Dr. Donna's Review

About the Film
About the Film “Scooby-Doo: “Where's My Mummy” is the typical, high-spirited, humorous adventure tale that one expects from Scooby-Doo and his friends Shaggy, Freddy, Daphne and Velma. The adventure begins with a back-story in which Cleopatra, while escaping from an invasion by the Romans, places the “curse of Cleopatra” on her special necklace then hides it in a tomb under the Sphinx. When the story shifts to modern times, Velma is working on an archeological restoration of the Sphinx when she finds the lost tomb of Cleopatra and the necklace. At the same time, Scooby and the gang are enroute to join Velma when they have car trouble in the desert and are rescued by a caravan of Egyptians on camels who help them find their way to the Sphinx and to Velma.

About the Kids
This meeting between the Scooby gang, Shaggy, Freddy and Daphne, with the caravan of Egyptians, launches the story of how the gang discovers both that Velma is in trouble and that there are dangerous people trying to get the necklace from Velma and open the tomb of Cleopatra in order to steal the riches. In classic Scooby-Doo style, there are manic chases, near misses, and strange characters that turn out to have hidden motives. It is up to the Scooby gang to solve the mysteries, rescue Velma and ensure that the tomb and the necklace are not destroyed.

The movie will especially appeal to children from 7 to 9 who are old enough to appreciate the mystery themes and enjoy the multi-layered humor. As the storyline is fairly complicated and numerous characters come and go, the film requires that children have enough cognitive development to keep track of everything. These levels of complexity suggest the upper end of our age group, e.g. 7 to 9 year olds. While younger children may not follow the entire storyline, they do typically enjoy the silly, visual humor and they have always enjoyed the big goofy dog, Scooby-Doo. If younger children are taken along to the film, parents should be aware of the points made under “Film Content and Features” below. Only parents can judge whether a particular child is ready for a film.

Film content and features
There are some images, e.g. when the army of the undead arrives or when the huge scorpion that protects the tomb tries to attack the gang that might frighten younger children. Parents who take younger children to the film could talk with them about the difference between fantasy, animation and reality and suggest things younger children can do if they feel frightened, e.g. “cover your eyes,” or “hold my hand until the scary part is over.” Even though some of the images are potentially scary, many of these segments are set to silly music that mutes the scariness of what is going on. All in all, this is a classic Scooby-Doo romp that delivers exactly what fans of Scooby and friends will expect.

Things to talk about
The main ingredient in Scooby-Doo stories is the humor. Parents can talk with children about why Scooby-Do makes us laugh so hard and how good it feels to just laugh.

A second theme in Scooby-Doo stories is the friendship between the members of the Scooby gang. Even though the characters are very different from one another, each member of the gang is appreciated and supported by the others for their uniqueness. Parents can encourage children to talk about the character differences and to identify what makes each one unique from the others and how their differences blend to help the gang solve mysteries.

Finally, parents can talk with children about the way in which the character of Cleopatra is used in the story. Many children will not know that there was a real Cleopatra at one point in history. Parents can help children learn the real story of Cleopatra then urge children to think about why that character and her story have the kind of intrigue that causes storytellers to make up new legends about her.