Scooby Doo! Pirates Ahoy! walked the plank and drowned in an uninspired ocean. Like, zoinks Scoob! We've got ourselves mixed up in a swashbucklin' mess featuring ghostly pirates, the Bermuda Triangle and strangely alluring drag costumes. Shaggy dressed up as Daphne? Jinkies! As an avid fan of the classic Scooby Doo cartoons, I found that the Mystery Inc. formula wore thin with the rejuvenated "What's New Scooby Doo?" series. So, naturally, I had an arrrrd time with this landlubber. Scooby and the gang go on a cruising holiday with Fred's parents, to the Bermuda Triangle (of all the places in the world!), where they stumble across the ghoulish Captain Skunkbeard who has been terrorising the surrounding seas.
Aye! Batten down your hatches and set sail for classic Scooby-Dooby-Doo antics. The main reason as to why this film sinks to its watery grave, is due to how much treasure is stuffed in the chest. Simply put, lots happen! A rather humorous "mystery cruise" chronicles the first act, to which "those meddling kids" are just too damn good at unraveling the setups. Then Captain Smellyface makes an appearance. The gang are washed ashore. Scooby and Shaggy go log surfing? Velma solved the mystery. Obvious culprits turn out to be, you guessed it, the masked villains. And they set off sailing into the distant sunset. A classic Scooby formula that underutilises its supporting characters, intriguing locations and introduces an absurd third act storyline that literally made zero sense. So much gold, yet no sparkle.
The animation is standard for the series, although loses the charm from the original cartoon with its clinical aesthetic. Speaking of, there were some nice nods floating around. Captain Cutler and the Wolfman make brief appearances. A nice little homage to legendary monsters. Not enough to make me want to watch this again though. Harmless pirate fun, but the rusty sword that Captain Stinkhair swings is just too blunt. Probably best walk the plank. Except Fred's parents, they can stay on the ship...
