Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is a popular and long-running
American animated television series produced for
Saturday morning television by
Hanna-Barbera Productions (now
Cartoon Network Studios) in several different versions from 1969 to the present. Though the format of the show and the cast (and ages) of characters have varied significantly over the years, the most familiar versions of the show feature a talking
Great Dane named
Scooby-Doo and four
teenagers :
Fred "Freddie" Jones,
Daphne Blake,
Velma Dinkley, and
Norville "Shaggy" Rogers.
These five characters (officially referred to collectively as "Mystery, Inc.", but never referred to as such in the original series) drive around the world in a
van called the "Mystery Machine," and solve mysteries typically involving tales of ghosts and other supernatural forces. At the end of each episode, the supernatural forces turn out to have a rational explanation (usually a criminal of some sort trying to scare people away so that they can commit crimes). Later versions of the show featured different variations on the supernatural theme of the show, and include additional characters, such as Scooby's cousin
Scooby-Dum and his nephew
Scrappy-Doo, in addition to or instead of some of the original characters.
Scooby-Doo was originally broadcast on
CBS from 1969 to 1976, when it moved to
ABC. ABC cancelled the show in 1986, but presented a spin-off,
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, from 1988 until 1991. A new
Scooby-Doo series,
What's New, Scooby-Doo?, aired on the
WB Network during the
Kids WB programming block from 2002 until 2005, with a new
Scooby series,
Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, set to take its place on the new
CW network in fall 2006. Repeats of the original series, as well as second-run episodes of the current series, are broadcast frequently on the
Cartoon Network in the
United States and other countries. For one year from 2004 to 2005,
Scooby-Doo held the Guinness World Record for having the most episodes of any animated television series ever produced, a record previously held by and later returned to
The Simpsons.
Scooby-Doo was published as holding this record in the 2006 edition of the
Guinness Book of Records.
[(25 Oct. 2004). "Scooby-Doo breaks cartoon record". BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3949579.stm on March 27, 2006.].
Creation and development
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Very early designs by Iwao Takamoto for the Mysteries Five characters. Left to right, top row: Kelly (Daphne) and Geoff (Fred). Left to right, bottom row: W.W. (Shaggy) and Linda (Velma). |
In 1968, a number of parental watchdog groups, most notably
Action for Children's Television (ACT), began vocally protesting what they perceived as an excessive amount of gratuitous violence in Saturday morning cartoons during the mid-to-late 1960s.
[William Richter "Action for Children's Television". Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved from http://www.Museum.TV/Archives/etv/A/htmlA/actionforch/actionforch.htm on June 9, 2006.]. Most of these shows were action cartoons such as
Space Ghost and
The Herculoids, and virtually all of them were cancelled by 1969 because of pressure from the watchgroups. Members of these watchgroups served as advisors to
Hanna-Barbera and other animation studios to ensure that their new programs would be safe for children.
In 1968,
Fred Silverman, executive in charge of children's programming for the
CBS network, was looking for a show that would revitalize his Saturday morning line-up and please the watchdog groups at the same time. The result was
The Archie Show, based upon
Bob Montana's teenage humor comic book
Archie. Also successful were the musical numbers
The Archies performed during each program (one of which, "
Sugar, Sugar", was the most successful
Billboard number-one hit of 1969). Silverman was eager to expand upon this success, and contacted producers
William Hanna and
Joseph Barbera about possibly creating another show based around a teenage rock-group, but with an extra element: the kids would solve mysteries in-between their gigs. Silverman envisioned the show as a cross between the popular
I Love a Mystery radio serials of the 1940s and the popular early 1960s TV show,
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
[Laurence Marcus & Stephen R. Hulce (October, 2000). "Scooby Doo, Where Are You". Television Heaven. Retrieved from http://www.Televisionheaven.co.uk/scooby.htm on June 9, 2006.].
Hanna and Barbera passed this task along to two of their head storymen,
Joe Ruby and
Ken Spears, and artist/character designer
Iwao Takamoto. Their original concept of the show bore the title
Mysteries Five, and featured five teens (Geoff, Mike, Kelly, Linda, and Linda's brother "W.W.") and their dog, Too Much, who were all in a band called "The Mysteries Five" (even the dog; he played the
bongos). When "The Mysteries Five" weren't performing at gigs, they were out solving spooky mysteries involving ghosts, zombies, and other supernatural creatures. Ruby and Spears couldn't decide whether to make their dog a large goofy
Great Dane or a big shaggy
sheepdog. After consulting with Barbera on the issue, Too Much was finally set as a Great Dane, primarily to avoid a direct correlation to The Archies (who had a sheepdog,
Hot Dog, in their band).
Takamoto consulted a studio colleague who happened to be a
breeder of Great Danes. After learning the characteristics of a prize-winning Great Dane from her, Takamoto proceeded to break most of the rules and designed Too Much with overly bowed legs, a double-chin, and a sloped back, among other abnormalities.
[Ignacio, Cynthia Quimpo (2002). "Iwao Takamoto: Scooby-Doo and Iawo, Too". Yolk 2.0., vol. 9, issue 3. Los Angeles, CA: Informasian Media Group, Inc.][(2006). Interview with Iwao Takamoto. Eerie Mystery of Scooby-Doo and Dynomutt's History [documentary featurette from The Scooby-Doo/Dynomut Hour: The Complete Series DVD bonus features.]. New York, Los Angeles, CA: Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Excerpt: "The Great Dane was supposed to be the biggest dog around...and there was a woman who actually bred and reared Great Danes. So, she came over, and spent a solid hour describing all of the positive things that makes a prize-wining Great Dane. And I selected about five othings, I think, and went in the opposite direction. For instance, a good, strong straight back, so I sloped his back. A strong chin, so I underswung his chin...and I think stright hind legs she mentioned. So I bowed them..."]By the time the show was ready for presentation by Silverman, a few more things had changed: Geoff and Mike were merged into one character called "Ronnie" (later re-named "
Fred", at Silverman's behest), Kelly was renamed to "
Daphne", Linda was now called "
Velma", and
Shaggy (formerly "W.W.") was no longer her brother. Also, Silverman, not being very fond of the name
Mysteries Five, had rechristened the show
Who's S-S-Scared? Using storyboards, presentation boards, and a short completed animation sequence, Silverman presented
Who's S-S-Scared? to the CBS executives as the centerpiece for the upcoming 1969–1970 season's Saturday morning cartoon block. The executives felt that the presentation artwork was far too frightening for young viewers, and, thinking the show would be the same, decided to pass on it.
Now without a centerpiece for the upcoming season's programming, Silverman turned to Ruby and Spears, who reworked the show to make it more comedic and less frightening. They dropped the rock band element, and began to focus more attention on Shaggy and Too Much. According to Ruby and Spears, Silverman was inspired by an ad-lib he heard in
Frank Sinatra's interpretation of
Bert Kaempfert's song "Strangers in the Night" on the way out to one of their meetings, and decided to rename the dog "
Scooby-Doo" and re-rechristened the show
Scooby-Doo, Where are You![Ruby and Spears, "Scooby Doo...The History of a Classic"] The revised show was re-presented to CBS executives, who approved it for production.
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Shaggy and Scooby-Doo register mutual fear after being confronted by a typical Scooby-Doo villain, a ghost from outer-space. From Scooby-Doo, Where are You! season one, episode fourteen ("Spooky Space Kook", December 20, 1969). |
Scooby Doo-Doo television series
The CBS years
Scooby-Doo, Where are You! made its CBS network debut on Saturday,
September 13,
1969 with its first episode, "What a Night for a Knight". The original voice cast featured
Don Messick as Scooby-Doo,
Casey Kasem as Shaggy,
Frank Welker as Fred,
Nicole Jaffe as Velma, and
Stefanianna Christopherson as Daphne.
["Scooby Doo: Scooby History" Cinema.com Retrieved from http://Cinema.com/articles/976/scooby-doo-scooby-history.phtml on June 9, 2006] Seventeen episodes of
Scooby-Doo were produced in 1969.
The influences of
I Love a Mystery and
Dobie Gillis were especially apparent in these early episodes;
Mark Evanier, who would write
Scooby-Doo teleplays and comic book scripts in the 1970s and 1980s, identified each of the four teenagers with their corresponding
Dobie Gillis character: "Fred was based on Dobie, Velma on Zelda, Daphne on Thalia and Shaggy on
Maynard."
[Evanier, Mark. (July 10, 2002). Post on "News from Me" blog for Povonline.com. Retrieved from http://povonline.com/2002/News060902.htm on March 27, 2006.] The similarities between Shaggy and Maynard are the most noticeable; both characters share the same
beatnik-style
goatee, similar hairstyles, and demeanours. The roles of each character are strongly defined in the series: Fred is the leader and the determined detective, Velma is the intelligent analyst, Daphne is danger-prone and vain, and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are cowardly types more motivated by hunger than any desire to solve mysteries. Later versions of the show would make slight changes to the characters' established roles, most notably in the character of Daphne, shown in 1990s and 2000s
Scooby-Doo productions as knowing many forms of karate and being able to defend herself.
The plot of each
Scooby-Doo episode followed a formula that would serve as a template for many of the later incarnations of the series. At the beginning of the episode, the Mystery, Inc. gang bump into some type of evil
ghost or a monster, which they learn has been terrorising the local populace. The teens offer to help solve the mystery behind the creature, but while looking for clues and suspects, the gang (and in particularly Shaggy and Scooby) run into the monster, who always gives chase. However, after analysing the clues they have found, the gang determines that this ghost is simply a mere mortal in disguise. They capture the monster and have the criminal behind the mask or costume arrested.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was a major ratings success for CBS, and they renewed it for a second season in
1970. The eight 1970 episodes of
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! differed slightly from the first-season episodes in their uses of more
slapstick humor,
Archie Show-like "chase songs" during climactic sequences,
Heather North performing the voice of Daphne in place of Christopherson, and a re-recorded theme song. Both seasons contained a
laugh track, which was the standard practice for U.S. cartoon series during the 1960s and 1970s.
In
1972, after 25 half-hour episodes, the program was doubled to a full hour and called
The New Scooby-Doo Movies; each episode of which featured a different guest star helping the gang solve mysteries. Among the most notable of these guest stars were
The Harlem Globetrotters,
The Three Stooges,
Don Knotts, and
Batman and
Robin, who all appeared at least twice on the show. After two seasons and 24 episodes of the
New Movies format from 1972 to 1974, the show went to reruns of the original series until
Scooby moved to ABC in 1976.
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Every episode of the original Scooby-Doo format contains a penultimate scene in which the kids unmask the ghost-of-the-week to reveal a real person in a costume. From Scooby-Doo, Where are You! season two, episode one ("Nowhere to Hyde", September 12, 1970). |
The Scooby clones
Having established a successful formula, Hanna-Barbera then proceeded to repeat it ad infinitum. By the time
Scooby-Doo-Doo had its first format change in 1972, Hanna-Barbera had produced three other teenager-based shows that were very similar to
Scooby in concept and execution:
Josie and the Pussycats (1970), which resurrected the idea of the rock band to the teenage-crime-fighter formula;
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971), which re-imagined the toddlers from
The Flintstones as high-school students; and the most blatant
Scooby clone,
The Funky Phantom (also 1971), which featured three teens, a real ghost and his ghostly cat solving spooky mysteries.
Later shows such as
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (1972);
Goober and the Ghost Chasers,
Speed Buggy,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, and
Inch High, Private Eye (all 1973);
Clue Club and
Jabberjaw (both 1976);
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (1977);
Buford and the Galloping Ghost (1978); and the
Pebbles, Dino, and Bamm-Bamm segments of
The Flintstone Funnies (1980) would all involve groups of teenagers solving mysteries or fighting crime in the same vein as
Scooby-Doo, usually with the help of a wacky animal, ghost, etc. For example,
Speed Buggy featured three teens and a talking dune buggy in the role of "Scooby", while
Jabberjaw used four teens and a talking shark. Some of these shows even used the same
voice actors and score cues. Even outside studios got in on the act: when Joe Ruby and Ken Spears left H-B in 1977 and started
Ruby-Spears Productions, their first cartoon was
Fangface, yet another mystery-solving
Scooby clone.
During the 1970s, the imitating programs successfully coexisted alongside
Scooby on Saturday mornings. Most of the mystery-solving Hanna-Barbera shows made before 1975 were featured on CBS, and when Fred Silverman moved from CBS to ABC in 1975, the mystery-solving shows, including
Scooby-Doo, followed him.
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The addition of Scrappy-Doo (right) to the series in 1979 would coincide with a change in the Scooby-Doo formula. From the opening credits of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. |
The ABC years
On ABC, the show went through almost yearly format changes. For their 1976 - 1977 season, new episodes of
Scooby-Doo were joined with a new H-B show,
Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, to create
The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (It became
The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show when a bonus
Scooby-Doo, Where are You! rerun was added to it in November 1976). This hour-long package show later evolved into the longer programming blocks
Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics (1977 - 1978) and
Scooby's All-Stars (1978 - 1979).
New
Scooby episodes, in the original
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! format, were produced for each of these three seasons. Four of these episodes featured Scooby's dim-witted country cousin
Scooby-Dum as a semi-regular character. The
Scooby-Doo episodes produced during these three seasons were later packaged together for syndication as
The Scooby-Doo Show, under which title they continue to air.
In 1979, Scooby's tiny nephew
Scrappy-Doo was added to both the series and the billing, in an attempt to boost
Scooby-Doo's slipping ratings. The 1979–1980 episodes, aired under the title
Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, succeeded in regenerating interest in the show, and as a result, the entire show was overhauled in 1980 to focus on Scrappy-Doo. Fred, Daphne, and Velma were dropped from the series, and the
new Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo format was now comprised of three seven-minute comedic adventures starring Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy instead of one half-hour mystery. This version of
Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo aired as part of
The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show from 1980 to 1982, and as part of
The Scooby-Doo/Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour from 1982 to 1983. Most of the supernatural villains in the seven-minute
Scooby and Scrappy cartoons, who in previous
Scooby series had been revealed to be human criminals in costume, were now "real" within the context of the series.
Daphne returned to the cast for
The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, which comprised two 11-minute episodes in a format reminiscent of the original
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! mysteries. This version of the show lasted for two seasons, with the second season airing under the title
The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries and featuring semi-regular appearances from Fred and Velma.
1985 saw the debut of
The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, which featured Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy, and new characters Flim-Flam and Vincent Van Ghoul (based upon and voiced by
Vincent Price) travelling the globe to capture "thirteen of the most terrifying ghosts and ghouls on the face of the earth."
The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo was cancelled in March 1986, and no new
Scooby series aired on the network for the next two years.
Hanna-Barbera reincarnated the original
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cast as junior high school students for
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, which debuted on ABC in 1988.
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was an irreverent, zany re-imagining of the series, heavily inspired by the classic cartoons of
Tex Avery and
Bob Clampett, and eschewed the quasi-reality of the original
Scooby series for a more
Looney Tunes-like style. The retooled show was a success, and lasted until 1991.
Reruns and What's New, Scooby-Doo?
Reruns of the show have been in
syndication since the mid-1980s, and have also been shown on
cable television networks such as
TBS Superstation (until 1989), and
USA Network (as part of the
USA Cartoon Express from 1990 to 1994). In 1993,
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, having just recently ended its network run on ABC, began reruns on the
Cartoon Network; the other versions of
Scooby-Doo joined it the following year and became exclusive to Turner networks such as the Cartoon Network, TBS Superstation, and
TNT. During this period for
Canadians, only
TBS was available at the time, and it was
pay television, so Canadians could no longer see any Scooby Doo. This would only be until
1997, when
Teletoon came on the air. Teletoon aired the first series, and more started coming along the following year. When TBS and TNT ended their broadcasts of H-B cartoons in 1998,
Scooby-Doo became the exclusive property of both Cartoon Network and sister station
Boomerang.
In 2002, following the success of the Cartoon Network reruns and the late-1990s
direct-to-video Scooby-Doo releases, the original version of the gang was updated for the 21st century for
What's New, Scooby-Doo?, which has aired on
Kids WB, since
2002 as well as Cartoon Network. Unlike previous Scooby TV series, the show is now produced at
Warner Bros. Animation.
What's New was placed on an indefinite hiatus in April 2005. The show returned to the familiar format of the original series for the first time since 1978, with modern-day technology and culture added to the mix to give the series a more contemporary feel, along with new sound effects and music. With Don Messick having died in 1997, Frank Welker took over as Scooby's
voice actor, while continuing to provide the voice of Fred as well, and
Casey Kasem returned as Shaggy.
Grey DeLisle now provides the voice of Daphne (she first took the role on
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, after her previous voice actor,
Mary Kay Bergman, died shortly before the release of
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders) and former
Facts of Life star
Mindy Cohn voices Velma.
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The direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island marked the first time the original quintet of Scooby characters had appeared together in their original forms since 1984. |
Telefilms and direct-to-video features
From 1986 to 1988,
Hanna-Barbera Productions produced
Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10, a series of
syndicated telefilms featuring their most popular characters, including
Yogi Bear,
Huckleberry Hound,
The Flintstones, and
The Jetsons. Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, and Shaggy starred in three of these movies:
Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987),
Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988), and
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988). In addition, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy appeared as the narrators of the made-for-TV movie
Arabian Nights, originally broadcast by
TBS in 1994 and later released on video as
Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights.
Starting in 1998,
Warner Bros. Animation and
Hanna-Barbera (by then a subsidiary of
Warner Bros.), began producing one new
Scooby-Doo direct-to-video movie a year. These movies featured a slightly older version of the original five-character cast from the
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! days, and disregards the later
Scrappy-Doo years as
non-canonical. The movies include
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998),
Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999),
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000), and
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001).
The success of these movies led to Scooby's return to Saturday morning,
What's New, Scooby-Doo?, and Hanna-Barbera based later entries in this series of
Scooby movies on it rather than the previous editions. The series continued with
Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (2003),
Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico (2003),
Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004),
Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005),
Scooby Doo in Where's My Mummy? (2005) and
Scooby Doo in Pirates Ahoy! (2006).
A number of these
Scooby-Doo telefilms and direct-to-video features, as well as many of the early-1980s shows featuring Scrappy-Doo, feature the gang encountering actual supernatural beings. In
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988) (set during the early-1980s
Scooby and Scrappy-Doo series), Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy sign up as gym teachers for Miss Grimwood's school for girls, only to find is actually a school for
ghouls, where the trio end up teaching the daughters of the
Frankenstein Monster,
Dracula, The
Werewolf,
The Mummy, and the stereotypical
ghost monster (called the
Phantom).
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) featured the gang, reunited after years of being apart, battling
voodoo-worshiping cat creatures in the
Louisiana bayou,
Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999) pits the gang against the vengeful ghost of an executed witch from the days of the
Salem witch trials, the basic plotline of
Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf revolves around Shaggy being turned into a werewolf by Dracula to compete in an annual monster drag race and
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invasion blends together the old formula (the "aliens" are revealed to be criminals in masks secretly mining a vein of gold) and the true supernatural (Shaggy and Scooby's romantic interests are genuine aliens).
The later
What's New, Scooby-Doo-based entries in the direct-to-video series returned to the original formula, and are basically extended episodes of the
What's New, Scooby-Doo series.
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Warner Bros' 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo feature film was a box office success, and resulted in a sequel two years later. |
Live-action Warner Bros. feature films
A
feature-length live-action film version of
Scooby-Doo was released by
Warner Bros. in
2002. The cast included
Freddie Prinze Jr. (Fred),
Sarah Michelle Gellar (Daphne),
Matthew Lillard (Shaggy) and
Linda Cardellini (Velma). Scooby-Doo was created on-screen by
computer-generated special effects.
Scooby-Doo was extremely successful, with a domestic box office gross of over $130 million.
[Chris Suellentrop. (March 26, 2004). "Hey Dog! How do you do that Vodoo That You Do So Well?". Slate.com. Retrieved from http://www.Slate.com/id/2097818/ on June 9, 2006.] A sequel,
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, followed in March 2004, which earned $84 million at the U.S. box office.
[Variety (January 27, 2006). "Weekend Box Office preview". Retrieved from http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117937030&categoryid=1082 on June 9, 2006.]Both of these films followed the standard
Scooby-Doo formula, while at the same time parodying various elements of that formula. While the first film had generally original characters as the villains (except for one villain revealed as a surprise plot twist), the second film featured several of the monsters from the television series, including the Black Knight, the 10,000 Volt Ghost, the Pterodactyl Ghost, and the Miner 49er.
Scooby-Doo in popular culture
Scooby-Doo is responsible for many pop-culture catchphrases, such as "
Scooby Snacks" and variants of the phrase "I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you
meddling kids," a line traditionally spouted by the culprit when caught and unmasked. This phrase has become so well-known that only the words "meddling kids" need be said to constitute a reference. The question of Velma's name (
Velma or
Thelma) has even been the subject of
Internet polls.
Subsequent television shows and films often make reference to
Scooby-Doo, for example
Wayne's World and the television series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which Buffy and her monster-slaying friends refer to themselves as the "
Scooby Gang" or "Scoobies," a knowing reference to
Scooby-Doo. (Coincidentally,
Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy, later played Daphne in the live-action movie.) Even
South Park paid homage to Scooby-Doo in an episode entitled "
KoЯn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery". The
Kevin Smith film
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back included a scene where Jay and Silent Bob are picked up in the Mystery Machine while hitchhiking, and when the gang start to argue, Jay offers them "dooby snacks", and everyone gets "high".
TV Funhouse poked fun at the
Pup Named Scooby Doo depiction of the characters at a younger age with its own, even younger-aged version,
Fetal Scooby Doo. In 2002, the online comic
Sluggy Freelance featured a weeks-long guest strip culminating in the reincarnation of the Mystery, Inc. gang from other comic characters.
Assumed "adult themes"
As with many Saturday morning cartoons,
Scooby-Doo is often proposed by sectors of the public to have hidden subtexts, in this case involving sex and drug use. Such assumptions often find their way into
Scooby-Doo parodies done by comedians, musicians, and film/television producers.
Drug use is the most prominent of these charges, in particular because of Shaggy's
beatnik origins. He and Scooby-Doo are shown to have voracious appetites, which has been interpreted as being evidence of a case of "the munchies" resulting from
marijuana use. Some parodies go on to propose that the "Scooby Snacks" present in many episodes contain drugs instead of typical dog treat ingredients. The most direct references to the
Scooby-Doo drug use theory were produced by Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network themselves. A
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode finds Shaggy and Scooby-Doo arrested for "possession", while the first
Scooby-Doo film makes several joking references to Shaggy and Scooby's proposed drug use, and has Shaggy fall in love with a girl named "Mary Jane" (a name also used as a slang term for marijuana).
Also discussed and parodied are the presumed sexual activities going on among the
Scooby-Doo characters. While working on the original series, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears often wrote their "
straight men", Fred and Daphne, out of the episode so that they could focus on their "comedians": Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma
[Ruby and Spears, "Scooby Doo...The History of a Classic"]. As a result, Fred and Daphne are missing from a significant amount of the action in most episodes, leading to assumptions that the two are off having sexual intercourse instead of finding clues. Like the drug use, this assumed theme has also been self parodied, with the "Bravo Dooby Doo" episode of
Johnny Bravo, and both live-action and direct-to-video
Scooby-Doo features making light of Fred and Daphne's presumed sexual relationship.
Another debated topic of the series centers around whether or not the tomboyish Velma is a
lesbian. The character has a considerable fan base among real-life lesbians, who see her as one of their own. The idea of Velma as a lesbian is parodied in the
2001 motion picture
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, as well as in both
Scooby-Doo live action films. Many, but not all, of the lesbian-themed gags from the first
Scooby-Doo film, which center around a hinted crush Velma has on Daphne, were excised from the final release print to secure a
"PG" rating.
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A 1968 Chevrolet Sportvan 108, painted to look like the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo. A number of Scooby fans have decorated vans in this fashion. |
The first
Scooby-Doo-related merchandise came in the form of
Scooby-Doo, Where are You! comic books by
Gold Key Comics, which initially contained adaptations of episodes of the cartoon show when publication began in 1970. The book soon moved to all-original stories, and hit its stride in the early 1970s with
Charlton Comics issues written by
Mark Evanier and drawn by
Dan Spiegle. Since then,
Scooby-Doo comics have been published by
Marvel Comics,
Archie Comics, and by
DC Comics, who continue to publish a monthly
Scooby-Doo series.
Other early
Scooby-Doo merchandise included decorated
lunch boxes, iron-on transfers,
coloring books, story books,
records, underwear, and other such goods. When Scrappy-Doo was introduced to the series in 1979, he, Scooby, and Shaggy became the sole focus of much of the merchandising, including a 1983
Milton-Bradley Scooby and Scrappy-Doo board game. The first
Scooby-Doo video game appeared in arcades in 1986, and has been followed by a number of games for both home-consoles and personal computers.
Scooby-Doo multivitamins also debuted at this time.
Scooby-Doo merchandising tapered off during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but increased with renewed vigor after the series' revival on Cartoon Network in 1995. Today, all manner of
Scooby-Doo-branded products are available for purchase, including
Scooby-Doo breakfast cereal, plush toys, action figures, car decorations, and much more. Real "Scooby Snacks" dog treats are produced by Del Monte Pet Products.
Hasbro has created a number of
Scooby board games, including a
Scooby-themed edition of the popular mystery board game
Clue.
From 1990 to 2002, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo made a cameo appearance in the
Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera simulator ride at
Universal Studios Florida. The ride was restructured in the early 2000s as a
Jimmy Neutron attraction. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are costumed characters at Universal Studios Florida, and can be found driving the Mystery Machine around the park.
TV series
| Title | Broadcast run | | Scooby-Doo, Where are You! | 1969–1972, CBS |
| The New Scooby-Doo Movies | 1972–1974, CBS |
| The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour 1, 2 | 1976–1977, ABC |
| Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics 1, 3 | 1977–1979, ABC |
| Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo | 1979–1980, ABC |
| The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show 4 | 1980–1981, ABC |
| The Scooby-Doo/Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour 4 | 1982–1983, ABC |
| The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show 5 | 1983–1985, ABC |
| The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo | 1985, ABC |
| A Pup Named Scooby-Doo | 1988–1991, ABC |
| What's New, Scooby-Doo? | 2002–2005, Kids' WB!; 2003 –2006, Teletoon (Canada) |
| Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! | 2006–(present) Kids WB! on The CW; |
Notes:- These program blocks featured new episodes of Scooby-Doo alongside several other series. The Scooby-Doo episodes from these years are now broadcast under the title The Scooby-Doo Show. For details on these episodes, see Scooby-Doo (1976-1979 television series).
- Aired as The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show from December 1976 until September 1977, after a rerun of Scooby-Doo, Where are You! was added to the block, making the runtime 90 minutes.
- Aired as Scooby's All-Stars from September 1978 to September 1979.
- These program blocks featured new seven-minute episodes of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo alongside several other series. The Scooby-Doo episodes from these years are now broadcast under the title Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo title, distinguished from the original thirty-minute 1979 episodes of the show by a slightly different opening credits sequence. For details on these episodes, see Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1980-1983).
- Aired as The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries from September 1984 to September 1985.
|
TV specials and telefilms
*
Scooby Goes Hollywood (
December 13,
1979, ABC)
*
Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987)
*
Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)
*
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)
*
Arabian Nights (also known as
Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights) (
1993,
TBS)
Direct-to-video films
*
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
*
Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999)
*
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)
*
Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
*
Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)
*
Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico (2003)
*
Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
*
Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005)
*
Scooby Doo in Where's My Mummy? (2005)
*
Scooby Doo in Pirates Ahoy! (2006)
Live-action theatrical releases
*
Scooby-Doo (2002)
*
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
Video games
Scooby Doo, a 1986 arcade
computer game published by
Elite Systems (later re-released on Elite's budget label Encore) and developed by
Gargoyle Games for the
ZX Spectrum and
Commodore 64. [
1] [
2]
Scooby Doo Mystery, two separate games of the same title created in 1995; one for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the other for the
Sega Genesis.
Scooby Doo: Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom, a 1999 mystery computer game developed by
Engineering Animation, Inc. (EAI) and published by SouthPeak Interactive. The game was released for
Microsoft Windows.
Scooby Doo: Classic Creep Capers, a 2000 console game published by
THQ and released for
Nintendo 64 and
Game Boy Color.
Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights, a 2002 console game published by
THQ.
Scooby Doo: Mystery Mayhem, a 2004 console game developed by
A2M and published by
THQ.
Scooby-Doo! Unmasked, a 2005 console game published by
THQ.
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Adventures, created in 2000 by the Learning Company is a CD-Rom for Windows. It contained 3 different versions/challenges/CD-Roms (sold separately):
Scooby-Doo: Showdown in Ghost Town,
Scooby-Doo: Phantom of the Knight, and
Scooby-Doo: Jinx at the Sphinx.
*
Scooby-Dum*
Scrappy-Doo*
Five Colleges — for a popular rumor about the show
* Banks, Clive. "Scooby-Doo". Retrieved from http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Scooby-Doo%20Intro.htm on
September 4 2005.
* Baxter, Joel (2003).
The Complete Scooby-Doo Episode Guide. Retrieved from http://www.execulink.com/~joelb/scooby/doobydoo.htm on
September 3 2005.
*Burke, Timothy and Burke, Kevin (1998).
Saturday Morning Fever : Growing up with Cartoon Culture. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 031-216996-5
*Handy, Aaron III. "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour Episode Guide". Retrieved from http://www.angelfire.com/la/aaronh3d/SDDH.html on
September 4 2005.
*"Hanna-Babera Studios" (and sub-articles).
The Big Cartoon DataBase. Retrieved from http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Hanna-Barbera_Studios/index.html on
September 3 2005.
*McNeil, Alex (4th ed., 1996).
Total Television: The Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 014-024916-8.
*Ruby, Joe and Spears, Ken (2002). "Scooby Doo...The History of a Classic".
Rubyspears.com. Retrieved from http://www.rubyspears.com/scooby.html on March 27, 2006.
Original Scooby-Doo series / General
*
The Ultimate Scooby Doo Website - including history, episode guide, and character bios
* Cartoon Network's
Scooby-Doo site*
Scooby Doo, Where Are You! at the
Big Cartoon DataBase*
Scooby-Doo at TV.com*
Scooby Doo Tribute & history*
Joe Ruby and Ken Spears' recollections on the creation of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!*
Slate.com analyzes the endurance of Scooby Doo*
The Scooby Doo Case FilesWhat's New, Scooby-Doo?
*
WhatsNewScoobyDoo.com*
What's New, Scooby-Doo? at the
Big Cartoon DataBase*
What's New, Scooby-Doo? TV.com entryLive-action features
*
Warner Bros. Scooby-Doo site for the 2002 live action
movie*
