Movie Info
Movie Name: Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery
Studio: Warner Bros. Animation
Genre(s): Animated/Comedy/Mystery/Suspense
Release Date(s): July 10, 2015
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
The gang’s joined the Kiss Army!
Kiss World is being haunted by the evil Crimson Witch. When Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Freddy insert themselves into the mystery, they find themselves teamed with Kiss to solve the mystery. Unfortunately, the Crimson Witch might not be a mystery at all and her master the Destroyer could mean the end of Earth.
Directed by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone, Scooby Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery is a feature length cartoon. The film was initially released on digital on July 10, 2015 and later released on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 21, 2015. The film is the twenty-fourth direct to video film for Scooby Doo following Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness also released in 2015.
Feel the power of Star Child!
I loved Scooby-Doo growing up and even thought it was sometimes a little scary as a kid (but no Jonny Quest). On the other hand, Kiss terrified me as a child. I can imagine that I would have loved Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery as a kid, but today, a little Scooby-Doo goes a long way.
The story for the movie really plays with the whole super-hero aspect of Kiss. In the ’70s, along with the make-up, Kiss even become comic book stars in their personas. The movie has this and even has a bit of a Darkseid/New Gods type storyline involving “The Destroyer” and dimensional portals (which of course is all a hallucination). It just felt it went on for too long with the one trick-pony aspect of Kiss with superpowers.
The only thing more disgusting than Simmons’ tongue is that he’d use it to lick Scooby
The movie is also a throwback to the old Scooby-Doo films from the ’70s which had him teaming with people like Batman and Robin (voiced by Adam West and Burt Ward), Mama Cass, and the Harlem Globetrotters. Kiss does voice their own characters so you get Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer lending their voices to the characters. You also get regular Scooby-Doo actors Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Grey Griffin, and Mindy Cohn with guess voice artists Jennifer Carpenter, Garry Marshall, Penny Marshall, Darius Rucker, and Jay and Silent Bob (aka Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith).
The animation is pretty standard for Scooby-Doo films. They do some interesting work involving Kiss’s superpowers and a fun credit sequence, but for the most part it is normal Scooby-Doo. I do kind of like some of the Destroyer stuff which really does have a Darkseid look combined with Heavy Metal.
As a kid, I would have loved this movie, and as an adult, I just kind of like the movie. The movie is a weird target audience since much of the younger viewers will be scratching their heads involving Kiss and their Kiss-Army, but the plot isn’t quite up to the level to really entertain the 30-40 somethings that would like it. Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery was followed by Lego Scooby-Doo!: Haunted Hollywood in 2016.
