Chill Out Scooby Doo (Original Movie) [DVD]

An original, animated feature set in the frozen wilds of the Himalayas, Chill Out, Scooby Doo! finds best buddies Shaggy and Scooby-Doo on their way to join Freddie, Daphne, and Velma in Paris when they're waylaid by an ambitious hunter out to snare the abominable snowman. Figuring Shaggy and Scooby, as charter members of Mystery, Inc., can find their way to a monster, the hunter pursues the legendary Yeti from one angle while a research scientist and his assistant try to get to the creature from another. Terribly inscrutable about the snowman is the High Lama of Shangri-La, who has his own reasons for keeping a sacred shrine to the Yeti. Caught between these various agendas, of course, are Shaggy and Scooby, who are a long way from Freddie and the others right when they need them most. Yes, it's a typical Scooby adventure, with multiple chase scenes, supernatural phenomena that isn't quite what it seems, and plenty of Scooby snacks devoured by the ever-ravenous Shaggy and his canine best friend. Longtime fans of the various Scooby series and younger kids catching up on Mystery, Inc. culture will certainly appreciate the story. Casey Kasem, as ever, voices Shaggy, though one can hear him getting a little raspy with age. (I salute Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!'s producers for sticking with Kasem; these shows certainly wouldn't be the same without him.) --Tom Keogh