If you were to list the most enduring cartoon characters of all time, amongst the Homer Simpsons, the Fred Flintstones and the Daffy Ducks, there would be one name at the top of the list – that name would be Scooby-Doo!
Since the arrival of his first TV show in 1969, Scooby and the gang – better known as Mystery Incorporated – have been hunting down monsters, solving cases, and unmasking bad guys. The team have also been starring in an exhaustive collection of movies.
You see, as successful as the various Scooby-Doo television shows have been – and they have been very, very successful – the movies have been just as popular. But what are they all and in what order do you watch them?
Today I’m serving up some answers, so sit back, relax, grab some Scooby Snacks and prepare yourself with a whole lot of Doo!
First up, let’s deal with the movies that aren’t quite movies.
The New Scooby-Doo Movies
OK so I’m starting with a bit of a cheat here because despite the name, The New Scooby-Doo Movies aren’t actually movies, instead this was a short-lived TV show which ran for two seasons between 1972 and 1973. The series saw Mystery Inc. team up with various pop culture icons, ranging from the Harlem Globetrotters and The Addams Family to The Three Stooges and Sonny and Cher.
Billed as movies, each episode would see the gang working on a case that would have them cross paths with a big named star of the ’70s. So, not a collection of movies, but I’ve included this show in this post for two reasons:
- Most people presume these are movies
- Some of the episodes have been released on home video as ‘mini movies’, including the ever popular, Scooby-Doo Meets Batman – comprising the episodes, The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair and The Caped Crusader Caper
Should you want to watch these ‘movies’, you can view them as follows:
- The New Scooby-Doo Movies – season one
- The New Scooby-Doo Movies – season two
In total, The New Scooby-Doo Movies ran for 24 episodes.
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The TV special ‘movies’
In 1979, Hanna-Barbera Productions produced an animated TV special called Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood. This was the beginning of a number of Scooby TV specials/ movies that would air between the ‘70s & the ‘90s.
Three of the films – Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf – were produced under the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 banner. This was a collection of ten movies featuring other Hanna-Barbera characters such as The Jetsons and The Flintstones – in fact, one of the movies was The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones.
If you want to watch these TV specials/movies, then here’s the list:
- Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood (1979)
- Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987)
- Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)
- Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)
- Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights (1994)
In addition to the above, there were also a couple of feature-length ‘retrospective specials’ featuring Scooby-Doo. These are not Scooby-Doo movies, but do feature the Doo in some way.
For reference these are:
- Hanna-Barbera’s All-Star Comedy Ice Revue (1978)
- Hanna-Barbera’s 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration (1989)
OK, onto something HUGELY successful now and probably the reason you’re reading this post.
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The direct to video movies
In 1998, Warner Bros. Animation released the first in a very long run of Scooby-Doo movies which continues to this day. This has been an overwhelmingly successful series of animated films, with new entries popping up pretty much every year.
The first entry in this series was Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. This movie updated Scoob and the gang for a modern audience and took a slightly darker tone.
Due to the success of Zombie Island, the movie was followed by Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost!, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders and Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase. All were hits and proved there was a lot of life – and financial potential in the Scooby-Doo direct to video market.
After these initial entries, the series then took a lighter tone for film number five – Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire – as well as the subsequent films that followed. Once again, these films have been very popular and have allowed Scooby to continue a long-running career on home video.
Over the course of time, the direct to video Scooby-Doo films have seen Shaggy and Scooby share screen time with the likes of Batman, Dynomutt, Kiss, and even WWE wrestlers. And in 2019, the series also linked back to an old Scooby-Doo ‘toon (the 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo) to produce a sequel/conclusion to the 1985 series in the shape of Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost.
If you want to work your way through this ever-expanding collection of movies, you’ll need this list:
- Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
- Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost! (1999)
- Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)
- Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico (2003)
- Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
- Aloha Scooby-Doo! (2005)
- Scooby-Doo! in Where’s My Mummy? (2005)
- Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006)
- Chill Out Scooby-Doo! (2007)
- Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King! (2008)
- Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword! (2009)
- Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo! (2010)
- Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare! (2010)
- Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (2011)
- Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire (2012)
- Big Top Scooby-Doo!
- Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery (2014)
- Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy (2014)
- Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness (2015)
- Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015)
- Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood (2016)
- Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Speed Demon (2016)
- Scooby-Doo! Shaggy’s Showdown (2017)
- Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash (2017)
- Scooby-Doo! and Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost (2018)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost (2019)
- Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island (2019)
- Happy Halloween Scooby-Doo! (2020)
- Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)
- Scooby-Doo! and Courage the Cowardly Dog (2021)
- Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! (2022)
In addition to the above titles, Warner Bros. Animation has also released a series of direct-to-video shorts. These aren’t really movies, but if you want to check them out then here is the list:
- Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Games (2012)
- Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays (2012)
- Scooby-Doo! Spooky Scarecrow (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Mecha Mutt Menace (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Ghastly Goals (2014)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Beach Beastie (2015)
- Lego Scooby-Doo! Knight Time Terror (2015)
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The live-action movies
While the vast majority of Scooby-Doo movies have been animated, there is a collection of live-action features starring Mr. Doo. The first two movies in this collection were released theatrically, while the remaining entries were made for television prequels.
The viewing order is as follows:
- Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009)
- Scooby-Doo! The Curse of the Lake Monster (2010)
- Scooby-Doo (2002)
- Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
The theatrical releases – Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed – are perhaps best remembered for starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr, Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard. Meanwhile, the prequels may not have had the same star power, but they still proved to be hits on TV.
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The live-action movies take two
In 2018, the live-action brand continued beyond the first collection of movies to a new era of prequels. So far, this collection includes just one movie.
- Daphne and Velma (2018)
As well as the above live-action Scooby-Doo movies, Mystery Inc. also appeared in a dream sequence in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). You may recognise former Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast member, Marc Blucas playing Fred (see below).
So, do Scooby and Jay and Silent Bob exist in a shared universe?!
No!
This scene is just a figment of Jay’s mind, so this doesn’t mean Scooby-Doo shares a movie universe with Jay and Silent Bob – which is good, as I’d have to list a lot more movies. I’ve simply noted this brief live-action appearance in case you wanted to check it out.
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The big screen animated adventure
In addition to live-action adventures on the big screen, Scooby-Doo has also fronted animated antics too. Although 2020’s Scoob! missed its big screen release due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the reboot of the long-running series was intended for cinemas.
- Scoob! (2020)
OK, time to start wrapping things up…
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Production order
And finally, should you want to watch all of the Scooby-Doo films then your best bet is to watch them in production order. If this order tickles your pickle, then work through the movies in the following order:
- Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood (1979)
- Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987)
- Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)
- Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)
- Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights (1994)
- Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
- Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost! (1999)
- Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)
- Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
- Scooby-Doo (2002)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico (2003)
- Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
- Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
- Aloha Scooby-Doo! (2005)
- Scooby-Doo! in Where’s My Mummy? (2005)
- Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006)
- Chill Out Scooby-Doo! (2007)
- Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King! (2008)
- Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword! (2009)
- Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009)
- Scooby-Doo! The Curse of the Lake Monster (2010)
- Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo! (2010)
- Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare! (2010)
- Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (2011)
- Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire (2012)
- Big Top Scooby-Doo!
- Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright (2013)
- Scooby-Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery (2014)
- Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy (2014)
- Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness (2015)
- Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015)
- Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood (2016)
- Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Speed Demon (2016)
- Scooby-Doo! Shaggy’s Showdown (2017)
- Scooby-Doo! Blowout Beach Bash (2017)
- Scooby-Doo! and Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost (2018)
- Daphne and Velma (2018)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost (2019)
- Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island (2019)
- Scoob! (2020)
- Happy Halloween Scooby-Doo! (2020)
- Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)
- Scooby-Doo! and Courage the Cowardly Dog (2021)
- Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! (2022)
You’ll note, I’ve not included the New Scooby-Doo Movies, the Hanna-Barbera ‘retrospective specials’ or the shorts in the above list. Feel free to add them to your viewing order if required.
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The films listed in this post are just a selection of what the Scooby-Doo franchise has to offer. Should you want to delve into the TV shows, then there is a heck of a lot of those to choose from!
Perhaps the best loved series of them all is Scooby-Doo Where Are You?. This is the show that started it all and was responsible for the success and legacy of the most famous Great Dane of them all.
A special anniversary edition of Scooby-Doo Where Are You? is available to purchase on Blu-ray. You can check out prices on Amazon UK and Amazon US.
So, what is your favourite Scooby-Doo film? Are you a fan of the direct to video films or do you have a thing for the live-action pictures?
Maybe you don’t like the films at all – that’s fine, each to their own. What in your opinion is the best Scooby-Doo TV series? Share your thoughts (and your knowledge) in the comments section below so we can talk Doo!
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Disclaimer: I earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
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One Response to What is the best order to watch the Scooby-Doo movies?
Amazing. Thank you for this as a long time scooby doo fan (48 years) this is a bible so to speak. My son is the next gen (started with Kizz and scoob) of scooby lovers and he just asked what was the first movie and i found your page.. great work and thank you again
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