Scooby-dooby-doo, where are you? You're on The Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theatre, a weekly showcase of contemporary animated movies. So, is this one better than the other Scooby-Doo movies? Oh, yeah.

The gang's all here: Fred, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and the dog whose name tops the franchise. This time they're on vacation in the Southwest. It's late at night and they're driving The Mystery Machine through a windstorm when Shaggy veers off the beaten track and they wind up in the middle of nowhere. The van breaks down, and they're suddenly lit up by a flying saucer and being chased by aliens, UFO nuts, government scientists with dark secrets - and generally having the kind of fun one would expect from Scoob and his pals.

The animation is very good. Better than some of the recent attempts. The story is passable - about what you would expect from a cartoon geared towards pre-teens and teens. It's all safe. It's everything an entry into the Scooby-Doo franchise should be. And a little more.

The Cartoon Network has created a very good animated film for mainstream American television. It's a good entry in the show's history and has enough silliness, chases, and odd characters to keep the kids tranquilized for an hour or so. Okay, even some of the adult kids. Come on?face it - we love this stuff.

I did gag a little on the musical interlude sung by Shaggy, which did not seem in character. But the rest of the film made this little drift easy to ignore. But it's got to be better than the live action version I've heard rumblings about. (Rumors have it the live-action version will be cast with folks like Buffy's Sarah Michele Gellar, or someone equally devoid of 'Shaggy-nuss' instead of the world's best option as Shaggy - Kevin Bacon. Sheesh!)

Watch Scooby-Doo And The Alien Invaders when it premieres next Saturday night on The Cartoon Network. And, if you're like me, you'll go around singing Matthew Sweet's version of the song for a few days. Makes the days' work much easier to get through.

Del Harvey, founder of FM, is a writer living in Chicago. He is a veteran of Disney, Lucasfilm, and The Directors Guild of America.

Got a problem? Email Del at filmmonthly@hotmail.com