As some people may know from reading my other reviews, I love animation and I am a big fan of Scooby Doo for the timeless characters and funny humour. Night of the Living Doo seemed like a fun way to spend 30 minutes or so, and after seeing it, I think it is 30 minutes well spent.
The animation is very good. It has the atmospheric, classic feel, in colour that is, of Scooby Doo Where are You and the shows of the early 70s, primarily The New Scooby Doo Movies(which I understand was what it was spoofing). However, I find in general here the character designs are a little smoother and the backgrounds more fluid, which I actually appreciated.
Musically, Night of the Living Doo scores too. It is haunting and somewhat tongue-in-cheek, yet it never feels gimmicky. Thankfully the sound effects, which is another asset that helps me remind me of the old classic Scooby Doo, are well-placed and used while not cheapening the effect.
Night of the Living Doo's story is a delight. It is brisk, fun and credible, if occasionally on the predictable side. The build up to the final solution is a tad rushed, however the solution itself, as it should be, is unexpected, amusing and also quite bizarre.
The writing helps hugely, there are plenty of hilarious quotes to savour here, the best coming from Shaggy and Gary Coleman. In fact the last real time I genuinely laughed at anything to do with Scooby Doo was when Scooby Doo and the gang meet Johnny Bravo. It is full of witty quips, goofy sayings and actually feels as though I was watching the Scooby Doo shows of the late 60s-early 70s, when you feel that you know Night of the Living Doo has done its job well.
Voice-acting wise, Night of the Living Doo is solid across the board. All the voice actors are different, but all do a great job in making an effort to sound like the original voice actors without coming across as too imitative. Frank Welker is as good as ever as Fred, and while Scott Innes had big shoes to fill considering he is replacing the two definitive voice actors for the characters of both Shaggy and Scooby he does manage to pull it off. Gary Coleman is very funny and not irritating, and David Cross also makes an impression and despite the fact he is not quite as pivotal as the gang and Coleman he manages not to be too bland and too in the background.
Overall, a hugely enjoyable TV special. 9/10 Bethany Cox