Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico

Infobox Film
name = Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico


caption = "Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico" DVD cover
director = Scott Jeralds
producer = Margaret M. Dean
Scott Jeralds
writer = Douglas Wood
starring = Frank Welker
Casey Kasem
Nicole Jaffe
Heather North
music = Rich Dickerson
Gigi Meroni
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Warner Bros. Home Video
released = September 302003
runtime = 75 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by = "Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire" (2003)
followed_by = "Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster" (2004)
website =
amg_id = 1:288302
imdb_id = 0369903

"Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico" is the sixth of a series of direct-to-video animated films based upon the "Scooby-Doo" Saturday morning cartoons. It was released on September 30, 2003, and it was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is popular for claiming "Chupacabra is Mexico's version of Bigfoot", although such a description is grossly inaccurate, as the chupacabra described is quite different than Bigfoot.

Plot

Fred's pen-pal Jorge Otero, who lives in Veracruz, Mexico, invites Fred and the rest of the gang to visit him and his family there. Fred and the rest of the gang talk about it until they decide to go. However, after Jorge sent the invitation to Fred, an unrealistic-looking monster started to terrorize the population of Veracruz. Both Jorge and his son see the monster, and the locals start calling it El Chupacabra.

Later, when Mystery, Inc. arrives in Veracruz, they meet Jorge who recognizes them all from Fred's letters. Jorge runs a huge and fancy hotel, and he shows them around and where they will be staying. He then shows them his family which include his wife Sofia, his mother Doña Dolores, his brother Luis, and Luis's fiancée, Charlene. Luis tells the gang he met Charlene when he visited America, at a theme park run by Mr. Smiley. The gang and the family enjoy a meal, and Dolores talks about her late husband. Then, a man named Señor Fuente arrives and asks to speak with Jorge and Luis. Dolores tells the gang that Fuente has been trying to get her to sell the hotel to him ever since her husband died. Meanwhile, Jorge and Luis tell Fuente once again that they do not want to sell the hotel. Fuente leaves, and the family go inside because of a fierce storm. When inside, Jorge is forced to tell the gang about the monster. He says that he does not have many other guests besides the gang because El Chupacabra has been scaring them away. Luis and Charlene tell the gang to lock their doors when they go to sleep.

During the night, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are scared when they think they hear a noise. They then hear a loud growl and run screaming out of their cottage. They wake up Fred, Velma, and Daphne. After seeing footprints outside of Shaggy and Scooby's window, Fred declares that there is a mystery they have to solve.

The next day, the gang, Jorge, and Luis set out to search for the monster. Charlene gives Luis a charm for good luck. Daphne interviews the townspeople, but none of them are able to find El Chupacabra. When they get back to the van, they find someone has written on it, threatening them to either go away or not see tomorrow. The gang realizes this is serious and decide to search at night. Fred, Velma, and Daphne go one way, Alejo and Luis go another way, and Shaggy and Scooby stay at the van.

At night, Shaggy and Scooby sleep in the van, while someone takes away their brake fluid. Fred, Velma, and Daphne search the woods, and find El Curandero, a medicine man. El Curandero tells them they need to look at history and that they are in grave danger.

Meanwhile, Jorge and Luis are searching when Jorge sees El Chupacabra. Jorge is chased and nearly falls off a cliff, but he manages to hold on. He calls for Luis, but there is no answer. The monster disappears, and Luis shows up, saying he was hit on the head by the monster. Luis helps his brother up from the cliff.

Shaggy and Scooby start driving, but when they realize they cannot stop, they get scared. They meet up with Fred, Velma, Daphne, Jorge, and Luis who where being chased by El Chupacabra. Eventually, the van runs out of gas and stops right in front of a gas station. The van gets fixed, and Jorge gets some ice for Luis's head wound, but Luis does not have a bump on his head. Luis says he is fine.

The gang drives along and finds a sign to a history museum, and thinking that is what the medicine man said, go to it. When they get there they meet a suspicious and hyper museum guide who leads them into an auditorium. There they see a performance about Mexican customs. The guide then makes Daphne volunteer, and she kidnaps her, vanishing with a puff of smoke. The rest of the gang find a secret passageway and follow it, until they come to Aztec pyramids. They find Daphne at the top of one and rescue her, but the tourists chase after them, thinking they have stolen something. After a long chase scene, they finally return home. However, it is revealed the good luck charm Luis has is really a tracking device.

The next day is the Day of the Dead, and all go to the cemetery, where they find from Dolores that Charlene has been captured by El Chupacabra. The family gives offerings to the grave of Señor Otero and hope Charlene can be found. Suddenly, the ghost of Señor Otero comes out of his grave and tells them to sell the hotel and the land or they will by in danger. The family cannot believe that Señor Otero would want them to sell, but Scooby realizes something is suspicious. He follows a scent until he finds a man in a skeleton suit controlling the ghost. The gang catches him, and he is revealed to be Mr. Smiley. Then, El Chupacabra appears and scared everyone.

After chasing the gang, the monster is caught up in some wiring. The gang pulls off the mask, and it is revealed the museum guard they saw earlier is the monster. She tells them she loves Mr. Smiley and that they were going to get all the land. Luis asks what happened to Charlene, and the guard tells him he will never see her again and he should forget about her. Velma then guesses something is up and realizes the face the guard has is a mask, and pulls it off to reveal that Charlene was the guard and El Chupacabra. Fred says that the message written on the van was not in proper Spanish, so it had to be someone who did not speak Spanish. Señor Fuente says that he did want the land, but he respects that the family does not want to sell. Charlene and Mr. Smiley are taken to jail, and everyone enjoys the Day of the Dead.

Cast

* Frank Welker as Fred Jones, Scooby-Doo
* Heather North as Daphne Blake
* Nicole Jaffe as Velma Dinkley
* Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers
* Brandon Gonzalez as Jorge Otero
* Jesse Borrego as Luis Otero
* Candi Milo as Charlene Otero/Museum Guide
* Rita Moreno as Doña Dolores
* Maria Canals as Sofia Otero
* Rip Taylor as Mr. Smiley/Ghost of Señor Otero
* Castulo Guerra as Señor Fuente
* Benito Martinez as El Curandero
* Eddie Santiago as Alejo Otero

Inaccuracies

*This movie portrays the Chupacabra as a Mexican legend in origin; however this is not accurate since the Chupacabra has its origins in Puerto Rico.
*Instead of the correct reptillian monster, a purple Bigfoot was used for the Chupacabra.