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Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Straight Outta Nowhere:
Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog
| image = Straight Outta Nowhere, Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog Poster.png
| caption = DVD slipcover
| director = Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton
| producer = Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton
Sam Register (executive producer)
| writer = Michael F. Ryan
| based_on =
| starring =
| music =
| editing = Dave Courter
| studio = Hanna-Barbera Cartoons
Warner Bros. Animation
Cartoon Network Studios (uncredited)
| distributor = Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Studio Distribution Services)
| released =
| runtime = 78 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
}}
'Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog' is a 2021 American animated comedy film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios (in their first collaboration), and is the thirty-sixth entry in the direct-to-video series of 'Scooby-Doo' films. The film is a crossover between 'Scooby-Doo' and the Cartoon Network show 'Courage the Cowardly Dog', since the series ended in 2002, followed by a CGI short (titled 'The Fog of Courage') in 2014. The film was officially released on DVD and Digital on September 14, 2021.
Plot
During the unmasking of a bank-robbing clown, Scooby-Doo hears a strange noise and is driven to dance and then runs away. Meanwhile, Courage appears to be having the same problem, though Muriel and Eustace Bagge don't seem to notice. The gang rushes after Scooby only to find that they have ended up in Nowhere, where a group of hostile cicadas is surrounding Courage and Scooby. After killing the cicadas, they are called inside the Bagge household and they properly meet Muriel and Eustace.
Both the Scooby gang and the Bagge family are invited to dinner with the Mayor of Nowhere, but on the way there, Scooby and Courage are attacked by a giant Cicada Queen, resulting in the destruction of Eustace's truck. Arriving at the Mayor's mansion, the Mayor offers to give them a tour of an attached museum detailing Nowhere's bizarre history of attracting weirdness to the town. However Shaggy, Scooby, and Courage look for something to eat, while Eustace heads back to the Bagge residence to rid himself of the nuisance. An attack by the Cicada Queen and her brood knocks Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Muriel into a hidden cave, where they discover a strange machine randomly sending out cellphone calls; Shaggy, Scooby, and Courage destroy it while escaping the Cicada Queen.
Attempting to return to the Bagge residence to unravel the mystery, the group is once again attacked by the Cicada Queen, which kidnaps most of them, leaving only Scooby and Courage behind. Plugging Velma's personal tablet into Courage's computer, they discover that the cicada's unnatural size (and every other strange encounter Courage dealt with) was the result of a dark matter meteor (the one presumably to have wiped out the dinosaurs), which is buried under the spot where the Bagge house is. Courage and Scooby retrieve the meteor and rescue their friends, but their attempt to escape is thwarted by the Cicada Queen, who takes the meteor and holds Muriel hostage, forcing Courage to face his fears and confront it. After a long battle, the Cicada Queen is trapped under scraps from the Bagge windmill.
The General and the Lieutenant soon arrive to apprehend the Cicada Queen, which is revealed to be a mech piloted by two of Courage's most recurring enemies: villainous feline mastermind Katz and French con artist duck Le Quack. After discovering the meteor's existence, they teamed up to take over Nowhere's political facilities and to use the resources to dig up the meteor to hypnotize and rob several well off locals, stashing it at the Bagge residence (Eustace discovered this earlier, but wrote it off as a windfall on his end); when they learned the Scooby gang was in the area, they used the meteor to brainwash the local cicada population to scare them off in an attempt to 'up their game'. The General attempts to secure the meteor to be used ostensibly as a weapon, but, at Courage's suggestion, it is turned into a disco ball so the group can celebrate. Therefore, he closes the movie by saying "Well, goodnight folks. Bye!".
Voice cast
* Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
* Grey Griffin as Daphne Blake, Frau Glockenspiel
* Matthew Lillard as Shaggy Rogers
* Kate Micucci as Velma Dinkley, Velma's Tablet
* Jeff Bennett as General, Self Help Book
* Jeff Bergman as Eustace Bagge, Computer, Mayor
* Marty Grabstein as Courage, Clown, Mr. McGill
* Chuck Montgomery as Lieutenant, Mr. Glockenspiel
* Paul Schoeffler as Katz, Le Quack, Nowhere Newsman (credited as Narrator)
* Thea White as Muriel Bagge, Rich Old Lady (her final film role)
Production
According to animator and artist Tracy Mark Lee, the film's original premise was pitched as an episode of 'Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?'.
John R. Dilworth, the original creator of 'Courage the Cowardly Dog', was not involved with the movie's production. Maxwell Atoms, creator of 'The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy' and director of 'Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!', was originally approached to direct the film. He declined upon learning that John R. Dilworth was not involved.
Marty Grabstein and Thea White reprised their roles as Courage and Muriel Bagge, while voice actor Jeff Bergman voiced Eustace Bagge, taking over from actors Lionel Wilson and Arthur Anderson, due to the latter dying in 2003 and 2016, respectively. Bergman had previously voiced Eustace prior in an commercial advert for Cartoon Network's 20th anniversary back in 2012.
The crossover marks the final acting credit of Thea White, who died during surgery on July 30, 2021, due to liver cancer, and the film was dedicated to her memory.
In addition to Whites passing, this is also the second film to posthumously give special credit to original 'Scooby-Doo' creators Joe Ruby and Ken Spears following 'Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob', as they died in August and November 2020, respectively.
Release
'Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog' was released on DVD and Digital HD on September 14, 2021 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (through Studio Distribution Services).
Reception
Dillon Gonzales, writing for 'Geek Vibes Nation', gave the film a positive review, saying "there are moments that feel a bit padded to justify a feature-length effort, but it is easy to give them a pass as you enjoy spending time with these characters". Becky O'Brien of 'Cinelinx' also gave a positive review, saying the film "exceeded all of my expectations. This is a movie fans of both series will enjoy. It is literally a love letter to everything that makes both 'Scooby-Doo' and 'Courage the Cowardly Dog' fun to watch". It also serves as the finale for the Courage the Cowardly Dog series.
'Common Sense Media' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars.
References
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