History WesternAnimation / ScoobyDooDirectToVideoFilmSeries

* BatmanColdOpen: From 'Abracadabra-Doo' on, it has become common for the films to begin with the gang unmasking a monster and solving another mystery.

* TheDitz: Fred, in the 2004-2009 movies, keeing in line with how he was with ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?''
* {{Fanservice}}: Ever since ''[[https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CS5c8ypXgdY/TXGFVI97zII/AAAAAAAAARE/rBV14b8LhFY/s1600/B_Daphne_CR.jpg Abracadabra-Doo]]'' and beyond, they've done this more and more with Daphne and, to a lesser degree, Velma. Plus, [[OneShotCharacter one-movie characters]]. Best examples in ''Camp Scare'' where Daphne and Velma have a scene in bikinis that also features Jessica, a really curvy girl that Fred takes note of.

* InvisibleParents: The '10's movies indicate that the Gang are still high school students, but their parents are never seen or brought up, save for Velma getting a call from her mother in ''Abracadabra Doo!'' and a silouhette cameo of Velma's parents in the opening sequence of ''Frankencreepy''. Presumably, this is to keep their connection to the other ''Scooby-Doo'' entries ambiguous so to not keep viewers hung up on those details. Velma's parents are the only ones implied to be Angie and Dale from ''Mystery Incorporated'', since they're Velma's only parents (''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' introduced Velma's parents, but they were essentially {{One Shot Character}}s that were created exclusively for that series).

** In the post ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' there was deliberate [[TrollingCreator teasing]] of toying with references to that series which was a standalone AlternateContinuity. Some movies in this series even served as counterpoints to Mystery Incoporated's writing. References to the series were not off limits despite this, as several plot points in movies would have contradicted MI's storylines.

* {{Fanservice}}: Ever since ''[[https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CS5c8ypXgdY/TXGFVI97zII/AAAAAAAAARE/rBV14b8LhFY/s1600/B_Daphne_CR.jpg Abracadabra-Doo]]'' and beyond, they've done this more and more with Daphne and, to a lesser degree, Velma. Plus, [[OneShotCharacter one-movie characters]]. Best examples in ''Camp Scare'' where Daphne and Velma have a scene in bikinis that also features [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/thescooby/images/0/0c/Jessica_Camp_Scare.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20160227100844 Jessica, a really curvy girl]] that Fred takes note of.

** Come the 2019 movies, this became a hot button issue with movies serving as sequels to ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsofscoobyDoo'' and ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' with easy retcons to anything from either that contradicted the status quo of today. Only for this to flip the exact opposite direction with the next two movies which actually treated Mystery Incorporated and ''WesternAnimation/BeCoolScoobyDoo'' as equally referencable as past events. ''WesternAnimation/HappyHalloweenScoobyDoo'' is set in Crystal Cove from MI but also features references to ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' where the gang grew up in Coolsville.

Creator/CartoonNetwork is owed some gratitude for helping air a lot of these upon their first arrival, especially with the first few installments of this series.[[note]]They've strayed a lot from this over the years, some not airing on Cartoon Network and Boomerang for over a year after release. Nowadays, they're no longer aired on the former at all, but regularly air on the latter on 3 or 4 days every week.[[/note]]

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Due to the DTV films being produced over a period of more than 20 years, they've changed frequently as the years have gone on and public interests evolve:
** Movies from ''Zombie Island'' to ''Cyber Chase'' gave both the Gang and the Mystery Machine much more modern designs, they were more explicitly adults (even complaining when they were called "Meddling ''kids''"), [[SelfDeprecation potshots at their outdated outfits and the formula]], the aesthetic of the films being darker-colored and more realistic, and having more real monsters in them.
** The films ''Legend of the Vampire'' and ''Monster of Mexico'' tried a retro redesign, bringing back most of the classic cast, old Hanna Barbera StockSoundEffects and the classic designs, being more cartoonish, and the return of direct hoaxes.
** ''Loch Ness Monster'' to ''Samurai Sword'' gave the Gang looks more line with ''What's New Scooby Doo?'', largely going back to the formula of the original series, being much more realistic and (in most cases) occasionally making fun of series staples but being more likely to play them straight, and for the most part keeping with [[ScoobyDooHoax the guy in a mask formula]], but in the end took major steps back to fantasy adventure in the last two of this era.
** The 2010's films employ darker shading, have a more self-aware (but not outright self-defying) tone, and the monsters tending to be much more violent. The animation is also in line with the original shows again, but more polished, and generally not as cartoony as it used to be.

* ''Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!'' (2022): The first movie done in the same ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndGuessWho Guess Who?]]'' style.

%%* ''Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!'' (2022): The first movie done in the same ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndGuessWho Guess Who?]]'' style.

By 1998, the venerable franchise had become moribund: although multiple incarnations of the TV series were airing in syndication (as they had for decades), nothing new had been made since ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooInArabianNights Arabian Nights]]'' in 1994. The output of Creator/HannaBarbera at the time had been highly reduced under Turner, and most of the funding was going to the shows Creator/CartoonNetwork Studios was making within the larger company. Similarly to what was created with ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'', the time was right to tap into a new era for the studio's best-selling property, in collaboration with Creator/WarnerBros Animation, whom eventually absorbed Hanna-Barbera (and Cartoon Network Studios branched off as their own unit). The first fruit of this was ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' (though that project [[DolledUpInstallment had its]] [[DivorcedInstallment genesis]] as an unmade episode of ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats''). This movie kick-started a complete revival of the franchise over the next several years – three animated TV series, two live-action theatrical films, two live-action TV-movies, and ''at least'' one new Direct-to-Video cartoon per year each year since 1998 (it averages out to about one every nine months).

By 1998, the venerable franchise had become moribund, although multiple incarnations of the TV series were airing in syndication (as they had for decades), nothing new had been made since ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooInArabianNights Arabian Nights]]'' in 1994. The output of Creator/HannaBarbera at the time had been highly reduced under Turner, and most of the funding was going to the shows Creator/CartoonNetwork Studios was making within the larger company. Similarly to what was created with ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'', the time was right to tap into a new era for the studio's best-selling property, in collaboration with Creator/WarnerBros Animation, whom eventually absorbed Hanna-Barbera (and Cartoon Network Studios branched off as their own unit). The first fruit of this was ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' (though that project [[DolledUpInstallment had its]] [[DivorcedInstallment genesis]] as an unmade episode of ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats''). This movie kick-started a complete revival of the franchise over the next several years – three animated TV series, two live-action theatrical films, two live-action TV-movies, and ''at least'' one new Direct-to-Video cartoon per year each year since 1998 (it averages out to about one every nine months).

!The films overall commonly provide examples of the following tropes:

By 1998, the venerable franchise had become moribund, although multiple incarnations of the TV series were airing in syndication (as they had for decades), nothing new had been made since ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooInArabianNights Arabian Nights]]'' in 1994. The output of Creator/HannaBarbera at the time had been highly reduced under Turner, and most of the funding was going to the shows Creator/CartoonNetwork Studios was making within the larger company. Similarly to what was created with ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'', the time was right to tap into a new era for the studio's best-selling property, in collaboration with Creator/WarnerBros Animation, whom eventually absorbed Hanna-Barbera (and Cartoon Network Studios branched off as their own unit). The first fruit of this was ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' (though that project [[DolledUpInstallment had its']] [[DivorcedInstallment genesis]] as an unmade episode of ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats''). This movie kick-started a complete revival of the franchise over the next several years – three animated TV series, two live-action theatrical films, two live-action TV-movies, and ''at least'' one new Direct-to-Video cartoon per year each year since 1998 (it averages out to about one every nine months).

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' is definitely the darkest Scooby-Doo movie so far. ''Witch's Ghost'' and ''Alien Invaders'' followed suit before ''CyberChase'' went back to a more lighthearted mood. It wasn't until 2010 when ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooCampScare Camp Scare]]'' brought back this trope.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' is definitely the darkest Scooby-Doo movie so far. The three ''Witch's Ghost'' and ''Alien Invaders'' followed suit before also stepped into this territory, and it wasn't until 2010 when ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooCampScare Camp Scare]]'' brought it back.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' is definitely the darkest Scooby-Doo movie so far. The three movies that followed also stepped into this territory, and it wasn't until 2010 when ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooCampScare Camp Scare]]'' brought it back.

As of 2019, there have been ''thirty'' entries in this series, spread across four style development eras.

** The first had Simone, Lena, and Jacques in ''Zombie Island''. They are the first villains in the Scooby-Doo franchise to be outright figuratively and literally monstrous, having committed murder countless times before and tried to kill Mystery Inc. (and nearly killed Scooby and Shaggy to the point Shaggy "was going to feel like a raisin") and an undercover police officer to preserve their immortality as well as suffering {{Family Unfriendly Death}}s when the harvest moon became no longer in alignment.
** The second has Ben Ravencroft and Sarah Ravencroft in ''The Witch's Ghost''. Ben is a devious and dangerous warlock. However, the threat posed by him is eclipsed by that of his more genocidal ancestor after she is released from her prison.

** The 90s-era movies take place after ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', with ''Cyber Chase'' implying that ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsOfScoobyDoo'' happened as well (Shaggy's virtual self is based on his appearance in the ''13 Ghosts'' era).
** The 10s-era movies may or may not take place after ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'', or alternatively, take place in a universe that BroadStrokes it. These references are a lot more [[TrollingCreator teasing]] than with other works, with things such as a FreezeFrameBonus of the van having a Crystal Cove license plate only to be blown up moments later, a kiddie ride employee wearing a costume of one of the show's {{Monster of the Week}}s, Velma's mother being implied to be a MyBelovedSmother, Velma's [[RememberTheNewGuy sister]] that we've never met yet nothing contradicts her existence, and so forth. On the other hand, Daphne and Fred's relationship is still WillTheyOrWontThey status, despite it being a part of their character arc throughout the show.

*** The fact that at the end of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' [[spoiler:the universe [[CosmicRetcon resets]] itself into a less edgier, but still fairly dark version of itself helps as the '10s-era could well be that new universe]].

Creator/CartoonNetwork is owed some gratitude for helping air a lot of these upon their first arrival, especially with the first few installments of this series.[[note]]They've strayed a lot from this over the years, some not airing on Cartoon Network and Boomerang for over a year after release. Nowadays, they're no longer aired on the former at all, but regularly air on the latter 3 to 4 times every week.[[/note]]

* ''Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo meets Courage the Cowardly Dog'' (2021): A crossover with ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog''.

* ''Strait Out of Nowhere: Scooby-Doo meets Courage the Cowardly Dog'' (2021): A crossover with ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog''.

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooReturnToZombieIsland'' (2019) A sequel to ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' where the gang is unwittingly brought back to Moonscar Island, where the zombies have risen up again.
* ''WesternAnimation/HappyHalloweenScoobyDoo'' (2020) A Halloween [[https://youtu.be/z6UVARUhXH4 movie]] that sees the gang working with Bill Nye and Elvira to take down the Batman villain Scarecrow and his army of pumpkins.

Creator/CartoonNetwork is owed some gratitude for helping air a lot of these upon their first arrival, especially with the first few installments of this series.[[note]]They've strayed a lot from this over the years, some not airing on Cartoon Network and Boomerang for over a year after release. Nowadays, they're lucky to even be aired on the former at all.[[/note]]

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Due to the DTV films being over 20 years old, they've changed frequently as the years have gone on and public interests evolve:

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Due to the DTV films being over 15 years old, they've changed frequently as the years have gone on and public interests evolve:

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooTheSwordAndTheScoob'' (2021): This movie sees the Scooby gang trapped in Camelot thanks to Morgan LeFay .