Scooby Doo, Where Are You!

By: Abby Lipski

Background on Scooby Doo

● A children’s television show about “A group of friends and their dog (Scooby Doo) travel in a van solving strange and hilarious mysteries.” The antagonists is an ordinary person dressing up in a costume to scare away people for self gain○ The antagonist will often say, “You meddling kids!”

● Premiered on September 13th 1969● Launched by CBS and Hanna-Barbera Productions● Iwao Takamoto created the characters● The background scenes were created by Walt Peregoy● “The characters had a greater hold on children's imaginations when the

gang was more mysterious than the mysteries.”

Fred (Freddy) Jones

● Voiced by Frank Welker● Leader of the group● Identified by blonde hair, a white shirt with a blue collar, an orange

handkerchief, and blue pants.● Has no personality, no background, and almost no distinguishing

characteristics.○ Cartoon writers tried (and failed) to give Fred more of a personality

based on the few characteristics Fred had.■ Handsome=Arrogant■ Monster traps fail often=Dumb

● Fred and Daphne were sent away to look for clues because the writers knew Fred and Daphne were dull characters. When Velma joined the pair, it gave Shaggy and Scooby (the main stars) more screen time.

Daphne Blake

● Voiced by various people○ Stefanianna Christopherson in Season 1○ Heather North, Kellie Martin, Mary Kay Bergman and

Grey Griffin have all voiced as Daphne in other various productions

● Identified by her red hair, purple dress, purple tights, and green scarf

● Doesn’t have much of a personality as well. Her personality is a blank stare and is portrayed as being an airhead.

● “Danger Prone Daphne”

Velma Dinkley

● Originally voiced by Nicole Jaffe, however others have voiced including Mindy Cohen.

● Brainy wallflower (shy, awkward) of the group● Identified by her orange sweater and knee socks, red pleated mini

skirt and shoes, and her black thickly framed glasses.● Her well-known catch phrase was, “My glasses! I can’t find my

glasses!”● Other than having terrible vision, Velma doesn’t have a personality

or background. Cartoon makers tried giving her character more background, but found viewers to become less interested in her when not being allowed to guess about her

Norville “Shaggy” Rogers

● Voiced by Casey Kasem○ Has voiced Shaggy in the cartoon series for nearly 40 years.○ Others have voiced Shaggy such as Billy West and Scott

Innes● Identified by his green shirt, bellbottom pants, and go-tee● Unlike the other characters, Shaggy has a distinct personality

○ Terrified by the supernatural○ BIG appetite○ The “bait” in Fred’s traps○ “Zoinks!”

Scoobert “Scooby” Doo

● Voiced by Don Messick○ Was the voice of Scooby Doo up until his death in 1997○ Frank Welker, Scott Innes, and Neil Franning have all voiced

Scooby since Messick’s death● Starred in 310 animated episodes● Relatives

○ Scrappy-Doo → Nephew○ Scooby-Dee → cousin○ Scooby-Dum → cousin

Scoobert “Scooby” Doo Part II

● Also has a distinct personality○ Garbled speech

■ Replaces the first consonant with “R”○ Terrified of the supernatural○ Great Dane○ Big appetite○ Has his own snacks → Scooby Snacks

■ Used as bribery○ The “bait” in Fred’s traps○ “Scooby-Dooby-Doo!”

CLIP

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26f04c_the-scooby-doo-show-304-to-switch-a-witch_fun 1:25-3:34https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwrfY5myh3o 2:22-2:38https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swhAv9VcBWc whole thing

Question for you ● What are some things in the episode that

reflect upon the time period?

Stuff going on at the time● 300 million yen robbery in Japan (1968)● MLK Jr. assassinated (1968)● My Lai massacre (1968)● JFK assassinated (1968)● Neil Armstrong is the first man on the moon

(1969)● Watergate Scandal begins (1972)

Analysis

● The antagonists of each episode instills fear within the local community. The events of the time period did the same for the United States.

● Salem is a well known town in Massachusetts that’s previous history involved many witch trials.

● As stated before there was a 300 million yen robbery in 1968, similar to the crime in Scooby Doo.

● UFO sightings are something that cause a lot of media attention and are still discussed often in today’s society.

● Also notice how Shaggy’s clothing matches the styles of the time period.● The flowers on the Mystery Machine also give it a “hippie vibe”.

Bibliography

● Primary Source: "The Scooby-Doo Show 304 To Switch A Witch." Dailymotion. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2015.

● "Scooby Doo, Where Are You!" IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 11 June 2015.● "Scooby Doo : Scooby History." Scooby Doo : Scooby History. N.p., n.d.

Web. 11 June 2015.● "Legendary Radio Host Casey Kasem Dies At 82." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 11

June 2015.● Nastasi, Alison. "Spooky Background Paintings from ‘Scooby-Doo’." N.p.,

n.d. Web. 11 June 2015.