Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 3 April 2004.

Overall comments and recommendations

The infantile humour in Scooby Doo 2 will appeal to children and adolescents particularly the flatulence scenes with Scooby Doo. However most adults will find this most boring as the story line is very thin and the monsters have all been seen before.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

The Mystery Inc. gang are invited as celebrity guests to the opening of the Coolsville Monster Museum. Patrick the curator has put together a collection of monster costumes and exhibits, and Heather Jasper, a news reporter, is there to record the event. However during the night a storm breaks out smashing a large window in the ceiling. At that moment a Pterodactyl exhibit comes alive, breaks out of its cage and starts flying around the room creating havoc. Also an evil looking caped creature with a black iron mask appears in the roof threatening everyone in Coolsville. The Mystery Inc gang set out to find out what happened to Jonathon Jacobo who was the original pterodactyl ghost. He had been imprisoned for his evil deeds and was thought to have died while attempting to escape.

The gang are led to Wickles Manor, a spooky place where monsters are being created and set loose to terrorise the citizens of Coolsville. Scooby and Shaggy set out on their own to prove that they are real detectives while Fred, Daphne and Velma try to think of a way to stop the monsters. They retreat to their hideaway where Velma discovers how to reverse the monster making machine. They will then be able to destroy all the monsters if they can get back to Wickles Manor and replace the part in the machine. However they are discovered by a monster there and are chased in their van back to Wickles Manor. There is a big fight between the monsters and Fred, Daphne and Velma and it seems as though the monsters will win until Scooby Doo comes to the rescue.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is quite a lot of violence in this movie, mainly comic style with no real life consequences:

• Fred and Daphne fight the ghost knight with swords. Fred gets knocked out. Daphne nearly gets chopped by the sword.
• Velma kicks the ghost knight in the groin.
• In a night club, the Mystery Inc. gang are used as targets in a dart board.
• A fire breathing monster shoots arrows that nearly hit Fred.
• A monster shoots steel arrows at the van which penetrate near Daphne and Velma. The arrows are attached to chains which the monster pulls the van with. Fred reverses the van knocking the monster into a lake.
• Fred shoots at the pterodactyl with a blow torch.
• The pterodactyl pulls the gang out of the back of the van and they are dragged along behind until they nearly crash into a large truck.
• Fred jousts with the ghost knight using a pipe. They both get knocked off their mounts (Fred is riding a motor bike).
• Daphne fights with a large electrical monster which sends her flying.
• A blob monster spreads over all of the gang almost suffocating them.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

There is a lot in this movie that would scare children in this age group. The monsters are all scary looking, some one-eyed skeletons, one large hairy monster with round yellow eyes, the evil looking black caped creature who looks and sounds like Darth Vader, the blob which changes shape continuously and the pterodactyl.

As well as the violent scenes mentioned above the following would also scare children in this age group:

• The Pterodactyl flying around everywhere screeching and snatching up people.
• Fred, Daphne and Velma fall through a trapdoor into Wickles Manor. They are trapped in a round cage which rolls down through the building, which is derelict and dirty.
• There are scary masks and statues of gargoyles in the house.
• Mr. Wickles says he would like to tear Mystery Inc’s eyes out of their skulls.
• Scooby drinks some liquid in the fridge and turns into a monster.
• Shaggy drinks some liquid and his body changes into a female’s.
• He then drinks some other liquid and he changes into a muscle man.
• A ghost ship flies through the city with the ghost knight as captain.
• The blob appears as a large hand through a drain and then grows into a huge shape and spreads out across the city.
• Velma almost falls through a crack in a bridge.
• Daphne rips off the iron mask to reveal Heather Jasper. She then rips off Heather’s face to reveal Jonathon Jacobo.

Over the age of eight

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Most children in this age group would understand it is only fantasy and as it’s set in a comic context would not be scared.

Product placement

Research shows that children, particularly children under the age of eight, are vulnerable to product placement in movies. Even if the child doesn’t recall seeing a particular brand in the movie, they will choose that brand in preference to another, if they have just seen it used or displayed in a movie. This effect may be exacerbated if the product is highlighted as part of the story or if an actor or character they admire is seen to endorse or enjoy the product.

The following products were displayed or used in this movie:

• Pepsi.

Sexual references

There are not really any sexual references except for when Shaggy turns into a woman and he admires ‘his’ body. Also Velma dresses in a tight red leather body suit to impress Patrick.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances including:

• There is drinking of alcohol at the night club.
• Shaggy and Scooby Doo sniff an aerosol cream can and appear to get high.

Coarse language

There is a little coarse language:

• When the fans greet Mystery Inc. one of Scooby’s fans wears a placard reading ‘sniff my butt’.
• When Velma kicks the ghost knight in the groin he says she’s ‘kicked the knight in the round tables’.

The movie's message

There is no real take home message in this movie.

Values parents may wish to encourage include:

• don’t be afraid to be yourself.

Values parents may wish to discourage include:

• violence as a way to solve conflict
• irresponsible behaviour is cool and funny
• sniffing aerosol cans is fun.