Scooby-Doo

Director Raja Gosnell wanted Daphne and Fred to be played by a real-life couple, and his first choice was Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. Prinze Jr. initially did not want to make the film because he thought it would not be faithful to the Scooby cartoons, but Gellar convinced him.

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The film was initially going to have a much darker tone, essentially mocking the old cartoons, and was set for a PG-13 rating. Shaggy was going to be a stoner, Velma and Daphne had a side relationship, and there were many marijuana references. According to Sarah Michelle Gellar, a change occurred after the cast signed on and the film became more family-friendly. By 2017, however, James Gunn confirmed that the film's original cut received an R rating and that he had to use CGI to cover up cleavage.

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Neil Fanning was on the film set every day to perform Scooby's dialogue so the actors would have someone to interact with. This led to him and Matthew Lillard becoming close friends, since they had to be very creative to make Shaggy and Scooby's friendship convincing (because Lillard was acting opposite nothing but Fanning's off-screen voice).

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When Daphne tries to assign Shaggy and Scooby to explore the castle with her, Shaggy objects. He says: "Like, Scoob and I don't do castles. Because castles have paintings and suits of armor with eyes that watch you; you think it's a statue and there's a guy inside who follows you every time you turn around!" Everything Shaggy describes happened in What a Night for a Knight (1969), the first Scooby-Doo cartoon to air.

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Frank Welker, who voiced Freddy Jones in all the Scooby-Doo cartoons, also voices one of the villainous creatures in this film. From 2002 onward, Welker also took on the job of voicing Scooby-Doo.

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Initially, Matthew Lillard would scream for a very long time to strain his voice into a perfect Shaggy impression. It did not work, so he began imitating the voice he made when his voice was tired from all the screaming.

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Although the gang appears on the film poster in the shadow of the Luna Ghost, the villain appears only in the first few minutes of the film. This is because the Luna Ghost was originally conceived as the main antagonist in the first draft of the script.

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It is one of the few Scooby-Doo films to reveal Scooby and Shaggy's real names (Scoobert and Norville, respectively).

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When Fred, Velma and Daphne meet at the airport, there was originally a flashback for each of them showing what they had been doing: Fred on a book tour, Velma in a support group, and Daphne learning martial arts. The flashbacks were cut because they were thought to lengthen the scene.

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Because director Raja Gosnell wanted a real-life couple to play Fred and Daphne, Isla Fisher was the runner-up for the role of Daphne before Sarah Michelle Gellar was cast. Her audition nevertheless impressed the casting directors, and as a result she was given the supporting role of Mary Jane.

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Sarah Michelle Gellar hated wearing Daphne's purple go-go boots and wore comfortable sneakers whenever she got the chance.

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Freddie Prinze Jr. hated wearing the branded T-shirt Fred usually wears in the original cartoons.

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After filming was completed, Freddie Prinze Jr. had to shave his head because bleach had ruined his hair.

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A full-size puppet of Scooby was built for the film by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, but it ultimately was not used and Scooby became a CG character instead.

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Shaggy is a strict vegetarian in this film. Shaggy's original voice actor, Casey Kasem, insisted during the making of Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969) that Shaggy be a vegetarian, but that was not always the case in various spin-offs.

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This was the last series of Scooby-Doo projects created and produced by both William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Hanna died on March 22, 2001.

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The idea for a live-action Scooby-Doo film languished in development hell for most of the 1990s. In 1996, Jim Carrey was to play Shaggy and Sara Gilbert was to play Velma. At one point director Kevin Smith joined the project but later left. Mike Myers then agreed to the project and became the person most associated with it (Myers is said to have chosen his friend Janeane Garofalo to play Velma). In the end, even Myers had to leave the project.

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The scenes set in Australia were filmed at Bond University on the Gold Coast, known for having perfect weather 350 days a year. Unfortunately, Linda Cardellini caught a cold and filming had to be paused for a day.

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Most of the cast and crew rejected and hated the film. Freddie Prinze Jr. was not fond of Fred's wardrobe, especially the ascot, and in an interview Sarah Michelle Gellar was asked which of her films she would forbid her children from watching: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) or Cruel Intentions (1999). Gellar chose this film. Linda Cardellini was also unhappy with the final cut and found it too lustful for a children's film. Matthew Lillard initially hated the film but eventually warmed to it because his performance as Shaggy was consistently praised even among critics who hated the film. After Casey Kasem retired from the character in 2009, he became the official voice of Shaggy in most animated Scooby-Doo productions.

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James Gunn's original script had the villain ultimately revealed to be the actor Don Knotts, a payoff to Fred's line referencing his mistake at Scooby's Christmas party.

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Screenwriter James Gunn stated that Velma was openly gay in the original script, but the studio decided to water down the script to block any reference to her sexuality. Some of it was ambiguous and was hidden and shot, but ultimately cut from the final version of the film. The kiss between Daphne and Velma was just one of the things that was cut.

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According to Sarah Michelle Gellar, the original script included a scene with a joke about Fred's (Freddie Prinze Jr.) sexuality. She said, "Daphne and Fred were fighting and then I yelled at him, 'And that ascot makes you look gay!' And I slam the door and they cut it." In fact, Gellar found that particular scene so funny that it became the reason she signed on to the film in the first place.

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Because Sarah Michelle Gellar was still filming season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), she had to wear a red wig in the role of Daphne.

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Tim Burton was offered the directing job in the 1990s with the promise of full creative control, but he would eventually pass on the project.

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It is ironic that Scooby-Doo eventually became a live-action film, because the gang in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969) and its remakes is actually based on the real actors/characters of the same network CBS's live-action comedy The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959). Fred is based on Dobie, Shaggy on Maynard, Velma on Zelda and Daphne on Thalia.

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Charlie Cousins's character was called Metal Head in all the promotional materials, but in the film's credits he is listed only as Velma's Friend.

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All of the sound stages owned by the studio were used in the production.

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The film was initially conceived, similarly to Josie and the Pussycats (2001), as a loving parody of the original cartoon rather than a direct adaptation, a much raunchier creation compared to the cartoons (also a Hanna-Barbera production). After that film failed, this one was reworked to be tamer and more family-friendly. Even so, the final cut still pushes the PG rating quite hard. In Australia, however, it received only a "G" rating.

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The 'Mystery Machine' is a 1972 Bedford CF.

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James Gunn expressed regret over making Scrappy the film's main villain after receiving some backlash from fans of the character.

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Pamela Anderson's appearance in the teaser, mostly as a nod to The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972), in which celebrities appeared as caricatures teaming up with Mystery Inc., is seen with the voice provided by the real person.

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Matthew Lillard later took over voicing Shaggy in newer Scooby-Doo animated media from 2010 onward.

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Before Linda Cardellini won the role, Alyssa Milano, Carla Gugino and Christina Ricci were considered for the part of Velma Dinkley.

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In January 2023, Sarah Michelle Gellar said there were many scenes from the 2002 film that deserved to see the light of day, including a steamy kiss between Daphne and Velma.

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Matthew Lillard was cast as Shaggy Rogers because of his performance in Thir13en Ghosts (2001). There was a Scooby-Doo show called The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985) and a belated follow-up, Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost (2019), in which Lillard reprised the role of Shaggy.

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When Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) was released in cinemas, Scooby-Doo was one of several films whose trailer it showed. It was reported that many people (especially Harry Potter fans who were not Scooby-Doo fans) paid for the film but left after the trailer was shown. (This was before many people watched film trailers online.)

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Craig Titley's original script was quite different from the final film and functioned as an origin story about how the gang first met rather than a reunion story about the gang getting back together. It included Professor Hyde-White and Old Hank from the original show's first season, many references to other Hanna-Barbera properties (such as Josie and the Pussycats performing at a party), and William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were meant to take small roles at the end. When Warner Bros. bought Turner Entertainment (the owner of Hanna-Barbera), it replaced Titley with James Gunn, who drastically changed the script; however, there are some similarities, such as a love interest who inadvertently causes a rift between Shaggy and Scooby (though in the original script she was a goth girl named Kandy who shared Shaggy's passion for food), a riskier story involving a cult that turns people into monsters for an evil doomsday plan, and some crude humour. Other differences include Kingston Mansion appearing in the series' opening and playing a major role in the first act, Scooby's collar being a relic of great importance, Fred living in the van, which turns into the mystery machine because he spent all his money to get into college, and an evil dog catcher out to kill Scooby.

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All the scenes on Spooky Island were actually filmed at the Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island, off the coast of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

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Ironically, blonde Sarah Michelle Gellar played the red-haired Daphne, while red-haired Isla Fisher played the blonde Mary Jane.

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The rabbit costume is the Filler bunny from Jhonen Vasquez's comics.

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Scrappy Doo's middle name is Cornelius.

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Co-writer James Gunn said that Velma was explicitly gay in the original script, but the studio kept watering the script down and eventually dropped it during rewrites. One of the executives explained that this was because she was not gay in the cartoon, so there was no need to add it to this adaptation.

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Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar had previously appeared together in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997); Matthew Lillard appeared in Scream (1996), and Gellar in Scream 2 (1997), both written entirely by Kevin Williamson. Lillard and Prinze also appeared together in Wing Commander (1999) and She's All That (1999), in which Gellar also appeared.

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Other characters from the show, such as Mr. Wickles and Old Hank, were planned to appear, along with Josie and the Pussycats appearing as a band at the party, a lifeless Speed Buggy in the parking lot, The Jetsons playing on TV, and William Hanna and Joseph Barbera making small appearances at the end as the university's deans, praising Mystery Inc. for saving the school.

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In 2012, on Reddit's Ask Me Anything, Matthew Lillard revealed that Fred was gay in the original cut and that Freddie Prinze Jr. played him that way.

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James Gunn later apologised for making Scrappy the film's villain, especially once he realised the character had genuine fans.

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Christina Applegate was considered for the role of Daphne.

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Jim Carrey was considered for the role of Shaggy Rogers, while Lochlyn Munro auditioned.

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Anthony Anderson was to play the Voodoo Maestro but had to withdraw from the role due to scheduling conflicts with Kangaroo Jack (2003).

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Neil Patrick Harris was considered for the role of Shaggy.

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Linda Cardellini and Isla Fisher were fans of the cartoon before taking roles in the film.

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Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard had previously appeared together in the romantic comedies She's All That (1999) and Summer Catch (2001).

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The kitchen in the Spooky Island castle where Shaggy and Scooby hold their burping/farting contest is the same kitchen where the brainwashing training video was filmed. This explains why a camera is present in the kitchen, and when Shaggy notices it he says, "lights, camera, action. Huh Scoob."

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It was Hanna-Barbera's last live-action film.

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Alexis Bledel was considered for the role of Velma Dinkley.

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Leonardo DiCaprio was considered for the role of Fred Jones.

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Laura Prepon, Nicole Sullivan and Tori Spelling were considered for the role of Daphne Blake.

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Linda Cardellini was also unhappy with the final cut and found it too raunchy for a children's film.

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The pinball machines visible in the background of the bar scenes are "WHO dunnit" (Midway, 1995) and "Pinball Magic" (Capcom, 1995).

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It was the first film based on the Hanna-Barbera show to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

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Mike Myers was initially going to play Shaggy in this film.

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This was Sugar Ray's second on-screen appearance in a Hollywood film; the band had previously appeared in the comedy Father's Day (1997). Both films were released by Warner Bros., which at the time was part of the same corporate conglomerate as their record label, Atlantic.

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Matthew Lillard voices Shaggy Rogers for the first time.

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Scooby-Doo premiered on the same day as Windtalkers (2002) and The Bourne Identity (2002).

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Between 1979 and 1988, Scrappy-Doo spent a great deal of on-screen time with Shaggy. Scrappy even lived with Shaggy and rescued him from trouble on many occasions. In this film, the two barely share a single line.

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The film's story takes place ten years after the events of the various animated adventures both Scooby-Doos had with Mystery Incorporated. It serves as a live-action continuation in which Mystery Inc. was originally shown in the cartoons as a young group of "meddling kids," but the film portrayals show them past their college years, with all four matured and modernized as young adults.

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Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) appeared in Scream (1996). Sarah Michelle Gellar (Daphne) appeared in Scream 2 (1997).

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Sandra Bullock was considered for the role of Velma Dinkley.

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Arturo Mercado once again reprised the role of Scrappy-Doo in the Latin American Spanish dub. In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Orlando Drummond and Mário Monjardim reprised the roles of Scooby and Shaggy that they had played since the original series (Monjardim briefly stopped voicing him in the '80s, and Drummond voiced Scooby continuously for 40 years!).

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Julia Roberts was considered for the role of Daphne Blake.

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