Common Sense Media Review
By Renee Schonfeld
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Two franchises merge; fewer scares, more tie-ins.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Lego Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood
What's the Story?
The gang is excited when Shaggy and Scooby win a hamburger-eating contest in LEGO SCOOBY-DOO! HAUNTED HOLLYWOOD. First prize is an all-expenses paid trip to Hollywood, where they'll tour Brickton Studios, famous for some of filmdom's greatest classic monster movies. What awaits them, however, is a studio that has fallen on hard times; Chet Brickton, its movie mogul owner, is being forced to sell. The studio appears to be haunted by the monster creations of a deceased movie star, and Brickton's effort to release romantic comedies is going nowhere. Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), Velma (Kate Micucci), Daphne (Grey Griffin), Fred, and Scooby (Frank Welker) are quickly caught up in the "creative process" -- Fred is even slated to direct! Daphne, totally starstruck, will play a role! Unfortunately, the hauntings accelerate, and the date upon which Brickton will sign away his business to an eager developer is fast approaching. The Mystery, Inc. team finds itself with an unexpected mystery to solve, even while they're on vacation. Can they get to the bottom of the supernatural chaos in Hollywood in time to save Chet Brickton's studio?
Is It Any Good?
It must be difficult to retain the camaraderie and silly tone of the Scooby-Doo clan using hard-edged Lego bricks, and these filmmakers have not quite mastered it. The story, generic and predictable though it is, works well enough. But there's something off about this effort, particularly the creation of the "monsters." Ghosts and otherworldly beings in the franchise cartoons have a larger-than-life, shadowy, and fluid feel to them; these little boxy monsters are simply small molded toys. And, of course, expressiveness and emotions are hard to draw on plastic, so the well-loved characters lose something in the translation. Still, fans (and their families who don't mind a continuing onslaught of new toys and DVDs to buy in ever-changing incarnations) may enjoy the usual antics of Scooby and company, even in this latest "acrylonitrile butadiene styrene" form. Not very scary, so OK for most kids.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Lego has teamed up with a number of classic toys and superheroes to make movies and new building sets. Franchises seem to get bigger and bigger. How much is too much? Why?
How does this movie market to kids?
It's fun to watch movies about movie-making, especially about monsters. With which classic legends of the past are you familiar (Dracula, Frankenstein, and so on)? Why do they still engage audiences generation after generation? Can you create (draw and/or write about) such a creature? How would you make it scary?
Think about the Lego-bricks format versus the usual Scooby-Doo cartoons. Did the new structure change characters' attitudes? Their appeal? Their individual traits? If you have a preference for one or the other, what is it you like or dislike?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : May 10, 2016
- Cast : Frank Welker , Kate Micucci , Matthew Lillard
- Director : Rick Morales
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Warner Bros. Animation
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship , Fantasy
- Run time : 75 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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