Scooby-Doo Movies in Order Chronologically and by Release Date (2024)

Scooby-Doo is undeniably one of the greatest cartoon franchises ever created, with countless films and TV shows being released since its 1969 launch. Crafted from the genius minds of Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, the beloved series follows the lovable talking Great Dane and amateur teen sleuths Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred as they drive around in The Mystery Machine, solving crimes and cases across the country, uncovering countless great Scooby-Doo villains. Initially titled Mysteries Five with a bongo-playing sheepdog and five teenagers solving spooky mysteries, the program changed its lead pooch to a Great Dane, and the rest is history.

The long-running franchise has been a constant staple in the entertainment industry, producing successful spin-off shows like What’s New, Scooby-Doo, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, and The New Scooby and Scrappy Show. A multitude of both animated and live-action films have also been created, with 37 direct-to-video pictures being released, including cherished favorites such as Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island and Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase. The franchise has an extensive list of theatrical and made-for-TV films, with 2002’s live-action smash hit Scooby-Doo being a celebrated favorite.

The following presents the Scooby-Doo movies in chronological order (or by release date if you prefer), keeping in mind that animated direct-to-video features and the numerous cartoon series are not included here (that would be over 60 titles). Instead, these are the feature-length Scooby movies that premiered in theaters or on television.

Update October 21, 2023: It's October, or should we say Scoobtober, so in honor of the spooky season, this article has been updated with more information regarding the Scooby Doo films.

Scooby-Doo Movies in Chronological Order

• Scoob!
• Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins
• Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster
• Scooby-Doo
• Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
• Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers
• Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School
• Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf
• Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights

Daphne & Velma

Serving as a prequel spin-off to the original Scooby-Doo franchise, follows the titular teen sleuths as they investigate strange occurrences happening at their high school, with the pair discovering that the most gifted students are becoming zombified by a nefarious, arrogant tech billionaire. The mystery comedy depicts how the bright Daphne Blake and book-smart Velma Dinkley started their friendship off online before meeting up in real life, initially showing disdain for one another until they set their differences aside to figure out what's happening to their fellow pupils.

The installment solely focuses on the iconic female lead characters, earning praise for its inspiring female empowerment message and for giving the heroines more back story. Daphne & Velma help lay the groundwork for the girls to continue solving mysteries and foreshadow the inevitable team-up with Scooby, Shaggy, and Fred to create Mystery Inc. The subsequent origins of the famous monster-chasing detectives and how they came to be is depicted in the 2020 animated film Scoob!.

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Scoob!

scoob

Animation

Comedy

Family

Mystery

Release Date

July 11, 2020

Director

Tony Cervone , Dax Shepard

Serving as a reboot for the Scooby-Doo film franchise, the 2020 animated mystery comedy Scoob! depicts how the iconic Great Dane became best friends with the lovable scaredy-cat Shaggy Rogers and the subsequent creation of Mystery Inc. The main storyline follows the two characters as they grow up and strengthen their endearing bond, and chronicles their meeting of Daphne, Velma and Fred and the various cases the savvy detectives tackled in their early years. Though Scoob! focuses on Mystery Inc.'s case in which they work alongside the Blue Falcon to take down Dick Dastardly, the heart and soul of the film is Shaggy and Scooby.

According to director Tony Cervone, the installment set out to give Scooby-Doo a more emotional backstory and arc while highlighting his friendship with Shaggy, having said in an interview, "I think when we first started, this was much more like 'Hanna-Barbera Avengers.' And then, somehow along the way, the more time we spent with Scooby and Shaggy, we were just like, 'This is all we care about.' Scooby and Shaggy had their own gravity that took up space." The duo's unwavering connection is further explored in another origin story, the 2009 live-action film Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins.

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Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins

In the 2009 made-for-television film Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, fans of the enduring cartoon were given a closer look at the formation of Mystery Inc. and the young sleuths' very first case involving the haunting of their high school. After being sent to detention following an altercation with a bully, geeky outcast Shaggy meets football star Fred Jones, science whiz Velma Dinkley and drama student Daphne Blake, and while the teenagers share a mutual interest for mysteries, that's where the connection initially ends. It doesn't take long until a masked figure wreaks havoc on the school and the amateur detectives decide to team up.

An origin story that shows audiences how Mystery Inc. was created despite the conflicting backgrounds of the diverse characters, Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins was a massive hit with fans, becoming the most-watched telecast in Cartoon Network history with 6.1 million viewers tuning in. The overwhelming success of the film helped lead to the 2010 sequel, Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster.

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Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

Mystery Inc. finds their summer plans working at an elite country club complicated when strange occurrences begin to happen in Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster. After Daphne's wealthy uncle gives the gang jobs in order to pay back damages on an investigation that went awry, the detectives are faced with the arrival of a gigantic frog-like monster that terrorizes the club's patrons. It's up to the teenagers to figure out what's going on and how to stop the creature, and they realize that a powerful witch's spell has cursed the land and the country club.

The made-for-TV movie dives into the relationships between the gang, depicting the romantic tension between Daphne and Fred as well as Shaggy's blossoming feelings for Velma. By the end of the installment, the teenagers defeat the monsters and both Shaggy and Velma and Daphne and Fred realize they are better off as friends than romantic partners. The gang also establish their group name Mystery Inc., with Daphne being the one to make the declaration; this monumental moment sets up their future adventures and mysteries.

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Scooby-Doo

Scooby Doo

PG

Adventure

Comedy

Family

Mystery

Release Date

June 14, 2002

Director

Raja Gosnell

Cast

Freddie Prinze Jr. , Sarah Michelle Gellar , matthew lillard , Linda Cardellini , Rowan Atkinson , Isla Fisher

The beloved fan-favorite hit Scooby-Doo serves as the first installment of the live-action films, and touts a dazzling cast featuring Freddie Prinze. Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini as the legendary case-solving Scooby characters. After finding success as Mystery Inc., the young detectives find themselves at odds with one another over long-brewing friction, with Daphne frustrated with constantly being the damsel-in-distress and Velma resentful to Fred for always taking the credit. The gang decides to break up and go their separate ways, resulting in a saddened Shaggy and Scooby to take The Mystery Machine and move on.

Two years later, the sleuths are called back to action and reunited after being invited to solve a mystery on Spooky Island, a horror-themed resort where tourists are being brainwashed. Each character has made postie changes during their hiatus, with Daphne learning self-defense and Velma finding her voice outside of Fred's shadow. Each of the actors were perfectly cast and brilliantly embody their counterparts, with Lillard without-a-doubt being the breakthrough star for his uncanny portrayal of Shaggy. The massive success of the film and passionate following led to the 2004 follow-up, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, and in recent years, these live-action Scooby movies have had a resurgence.

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Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

PG

Action

Adventure

Comedy

Family

Fantasy

Mystery

Release Date

March 24, 2004

Director

Raja Gosnell

Cast

Freddie Prinze Jr. , Sarah Michelle Gellar , matthew lillard , Linda Cardellini , Seth Green , Peter Boyle

In the sequel to 2002's Scooby-Doo, the sensational cast of the live-action film return to face off against some of their most legendary foes in their hometown of Coolsville. In Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne, Velma and Fred handle arguably their toughest mystery yet when monsters from their past cases are brought back to life by a masked figured determined to terrorize the town's inhabitants. Famous adversaries like Captain Cutler's Ghost, The Tar Monster and Black Knight's Ghost all try to take on Mystery Inc., as well as Velma's museum curator love interest Patrick Wisely (Seth Green).

Though it was a financial success at the box office, the movie failed to resonate with critics and its lukewarm reception resulted in the cancellation of a third installment that was to be written and directed by James Gunn. The Guardians of the Galaxy director went on to tweet about what the plot for the canceled film would have been, revealing that, "The Mystery Inc. gang are hired by a town in Scotland who complain they are being plagued by monsters but we discover throughout the film the monsters are actually the victims. Scooby and Shaggy have to come to terms with their own prejudices and narrow belief systems."

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Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers

Changing pace from live-action versions back to animated flicks (which have no real chronology, but undoubtedly follow the origin events of the prior films), the 1987 made-for-TV movie Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers follows Shaggy and Scooby as they head to his uncle's Southern plantation estate after he inherits the relative's mansion; when the iconic duo arrive, they cross paths with a slew of spooky ghostly tenants causing Shaggy to enlist the help of the Boo Brothers. The ghost-exterminators Meako, Freako and Shreako arrive to hunt down the pesky spirits, and act as an homage to The Three Stooges. Shaggy also learns that his Uncle Beauregard left behind a hidden treasure on the property and clues that will help him locate it.

Don Messick and Casey Kasem return from the '60s series to voice Scooby and Shaggy, and the animated film was one of multiple made-for-TV movies in the 1980s that featured the cowardly Great Dane. The decade was full of Scooby content including The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and the aforementioned TV movies. Both of the revered voice actors would return for the popular flicks, beginning with Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School.

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Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School

In the spooktacular 1988 animated movie Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy take a job as gym teachers at Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girls, not realizing that the institution is actually for the daughters of famed supernatural beings. Despite initially being terrified by the realization, the trio decide the kids are harmless and deserve a good education, so they decide to stick around as teachers. Unbeknownst to the Mystery Inc. characters, an evil and wicked witch named Revolta and her devious one-eyed minion the Grim Creeper want to kidnap the girls and force them to become her slaves.

The thrilling film is noteworthy for its memorable new characters introduced, with each of the finishing school's pupils being inspired by the Universal Monsters of the '30s and '40s. The legendary monsters are featured when the school has a Halloween party, with Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein and a werewolf all making appearances to see their daughters off. Due to the popularity of the exciting picture, a follow-up sequel was released later that same year.

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Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf

Shaggy is put through quite the ringer when he is transformed into a werewolf in Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf, with the diabolical Count Dracula targeting the character in an effort to save his Road Race tournament. After the Wolfman retires to Florida, the famed vampire must scramble to find a replacement in the pivotal race, with fellow creatures like Swamp Thing, a Mummy and witches all set to enter the competition. It's up to Scooby-Doo, Scrappy and Shaggy's girlfriend Googie to save the lovable goof and survive the Transylvanian "Monster Road Rally."

The movie marks the final appearance of Scrappy-Doo as a protagonist in the franchise, with Scooby's nephew not returning to the series until 2002's live-action Scooby-Doo, in which he is the main villain. Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf is a classic installment featuring the Great Dane and its plot took direct inspiration from the 1968 animated series Wacky Races, in which various racing cars go head-to-head at different road rallies.

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Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights

Marking Don Messick's final voice appearance as the lovable mutt before his retirement, the 1994 made-for-television movie Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights focuses on Scooby and Shaggy as they are hired as food testers for the Caliph in Arabia, arriving on a magic carpet. After the perpetually hungry duo eat all the food in the ruler's palace, he orders his guards to kill them but Shaggy disguises himself as a harem girl and captures the eye of the Caliph. Shaggy and Scooby plot their escape and hope to make the young man fall asleep, telling him two different stories in hopes of doing so.

Following the movie's release and a steady rise in installments, the Scooby-Doo animated films went on a four-year hiatus until the iconic Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island premiered, both delighting and terrifying fans of the beloved franchise. It would mark a slew of direct-to-video flicks that would once again reignite the popularity of the franchise, including nostalgic hits like Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost and Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, as well as the live-action versions in the 2000s.

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Scooby-Doo Movies in Order of Release Date