If you’re one of the many KISS fans that have always wondered what a sequel to “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park” would look like, look no further. “Scooby Doo Meets KISS” should be more aptly titled “KISS Meets the Crimson Witch featuring Scooby Doo.” In all honesty, while this is primarily a cartoon for the Scooby Doo franchise, the majority of the film is based around KISS and their magical presences. Even the opening sequence is comprised of wonderful animated KISS montages with “Rock and Roll All Night” playing rather than the Scooby Doo theme song.
Much like their adventures with the WWE, investors of the band KISS are building a massive theme park in their honor. Their problem is there’s a powerful witch terrorizing the park and making the rides dangerous. To combat the menace, do the investors call in Scooby Doo? No, they call in KISS to help them investigate who or what the witch is. Coincidentally the Scooby Gang is heading to the park to catch the grand opening and interrupt the investigation. Now the Scooby Gang and KISS work together to uncover the identity of the witch. Most of the film is devoted to how awesome KISS is, was, and will always be, transforming them in to smart, clever and powerful superheroes with their own abilities.
Like the aforementioned KISS headlined movie, KISS battles a phantom in an amusement park once again, this time with a bigger budget and less cheese factor. The movie acts as an eighty minute love letter to the hottest band in the world. There are montages aplenty, a lot of their classic tunes play, they’re depicted as powerful avengers, and they use the power of rock to battle the Crimson Witch. The Scooby Gang is mainly in this to praise them endlessly and add the comedic element that’s much needed. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons voice their respective roles, and have a good time playing off of the Scooby characters.
Beyond KISS there’s a good cast of voice performers including Gary Marshall, Jennifer Carpenter, and Penny Marshall, respectively. “Rock and Roll Mystery” is good innocent fun with fantastic animation. I also appreciated the healthy satire included where KISS’s manager is constantly trying to sell cheap merchandise with the band’s branding. The main aspect KISS fans will love about “Rock and Roll Mystery,” beyond it basically touting KISS as gods, is that it will work as a platform to introduce kids to their music. KISS are walking and talking comic book characters, and their music is catchy, so KISS fanatics with children would be wise to introduce the band through this format.