'SCOOBY-DOO' ADAPTATION TRIES TO KEEP MOVIE FOR KIDS

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In the new film "Scooby-Doo," a psychedelically painted
van marked "The Mystery Machine" sits beside a beach while smoke wafts
through the sunhatch and voices from inside groan, "Primo!" and "Talk about
toasted!" That may seem suspicious, but the next shot reveals it's just the
talking dog Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, his beatnik human pal, grilling burgers
on their hibachi.

Never mind that the song from the soundtrack is the pot-smoking reggae
anthem "Pass the Dutchie."

"Subtle, right?" laughed director Raja Gosnell, whose film is an adaptation
of the long-running 1969 cartoon sleuthing show "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?"

The van scene is one of the film's few references to what many adult fans
of the Hanna- Barbera series consider a wink- and-nod subtext to Scooby and
Shaggy, whose gangly walk, relentless munchies and dazed manner seem to
suggest a marijuana high.

"I don't know if Hanna-Barbera ever intended it to be so, but maybe the
animators did," said Charles Roven, co-producer of the "Scooby-Doo" movie.

Among the other members of the "Scooby-Doo" gang, there is speculation that
Velma -- the no-nonsense brains of the operation -- is a lesbian, and that
Fred and Daphne, the respective beefcake and cheesecake of the team,
frequently searched for clues together to partake in carnal exploits.

The cast and filmmakers acknowledged filming many joking allusions to those
inferences but ultimately decided to keep "Scooby-Doo" an innocent
children's film rather than aim for older audiences.

The comedy's story features the mystery-solving crew assembling at the
fictional "Spooky Island" theme-park resort, which is plagued by strange
disappearances, apparent brainwashing and monsters.

The film parodies some of the cartoon's more innocent conventions -- the
cliched unmasking of the villain, the superfluous celebrity cameos -- but
practically all of the mature, double entendres were purged from the final
edit.

"We played on all those things," said actor Matthew Lillard, who portrays
creaky-voiced Shaggy. "Is Velma gay? Is Shaggy high? Are (Fred and Daphne)
hooking up? All those jokes were in there, but we found at the end of the
day it was more important to go the other way ... and that was to be more
family oriented."

Gosnell said he believes the few adult references that remain will go well
over children's heads.

"Some of that stuff is in there," he said. "If you look for it, you'll find
it. If you don't, you won't."

The illicit rumors about "Scooby-Doo" could be attributed to nothing more
than projection from fans. After all, the original program borrowed some of
the iconography of the 1960s hippie movement, but it never overtly featured
drug use, free love or homosexuality.

That inconclusiveness is part of what tickles people.

"In fact, to this day," Lillard said, "if you ask me if Shaggy is a stoner,
I'll say no. ... That's what's funny about him: He just seems like that. He
acts a little goofy and high, he's lovable and scared -- and just happens
to have the munchies."

Real-life couple Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar play Fred and
Daphne, with Linda Cardellini, who had a small role in last year's "Legally
Blonde," co-starring as bespectacled Velma.

The original script featured a scene in which Fred gazed lustfully at
Daphne while she leaned over him to load luggage into an airplane's
overhead bin. The camera then panned to Velma, who was ogling her, too.

Later, Velma and Daphne shared a comic kiss, Gosnell said.

The filmmakers say they believe those jokes would have hampered the overall
story and could have garnered the film a PG-13 rating instead of the PG
designation the studio wanted.

Lillard acknowledged that older fans may be disappointed by the more
wholesome approach.

"People out there, fans of the cartoons, teen-agers, young men -- it's not
going to be for everyone," the actor said.

"But our movie is for families."