''Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword'' is a 2009 direct-to-DVD

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

mystery

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

, as well as the thirteenth entry in a series of direct-to-video animated films based upon the ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...

Saturday morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

franchise. In the United States, the DVD sold 163,890 units in its first week and as of January 2014, it has sold approximately 524,725 units. This is the last direct-to-video ''Scooby-Doo'' film to use the bright animation style keen to the '' What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' TV series, making it the last ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' related production. It was also the last ''Scooby-Doo'' production to feature

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...

as the voice of Shaggy Rogers before his unofficial retirement in 2010 and subsequent death on June 15, 2014.

Plot

At a

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

museum of ancient history, Mr. Takagawa, the curator, and Kenji, a janitor, witness the resurrection of the evil Black

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

, an ancient Japanese warrior whose armor was to be the museum's newest exhibit. The next day, the Mystery Inc. gang arrives in Tokyo, where Daphne has been invited to participate in a

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

tournament at the prestigious Mirimoto Academy, run by Miss Mirimoto. The gang meet Daphne's friend Miyumi, who explains the difficulty of winning the tournament and entering the school as a student. After Daphne defeats Miss Mirimoto's bodyguard, Sojo, and almost defeats Miyumi, Mirimoto tells her she shows promise as a fighter. Also at the tournament is Mr. Takagawa, who warns Mirimoto that the Black Samurai has risen and will be after the Destiny Scroll, which is at the school. That night, during a feast, the Black Samurai and his

Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...

warriors attack the school and steal the scroll. However, Mirimoto explains the scroll was only a copy, and shows the gang the real one. Mr. Takagawa explains to the gang that the Black Samurai was an ancient warrior who asked the renowned swordsmith Masamune to craft a sword of great mystical power; Masamune agreed, but stated that the process would take a whole year. Masamune's evil apprentice Muramasa offered to make another sword in only half the time, which the Samurai accepted. However, Muramasa's evil nature passed into the blade, and when the Samurai took the sword, he was infected with the evil and transformed into the Black Samurai, wielding the Sword of Doom. When Masamune finished crafting his sword, the Sword of Fate, he presented it to the legendary Green Dragon. After a long battle in the sky, the Green Dragon defeated the Black Samurai and imprisoned him in the Sword of Doom. The Dragon then hid the Sword of Doom and marked its whereabouts within a riddle written on the Destiny Scroll.

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

and

unconsciously solve the riddle, and Mirimoto dispatches the gang, Miyumi and Mr. Takagawa to find the Sword of Doom before the Samurai. The gang finds the sword in a cave on an island in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

, where they deal with a tribe living on the island and are attacked by the Black Samurai. During the fight, the Black Samurai is revealed to be Sojo. The gang brings Sojo back to Mirimoto, but she and Miyumi capture them. Mirimoto explains that she staged the tournament to bring Mystery, Inc. to Japan so that they would find the Sword of Doom for her, and that she intends to use the Black Samurai to return Japan to the way it was in feudal times. The ninja army is revealed to be made up of

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, in which are equipped with the various fighting techniques of her students, including Daphne's. She then locks

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Rod ...

, Daphne, Velma and Mr. Takagawa in the museum, but not before Daphne kicks the Sword of Doom from Mirimoto's hand into Scooby and Shaggy's possession. Scooby and Shaggy manage to escape with the blade, but are chased by the ninja robots. They are saved by Matsuhiro, a sushi shop owner and Samurai, but the ninjas manage to reclaim the sword. Matsuhiro, who is aware of the legend, agrees to train Scooby and Shaggy as Samurai. He instructs them to pass through the gates of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water in order to find the Green Dragon and the Sword of Fate. After doing so, they find the Green Dragon, who takes them back to the museum to combat the Black Samurai. Kenji inadvertently frees Fred, Daphne, Velma and Mr. Takagawa, and they, with the aid of a repentant Miyumi, attempt to stop Sojo and Mirimoto from resurrecting the Black Samurai, but their plan fails and they are captured. After reviving the Black Samurai, Mirimoto tries to make him her servant, but the villain has no interest in her vision and knocks her out. Scooby and Shaggy arrive riding the Green Dragon and, with encouragement from Matsuhiro, Scooby uses the Sword of Fate to destroy the Sword of Doom; this breaks the Black Samurai's curse and renders him mortal once again. The grateful Samurai thanks the gang for freeing him before passing on to the afterlife. The gang later attends the newly renovated museum, where a statue of Scooby is erected in honor of him protecting Japan and the world.

Voice cast

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

, Fred Jones, Kerry Kilpatrick, and Mad Dog Masimoto *

as Shaggy Rogers *

Mindy Cohn Mindy Cohn (born May 20, 1966) is an American actress, who appeared on VH1's List of "100 Greatest Kid Stars". She starred as Natalie Green in the sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' from 1979 to 1988, and is known for voicing Velma Dinkley in the ''S ...

Velma Dinkley Velma Dinkley is a fictional character in the '' Scooby-Doo'' franchise. She is usually seen wearing a baggy orange turtleneck sweater, a short pink pleated skirt (or in later episodes an A-line skirt, or sometimes shorts), knee socks, Mary Ja ...

* Grey DeLisle as Daphne Blake, Sapphire Sonja * Kelly Hu as Miyumi, Miss Mirimoto *

Sab Shimono is a Japanese-American actor. He began his career on stage on Broadway and in regional theaters, starring in musicals like ''Mame'', '' Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen'', and '' Pacific Overtures''. He has appeared in dozens of movies and televis ...

as Mr. Takagawa * Keone Young as Matsuhiro *

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

as Sojo / The Black Samurai * Gedde Watanabe as Kenji *

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

as Old Man Samurai * Brian Cox as The Green Dragon

References

External links

* {{Warner Bros. animation and comics 2009 films 2009 animated films 2009 direct-to-video films 2000s American animated films American mystery films Films set in Japan Films set in Tokyo Warner Bros. Animation animated films Warner Bros. direct-to-video animated films Samurai films Scooby-Doo direct-to-video animated films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated mystery films Japan in non-Japanese culture 2000s children's animated films 2000s English-language films