Plenty of cartoons are only popular among kids and a few adults but it's hard to find a person of any age who doesn't know about Scooby-Doo. This is thanks to its longevity. The cartoon has been watched by different generations, having been in existence for close to 50 years
There have been numerous follow-ups and spin-offs as well that have aired on various networks. In recent years, Cartoon Network and its sister channel Boomerang have aired all Scooby-related content. Here are things fans might not have known about the show.
The Cartoon Series Entered The Guinness Book Of Records
After airing its 350th episode titled “Scooby-Doo Halloween,” the show became the longest-running animated comedy of all time, having aired its first episode in 1976. Long time? Definitely. This was such a huge feat that the show was included in the Guinness Book Of Records.
At the time, it had surpassed The Simpsons which had 335 episodes and Tom & Jerry which had 209 episodes.
Shaggy's Voice Actor Quit After Being Asked To Do A Burger King Commercial
Radio host Casey Kasem voiced the hilarious and ever-scared Shaggy for almost 30 years (1969-1997). Casey was vegan and when he was asked to voice Shaggy in a commercial for Burger King, he quit. Fans have to respect someone who strongly sticks to their principles.
Casey returned to voice Shaggy again in 2002 on condition that the character would be made vegan. The radio host had made great strides as a champion for animal rights and he didn't feel comfortable voicing a character that ate meat products. The showrunners met his demands and Shaggy became vegan.
ABC Executives Hated Scrappy-Doo
Scrappy often does outrageous things and for this reason, ABC executives hated the character. Back in 1979, the show was facing cancellation so Joseph Barbera and Mark Evanier tired to come up with a way to make it more interesting. They thus developed a character named Scrappy-Doo who was meant to be Scooby’s nephew.
However, the bosses felt that Scrappy was a bad influence on kids. However, Mark Evanier defended the character. saying he was brave and got things done, unlike Scooby and Shaggy who often opted to flee. The executives thus allowed the character to continue being used.
Frank Welker Has Been Fred For Almost 50 Years
The character Fred Jones has been voiced by Frank Welker for nearly all of its existence. Welker first took the role when he was 23. He is now 74. What's even more interesting is that his voice has remained the same for all these years.
Welker has voiced Fred for the main show and nearly all the spinoffs. The only ones he wasn't involved in were A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and Scoob. He has also voiced Scooby-Doo since 2002 and is the only remaining voice actor from the original series.
Scoob's Name Came From A Frank Sinatra Song
Producer Fred Silverman revealed that he was depressed after the initial idea of teens with a dog solving complicated mysteries was rejected. While on a flight to Los Angeles, he began thinking of new ideas that could be presented to networks.
A short while later. he heard Frank Sinatra's song "Strangers In The Night" playing. The specific moment when Sinatra says‘"doo-be-doo’ is what got him. He thus came up with the idea to name the funny and cowardly dog Scooby-Doo.
When Velma Lost Her Glasses
The scene where Velma lost her glasses became one of the most memorable moments of the show. It was even recreated a number of times in later installments. Several memes have also been created. But was it just an idea that the writers came up with out of nowhere? Not at all.
Velma's first voice actor Nicole Jaffe actually dropped her glasses while working. She had a hard time finding them so she complained a lot. Everyone seemed to enjoy Nicole's woes so it was decided that Velma should suffer the same fate.
The Characters Initially Had Different Names
It's hard to imagine Scooby's buddies having names other than Fred Jones, Daphne, Shaggy, and Velma. However, those were never their initial names. They were only given these names a short while before production began.
Fred Jones was initially called Fred Silverman after the TV producer while Daphne was Kelly. Shaggy, on the other hand, was meant to go by the name W.W.
The Original Title
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is a cool title but it wasn't the first and only choice. The first proposed titles were Mysteries Five and Who's Scared? The former seemed a bit too dull while the latter came off as too spooky hence it was dropped.
Hanna-Barbera wanted a child-friendly Saturday-morning show that would appease to various groups that had complained about the violent superhero cartoons. After a number of changes, the name Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was chosen.
Scooby Has Plenty Of Siblings
Scooby-Doo wasn't born alone. He is actually part of a triplet trio from his parents Dada Doo and Momsy Doo. His direct siblings are Skippy-Doo and Dooby-Doo. He also has three other siblings named Yabba-Doo, Howdy-Doo, and Ruby-Doo.
Ruby is the mother of the notorious Scrappy. Confusing? Yes, it is. There are a lot of Doos that were only mentioned once or twice in the show. The family is indeed large. But what's clear is that Scooby definitely needs to spend some more time with his fellow dogs rather than just humans.
What Dog Breed Is Scooby?
Scooby Dooby was originally sketched as a Great Dane but he was then turned into a Sheep Dog. However, the producers discovered he was too similar to Red from Archie so they changed him back to a Great Dane and that has stuck ever since.
He doesn't exactly look too similar to a real-life Great Dane and there's a good reason for this. Japanese-American artist Iwai Takamoto decided to use his creative freedom when designing Scooby. He thus made him look more cartoonish than normal dogs.