The eighth episode of the series owes all of its success to its witty script and celebrity guest stars Sonny and Cher. Shaggy and Scooby are surprisingly uninteresting in this episode and the test of the gang are probably at their blandest up to this point.
Sonny and Cher ramble off many humorous oneliners and are the saving grace of the episode. The only other interesting character is the hotel manager Mr. Meekly. There is a couple of scenes where he growls that are funny and his hearing aid scene is good. The mystery is barely mentioned which makes the episode feel unbalanced. Quite above average for Scooby Doo but only because of Sonny and Cher.
The New Scooby-Doo Movies (TV Series)
The Secret of Shark Island (1972)
User Reviews
Review this title5 Reviews
One of my favourites as a kid, not quite so much now
TheLittleSongbird17 August 2016
"The Secret of Shark Island", along with the Batman and Robin episodes, was one of my first episodes of 'The New Scooby Doo Movies'. It also was one of my favourites as a kid.
Re-watching the episode, as part of my re-watch of the whole show after a while, this reviewer does like it less than as a kid. It is not a bad episode at all, so far it's fourth best of the series after "Wednesday is Missing", "The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair" and "The Frickert Fracas" and a big improvement over the previous episode "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde" (the weakest so far).
It definitely has its flaws. The animation was never a strong point of 'The New Scooby Doo Movies' and it doesn't hold up as great now. There is definitely far worse in the series, as the setting is one of the creepiest and most atmospheric of the show, but it is despite the setting and nice colours is pretty poorly drawn with a lack of smoothness and finesse and a lot of crudeness.
While the mystery is not as dull as "The Ghastly Ghost Town" or "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde", to a lesser extent "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner" as well, the mystery does feel like it plays second fiddle to Sonny and Cher's guest appearance (same with most of the gang, apart from Shaggy and Scooby) though still has some interesting parts and some great atmosphere. It is let down too by the very obvious identity of the main villain behind the crime, one of the most obvious in the show as a result of too few suspects.
However Sonny and Cher make for one of the show's most memorable and fun guest appearances, are far better used than the Three Stooges in their first outing for example, have good chemistry and their lines are some of the funniest of the show to me. Scooby and Shaggy also have some good lines, that are endearingly goofy and vintage Scooby Doo.
The sharks are still quite creepy, especially when upright. The music is haunting and energetic with the theme song as catchy and infectious as ever and the voice acting is strong, especially from Don Messick, Casey Kasem and Sonny and Cher. Frank Welker, Heather North and Nicole Jaffe do their best and handle their roles with conscientiousness and professionalism but deserved more to do.
Overall, the fourth best episodes of the show so far on re-watch (re-watching in order of airing and listing) but its flaws are more noticeable. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Re-watching the episode, as part of my re-watch of the whole show after a while, this reviewer does like it less than as a kid. It is not a bad episode at all, so far it's fourth best of the series after "Wednesday is Missing", "The Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair" and "The Frickert Fracas" and a big improvement over the previous episode "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde" (the weakest so far).
It definitely has its flaws. The animation was never a strong point of 'The New Scooby Doo Movies' and it doesn't hold up as great now. There is definitely far worse in the series, as the setting is one of the creepiest and most atmospheric of the show, but it is despite the setting and nice colours is pretty poorly drawn with a lack of smoothness and finesse and a lot of crudeness.
While the mystery is not as dull as "The Ghastly Ghost Town" or "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde", to a lesser extent "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner" as well, the mystery does feel like it plays second fiddle to Sonny and Cher's guest appearance (same with most of the gang, apart from Shaggy and Scooby) though still has some interesting parts and some great atmosphere. It is let down too by the very obvious identity of the main villain behind the crime, one of the most obvious in the show as a result of too few suspects.
However Sonny and Cher make for one of the show's most memorable and fun guest appearances, are far better used than the Three Stooges in their first outing for example, have good chemistry and their lines are some of the funniest of the show to me. Scooby and Shaggy also have some good lines, that are endearingly goofy and vintage Scooby Doo.
The sharks are still quite creepy, especially when upright. The music is haunting and energetic with the theme song as catchy and infectious as ever and the voice acting is strong, especially from Don Messick, Casey Kasem and Sonny and Cher. Frank Welker, Heather North and Nicole Jaffe do their best and handle their roles with conscientiousness and professionalism but deserved more to do.
Overall, the fourth best episodes of the show so far on re-watch (re-watching in order of airing and listing) but its flaws are more noticeable. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Well, It Was My Favorite When I Was Little
richard.fuller126 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I thought the sharks walking upright was one of the creepiest things around.
I used to draw them all the time.
Had we known what would become of Sonny and Cher, this cartoon may have been more fun, but now it watches kind of low-key.
Sonny and Cher don't have fun with Shaggy and Scooby. Instead, they spend dull time with Fred, Velma and Daphne.
They don't sing either.
Perhaps that is for the better.
Jerry Reed and Davy Jones sang in their adventures to less-than-stellar results.
Cass Elliott didn't sing in hers. I think Cass would have been sensational singing in her story tho.
There is a bit of excitement with those sharks tho.
We always liked Cher's line tho, when the gang asked what Sonny and Cher were doing out in the rain.
Cher is sitting in a convertible and announces, "drowning," as the door is opened and all the water pours her out.
This IMDb listing isn't complete. There is no listing for either of the 3 Stooges adventures, nor is the Laurel & Hardy adventure listed.
I used to draw them all the time.
Had we known what would become of Sonny and Cher, this cartoon may have been more fun, but now it watches kind of low-key.
Sonny and Cher don't have fun with Shaggy and Scooby. Instead, they spend dull time with Fred, Velma and Daphne.
They don't sing either.
Perhaps that is for the better.
Jerry Reed and Davy Jones sang in their adventures to less-than-stellar results.
Cass Elliott didn't sing in hers. I think Cass would have been sensational singing in her story tho.
There is a bit of excitement with those sharks tho.
We always liked Cher's line tho, when the gang asked what Sonny and Cher were doing out in the rain.
Cher is sitting in a convertible and announces, "drowning," as the door is opened and all the water pours her out.
This IMDb listing isn't complete. There is no listing for either of the 3 Stooges adventures, nor is the Laurel & Hardy adventure listed.
Sonny: "Notice anything different about me?" Cher: "Yeah, you're three inches shorter without shoes on."
moonspinner5518 March 2024
S01-E08 of a revamped "Scooby-Doo" cartoon series, with two seasons worth of episodes running a seat-numbing 60mns and featuring a roster of guest stars. Here, it's Sonny and Cher's turn to team up with the kid detectives while the whole gang is stranded on the sea-engulfed land of a dilapidated hotel, one supposedly haunted by the ghost of a Shark God. But never mind all that, how are Sonny and Cher when performing their own voiceovers? They don't sing (a missed opportunity), also Cher is drawn poorly--and she keeps referring to herself as an "old wife" or an "old woman"! However, some of the familiar S&C banter, derived from their TV show, has a little snap. Still, it took 13 writers to come up with this teleplay, one that doesn't even allow Scooby-Doo anything funny to do.
The Secret of Shark Island
Michael_Elliott20 December 2013
The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972)
"The Secret of Shark Island"
The Mystery Inc. gang are driving through a rain storm when they pass Sonny and Cher who are stranded on the side of the road. The famous couple jump into the van and everyone heads to a hotel, which is broken down to say the least. They learn that there are some mysterious sharks that circle the hotel and soon there's a mystery to be solved. The Secret of Shark Island is yet another rather disappointing entry in the series that manages to have no mystery, very few laughs and really not too much working for it. There are several problems here but the majority can be blamed on the script, which really doesn't offer up anything in terms of entertainment. The laughs are pretty much missing and this includes the constant back and forth between Sonny and Cher. Their one-liners are all pretty bad and there's just no chemistry between the two. The gang really doesn't add any laughs either, although Scooby gets a couple good lines scattered throughout the running time. The actual mystery is also pretty bland because it's quite obvious who the bad guy is and the costumes of the sharks just aren't used enough.
Episode: C
"The Secret of Shark Island"
The Mystery Inc. gang are driving through a rain storm when they pass Sonny and Cher who are stranded on the side of the road. The famous couple jump into the van and everyone heads to a hotel, which is broken down to say the least. They learn that there are some mysterious sharks that circle the hotel and soon there's a mystery to be solved. The Secret of Shark Island is yet another rather disappointing entry in the series that manages to have no mystery, very few laughs and really not too much working for it. There are several problems here but the majority can be blamed on the script, which really doesn't offer up anything in terms of entertainment. The laughs are pretty much missing and this includes the constant back and forth between Sonny and Cher. Their one-liners are all pretty bad and there's just no chemistry between the two. The gang really doesn't add any laughs either, although Scooby gets a couple good lines scattered throughout the running time. The actual mystery is also pretty bland because it's quite obvious who the bad guy is and the costumes of the sharks just aren't used enough.
Episode: C
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