Post by loonyscribe on Sept 13, 2014 16:36:36 GMT -5
Since no-one at all on IMdB seems to care to reply, I'll copy a thread of mine here.
I've gotten my hands on two screenplay drafts that precede the final outcome from which the live-action film was made, albeit scribed by two different screenwriters. There's no reason to keep them exclusively for myself, so here they are. You can get them for free:
SCOOBY-DOO by CRAIG TITLEY (First Draft, 02-16-1996)
www.sendspace.com/file/g7is97
SCOOBY-DOO by JAMES GUNN (First Draft, 2000-03-17)
www.sendspace.com/file/1wg0yo
Enjoy!
Notes (WARNING: Spoilers!)
* Sorry, but neither of these two drafts have the marijuana/lesbian references that were almost incorporated into the film. I was really looking forward to them myself, but, alas ...
* The Craig Titley script is a completely different story than the one we eventually got. It's set in college and up until the first half, it sort of plays out like a pilot episode to the original show (an origin story) in which the gang deals with a usual faux-ghost mystery, but from there on there's an almost sudden, darker change-of-tone that includes real demons, Armageddon (!!) and a lost underground ancient city. This half strongly reminded me of Mystery Incorporated, while as a whole, it's reminiscent of Witch's Ghost (fake ghost mystery followed by the release of ancient evil). It was real fun to read, this one's got a lot of heart in it (you can tell that Titley has a soft spot in himself for these characters). I enjoyed all the references to the original show (characters/locations from it are also included, e.g. Ghost of Elias Kingston, Prof. Hyde-White, Old Hank from "Mine Your Own Business", Kingston Mansion etc). The writing style is very funny and quirky, in the same way a Scooby lover would comment on the story as it's being unfolded. There's even a love interest for Shaggy called Kandy, and a subplot involving Scooby feeling jealous (a la Mystery Incorporated). Sadly, this script was just too... cartoony to take seriously and envision it as a live-action film (when you read it you'll get what I mean). I can only picture it as an animated feature film. The story doesn't call for a live-action treatment. However, there's one or two sex jokes/innuendos somewhere in the middle that seem very out of place. All in all, I did love this one. A shame it was discarded by Warner Bros.
* The story in the James Gunn draft is the same as in the movie. Everything's pretty much the same, apart from a few things: there's no Luna Ghost case at the beginning. It starts off with your usual horror film prologue at Spooky Island where Shaggy's cousin Isabel Rogers and her friend are chased by the island demons. Isabel's father pleads his nephew Shaggy to search for his missing daughter at Spooky Island. Shaggy and Scoob manage to pull the gang back together again to solve this mystery, after Mystery Inc. had broken up (told in a montage of TV interviews and such at the beginning, "documenting the rise and fall of Mystery Inc"). There's no Mary Jane character for Shaggy (thankfully) thus no jealous Scooby. The Daemon Ritus is a hardbound text (much like the H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon). Mondavarious is still the main suspect and owner of the island but his part is much smaller and less comedic. There's no Scrappy-Doo this time. The whole purpose for sacrificing Scooby is so that the Demon Rex, a "gargantuan, fiery winged beast" can inhabit Scooby's body. The ending is pretty much ridiculous and hard to take seriously (even in the mindset of a live-action Scooby Doo movie). The Demon Rex is defeated, and it's revealed that Mondavarious is actually a man in a mask, who turns out to be Professor Garret Rogers (Shaggy's Uncle), who is revealed to be Fred (!), who is eventually revealed to be Don Knotts (!!!) who doesn't even have a motive. This one's a little more daring than the film we eventually got (there's a scene with Fred and Daphne, who have adjoining rooms at the hotel, in which Fred tries to convince Daphne to have sex with him). Unlike the Titley draft, which was an ode to Scooby Doo written with a lot of love by an obvious Scooby lover, this script is more like an adult parody/satire of Scooby Doo (but not too adult). It's certainly darker in tone than the Titley draft. Compared to the finished film, this script looks only half-baked (it's only the first draft after all) but there are a few elements/scenes/whatever that I wish they could keep in the finished product.
I've gotten my hands on two screenplay drafts that precede the final outcome from which the live-action film was made, albeit scribed by two different screenwriters. There's no reason to keep them exclusively for myself, so here they are. You can get them for free:
SCOOBY-DOO by CRAIG TITLEY (First Draft, 02-16-1996)
www.sendspace.com/file/g7is97
SCOOBY-DOO by JAMES GUNN (First Draft, 2000-03-17)
www.sendspace.com/file/1wg0yo
Enjoy!
Notes (WARNING: Spoilers!)
* Sorry, but neither of these two drafts have the marijuana/lesbian references that were almost incorporated into the film. I was really looking forward to them myself, but, alas ...
* The Craig Titley script is a completely different story than the one we eventually got. It's set in college and up until the first half, it sort of plays out like a pilot episode to the original show (an origin story) in which the gang deals with a usual faux-ghost mystery, but from there on there's an almost sudden, darker change-of-tone that includes real demons, Armageddon (!!) and a lost underground ancient city. This half strongly reminded me of Mystery Incorporated, while as a whole, it's reminiscent of Witch's Ghost (fake ghost mystery followed by the release of ancient evil). It was real fun to read, this one's got a lot of heart in it (you can tell that Titley has a soft spot in himself for these characters). I enjoyed all the references to the original show (characters/locations from it are also included, e.g. Ghost of Elias Kingston, Prof. Hyde-White, Old Hank from "Mine Your Own Business", Kingston Mansion etc). The writing style is very funny and quirky, in the same way a Scooby lover would comment on the story as it's being unfolded. There's even a love interest for Shaggy called Kandy, and a subplot involving Scooby feeling jealous (a la Mystery Incorporated). Sadly, this script was just too... cartoony to take seriously and envision it as a live-action film (when you read it you'll get what I mean). I can only picture it as an animated feature film. The story doesn't call for a live-action treatment. However, there's one or two sex jokes/innuendos somewhere in the middle that seem very out of place. All in all, I did love this one. A shame it was discarded by Warner Bros.
* The story in the James Gunn draft is the same as in the movie. Everything's pretty much the same, apart from a few things: there's no Luna Ghost case at the beginning. It starts off with your usual horror film prologue at Spooky Island where Shaggy's cousin Isabel Rogers and her friend are chased by the island demons. Isabel's father pleads his nephew Shaggy to search for his missing daughter at Spooky Island. Shaggy and Scoob manage to pull the gang back together again to solve this mystery, after Mystery Inc. had broken up (told in a montage of TV interviews and such at the beginning, "documenting the rise and fall of Mystery Inc"). There's no Mary Jane character for Shaggy (thankfully) thus no jealous Scooby. The Daemon Ritus is a hardbound text (much like the H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon). Mondavarious is still the main suspect and owner of the island but his part is much smaller and less comedic. There's no Scrappy-Doo this time. The whole purpose for sacrificing Scooby is so that the Demon Rex, a "gargantuan, fiery winged beast" can inhabit Scooby's body. The ending is pretty much ridiculous and hard to take seriously (even in the mindset of a live-action Scooby Doo movie). The Demon Rex is defeated, and it's revealed that Mondavarious is actually a man in a mask, who turns out to be Professor Garret Rogers (Shaggy's Uncle), who is revealed to be Fred (!), who is eventually revealed to be Don Knotts (!!!) who doesn't even have a motive. This one's a little more daring than the film we eventually got (there's a scene with Fred and Daphne, who have adjoining rooms at the hotel, in which Fred tries to convince Daphne to have sex with him). Unlike the Titley draft, which was an ode to Scooby Doo written with a lot of love by an obvious Scooby lover, this script is more like an adult parody/satire of Scooby Doo (but not too adult). It's certainly darker in tone than the Titley draft. Compared to the finished film, this script looks only half-baked (it's only the first draft after all) but there are a few elements/scenes/whatever that I wish they could keep in the finished product.
