It’s pretty surprising that Scooby Doo and Courage the Cowardly Dog have never met in the animated medium before. Courage is something of a neo-Scooby Doo for the contemporary Hanna Barbera slate of animated series, and has its devotees. It’s a much more bizarre, spookier, and edgier series that’s even been embraced by the horror community. While it doesn’t make too much sense for them to meet, it also does make a ton of sense which adds to the oddity that’s “Straight Outta Nowhere.”
The canine crime solvers are brought together to sniff out a strange object in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas, the backwoods hometown of Courage and his owners, Eustace and Muriel Bagge. Soon, the mysterious discovery puts them on the trail of a giant cicada monster and her wacky winged warriors. Fred, Velma, Daphne and Shaggy know that this job is too big for a flyswatter. They’ll need the help of the doggy duo to piece together the puzzle.
In a series where the gang has met everyone from Urkel, to Don Knotts, it’s safe to say that their meeting with Courage is unusual. The movie jumps between styles and tones, often mixing both concepts for a lighter Courage and a darker Scooby. All the while the animators never ignore the fact that both art styles and aesthetics for the respective series’ are wildly different. In either case, while “Straight Outta Nowhere” has a good set up, most of the movie can never really deliver on a lot of the promises for the audience. Much of what makes Courage so weird and spooky is noticeably dialed down in favor of accommodating the Scooby Doo crossover.
Fans that loved the aforementioned series’ ability to be so darn creepy, and even occasionally gruesome, will be sad to see what really brings the respective properties together. The way it closes is also something of a let down, all things considered. In either case, it’s still a fun idea to see the pair of horror based kids shows cross paths, and the animation is still top notch. I just wish the movie embraced more of Courage’s darkness (in spite of all the Easter Eggs thrown in for hardcore fans) when all was said and done.