Last night I saw this 2008 animated film (75-minutes in length) as it featured two famous names that passed away this month:
RIP Tim Curry… and Hayden Panettiere
I’ve never watched a Scooby-Doo movie (not even the live-action films from the early 2000’s) but as a little kid did watch the cartoons. That includes the ones w/ the laugh tracks and Scrappy-Doo, regrettably. I’d shudder to think how I’d think of those cartoons as a jaded middle-aged adult. However, this featured the voice talents of two famous faces that just passed away, making it an obvious choice. I’ll say more about the dearly-departed later, but both deaths made me sad, for entirely different reasons. I’ve seen Curry in quite a few movies, but the only Panettiere watched by me period were the 4th and 6th Scream films, where she made her Kirby character memorable.
Naturally, Curry voiced the titular Goblin King, a perfect voice for that role as Shaggy & Scooby visit the underworld to stop The Amazing Krudsky (voiced by Wayne Knight), a mortal mediocre magician who stole the powers of a fairy princess, voiced by Hayden. This animated picture-set on Halloween-is full of iconography from the holiday, and Spooktober in general: ghosts, werewolves, skeletons, a graveyard, dark woods, pumpkins, witches, many different creatures, The Headless Horseman, etc. It’s a wacky story where the monsters are real, songs are sung-including Jim Belushi belting out what sounded like a rip-off of Zoot Suit Riot-and Curry was exactly what you’d want/expect as a Goblin King. I wouldn’t have minded more of him, but you can’t ever have enough of Mr. Curry.
If I saw this as a kid, I’d probably think of this as the cat’s pajamas. All those spooky elements hopefully would have delighted me to no end. As a jaded adult, of course I could nitpick how silly the movie is, or how the majority of the film is Scooby & Shaggy separated from the rest of the gang. However, this would be fine viewing for late October, especially if you’re a kid. I don’t know if this was a gateway to horror (or Spooktober or made them appreciate that time of year) for many youths but hopefully it was.
Concerning Hayden Panettiere, the news concerning her personal struggles made me sympathetic; the role that her ex might have played in her untimely passing… that is upsetting. I’d rather think about the good stories I’ve heard about her as a human being and her on screen. Concerning Tim Curry, he’s someone who I saw in films since childhood; Clue and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York are as entertaining now as back then, due in part to Curry’s performances, whether bold or more subdued. It was nice to see him in films for the first time as an adult-including It & Congo-and in the past I’ve been happy to praise him on Letterboxd. While I don’t love Rocky Horror as much as most people, it wasn’t due to Curry or his performance.
He was a beloved figure for good reason; he was a star of stage & screen and even released a few albums. I’ll miss Tim Curry, that is for sure.
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