Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King is the twelfth in the series of Scooby-Doo direct-to-video films produced by Warner Bros. Animation. This movie, along with the next film Samurai Sword were both produced and completed in 2008, but Goblin King was released first in time for the Halloween season. All the main voice actors of Mystery, Inc. reprise their roles. This is the first Scooby cartoon produced entirely without either one of the original creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
Unlike the previous seven movies, this outing is similar to Zombie Island, Witch’s Ghost - which previously also featured Tim Curry - Alien Invaders and Cyber Chase, by making all the fantastical elements of the story real. It is also significant in the fact that it shows Shaggy and Scooby being the main characters, something that has not been seen since the television movies of the 80′s. The film is a bit more light-hearted than others. It is the 5th, as well as the 2nd-to-last, movie that involves Scooby and the whole gang where the monsters all turn out to be real, instead of a person in a costume, and was not well received.
The Mystery, Inc. gang visit a Halloween carnival on Halloween night. When the magician “The Amazing Krudsky” (voiced by Wayne Knight) does not allow Scooby to see his show, Shaggy and Scooby expose Krudsky as a fraud. Later, the rebellious fairy Princess Willow (voiced by Hayden Panettiere) enters Krudsky’s tent, where he secretly reveals his wishes to become a real magician. The fairy inadvertently causes Krudsky to notice an entry on the Goblin Scepter in a spell book. The Goblin Scepter can be combined with fairy magic to control Halloween. Krudsky then gets an idea to obtain the scepter and rule the world with it. The fairy decides to toy with him, but while flying, the fairy accidentally slams her small body against a metal chair knocking her out; Krudsky then crushes her with his flyswatter. When he notices her cry of pain from being crushed, he sees that she is a real fairy, kidnaps her, and absorbs her magical powers, becoming a real magician.
Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby trick-or-treat all night. Their last stop is a spooky looking house which claims to be a “genuine magic shoppe”. However, a very loud thunderstorm also begins, frightening our heroes. Inside, they meet the kind Mr. Gibbles (voiced by Wallace Shawn), who reveals that magic really does exist. At that moment, Willow enters being chased by Krudsky. Krudsky captures the Princess, turns Gibbles into a rabbit, and steals the magic equipment before leaving. Mr. Gibbles explains to an astonished Shaggy and Scooby that Krudsky, after capturing the good magic of the princess, will now want the bad magic held in the scepter of the Goblin King, which will cause an imbalance in the supernatural order. Shaggy and Scooby must go into the world of magic via the Grim Reaper Railway, get the scepter before Krudsky can, and return home before sunrise or else they will be trapped in the magic world forever…
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‘The interaction of the whole cast is one thing that made these later movies so interesting. Even the recurring character of Del Chillman gave the older characters someone interesting to play off of. Getting back to just Scooby and Shaggy leaves only two predictable jokes – the two are either really scared or really hungry … In one of the better visual jokes of the film, the two take a magic potion to sneak closer to the Goblin King to steal his sceptre. Scooby turns into Velma and Shaggy turns into Daphne. Unfortunately, the scene is wasted. In what quickly becomes cheap and lazy plot turns, the two are revealed to be themselves before they can steal the sceptre.’ Musgo Del Jefe. Read more at: BlogCritics.org
‘By bringing in magic and real life ghosts and witches, it loses its charm somewhat. The plot is also a little all over the place, seemingly more interested in packing as many monsters in as possible rather than focusing on a story … The animation, it has to be said, is excellent, although the sight of an animated Daphne dressed up in a skintight cat suit was a little more pleasing than it perhaps should have been. The 5.1 surround sound track adds to the whole atmosphere and the vocal work is great, the drafted in Hollywood talent of Tim Curry, James Belushi and Lauren Bacall adding some weight to proceedings.’ Mark Oakley. Read more at Den of Geek
In the scene where Shaggy & Scooby-Doo enter the monster bar when the monsters are singing, some monsters from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, The Scooby Doo Show, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire are sighted. Here’s a list of the featured monsters:
- The Werewolf Ghost from “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf”
- The Phantom Shadow from “A Night of Fright is No Delight”
- The Creeper from “Jeepers! It’s the Creeper”
- The Mummy of Ankha from “Scooby-Doo and a Mummy, Too”
- The Snow Ghost from “That’s Snow Ghost”
- The Ghost of Mr. Hyde from “Nowhere to Hyde”
- The No-Faced Zombie from “The No-Face Zombie Chase Case”
- The Ozark Witch from “The Ozark Witch Switch”
- Penguin‘s Troll disguise from “The Caped Crusader Caper”
- A blue version of The Roller Ghoster from “Roller Ghoster Ride”
- A Kelp Monster from “Scooby-Doo, Where’s the Crew?”
Cast:
- Frank Welker - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
- Casey Kasem - Shaggy Rogers
- Mindy Cohn - Velma Dinkley
- Grey DeLisle - Daphne Blake, Cat Witch, Honeybee
- Wayne Knight - The Amazing Krudsky, the main antagonist of the film.
- Jay Leno - Jack O’Lantern, a magical pumpkin who aids Shaggy and Scooby on their adventure
- Wallace Shawn - Mr. Gibbles, the eccentric owner of a magic shop
- Tim Curry - The Goblin King, who is the ruler of Halloweenland
- Tim Curry also voices the Werewolf Bar Owner, but that role is uncredited
- James Belushi and Larry Joe Campbell - Glob and Glum, the Goblin King’s bumbling palace guards
- Hayden Panettiere - Fairy Princess Willow, the insubordinate and feisty princess of the fairies
- Lauren Bacall - The Grand Witch
- Thom Adcox-Hernandez - Sparkplug
- Russi Taylor - Owl Witch, Tiddlewink
