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American Morning
'Scooby Doo' Takes Bigger Bite Than Expected
Aired June 17, 2002 - 08:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: There was a new top dog at the box office this weekend, and it took a bigger bite than anyone expected, even the producers. "Scooby Doo" raked in $56.4 million. That makes it the biggest June opener in history. But is there a hidden message behind Scooby's kid-friendly script?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Talk about toasted! Man, the only thing I like better than an eggplant burger is a chocolate covered eggplant burger!
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KAGAN: All right, we're doing "Scooby-Doo." Joining us now from L.A., and from our bureau there, entertainment reporter Susan Campos, with the scoop on "Scooby-Doo," I guess you could say.
SUSAN CAMPOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very good, Daryn.
KAGAN: Thank you.
Susan, good morning to you.
You know, we're going to do this kind of impromptu review thing. You've seen the movie.
CAMPOS: I have seen the movie.
KAGAN: Bottom line -- any good?
CAMPOS: It's OK. But I think that -- you know, in the theater, I have to say, the kids are loving it. But it's OK. I don't think you're going to go crazy for it. But it did have a lot of drug references originally, and they actually ended up taking them out to make it a more kid-friendly movie. There's a couple left. There's one where Shaggy meets a girl, and her name is Mary Jane, and he says, "Mary Jane is my favorite name."
And the scene that you actually just showed there, basically, from the original and the cartoon, that's where a lot of people said, oh, this is all about marijuana, because there was always smoke coming out of the van, and they were always eating those Scooby Snacks because they were so high. KAGAN: Right, but all these references, these are from back in the day when it was just a cartoon on television we watched as kids. And Bill and I were talking about this, I mean, right over our head. We thought it was just about, you know, Scooby and the gang running around trying to solve mysteries and eat a bunch of foods.
CAMPOS: I know, me, too. I never knew either. And I talked to so many people over the weekend. Some knew, and most people I don't think did know.
KAGAN: Maybe this is just parents growing up going, oh, my gosh, this is what I've been watching this whole time?
CAMPOS: Exactly. Who knows if Hanna Barbara even knew, because sometimes the animators would just sneak this in as a joke.
KAGAN: As a joke, yes.
With Andy Serwer here with us, he is usually handling the money stuff, but he took his took kids to see it this weekend. He was not pleased at all.
Andy, what did you think?
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Five thumbs down, Daryn.
KAGAN: Five paws down?
SERWER: My kids liked the movie a lot; they loved it. But it was actually pretty scary for our little one, our 4-year-old; it was too scary for her.
KAGAN: Did you hear that, Susan? Well, you your son's too young to go; I'm sure you didn't take him.
CAMPOS: My son, he's almost two, but no, I didn't take him. When I went out in the lobby, there were a lot of parents out there. One of the parents said, were you afraid, too? Because they were all afraid, and they all left the theater.
KAGAN: Got it, but a lot of parents did take their kids. The numbers on this, the biggest June opener ever, $56.4 million. The producers said they were only looking to make about 30. Look at who it beat, none less than Matt Damon. But also, look at who is not in the top five any more, Susan, "Star Wars?"
CAMPOS: "Star Wars" isn't in the top five. But they stayed up there a long time. You think of "Star Wars" and "Spiderman," talk about movies that have legs. But "Scooby Doo" actually, as you said, it was tracking at about $30 million. It got really bad reviews, but yet it did so well. And I do think that's because you had a lot of kids who were, you know, new kind of viewers to "Scooby Doo," and then you had adults who grew up watching it, so you had this huge audience for it, and I really think that people want family movies.
KAGAN: There's not that many of them out there, and I guess the big test will be what happens next week as word of mouth spreads on "Scooby Doo."
CAMPOS: Absolutely. But again, the kids like it, so it may get good word of mouth.
KAGAN: We will watch it. Susan Campos, joining us from L.A., thanks for joining us.
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