scooby-Doo is making a big comeback with several helpings on TV and new videos. The series' writers are smart enough to mildly spoof themselves, and this movie opens with Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, Frank, and Velma solving a crime that ends with the now-classic Scooby line, "It's... [insert some administrative minion/angry neighbor/disgruntled relative], only to have the criminal bleat, "And I would've gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for you kids!" There they meet one of Velma's idols, fright-writer Ben Ravencroft (voiced by an effective Tim Curry). Smitten Velma and gang accept his invitation to his New England hometown festival. When one of Ravencroft's ancestors suddenly swoops down from the supernatural heavens, the gang's on alert. This movie is appropriate for viewers 4 and up (although some of the animated frights may haunt sensitive viewers). It's also for their parents who may have been fans in the series' initial run. The cool and fun soundtrack's catchy tunes include a song performed by the Hex Girls, one of whom is none other than former Go-Go Jane Weidlin. If the theme song's got a country beat, that's because it's sung by Mr. Achy Breaky himself, Billy Ray Cyrus. --N.F. Mendoza

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not your father's Scooby Doo, September 15, 2007

By 

A. MacEwen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scooby-Doo! And the Witch's Ghost (DVD)

I wish I'd read a few reviews before I watched the movie with my kids. The original Scooby Doo series showed kids that when the lights come on, you see there was really nothing to be afraid of. This movie was a betrayal of that ethos with the inclusion of "real" monsters and magic. The movie starts out great with hip, witty writing and dialogue that riffs on the Scooby legacy in a way that keeps it interesting and humorous for adults. In act two, "Witch's Ghost" flames-out as a kids' movie as it morphs into an animated equivalent of a teen horror flick.

The part of the movie that played like a religious tract/promo for the Wicca was just weird. Adult Scooby fans should watch this so you know I'm not making it up or exaggerating. What's going on over there at Time Warner? It's like Wicca licensed the Scooby Doo characters from them to burnish its image. No matter what your religious beliefs are, it's weird to see a religion endorsed in a major studio commercial kids' movie. If this movie played in theaters it would get a PG-13. It's not for the under 12 crowd. My kids (under 7) didn't really lock in on the Wicca thing, but they were freaked out by the monster turning out to be "real" and deadly--a fairly central guest character gets sucked screaming into the underworld by supernatural forces of evil. I think our pluralistic society would remain more harmonious if Warner Bros. would adhere to the separation of church and Scooby from now on.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good movie, a bit scary for little ones, June 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Scooby Doo: Witch's Ghost [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I don't have a problem with this movie. True it is not like the classic Scooby-Doo cartoons but it does include all the characters unlike the Boo Brothers. The only thing that I really did not like about this movie and Zombie Island is that is is kind of scary for very young children. My three year-old son is a big fan of Scooby-Doo and when he sees this movie and Zombie Island he keeps repeating the phrase "monsters aren't real they're just pretend". So it is a little bit scary but like all the others they have good endings and are lots of fun.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice "Scooby Doo" sequel, August 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Scooby Doo: Witch's Ghost [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost" is better than the TV series, with a fun soundtrack, kooky characters, and the same, though slightly different formula.

Scooby and the gang catches two archaelogists and coincidentally meet Ben Ravencroft, a horror novelist, a la Stephen King, who is one of Velma's famous horror novelists. Ben invites the gang over to spend a weekend with him at his hometown in Salem, Massachusetts. There, they meet a local group, the shapely trio Hex Girls, who insert two cool new music numbers in the movie. They are connected with the mystery about Sarah Ravencroft, Ben's descendant, who he claims that her name is wrongly accused of witchcraft, that she was a Wiccan healer, leading to funny and unpredictable results.

"The Witch's Ghost" is considerably a little more darker and scarier than it's 1998 predessor "Scooby Doo on Zombie Island," and contains the same formulaic plot that comes with the 1970s series, though it's different, and is a must have for any Scooby-Doo collector.

The voices for the characters considerably match the ones to the '70s show, though they could have used Scott Innes as Scooby only (he's going to be the voice of the animated Scooby in the real-live movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar "Buffy" and her fiance, Freddie Prinze Jr., as Daphne and Freddy).

But Scott Innes does a terrific job of doing both roles. Tim Curry does a teriffic job as Ben Ravencroft, while Frank Welker more or less fits the voice for Freddy and Mary Kay Bergman (died last year, due to suicide) as Daphne and B.J. Ward fit the role as Velma perfectly.

All in all, a pretty good Scooby Doo movie, and worth a look.