In December of this year, Warner Bros. Pictures will release its latest Scooby-Doo film, Scoob! Holiday Haunt, a sequel to the film Scoob! from 2020. This will be Warner Bros.’ 38th animated Scooby-Doo film, its 42nd Scooby-Doo film in total, and the 47th Scooby-Doo film altogether.
Although some Scooby-Doo films already existed, Warner Bros. bears most of the credit for bringing Scooby-Doo back into the mainstream. The studio has released at least one Scooby-Doo film every year since buying the rights to the characters, sometimes more than one. Some are live-action, some are released in theaters, but the bulk of them have been animated direct-to-video films. Every Scooby-Doo movie does things a little differently, but fans keep coming back time and time again.
46 Scooby-Doo Meets The Boo Brothers Kicked Off The Franchise's Films (1987)
Officially the first Scooby-Doo film in the franchise, Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers was the second in a series of films produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in the 80s called Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10. The series starred popular Hanna-Barbera characters in feature films and included three Scooby-Doo films.
Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers finds the Hairy Trio (Scooby, Shaggy, and Scrappy) embarking on a treasure hunt to find Shaggy’s lost inheritance. Along the way, they meet greedy mercenaries, a big bear, and a gaggle of mischievous ghosts.
45 Scooby-Doo And The Ghoul School Has Scooby, Shaggy, And Scrappy Becoming Teachers (1988)
Before Monster High and Zombie High, there was Ghoul School. The second film in the franchise and the eighth film in the Superstars 10 collection, Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School finds Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy signing up for teaching jobs, unaware that the school is for paranormal beings.
Despite their initial fear, the trio takes well to the job, winning the hearts of the students, colleagues, and parents. However, they must also fight a wicked witch who wishes to enslave the students and make them into her army of darkness.
44 Scooby-Doo And The Reluctant Werewolf Features A Classic Horror Villain (1988)
The ninth film in the Superstars 10 collection and the final film before the 1990s, Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf stars Count Dracula as the film’s villain. After the Wolfman drops out of the annual Halloween race, Dracula goes looking for someone to replace him.
Naturally, he chooses Shaggy and forces him to join the race as the new werewolf in exchange for his freedom. Now, Shaggy’s going to need all the help he can get from Scooby and Scrappy, because Count Dracula doesn’t play fair.
43 Scooby-Doo In Arabian Nights Features A Host Of Hanna-Barbera Characters (1994)
Released in 1994, Scooby-Doo In Arabian Nights is an anthology film starring several Hanna-Barbera characters, including Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. After getting in trouble with the local caliph, Shaggy and Scooby offer to tell him stories from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Each story stars a Hanna-Barbera character.
Scooby-Doo In Arabian Nights is the only Scooby Doo film that isn't from the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 collection or a Warner Bros. production. Because of this, and because of its made-for-television quality, it isn't as well known as its more popular brethren.
42 Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island Brought New (Un)Life to The Franchise (1998)
Warner Bros.'s first Scooby-Doo film, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island was directed by Jim Stenstrum, who would go on to direct three more successful Scooby-Doo films. With him at the helm, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island rebooted the franchise by breaking the formula in all the best ways.
Daphne can handle herself. Velma becomes the leader. Scooby and Shaggy are useful in defeating the monsters. Most importantly, instead of being goofy or fake, the monsters in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island are real and dangerous. They come closer to killing the gang than any monster before it. This balance of humor and horror would go on to become a signature move of Stenstrum’s films.
41 Scooby-Doo And The Witch’s Ghost Introduced Some Fan-Favorite Characters (1999)
Stenstrum’s second Scooby-Doo film, Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost was most notable for introducing the Hex Girls, a Gothic all-girl rock band. The Hex Girls and their songs were so popular among audiences that they became reoccurring characters in the Scooby-Doo franchise.
At first, The Witch's Ghost plays like a typical Scooby-Doo mystery: the witch is a hoax created by the townspeople to raise money. However, the gang ends up accidentally releasing the real witch, who wreaks havoc on the town. Thankfully, the Hex Girls' lead singer, Thorn, has a little magic herself and can put the witch back where she belongs.
40 Scooby-Doo And The Alien Invaders Turns The Tables (2000)
Moving away from the magical elements of his first two films and into science fiction, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders works similarly to Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost. There is a hoax, but there are also some real-deal monsters. Unlike Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost though, the real aliens turn out to be the good guys. In fact, they're really Shaggy and Scooby's new girlfriends in disguise.
After the reveal, the boys and their girls save the gang and catch the bad guys. Unfortunately, the girls have to return home, leaving Scooby and Shaggy to feast away their heartbreak. While it has other things going for it, this star-crossed romance is the highlight of the film.
39 Scooby-Doo And The Cyber Chase Was Filled With Throwbacks (2001)
Playing on the technology-based fears of the early 2000s, this Tron-inspired installment was the last Scooby-Doo film Jim Stenstrum directed, and he goes all out with the nostalgia. When a college is attacked by a sentient virus, Mystery Inc. is called upon to find out how who made it and how to destroy it.
In the process, they are sucked into a computer game based on their adventures where they team up with their virtual counterparts to defeat the virus. The film is full of callbacks to the gang’s previous adventures, from the counterparts’ costumes to the monsters they defeat.
38 Scooby-Doo Gave The Gang Their Live Action Debut (2002)
Accompanied by an impressive cast that included Sara Michell Geller as Daphne Blake, Scooby-Doo makes his live-action debut in Scooby-Doo. Years after Mystery Inc.'s breakup, the gang is forced to put aside their differences in order to save a popular tourist spot from a dangerous demon cult.
The big reveal unveils an old character from Scooby-Doo history who makes one last attack against the gang. Unfortunately, though the film was a financial success, it was also a critical disappointment and is considered by many fans to be one of the worst Scooby-Doo films.
37 Scooby-Doo And The Legend Of The Vampire Brought Back The Hex Girls (2003)
The Hex Girls return in Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire which finds Mystery Inc. in Australia battling vampires at a music festival. Released a year after Queen of the Damned and before Vampires Rock, the film was capitalizing on the vampire craze of the time. It continues the musical Goth theme of Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, but with singing vampires rather than singing witches.
On the one hand, the resolution unfortunately has a lot of plot holes that aren’t explained. On the other hand, it’s a fun callback for fans to the original concept of Mystery Inc. as a mystery-solving rock band.
36 Scooby-Doo And The Monster of Mexico Is A Return To Form (2003)
Set in the country of Mexico, a visit to a friend turns into an investigation of a big, hairy monster. The investigation is hindered not only by the monster itself, but also by mysterious kidnappings, angry tourists, and giant animatronics.
Unlike the previous films, the supernatural and the fantastic are barely present in this film, only appearing in a brief hint towards the end. Otherwise, The Monster of Mexico takes Mystery Inc. back to its usual job of unmasking frauds rather than villains and wizards. The unmasking includes the old mask beneath a mask trick, a big-time real estate scam, and a match made in crime.
35 Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Continued The Story Of The First (2004)
Sequel to 2002's Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed is a nostalgia trip that has Mystery Inc. revisiting old cases in order to solve the mystery. As the gang tracks down an old enemy from their past, their efforts are hindered by a smear campaign headed by an aggressive naysayer.
Although the twist might not have been quite as surprising as the one in the first film, it was certainly satisfying. Unlike the first film, Monsters Unleashed was both a critical and a financial disappointment, causing plans for a third film to be canceled.
34 Scooby-Doo And The Loch Ness Monster Tackles A Classic Mystery (2004)
In this adventure, Mystery Inc. takes on one of the oldest mysteries in history: the Loch Ness Monster herself. Upon traveling to Scotland to visit Daphne’s cousin during the Highland games, they discover that the Loch Ness Monster has been attacking the locals and threatening to disrupt the games.
Of the three Scooby-Doo films Scott Jeralds directed, Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster is his best, featuring beautiful landscape shots, an opening that goes hard, and a bad guy who’s not so bad. These characteristics would become signature traits of Joe Sitcha, who directed five later Scooby-Doo ilms.
33 Aloha, Scooby-Doo! Hasn't Aged Well (2005)
Before Sitcha was brought on board, the studio came out with Aloha, Scooby-Doo, a Scooby-Doo film set in Hawaii. When a traditional Hawaiian contest is opened to mainlanders, the action supposedly awakens an ancient spirit who begins terrorizing the area. Fortunately, Mystery Inc. is in the neighborhood and ready to take on the case.
In this film, even hints of the supernatural are entirely taken out. The entire set-up was bad guys wearing costumes and controlling animatronics. Although the film gets points for showcasing Daphne’s skills outside mystery-solving, the way the mystery was resolved hasn’t aged well over the years and would probably be off-putting to today's viewers.
32 Scooby-Doo In Where’s My Mummy Features A Bait And Switch (2005)
A loving spoof on The Mummy films, Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy sees Velma and the Mystery Inc. working to uncover the lost tomb of Queen Cleopatra before a band of mercenaries does. The film was Joe Sitcha’s first time directing a Scooby-Doo film solo, and he pulls out the stops: a sick opening prologue, elaborate background designs, and a chance to see Velma use her intelligence for something over than mysteries.
Even better, the costumed monsters turn out to be none other than Velma and her Egyptian friends. It was an elaborate scheme to scare away the mercenaries.
31 Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! Features A Piratical Kidnapping (2006)
Riding in on the waves of pirate popularity caused by the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, a relaxing vacation with Fred’s parents is shipwrecked after zombie pirates attack the cruise ship. When the pirates kidnap Fred’s parents, Mystery Inc. follows them to the Bermuda Triangle, the sea’s most mysterious waters.
As with Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy, the whole adventure turns out to be a scam. This time though, it's a far more elaborate one than what Velma cooked up, and with less than noble intentions in mind.
30 Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! Sends The Crew To The Mountains (2007)
This time, Mystery Inc. travels to the Himalayas and tackles the mystery of the Abominable Snowman. When Scooby and Shaggy are separated from the gang, they must journey through the treacherous territory of the Himalayas to find each other, while also evading the Abominable Snowman.
Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! marks the second appearance of Del Chillman, a side character from Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster, and just like in that film, the villain turns out to not be so villainous after all. Furthermore, there’s a small hint that the Abominable Snowman might be real after all.
29 Scooby-Doo And The Goblin King Sees The Supernatural Return (2008)
In the franchise’s first full dive into the supernatural since Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, spooks and monsters come out in force in this Halloween fun-fest. After a power-hungry human kidnaps a fairy princess and steals her magic, Mystery Inc. races to save her and restore the balance between the human world and the magical world.
The ghosts are ghoulish, the witches are wacky, and the Goblin King is a fearsome figure voiced by Tim Curry. But at the end of the day, it’s the greedy humans who are the real monsters.
28 Scooby-Doo And The Samurai Sword Was The Last Film For Several Big Names (2009)
In this film, Mystery Inc. travels to Japan for Daphne to compete in a martial arts tournament. However, the spirit of an ancient samurai warrior awakens, and the gang must go on the hunt for his sword before he finds it.
Like Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, what seems like a typical costumed sham has more going on than meets the eye. Not only was Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword the last Scooby-Doo film Joe Sitcha directed, but it was also the last Scooby-Doo production to employ Casey Kasem as Shaggy’s voice actor before he retired.
27 Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins Gives The Gang An Origin (2009)
An origin story for Mystery Inc., The Mystert Begins shows how the gang met up and started solving mysteries. After becoming friends during detention, The Breakfast Club style, the gang goes on to solve a local mystery at their high school. Their success leads them to form a mystery-solving team, and they go on to solve what is canonically their first mystery.
Despite its made-for-television budget, the film makes up for it in other ways. Scooby and Shaggy's budding relationship is moving and adorable, each character gets a moment to shine, and it's overally pretty funny.