Roly Righrink, Ratran! (Translation: Holy Highjinks, Batman!) Scooby and the gang join forces with the “Hammers of Justice!”
Scooby-Doo! and Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Writer(s): Paul Giacoppo (teleplay), James Tucker (story)
Artist(s): Diedrich Bader (Batman), Jeff Bennett (Joker), Jeffrey Combs (The Question), Grey DeLisle (Daphne Blake / Black Canary), John DiMaggio (Aquaman / Mr. Freeze), Tom Kenny (Penguin / Plastic Man), Matthew Lillard (Shaggy Rogers), Kate Micucci (Velma Dinkley), Kevin Michael Richardson (Detective Chimp), Tara Strong (Harley Quinn / Poison Ivy), Frank Welker (Fred Jones / Scooby-Doo)
Director: Jake Castorena
Producer(s): Michael Jelenic (producer), Matthew Mahoney (associate producer), Amy McKenna (line producer), Benjamin Melniker (executive producer), Sam Register (executive producer), James Tucker (supervising producer), Michael Ulsan (executive producer)
The feature starts as most Scooby-Doo episodes end. Mystery, Inc. wraps up another case. Without going into any specific details (and spoiling the movie), we find out that this particular case was a test conducted by Batman. They passed (surprise) and are invited to join The Mystery Analysts of Gotham. Black Canary, Detective Chimp, Martian Manhunter, Plastic Man, The Question, and of course, Batman are founding members. We’ll leave it there.
Reems Rike Rold Rimes (Translation: Seems Like Old Times)
This not the Dark Knight’s first pairing with the famous anamorphic Great Dane. Batman and Robin were guest-stars on The New Scooby-Doo Movies in the 1970s. And Scooby and the gang teamed-up with Batman and Robin again in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode “Batman’s Strangest Case.”
This feature is standard as far as Scooby-Doo movies go. Shenanigans involving “those meddling kids,” a red herring to throw the audience off (if you’re eight years old), and the real culprits and motives are revealed. The bonus is that this film unites Batman with the gang from Coolsville. And not just Batman, but several of his Brave and the Bold co-stars as well. Adding Batman to this movie makes it more fun. Diedrich Bader taps into his inner Adam West delivering his usual, subdued version of Batman. He adds one more “straight man” to play against Fred Welker’s Scooby-Doo. The cast turns in a phenomenal performance, including Grey DeLisle and Tom Kenny who pull double duty as Daphne Blake / Black Canary, and Plastic Man / the Penguin respectively. Scooby-Doo and Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a pleasant, 75-minute distraction full of family-friendly fun!
