Scooby-Doo (character)

Scoobert Doo, also known as Scooby-Doo, is a fictional cartoon character and the titular main protagonist of the eponymous animated television franchise created in 1969 by the American animation company Hanna-Barbera. He is a male Great Dane and lifelong companion of amateur detective Shaggy Rogers, with whom he shares many personality traits. He features a mix of both canine and human behaviors (reminiscent of other talking animals in Hanna-Barbera's series) and is treated by his friends more or less as an equal. Scooby often speaks in a rhotacized way, substituting the first letters of many words with the letter 'r' a speech pattern that, while never fully explained, is understood and accepted without question by those around him. His catchphrase is "Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"

History

Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original Scooby-Doo series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, for Hanna-Barbera as a part of CBS's 1969–1970 Saturday morning cartoon schedule. Originally titled Mysteries Five, the dog who later became Scooby was originally more of a sidekick character – a bongo-playing dog named "Too Much" whose breed varied between Great Dane and sheepdog between treatments.

By the time the series was pitched to the network as Who's S-S-Scared? in early 1969, Too Much was solidified as a cowardly Great Dane. Both the dog and the series would be renamed Scooby-Doo by Fred Silverman, CBS's head of daytime programming, between its unsuccessful first pitch and the second pitch that earned the show a green light. Silverman stated that he came up with the name from the syllables "doo-be-doo-be-doo" in Frank Sinatra's hit song "Strangers in the Night". Though a similar name was featured in the title of the single "Feelin' So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y.-D.O.O.)" released just a few months earlier in 1968 by The Archies, a fictional band from the CBS series The Archie Show that was also overseen by Silverman. There was also a character in an unsold TV pilot Swingin' Together, broadcast in 1963 on CBS, named Skooby-doo.

Taking notes from a Hanna-Barbera colleague who was also a breeder of Great Danes, production designer Iwao Takamoto designed the Scooby-Doo character with a sloping chin, spots, a long tail, a sloped back, and bow legs – all traits in direct opposition to those of a prize-winning purebred Great Dane. In defining the personality of the dog, Ruby and Spears looked for inspiration to the characters played by Bob Hope in his horror-comedies – a coward who shows traits of bravery when his friends are in danger. The characteristic speech impediments of Scooby and Astro are similar, however, of the two voices, Scooby's had a deeper and throatier timbre than Astro's.

According to Fred in Scooby-Doo: Behind the Scenes, the thought of having a dog with an Adam's apple was a little strange, but they got used to it, so when he started talking, it wasn't a big deal. But despite his special gift of speech, he did have his shortcomings like his cowardice. But as Mystery Inc. bonded, he would form a special partnership with Shaggy, comparing themselves to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Shaggy says that things just clicked and whenever the gang needs bait for a villain, they would send Shaggy and Scooby in and he says there's no one else he would rather work with. Fred claims that the only thing that scares Scooby more than monsters is a trip to the vet.

Appearance and anatomy

Scooby is brown from head to toe with several distinctive black spots on his upper body and does not seem to have a melanistic mask. He is generally a quadruped but displays bipedal 'human' characteristics occasionally. Scooby also has opposable thumbs and can use his front paws like hands. He has a black nose and wears an off-yellow, diamond-shaped-tagged blue collar with an "SD" (his initials) and has four toes on each foot. Unlike other dogs, Scooby only has one pad on each of his paws, a trait that was added to make it easier to draw in the Scooby-Doo Annuals.

Scooby has a fully prehensile tail he can use to swing from or press buttons. Both his head and tail are malleable and useful as a communication aid or creating a distraction.

Iwao Takamoto, the artist who designed Scooby Doo, first interviewed a Great Dane breeder to identify the most desirable features in pedigree Great Danes. He gave Scooby none of them: "I decided to go the opposite and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, small chin and such. Even his color is wrong."

According to the official magazine that accompanied the 2002 film, Scooby is seven years old.

Voice actors

thumb|[[Frank Welker (pictured in 2016), Scooby's current voice actor]]

Don Messick originated the character's speech patterns and provided Scooby-Doo's voice in every Scooby-Doo production from 1969 until his retirement in 1996. Frank Welker (also the voice of Fred since 1969) was approached to take over the role, but was initially reluctant to do so. Voice actor Hadley Kay voiced the character for a brief period in 1997, for two episodes of Johnny Bravo, and a few television commercials. Scott Innes (also the then-voice of Shaggy) voiced Scooby-Doo in the 1998-2001 direct-to-video films and continued to voice the character regularly for video games (such as Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights), toys and some commercials until 2008. Kay was selected by William Hanna to provide the voice of the computer-generated Scooby-Doo in the 2002 live-action film, but was later fired. Innes was also going to voice Scooby in the film, but was replaced with Neil Fanning, who reprised his role for its 2004 sequel. Welker has voiced Scooby since 2002, taking over beginning with What's New, Scooby-Doo? and other spin-offs including the live-action reboot film series Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster, 2020 computer-animated film Scoob!.

Frank Welker (1979, 1996–1997, 2002–present; Scooby Goes Hollywood (as Baby Scooby-Doo), What's New, Scooby-Doo?, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, Scooby-Doo! The Museum of Mysteries, Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, Scoob!, various direct-to-DVD films, specials, video games, and commercials)
Allan Melvin (1982; Yogi's Picnic)
Bill Farmer (1989–1990; ABC Family Fun Fair)
Greg Burson (1997; PrimeStar commercial, one line in Johnny Bravo)
Hadley Kay (1997–1998; Johnny Bravo, commercials) Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Scooby-Doo (original cut), Scooby-Doo! Playmobil Mini Mysteries, various video games, specials, talking toys, and commercials) Cartoon Network UK and Ireland bumpers, Boomerang UK and Ireland bumpers, CITV bumpers, Adidas commercial, Scooby-Doo! and the Pirate Ghost - Live on Stage commercial, Lego Scooby-Doo! commercial)
John Nagle (2001; Scooby-Doo! in Stagefright - Live on Stage)
David Droxler (2001; Scooby-Doo! in Stagefright - Live on Stage)
Neil Fanning (2002–2004; Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed – The Video Game)
James Arnold Taylor (2004; additional lines in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed)
Jeff Bergman (2004; Boomerang UK bumper)
Danny Bage (2009; Scooby-Doo! and the Pirate Ghost - Live on Stage)
Jess Harnell (2012; Big Top Scooby-Doo! (as Human Scooby-Doo))

Portrayed by

David Droxler (2001; Scooby-Doo! in Stagefright - Live on Stage)
Cody Collier (2013; Scooby-Doo Live! Musical Mysteries)
Eddie Arnold (2014; Scooby-Doo Live! The Mystery of the Pyramid)
Joe Goldie (2016; Scooby-Doo Live! Musical Mysteries)
Clement Chaboche (2020; Scooby-Doo! and the Lost City of Gold)
Gabriela Jovian-Mazon (2022; Scooby-Doo! and the Lost City of Gold)
Dave Coulier (2005; Robot Chicken)
Seth Green (2007–2019; Robot Chicken)
Scott McCord (2008; Yin Yang Yo!)
Kevin Shinick (2011; Mad)
Mikey Day (2012; Mad)
Andrew Dismukes (2024; Saturday Night Live)

Appearances in other media

Scooby-Doo has appeared in Johnny Bravo in the episodes "Bravo Dooby-Doo" and "'Twas the Night" during the first season, voiced both times by Hadley Kay.
In the Animaniacs episode "Back In Style", Yakko, Wakko, and Dot are loaned off to limited animation television cartoons, including a Scooby-Doo parody named Uhuru, Where Are You?. They scare and ride the show's canine star, Uhuru (voiced by Frank Welker), and injure the cast by playing fake rock and roll music.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back has a brief scene where the title characters hitch a ride in the Mystery Machine with Scooby and the gang. Scooby was voiced by Mark Hamill.
Scooby and Shaggy make a cameo appearance in the 2003 live-action/animated film Looney Tunes: Back in Action, where Shaggy berates Matthew Lillard over his portrayal of Shaggy in the 2002 live-action film and threatens to "come after" him if he screws up in the sequel.
Scooby-Doo was once impersonated by David Beckham in a 2004 Adidas commercial in the United Kingdom.
Scooby-Doo appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Operation: Rich in Spirit", voiced by Dave Coulier (who previously imitated Scooby's voice in Full House). He is amongst the Mystery Inc. members who end up killed by Jason Voorhees except Velma. Seth Green voices him in the episode "Ban on the Fun" when in the segment that spoofs Laff-A-Lympics in the style of the Munich massacre. This time, Scooby did not get killed.
Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang 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.
Scooby and Shaggy make a non-speaking cameo in Teen Titans Go! episode, "I See You" when Cyborg and Beast Boy were rapping. In the episode "The Cruel Giggling Ghoul", each Titan assumes the role of a Scooby Gang member (with Beast Boy as Scooby) to investigate a mystery at a spooky amusement park, with the help of LeBron James. Scooby later appears in the crossover episode "Cartoon Feud" along with Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma, where Control Freak forces them to compete in Family Feud, with Frank Welker reprising the role of Scooby. They later appear in the episodes "Intro" and "Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary".
In the episode "Saturday Morning Fun Pit" (7ACV19), on the Futurama series, Bender is re-conceived as a parody of Scooby-Doo, and named Bendee Boo.
Scooby-Doo is a playable character alongside Shaggy in the crossover video game Lego Dimensions. His character includes a large sandwich called the "Scooby Snack". Frank Welker reprises the role.
Scooby, along with the other four members of Mystery Inc., appears throughout the 16th episode of the 13th season of Supernatural entitled "Scoobynatural" when the two lead protagonists, Sam Winchester and his brother Dean Winchester, and their accomplice, Castiel, are transported into an episode of Scooby-Doo; the Supernatural episode itself is a crossover between the two franchises, with Frank Welker voicing Scooby-Doo in the episode.
Scooby-Doo appears in the 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy. His design is the same from the 2020 film, Scoob!.
Scooby-Doo makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms, where he is seen alongside Shaggy in his "Ultra Instinct Shaggy" form in the Warner Bros. Animation logo after the latter grabs Scorpion by the neck and pulls him into the Netherrealm.
Scooby-Doo makes a non-speaking appearance in Jellystone! in the episode "Frankenhooky", where he and the Mystery Inc. Gang stop the Ghost Chasers from attacking Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo at an abandoned cheese theme park.
Scooby-Doo appears in Fortnite during 2025's Fortnitemares. He appears with other members of Mystery Incorporated and was added to the game October 10.

Reception

Casey Kasem, the original voice actor for Shaggy Rogers, said that Scooby is "the star of the show—the Shaquille O'Neal of the show." Kasem explained, "People love animals more than they love people. Am I right or wrong? They give more love to their pets than they give to people. Scooby is vulnerable and lovable and not brave, and very much like the kids who watch. But like kids, he likes to think that he's brave."