That night Silverman had to fly back to l.os Angeles. Listening to Frank Sinatra on his earphones. the phrase ‘scooby-dooby-doo‘ stuck in his head from the song Strangers in I/It’ Mtg/u. Silverman immediately contacted (‘BS and said: ‘We'll call the show .S'r'unl)_\‘-l)(m, Where are You." and we'll make the dog the star of the show.’
Somehow this did the trick and Scooby-Doo was born. a no-brainer cartoon on the back of one of 01' Blue Iiyes' improvs. A reckless piece of slangy onomatopoeia was to stop a whole generation of children from doing their homework.
Gifted voice-over artists came into the studios. Don Messick became Scooby. perfecting his one line and elongated moans to the point of parody. Top 40 DJ Casey Kasem was Shaggy. no doubt burning spliff holes the size of Tasmania in his beautiful Arran jumpers between takes. Frank Welker became blond Freddy. Nicole Jaffe became the bespectacled and clever (to a low IQ child) Velma and Stephannia (‘hristopherson was sexy Daphne (replaced in 1970 by Heather North). An 18-year-old comedian called David (.‘oulier provided the rest of the voices (bad villain. good cops). The dream team was born. happy in their repetition. Such a godly line up of talented souls was not to be repeated till the birth of The .S'impsuns over two decades later. hilt that’s a whole different story.
Things went swimmineg until a bunch of coked-up execs had the bright idea of introducing a new character. realising that Scooby-Doo‘s format was a little tired (surely the whole point of the show). So they introduced Scooby's nephew Scrappy-Doo. an arrogant little puppy who killed the dream. I lind it difficult to write about this little shit. so instead I will quote directly from one of the many anti- Scrappy websites which makes the point far more succinctly than I ever could: ‘What‘s so wrong with Scrappy then‘.’ liverything. He’s the epitome of everything that is not cute. lle's loud. unsubtle and never minds his own business. He refuses to see anything but good in his uncle Scooby and has no grasp of irony. In short he was American. Ho ho. When you got excited reading the TV listings and seeing Scooby was on. hoping maybe it was the one set on the Hawaiian Island. you would hear the idiotic. lisped words. “p-p-p-puppppppy power". and
nothing. but nothing. could equal that sense of
deilation.‘
Things were never quite the same after
Scooby-Doo was the greatest: predictable, anti-corporate and full of holes
Scrappy and. although Scooby in his cartoon form has never actually been retired. the series struggled for viewers through the subsequent fallout. Scooby and the gang in their original incarnation stood for something vaguely counter cultural (in that nice 005 home counties way). Many of the villains they unmasked were lords.
counts or worse -- bankers. These kids were fighting against the establishment. not for it. Scrappy was introduced at the beginning of the big- balled Reagan era. and his Republican shrieks cut to the quick. Shaggy and Scooby jtlsl looked like tired old relics next to him. retreating deeper into the monging influence of mountainous snacks. It was a sad end. Maybe this new film will create a revival: who knows‘.’ .»\H I know is that
sometimes at night when I‘m scared. it‘s OK for
me to eat a triple tlecker sandwich and jump up into the arms of a passing hippie. Scooby -l)oo. I love you.
Scooby-Doo goes on general release from Fri 12 Jun. See review, page 38.
their
nobY'Doo “me are you?
The List tracked down the original television ' canine superstar, and found Mr 000 lounging by a poolside in northern California. With a
skyscraper sandwich. Words: Miles Fielder
The List So, what do you think of the computer animated representation of yourself in the movie?
Scooby-boo Ah-ooooo!
The List So. you’re happy?
Scooby Ah-oo.
The List Comparatively? You mean you feel you look as good as you could, for a Hollywood summer blockbuster?
Scooby Ah-roo.
The List I see. And which was the more canny piece of casting: Matthew Lillard as Shaggy or Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne? ScoobyAh-oo? Ah-oo? . . . [thinking] . . .Ah- 00.
The List So, you’re a Buffy fan?
Scooby Rooby-dooby-dooooo!
The List Easy, boy. Now, it’s been argued that your television show contained elements of counter-culture subversion.
Scooby Huh?
The List Well, in the same way that, say, The Magic Roundabout was all about taking acid. your show is all about getting stoned.
Scooby Huh? [scratching his head].
The List You’ve never heard of The Magic Roundabout? It was a French puppet animation show, the script for which was changed significantly with drug references when it was dubbed for British viewers.
Scooby Ah-oo . . .
The List You'd like to see it? The lead character was also a dog. He looked like a shoe polishing brush and his name was Docgal. Speaking of names, do you know that you were named after some vocal improvisations by _ Frank Sinatra? g Scooby Huh? Rooby Doo? } The List Yep. Anyway. So, Scooby, do yoq smoke drugs?
Scooby . . . The List No comment? Scooby. . .
The List You like weed? C’mon, you and f Shaggy were constantly wasted in the TV l series. ; Scooby Ah-roo. Ah-roo. Ah-roo. The List That’s a little hard to believe. Especially, seeing as there’s an enormous spliff right there next to your Scooby snack. l Scooby Huh? ['l'hinking . . . then, lighting up the joint . . .] Ah-ooooo?
The List Oh, thanks very much.
l