Who is Scooby-Doo? You might know he’s the star of a show that originally was called, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which has since seen other spin offs and transformations. (Such as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, not to mention the direct-to-video animated movies as well as the motion picture live-action versions.) But did you know that from 1969 until present, the Scooby-Doo brand of cartoons is Saturday morning TV’s “longest running American animated” series?
Here are some other fun facts you may or may not know:
• The storymen at Hanna and Barbera in charge of creating Scooby-Doo were Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. The artist/character designer was Iwao Takamoto.
• Scooby-Doo as it’s now known and loved could’ve been very different. The initial concept was called Mysteries Five, but was then presented to CBS Studio executives as Who’s S-S-Scared? (They passed on it, but didn’t entirely scrap it. They reworked it, presented it again, and voila! Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was eventually born.)
• Scooby-Doo the dog came to be so named after Fred Silverman, the exec in charge of CBS’s children’s programming at the time (1968), heard Frank Sinatra singing “Strangers in the Night.” The “doo-be-doo-be-doo” in the song was the inspiration trigger. (Originally Scoob’s character was named Too Much.)
• Scooby-Doo wasn’t the only one whose name started out different. Fred was originally Ronnie (who was a combination of two other initial character sketches, Geoff and Mike); Daphne was almost Kelly; Velma was first known as Linda; and Shaggy would’ve been W.W. (and also Velma’s brother!).
• There was much debate about what kind of dog to make Scooby: big and cowardly, or small and scrappy?
• After deciding to go the big route, the next decision was to decide what breed of big dog: Great Dane or shaggy sheepdog? (Interestingly, Ruby and Spears had reservations that a Great Dane might evoke Marmaduke comparisons; Barbera was the one to push for it.)
• Takamoto studied the physical characteristics of Great Danes first hand, but ended up creating a character that defied most of the breed’s common traits. His version adopted “overly bowed legs, a double chin, and a sloped back.”
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! debuted on Saturday, September 13, 1969. (“What a Night for a Night” was the first episode.)
• Voice actor Don Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) gave Scooby his unique voice.
Test Your Scooby-Doo IQ:
1. What does Scooby’s gang of people (Fred, Daphne, Velam, and Shaggy) call themselves?
2. What’s the name of the groovy van Scooby and the gang travel around in?
3. Who is Scooby’s cousin?
4. Who is Scooby’s nephew?
5. What’s Scooby’s favorite snack?
Answers to Scooby-Doo quiz:
1. Mystery, Inc.
2. The Mystery Machine
3. Scooby-Dum
4. Scrappy-Doo
5. Scooby snacks, of course! (You can now buy them to treat your own dog with. Scooby’s motto is the product’s tagline: “Rogs ruv ‘em!”
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