Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!

Premise

Mystery Incorporated was called to a ski resort in Nepal where a cat monster was terrorizing the place. They caught it by causing an avalanche, and the monster turned out to be one of the resort's owners, who was trying to keep her stepmother out of the business. The gang took a whisker from the costume and analyzed it, finding it was made from the same materials as costumes used by villains in their past cases.

This led them to Coco Diablo, a high-end Halloween costume designer. Shaggy and Scooby posed as buyers interested in a recycled 10,000 Volt Ghost costume. When Coco offered to give them the costume if they killed Mystery Inc., she was arrested and sent to prison.

A year later, Fred, Daphne, and Velma were growing depressed because there were no truly difficult mysteries to solve. Shaggy and Scooby, however, were enjoying the break from danger. After solving a tax scheme where the culprit got away, Fred made a wish in a wishing well for more mysteries. The gang went to a local carnival and were attacked by a ghost that looked like Fred, which blew up the Mystery Machine.

They visited Coolsville Penitentiary to interview Coco and met the warden, who let Coco leave with them. At the carnival, they found a clue in the remains of their booth and did research at the library, where they were attacked by more ghosts. They escaped and confronted Trevor at his new shop after Coco identified that the costumes matched his design style. Trevor admitted he had sent four Victorian-era costumes to Coolsville Penitentiary, and the gang realized Coco had broken her heart monitor and escaped.

They followed her to her factory, trapped the ghosts using an alligator pit, and discovered the ghosts were actually robots wearing costumes.

Reception

Critics gave "Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!" a mixed but positive reception. Heather Hogan of Autostraddle described it as very funny for those who grew up on the franchise, while James McDonald of Irish Film Critic awarded it 3 out of 5 stars, noting that Scooby-Doo fans would enjoy it. The film holds only three reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. It gained attention for finally confirming long-standing fan theories about Velma Dinkley's sexuality, showing her with a major crush on the female villain Coco Diablo.

This idea had been considered for the 2002 live-action film and the "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" TV series. Hayley Kiyoko, a lesbian actress who played Velma in the live-action TV movies, expressed happiness for the character. In response to speculation that this would make Velma a lesbian in all future media, Mindy Kaling clarified on International Lesbian Day that her adult-oriented HBO Max series "Velma" would not follow that path.

Instead, that version of Velma is involved in a love quadrangle with Fred, Daphne, and Shaggy, specifically having a crush on Fred.

Did You Know?

• The film made its TV premiere on Cartoon Network on October 14, 2022, at 7pm ET/PT.
• The film was released through Studio Distribution Services.