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Scooby-Doo is an American cartoon series based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969. This Saturday morning cartoon series featured four teenagers—Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers— and their talking Great Dane dog named "Scooby-Doo" who solve mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures through a series of antics and missteps.^[1]

Hanna-Barbera and its successor Warner Bros. Animation have produced numerous follow-up and spin-off animated series and several related works, including television specials and telefilms, a line of direct-to-video films, and two Warner Bros.–produced feature films. Some versions of Scooby-Doo feature different variations on the show's supernatural theme, and include characters such as Scooby's cousin Scooby-Dum and 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 aired the show until canceling it in 1986, and presented a spin-off featuring the characters as children, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, from 1988 until 1991. The original series format was revived and updated for The WB Network's Kids' WB programming block as What's New, Scooby-Doo, which ran from 2002 to 2006. Another Scooby series, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, began running on the The CW network until 2008. The current Scooby-Doo series, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, premiered on Cartoon Network in July 2010.^[2] Repeats of the series are broadcasted frequently on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the United States and other countries.

Creation and development[link]

In 1969, parent-run organizations, 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.^[3] Most of these shows were Hanna-Barbera action cartoons such as Jonny Quest, Space Ghost and The Herculoids, and virtually all of them were canceled by 1969 because of pressure from the parent groups. Members of these watchgroups served as advisers to Hanna-Barbera and other animation studios to ensure that their new programs would be safe for children.

Fred Silverman, executive in charge of children's programming for the CBS network at the time, was looking for a show that would revitalize his Saturday morning line and please the watchgroups 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 build upon this success, and contacted producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera about possibly creating another show based on a teenage rock group, but with an extra spice: the kids would solve mysteries in between 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.^[4]

Hanna and Barbera passed this task along to two of their head story writers, 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, Linda's brother "W.W." and their dog, Too Much, who were all members of the band "Mysteries Five" (even the dog; he played the bongos). When "The Mysteries Five" were not performing at gigs, they were out solving spooky mysteries involving ghosts, zombies, and other supernatural creatures. Ruby and Spears were unable to decide whether Too Much would be a large cowardly dog or a small feisty dog. When the former was chosen, the options became a large goofy German Shepherd 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). Ruby and Spears feared the Great Dane would be too similar to the comic strip character Marmaduke, but Barbera assured them it would not be a problem.^[5]

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.^{[6][dead link][7]}

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"^[8] (later renamed "Fred", at Silverman's behest),^[9] 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 renamed 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 too spooky for young viewers and, thinking the show would be the same, decided to pass on it.^[5]

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 Frank Sinatra's scat "doo-be-doo-be-doo" at the end of his recording of "Strangers in the Night" on a flight to one of the development meetings, and decided to rename the dog "Scooby-Doo" and re-rechristen the show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!^[5] The revised show was re-presented to CBS executives, who approved it for production.

Original television series run[link]

The CBS years (1969-1973)[link]

[edit] Scooby-Doo, Where are You!

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 veteran voice actor Don Messick as Scooby-Doo, Top 40 radio DJ Casey Kasem as Shaggy, actor Frank Welker as Fred, actress Nicole Jaffe as Velma, and musician Indira Stefanianna Christopherson as Daphne.^[10] Scooby’s speech patterns closely resembled an earlier cartoon dog, Astro from The Jetsons (1962–63), also voiced by Messick.^[1] Seventeen episodes of Scooby-Doo were produced in 1969. The series theme song was written by David Mook and Ben Raleigh, and performed by Larry Marks and Paul Costello.

Each episode featured Scooby and the four teenaged members of the Mystery, Inc. gang: Fred, Shaggy, Daphne and Velma, arriving to a location in the "Mystery Machine" and encountering a ghost, monster, or other supernatural creature, who was terrorizing the local populace. After looking for clues and suspects and being chased by the monster, the kids come to realize the ghost and other paranormal activity is actually an elaborate hoax, and - often with the help of a Rube Goldberg-like trap designed by Fred - they capture the villain and unmask him. Revealed as a flesh and blood crook trying to cover up crimes by using the ghost story and costume, the criminal is arrested and taken to jail, often saying something to the effect of "...and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids!"

A ratings success, Scooby-Doo was renewed for a second season in 1970-71, for which eight episodes were produced. Seven of the second season episodes featured chase sequences set to bubblegum pop songs recorded by Austin Roberts,^[11] who also rerecorded the theme song for this season. With Stefanianna Christopherson having married and retired from voice acting, Heather North assumed the role of Daphne, and would continue to voice the character through 1997.^[12]

[edit] Influences on Scooby-Doo

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."^[13] The similarities between Shaggy and Maynard are the most noticeable; both characters share the same beatnik-style goatee, similar hairstyles, and demeanors. The core premise of Scooby-Doo, Where are You! was also similar to Enid Blyton's Famous Five books. Both series featured four youths with a dog, and the Famous Five stories would often revolve around a mystery which would invariably turn out not to be mysterious, but a plot to disguise the villain's true intent.

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 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 having the ability to defend herself, and less of a tendency towards getting kidnapped.

Scooby-Doo itself would be an influence on many other Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s. During that decade, Hanna-Barbera and its competitors produced several animated programs also featuring teenaged detectives solving mysteries with a pet or mascot of some sort, icluding Josie and the Pussycats (1970–71), The Funky Phantom (1971–72), The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (1972-73), Speed Buggy (1973-74), Goober and the Ghost Chasers (1973–74), Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (1977-79), among others.^[14]

[edit] The New Scooby-Doo Movies

In 1972 new one hour episodes under the title The New Scooby-Doo Movies were created where they drove a Volkswagen bus without a nose; each episode featuring a real or fictitious guest star helping the gang solve mysteries, including fellow Hanna Barbera characters such as Josie and the Pussycats and Speed Buggy, and celebrities such as Sandy Duncan, The Addams Family, Cass Elliot, Phyllis Diller, and Don Adams. Also it later on featured many more - The Harlem Globetrotters, the Three Stooges, Don Knotts and Batman & Robin each appeared at least twice on the show. Hanna-Barbera musical director Hoyt Curtin composed a new theme song for this series, and Curtin's theme would remain in use for much of Scooby-Doo's original broadcast run. After two seasons and 24 episodes of the New Movies format from 1972 to 1974, CBS began airing reruns of the original Scooby-Doo, Where are You! series until Scooby moved to ABC in 1976.

The ABC years (1976-1991)[link]

The Scooby-Doo Show[link]

On ABC, the show went through almost yearly format changes. For their 1976–1977 season, new episodes of Scooby-Doo they drove a wolkswagon bus, they were joined with a new Hanna-Barbera show, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, to create The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour. The show became The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show when a bonus Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! rerun was added to the package in November 1976. Sixteen new Scooby-Doo episodes, in the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! format, were put into production for the show's ABC debut. Nicole Jaffe had retired from acting in 1973, and Pat Stevens took over her role as the voice of Velma. The rest of the voice cast remained the same. The 1976-77 season also introduced Scooby's dim-witted country cousin Scooby-Dum, voiced by Daws Butler, as a recurring character. The Scooby-Doo characters also made a handful of guest appearances on episodes of Dynomutt.

For the 1977–78 season, The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Show became the two-hour programming block Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics (1977–1978). In addition to eight new episodes of Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo also appeared during the All-Star block's Laff-a-Lympics series, which featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters competing in Battle of the Network Stars-esque parodies of Olympic sporting events. Scooby was seen as the team captain of the Laff-a-Lympics "Scooby Doobies" team, which also featured Shaggy and Scooby-Dum among its members.

Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics was retitled Scooby's All Stars for the 1977–78 season, reduced to 90 minutes when Dynomutt was spun off into its own half-hour. Scooby's All-Stars continued broadcasting reruns of Scooby-Doo from the previous two seasons, while new episodes of Scooby-Doo aired during a separate half-hour under the Scooby-Doo, Where are You! banner. After nine weeks, the separate Scooby-Doo, Where are You! broadcast was cancelled, and the remainder of the 16 new 1978 episodes debuted during the Scooby's All-Stars block.^[15] The Scooby-Doo episodes produced from 1976 to 1978 were later packaged together for syndication as The Scooby-Doo Show, under which title they continue to air.

1979–84[link]

The Scooby-Doo characters first appeared outside of their regular Saturday morning format in Scooby Goes Hollywood, an hour-long ABC television special aired in prime time on December 13, 1979. The special revolved around Shaggy and Scooby's attempts to have the network move Scooby out of Saturday morning and into a prime-time series, and featured spoofs of then-current TV shows and films such as Happy Days, Superman, Laverne & Shirley, and Charlie's Angels.

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 new title Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo as an independent half-hour show, succeeded in regenerating interest in the show. Lennie Weinrib voiced Scrappy in the 1979-80 episodes, with Don Messick assuming the role thereafter.^[16] Marla Frumkin replaced Pat Stevens as the voice of Velma mid-season.

As a result of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo's success, the entire show was overhauled in 1980 to focus more upon Scrappy-Doo. At this time, Scooby-Doo started to walk and run anthropomorphically on two feet more often, rather than on four like a normal dog as he did previously. Fred, Daphne, and Velma were dropped from the series, and the new Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo format was now composed 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 in 1983, which comprised two 11-minute mysteries per episode 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. The 1984-85 season episodes featured semi-regular appearances from Fred and Velma, with Frank Welker and Marla Frumkin resuming their respective roles for these episodes.

[edit] The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

1985 saw the debut of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, which featured Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy, and new characters Flim-Flam (Susan Blu) and Vincent Van Ghoul (based upon and voiced by Vincent Price) traveling the globe to capture "thirteen of the most terrifying ghosts upon the face of the earth." The final first-run episode of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo aired in March 1986, and no new Scooby series aired on the network for the next two years. Reruns of previous Scooby episodes, however, continued to air, both as part of the Scooby's Mystery Funhouse package and under the New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show banner.

[edit] A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

Hanna-Barbera reincarnated the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cast as junior high school students for a new series entitled 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, including an episode where Scooby-Doo's parents show up and reveal his real name to be "Scoobert." The series also established "Coolsville" as the name of the gang's hometown; this setting was retained for several of the later Scooby productions. The retooled show was a success, and lasted until 1991.

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo was produced by Tom Ruegger, who had been the head story editor on Scooby-Doo since 1983. Following the first season of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Ruegger and much of his unit defected from Hanna-Barbera to Warner Bros. Animation to develop Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures.^[17]

Reruns and revivals (1991-present)[link]

Telefilms, reruns, and direct-to-video films[link]

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 Ghoul School (1988), and Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1989), . These three films took their tone from the early-1980s Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo entries, and featured the characters encountering actual monsters and ghosts rather than masqueraded people. Scooby-Doo and Shaggy later appeared as the narrators of the made-for-TV movie Arabian Nights, originally broadcast by TBS in 1994, Don Messick's final outing as the original voice of Scooby-Doo.

Reruns of Scooby-Doo have been in syndication since 1980, and have also been shown on cabletelevision 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. With Turner Broadcasting in control of the Hanna-Barbera library by this time, in 1994 the Scooby-Doo franchise became exclusive to its networks: Cartoon Network, TBS Superstation, and TNT. Canadian network Teletoon began airing Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! in 1997, with the other Scooby series soon following. 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.

With Scooby-Doo's restored popularity in reruns on Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera (by then a subsidiary of Warner Bros. following the merger of Time Warner and Turner Entertainment in 1996) began producing one new Scooby-Doo direct-to-video movie a year beginning in 1998. These movies featured a slightly older version of the original five-character cast from theScooby-Doo, Where Are You! days. The first four DTV entries were 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). Frank Welker was the only original voice cast member to return for these productions. Don Messick had died in 1997 and Casey Kasem, a strict vegetarian, relinquished the role of Shaggy after having to provide the voice for a 1995 Burger King commercial.^[18] Therefore, Scott Innes took over as both Scooby-Doo and Shaggy (Billy West voiced Shaggy in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island). B.J. Ward took over as Velma, and Mary Kay Bergman voiced Daphne until her death in November 1999, and was replaced by Grey DeLisle.

These first four direct-to-video films differed from the original series format by placing the characters in plots with a darker tone and pitting them against actual supernatural forces. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island featured the original 1969 gang, reunited after years of being apart, fighting voodoo-worshiping cat creatures in the Louisiana bayou. Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost featured an author (voice of Tim Curry) returning to his hometown with the gang, to find out that an event is being haunted by the author's dead great Aunt Sarah, who was an actual witch. Witch's Ghost introduced a goth rock band known as The Hex Girls, who became recurring characters in the Scooby-Doo franchise. New animated films set in the original continuity continue to be released regularly, with some featuring real monsters and others just being extended mysteries Mystery Inc. is used to facing.

[edit] Scooby-Doo theatrical films

A feature-length live-action film version of Scooby-Doo was released by Warner Bros. on June 14, 2002. directed by Raja Gosnell, the film starred Freddie Prinze, Jr., as Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Matthew Lillard as Shaggy, and Linda Cardellini as Velma. Scooby-Doo was created on-screen by computer-generated special effects.Scooby-Doo was a financially successful release, with a domestic box office gross of over US$130 million.^[19] A sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, followed in March 2004 with the same cast and director. Scooby-Doo 2 earned US$84 (€55,98) million at the U.S. box office. ^[20]

2000s series revival[link]

In 2002, following the successes of the Cartoon Network reruns, direct to video franchise, and the first feature film, Scooby-Doo returned to Saturday morning for the first time in 17 years with What's New, Scooby-Doo?, which aired on Kids' WB from 2002 until 2006, with second-run episodes also appearing on Cartoon Network. Unlike previous Scooby series, the show was produced at Warner Bros. Animation, which had absorbed Hanna-Barbera after William Hanna's death in 2001. The show reimagines the familiar format of the original series, but places it in the 21st century, and features a heavy promotion of modern technology (computers, DVD, internet, cell-phones) and culture, which no other iteration of the show had ever done up to this point.

Beginning with this series, Frank Welker took over as Scooby's voice actor, while continuing to provide the voice of Fred as well. Casey Kasem returned as Shaggy, on the condition that the character be depicted as a vegetarian like Kasem himself.^[18] Grey DeLisle continued as the voice of Daphne, and former Facts of Life star Mindy Cohn voiced Velma. The series was produced by Chuck Sheetz, who had worked on The Simpsons.

After three seasons, What's New, Scooby-Doo was replaced in September 2006 with Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, a major revamping of the series which debuted on The CW's Kids' WB Saturday morning programming block. The premise centers around Shaggy inheriting money and a mansion from an uncle, an inventor who has gone into hiding from villains trying to steal his secret invention. The villains, led by "Dr. Phibes" (based primarily upon Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers series, and named after Vincent Price's character from The Abominable Dr. Phibes), then use different schemes to try to get the invention from Shaggy and Scooby, who handle the plots alone. Fred, Daphne, and Velma are normally absent, but do make appearances at times to help. The characters were redesigned and the art style revised for the new series. Scott Menville voiced Shaggy in the series, with Casey Kasem appearing as the voice of Shaggy's Uncle Albert.

The direct-to-video productions continued to be produced concurrently with at least one entry per year. Two of these entires, Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire and Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico (both 2003) were produced in a retro-style reminiscent of the original series, and featured Heather North and Nicole Jaffe as the voices of Daphne and Velma, respectively. Later entries produced between 2004 and 2009 were done in the style of What's New, Scooby-Doo, using that show's voice cast.

In addition, a live-action prequel to the theatrical feature films, Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, was released on DVD and simultaneously aired on Cartoon Network on September 13, 2009, the fortieth anniversary of the series' debut.^[21] The film starred Nick Palatas as Shaggy, Robbie Amell as Fred, Kate Melton as Daphne, Hayley Kiyoko as Velma, and Frank Welker as the voice of Scooby-Doo. A second live-action telefilm, Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster, retained the same director and cast and aired on October 16, 2010.

The most recent revival series, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, premiered July 12th, 2010, with Matthew Lillard (the actor who played Shaggy in the live-action theatrical films) replacing Kasem as the voice of Shaggy; the rest of the cast was retained from What's New, Scooby-Doo?. The series, while still following the basic mystery-solving format of its predecessors, also adds a serial format in which each successive episode reveals a portion of a greater secret, as well as romantic relationships between the lead characters. The series, which is the first Scooby-Doo series to directly debut on cable television, is considered a "reboot" of the franchise, and as such, there are several continuity errors with the rest of the series, such as the change of location and different names for the parents of the lead characters.

Voice cast[link]

Main Article see: List of Scooby-Doo characters

[edit] Scooby-Doo filmography

TV series[link]

TV specials and animated telefilms[link]

Direct-to-video films[link]

Live-action films[link]

• Scooby-Doo (2002, theatrical film)
• Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004 theatrical film)
• Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009, telefilm)
• Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010, telefim)

Video games[link]

Internet games[link]

• Scooby Doo Frozen Frights
• Scooby-Doo: The Attack Of The Vampire Pumpkinheads
• Scooby-Doo And The Creepy Castle
• Bayou Scooby-Doo
• Scooby-Doo In The Ghosts Of Pirate Beach
• Scooby-Doo: Scrappy Stinks
• Swami Shaggy
• Scooby Snapshot
• Scooby Trap
• Scooby-Doo 1000 Graveyard Dash
• Scooby-Doo Big Air
• Scooby-Doo Big Air 2: Curse Of The Half Pipe
• Scooby-Doo Big Air Snow Show
• Scooby-Doo Castle Hassle
• Scooby-Doo In Monster Sandwich
• Scooby-Doo! Love Quest
• Scooby-Doo Horror On The High Seas Episode 1: The Ghost Pirate Attacks!
• Scooby-Doo Horror On The High Seas Episode 2: Neptunes Nest
• Scooby-Doo Horror On The High Seas Episode 3: Reef Relief
• Scooby-Doo Horror On The High Seas Episode 4: Pirate Ship Of Fools
• Scooby-Doo Mayan Monster Mayhem Episode 1: River Rapids Rampage
• Scooby-Doo Mayan Monster Mayhem Episode 2: Creepy Cave Cave-In
• Scooby-Doo Mayan Monster Mayhem Episode 3: Terror In Tikal
• Scooby-Doo Mayan Monster Mayhem Episode 4: Temple of Lost Souls
• Scooby-Doo Haunts For The Holidays Episode 1: Theatre Terror
• Scooby-Doo Haunts For The Holidays Episode 2: Ghost In The Cellar
• Scooby-Doo Haunts For The Holidays Episode 3: The Last Act
• Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated: Crystal Cove Online

Stage plays[link]

• Scooby-Doo in Stagefright (2005; world tours in 2005, 2007, 2009)
• Scooby-Doo and the Pirate Ghost (2009)
• Scooby-Doo Live! Musical Mysteries (2011)

Critical reaction and awards[link]

During its four decade broadcast history, Scooby-Doo has received two Emmy nominations: a 1989 Daytime Emmy nomination for A Pup Named Scooby Doo, and a 2003 Daytime Emmy nomination for What's New, Scooby-Doo's Mindy Cohn in the "Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program" category.^[22] Like many Hanna-Barbera shows, Scooby-Doo was criticized for its production values and writing; in 2002, Jamie Malanowski of The New York Times commented that "[Scooby-Doo's] mysteries are not very mysterious, and the humor is hardly humorous. As for the animation -- well, the drawings on your refrigerator may give it competition."^[23] Science advocate Carl Sagan, however, favorably compared the predominately skeptic oriented formula to that of most television dealing with paranormal themes, and considered that an adult analogue to Scooby-Doo would be a great public service.^[24]

Scooby-Doo has maintained a significant fan base, which has grown steadily since the 1990s due to the show's popularity among both young children and nostalgic adults who grew up with the series.^[25] Several television critics have stated that the show's mix of the comedy-adventure and horror genres was the reason for its widespread success.^[26] As Fred Silverman and the Hanna-Barbera staff had planned when they first began producing the series, Scooby-Doo's ghosts, monsters, and spooky locales tend more towards humor than horror, making them easily accessible to younger children. "Overall, [Scooby-Doo is] just not a show that is going to overstimulate kids' emotions and tensions," offered American Center for Children and Media executive director David Kleeman in a 2002 interview. "It creates just enough fun to make it fun without getting them worried or giving them nightmares.^[27]

By the 2000s, Scooby-Doo had received recognition for its popularity by placing in a number of top cartoon or top cartoon character polls. The August 3, 2002, issue of TV Guide featured its list of the 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time, in which Scooby-Doo placed twenty-second^[28] Scooby also ranked thirteenth in Animal Planet's list of the 50 Greatest TV Animals.^[29] Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ranked first in the UK network Channel 4's 2005 list of the 100 Greatest Cartoons of All Time.^[30] 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.^[31]

In January 2009, entertainment website IGN named Scooby-Doo twenty fourth in its list of the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows.^[32]

Comic books[link]

Gold Key Comics began publication of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! comic books in December 1969. The comics initially contained adaptations of episodes of the television show, and later moved to all-original stories until ending with issue #30 in 1974. Several of the issues were written by Mark Evanier and drawn by Dan Spiegle. Charlton published Scooby comics, many drawn by Bill Williams, for 11 issues in 1975. From 1977 to 1979, Marvel Comics (currently owned by The Walt Disney Company, rival of Hanna-Barbera's parent company Time Warner) published nine issues of Scooby-Doo, all written by Evanier and drawn by Spiegel. Harvey Comics published reprints of the Charlton comics, as well as a handful of special issues, between 1993 and 1994.

In 1995, Archie Comics began publishing a monthly Scooby-Doo comic book, the first year of which featured Scrappy-Doo among its cast. Evanier and Spiegel worked on three issues of the series, which ended after 21 issues in 1997 when Warner Bros.' DC Comics acquired the rights to publish comics based on Hanna-Barbera characters. DC's Scooby-Doo series continues publication to this day.

Merchandising[link]

Early Scooby-Doo merchandise included a 1973 Milton Bradley board game, decorated lunch boxes, iron-on transfers, coloring books, story books, records, underwear, and other such goods.^[33] When Scrappy-Doo was introduced to the series in 1979, he, Scooby, and Shaggy became the sole foci of much of the merchandising, including a 1983 Milton-Bradley Scooby-Doo 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, and have been manufactured by Bayer since 2001.

Scooby-Doo merchandising tapered off during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but increased 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. In 2007, the Pressman Toy Corporation released the board game Scooby-Doo! Haunted House. Beginning in 2001, a Scooby-Doo children's book series was authorized and published by Scholastic. These books, written by Suzanne Weyn, include original stories and adaptations of Scooby theatrical and direct-to-video features.

From 1990 to 2002, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo appeared as characters in the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera simulator ride at Universal Studios Florida.^[34] The ride was replaced in the early 2000s with a Jimmy Neutron attraction, and The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera instead became an attraction at several properties operated by Paramount Parks. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are costumed characters at Universal Studios Florida, and can be seen driving the Mystery Machine around the park.

In 2005, Scooby-Doo in Stagefright, a live stage play based upon the series, began touring across the world. A follow-up, Scooby-Doo and the Pirate Ghost, followed in 2009.^[35]

Other media[link]

• The cult television and comic book series Buffy the Vampire Slayer features a group of characters that refer to themselves as the "Scooby Gang," or sometimes the "Scoobies," who battle supernatural forces of evil. Sarah Michelle Gellar, the actress who plays Buffy on the show, later went on to appear as Daphne Blake in the live-action Scooby-Doo films Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
• Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang (based on their classic 1972 incarnation as opposed to their more recent incarnations) appear in the second part of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases" in which they team up with Batman and Robin to rescue Weird Al who was kidnapped by The Joker and The Penguin (this part of the episode is itself a reference to the Dynamic Duo's team-ups with the Mystery Inc. gang in The New Scooby-Doo Movies, both which involve them foiling the plans of Joker and Penguin). It also includes a parody of the "Safety Tips" segment which is itself a reference to the The Superfriends, another Hanna-Barbara cartoon with ties to Batman.
• "Scooby-Doo and the Snowmen Mystery", vinyl LP released 1972 in the UK, Stereo, 33 ⅓ RPM, LP, from the label Music for Pleasure – MFP 50086.

See also[link]

	Animation portal
	Television portal
	United States portal

• Scooby-Doo's Snack Tracks: The Ultimate Collection
• List of works produced by Hanna-Barbera
• Five-College folklore – A campus legend about the show.

References[link]

Notes

Bibliography

• Banks, Clive. "Scooby-Doo". Retrieved on September 4, 2005.
• Baxter, Joel (2003). The Complete Scooby-Doo Episode Guide. Originally retrieved 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 0-312-16996-5.
• Handy, Aaron III. "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour Episode Guide". Retrieved on September 4, 2005.
• "Hanna-Babera Studios" (and sub-articles). The Big Cartoon DataBase. Retrieved 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 0-14-024916-8.
• Ruby, Joe and Spears, Ken (2002). "Scooby Doo...The History of a Classic". Rubyspears.com. Retrieved on March 27, 2006.

External links[link]

• Official Warner Bros. site
• Zoinks Points Reward Site
• Scooby-Doo at Cartoon Network
• Scooby Doo And The Snowmen Mystery on Discogs
• History of Scooby-Doo