Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase

Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase is the fourth of a series of direct-to-video animated films based on Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons. It was released on October 12, 2001. It features the Mystery, Inc. gang, which includes Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Freddy, Daphne and Velma. As is the case with all Scooby-Doo-related projects, the film is produced, starting in 2000, by Warner Bros. Animation, yet carries a Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. copyright and logo. It is recognized as the last "official" Hanna-Barbera production, as Warner Bros. had fully absorbed Hanna-Barbera after the passing of founder and creator William Hanna. It is the fourth and final of the first four Scooby Doo film to be animated overseas by Japanese animation studio: Mook Animation. This movie, along with Aloha, Scooby-Doo!, were the first Scooby-Doo movies to be re-released on Blu-ray on April 5th, 2011.

A video game based on this film was made by THQ in 2001 for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance. This was the first Scooby-Doo video game to be on a sixth generation handheld. This is the last Scooby-Doo movie to feature real monsters. The Scooby-Doo movies would not feature real supernatural creatures again until Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King, though at the end of Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster Scooby sees the real monster before saying his catch-phrase bewildered.

Plot
A strange virus from a new game based on the Mystery Gang's past adventures comes to life and tries to scare away the game's creator, so Mystery, Inc. themselves come to help their friend. They come to the college where the game was created and learn from their friend and the creator Eric, that the virus has assumed a life-like form and is now rampant across the campus. The gang goes on the hunt for the mysterious computer virus. Unfortunately, they somehow get pulled into the game after a mysterious villain activates the game in cyberspace. Left with no other choice but to complete the game in order to escape it, the gang fights their way through ten levels of mystery and adventure, with the goal of finding a box of Scooby Snax in order to complete each level.

All the while, their efforts are impeded by the phantom virus. They finally reach the game's final level, where they meet their virtual counterparts (Who resemble their original selves from the original series). They team up to defeat the phantom virus, who wreaks havoc across the final level and summon various monsters from the gang's past. To make matters worse, the monsters are real. The climax takes the two gangs to a carnival, where they fight off the creatures and attempt to retrieve the last box of Scooby Snax. During the fight, they use magnets to fight the virus, whom they discover is severely weakened by magnetic forces. They distract the virus long enough for Scooby to retrieve the Scooby Snax,when Scooby Doo retrieves the Snax Scooby howls out his name, beating the game and destroying the phantom virus.

The real gang bids farewell to their virtual selves and head home. Back in the lab, the gang reveals that they know the culprit, who happens to be Eric's best friend and lab partner Bill (Bill was a big baseball fan, a trait exhibited by the virus at numerous points within the game). Bill is arrested and reveals that he sought to sabotage Eric's chances of winning the big cash prize at the science fair, out of jealousy for the fact that Eric was a more recent student than Bill was, and felt more deserving to win and he beamed Scooby and the gang into the game and hoped they wouldn't live because he was afraid they would find out who created the virus. The gang and Eric play a new Scooby-Doo game, during which Scooby interacts with the gang's virtual counterparts once again by feeding Cyber Scooby some Scooby Snax.

Levels

 * Level 1: The Moon This is the 1st level of the show with Moon Ghosts as enemies. The Scooby Snax are located by an American Flag and a Lunar Module.
 * Level 2: Roman Empire The 2nd level in the show that has Skeleton Gladiators and a Lion as enemies. The Scooby Snax are located in the Lion's mouth and are later placed on a pitcher's mound.
 * Level 3: Prehistoric The 3rd level that has Mammoths as allies and Dinosaurs as enemies. The Scooby Snax are located at the top of a volcano in a Pterosaur's nest.
 * Level 4: Ocean The 4th level that has mackerels, sea turtles, yellow fish, and a shark. The Scooby Snax are located in a treasure chest in a sunken ship.
 * Level 5: Backyard The 5th level that has Giant ants. The exact location of the Scooby Snax are never shown.
 * Level 6: Feudal Japan The 6th level that has a Samurai Warrior. The exact location of the Scooby Snax are never shown.
 * Level 7: Ancient Egypt The 7th level that has Mummies, Egyptian Gods, and camels. The exact location of the Scooby Snax are never shown.
 * Level 8: Medieval Europe The 8th level that has a Dragon. The Scooby Snax are located within the hands of a captured princess behind the Dragon.
 * Level 9: Arctic The 9th level that has a Polar Bear. The Scooby Snax are located atop the north pole.
 * Level 10: Cyber versions - The Final Level that has the Cyber Gang with the monsters from the past such as The Creeper, Jaguaro, The 'Gator Ghoul, The Tar Monster, and Old Iron Face. The Scooby Snax are located inside an arcade on the boardwalk. They sit atop the Scooby Doo arcade game.

Cast

 * Scott Innes - Scooby-Doo, Cyber Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, Cyber Shaggy Rogers. This is the last time Scott Innes does the voice of both Shaggy and Scooby as Casey Kasem would re-assume the role of Shaggy for the next film, and Frank Welker offered to voice Scooby, therefore, Innes was no longer needed. However, Innes would continue to voice the characters in video games and commercials.
 * Frank Welker - Fred Jones, Cyber Fred Jones, Gladiator Lion
 * Grey DeLisle - Daphne Blake, Cyber Daphne Blake. This is the first Scooby-Doo direct-to-video movie to have Grey DeLisle as the voice of Daphne Blake (due to the death of Mary Kay Bergman in 1999).
 * B.J. Ward - Velma Dinkley, Cyber Velma Dinkley (last time she voices Velma)
 * Joe Alaskey - Officer Wembley, an officer who warns the gang about breaking the rules.
 * Bob Bergen - Eric Staufer, the gang's childhood friend working on a game development.
 * Tom Kane - Professor Robert Kaufman, a professor of the campus who is working with Eric and Bill.
 * Mikey Kelley - Bill McLemore, Eric's best friend and also a guy with whom Terri gets involved.
 * Gary Sturgis - Phantom Virus, a ghost.

Home media
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase was released February 5, 2002 for both VHS and DVD formats. The film was re-released on Blu-ray on March 29, 2011.

Reaction
Rotten Tomatoes scored the worst rating in the series with 25%. It had a much bigger opening in the series but still not as big as the original as it grossed $22 million, ranking #1 over the weekend. It grossed $65 million in total domestically, and $140 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film in the series behind the original.

Follow-up film
Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire, which was released in 2003. It was the first film to be released on direct-to-video besides theatrically like the first four films.