Straight Outta Nowhere Scooby Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog Review

There's a new mystery to be solved and it requires the gang of Mystery Inc. to team up with another canine friend, Courage the Cowardly Dog! "Straight Outta Nowhere" is the mashup we never knew we needed, but is it OK for younger children? Read my no-spoilers, parent review of S​traight Outta Nowhere: Scooby Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog.

​Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog | A No-Spoilers, Parent Review

Comedy is unleashed when Scooby-Doo, your favorite mystery-solving mutt, teams up for the first time with Courage the Cowardly Dog. The canine colleagues sniff out a strange object in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas, the backwoods hometown of Courage and his owners, Eustace and Muriel Bagge.

Soon, the mysterious discovery puts them on the trail of a giant cicada monster and her wacky winged warriors. Fred, Velma, Daphne and Shaggy know that this job is too big for a flyswatter. They’ll need the help of the doggy duo to piece together the puzzle.

​Can Scooby and Courage overcome their jitters and defeat the insect army before the whole world bugs out? Try not to get scared. We double-dog dare you!


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Straight Outta Nowhere | Review

S​traight Outta Nowhere: Scooby Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog takes on the tough task of combining two franchises and while it tries hard to strike a balance between the two, as someone who is more of a Scooby Doo fan, this film gives Courage, Muriel, and Eustace got more lines, screentime and seems to follow their episode formula more than Scooby-Doo.

That being said it is impressive how this movie manages to mesh all of the different character dynamics fro the two series as well as the two very different animation styles. Fans of both cartoons will be happy to know each one kept its own unique style, Courage was not suddenly drawn with a Scooby-Doo pen.

The Plot

​From the opening sequence I could tell that this Scooby-Doo movie was going to be a bit more in your face scary. We open with the gang solving a mystery and see a character wearing a pretty scary clown mask. Yikes!

The movie kicks into motion when Scooby has an unexplainable reaction to a sound he can hear, but no one else can. He looks as if he is in a trance, his eyes change and he doing quite a silly dance. When we're introduced to Courage we discover he is having the same reaction.

What's causing them to act this way? Well in true 2021 fashion it is none other than giant Cicadas, as if we didn't have enough of those this year!

​With all of the characters now in Nowehere it up to Scooby, Courage, Mystery Inc., Muriel, and Eustace to figure out what the Cicadas want and who or what is behind them!


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The Peril

In true Scooby-Doo fashion there is a big chase scene and some of our main characters are captured. These moments are pretty on par-for other Scooby-Doo shows and movies.

However, in what seems to be a nod to Courage the Cowardly Dog there is a lot of paranormal activity in this film that really ups the spooky factor.

Eustace also carries a giant, creepy,  mask in his pocket and pulls it out whenever he sees fit, another nod to the original Courage the Cowardly Dog series. This mask is a bit jarring and would certainly fright young children.

In addition to all of that, the cast also has to continually deal with these horrible looking Cicada bugs that may scare those with a fear of bugs.

Quite frankly, this film was not made to be viewed by younger audiences, even those who have seen other Scooby-Doo shows and other straight to home release movies. "Straight Outta Nowhere" falls more inline with the scary of Courage the Cowardly Dog.


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The Language

​As far as language goes it is alright for older children's ears. Characters say "dang", "hate" and "stupid".

My Final Thoughts

Fans of Courage the Cowardly Dog will certainly love this film, it is written like a love letter to the series.

Scooby-Doo fans with little to no knowledge of Courage may feel a bit lost at times, "Straight Outta Nowhere" doesn't make an effort to explain who anyone is or provide any background to references made, the writers basically just assumed that if you're watching "Straight Outta Nowhere", you already know. 

I could have used a quick catch-up on Courage the Cowardly Dog and I think it would have made sense to write in some explanations given that this was the first time Courage, Muriel, Eustace and the Mystery Inc. had ever met.

I personally think Matthew Lillard as the voice of Shaggy is perfect casting and I always look forward to hearing him and sadly, I felt the Shaggy scenes were seriously lacking in this film. 

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog is quirky and spooky and features a hilarious but makes-perfect-sense-given-the-title rap scene starring Eustace that may just make the whole film worth one watch.

Age Recommendation for Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog: 8+

Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog is available to own on DVD and Digital now!

About Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) is one of the leading producers of animation in the entertainment industry, producing and developing projects for multiple platforms, both domestically and internationally. WBA’s current series include Animaniacs for Hulu, Green Eggs and Ham for Netflix, Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Batman: Caped Crusader, Batwheels, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Harley Quinn, Jellystone!, Little Ellen, Looney Tunes Cartoons, My Adventures with Superman, Tiny Toons Looniversity, Tom and Jerry in New York, Velma and Young Justice for HBO Max, DC Super Hero Girls, Teen Titans Go!, ThunderCats Roar for Cartoon Network,  Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, Scooby-Doo! and Guess Who?, The Tom and Jerry Show and Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs! for Boomerang.  The studio is currently in production with New Line Cinema on the upcoming original anime feature film, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.  WBA’s full-length theatrical film, Teen Titans GO! to the Movies, was released in summer 2018. As home to the iconic animated characters from the DC, Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Looney Tunes libraries, WBA also produces highly successful animated films — including the DC Universe Movies — for DVD, Blu-ray® and digital media. One of the most-honored animation studios in history, WBA has won six Academy Awards®, 35 Emmy® Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, a BAFTA Children’s Award, an Environmental Media Award, a Parents’ Choice Award, the HUMANITAS Prize, two Prism Awards and 20 Annie Awards (honoring excellence in animation).
                                                                                                                             
About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.
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