Scooby's Origins

What makes this show so popular, both to kids and adults?


Scooby Doo - In The Beginning


Scooby Doo began with CBS Manager Fred Silverman in 1969, who ran the CBS Channel. Silverman wanted to try a new concept, a "House Of Myster". What he wanted was a mystery/adventure/comedy involving a gang of detectives. Silverman got Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, two of Hanna-Barbera's best men, to do the charachter designs. They came up with a Show called "The Mystery Five", which featured a gang of four musician/detective/teenagers, named Geoff Jones, Mike Andrews (Fred and Shaggy), Kelly Summers(Velma), Linda Blake(Daphne) and W. W. (don't know). The gang were supposedly living in an average californian beach town and attended school, playing in their band called "Mystery's Five" and touring the country with their scruffy dog, called Too Much. The dog could play a musical instrument, but was secondary to the mystery. They tour the country while visiting spooky houses and other creepy places to solve mysteries. Apart from the psychadelic (I hope I spelt that right) van, later to be titled as the Mystery Machine, they had bikes, and James Bond style gadgets to fool around with. The story is presented in the Laff-a-lympics style, with a break halfway through and a recap at the beginning of the second half. After a retitling to "Who's Scared?" and "I'm S-s-s-scared!", the show was presented to Frank Stanton, station President. However, Stanton turned the cartoon down, citing the artwork as too scary for it's target audience, ie. children. As Fred Silverman was on his way to L.A that very night, heard Frank Sinatra sing "Stranger in the night" on the radio. The phrase "Scooby Dooby Doo" stuck in his mind so much that he immmediatley went back, summoned Spears and Ruby, and reconstructed the show. It would be called "Scooby Doo! Where Are You?". It would be a light comedy, mixed with a mystery theme. To lighten the mood, Scooby Doo, the renamed dog, would be the star. With his cath phrase "Scooby Dooby Doo!". He would be accompanied by a redesigned gang, along the same theme as before. Before they knew it, a legend was born.

Scooby Doo, and the gang too!


Iawo Takamoto, A recent Disney of California recruit, was called in to design the unforgettable gang of the show. He designed Fred, the solid, dependable, reasonable and serious leader of the gang, who would be played by Frank Welker. The prodigal and Intellectual Velma, played by Nicole Jaffe, the beautiful and sexy danger-prone Daphne, who acted before she thought, played by Heather North, The hungry and cowardly beatnik named Shaggy, played by the Top 40 DJ Casey Kasem, who was added to give contrast to the serious half of the gang, and of course Scooby Doo, the great dane designed to be the opposite of prize-winning, Played by HB Voice actor Don Messick. The magic formula was made by ruby-spears, who went on and made several other cartoons.

Scooby Doo! Where Are You?


"Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" aired on CBS in 1969, and immediatley became a hit. It's many follow-ups were almost as poopular, especially The Scooby Doo Movies, which used the then-current stars of Film and TV in their episodes. The gang followed him for most of the show, until it finally degenerated on ABC, in 1979.

Scooby Doo, and Series Two(?)


Scooby is back, and better than ever. Scooby's last series, A Pup Named Scooby Doo, brought the series a huge leap closer to the originals, and now, Scooby Doo on Zombie Island has topped it. If WB gives it's consent, we may be seeing a new series.