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On Shaggy’s Dog


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I dedicate this post to Princess Pancake, who is currently spending time with her grandmother

Scooby-Doo is a talking, brown Great Dane and companion of Shaggy Rogers

Real name Scoobert “Scooby” Doo

#22 on TV Guide’s Greatest Cartoon Characters

Scooby hangs around four teenagers—Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville “Shaggy” Rogers

The teens and Scooby are Mystery, Inc …. and ride in a van painted in psychedelic colors known as the Mystery Machine

Here’s a Scooby Moment

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Creation
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (the original show name) debuted on September 13, 1969 with What a Night for a Knight

Broadcast on CBS from 1969 to 1976, when it moved to ABC

17 produced the first season

Remains in production today

Created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears with artist/character designer Iwao Takamoto

Creation was in response to parent organizations complaining about excessive violence in Saturday morning cartoons

Originally called Mysteries Five – and Scooby was called Too Much

Frank Sinatra’s “doo-be-doo-be-doo” in Strangers in the night inspired the name change to Scooby Doo, and renaming the show Scooby-Doo, Where are You!

Theme song was written by David Mook and Ben Raleigh, and performed by Larry Marks and Paul Costello

I Love a Mystery and Dobie Gillis influenced the writers in the early episodes

Show was an instant success with ratings as high as 65%

Tribute

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The Voice

  • Scooby was originally voiced by Don Messick, and remained the voice in every Scooby-Doo production from 1969 until his death in 1997
  • Scooby speech resembles Astro (The Jetsons), who was also voiced by Messick (who also voiced Mutley)
  • Scooby has a speech impediment and tends to pronounce most words as if they begin with an “R”,
  • “Ruh-roh, Raggy!”
  • Don Messick originated the character’s voice patterns, and provided Scooby-Doo’s
  • Radio DJ Casey Kasem voiced Shaggy

Enjoy Part 1 of the premier episode, What a Night for a Knight

60 thoughts on “On Shaggy’s Dog”

  3. Ah, Frank, my favourite cartoon of all time. I loved Scooby Doo when I was younger… and still do today!!! I can’t believe it only reached number 22 though. It’s number one in my eyes!

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    • Ellie,
      Scooby has been around long enough that I’m sure he’s had several makeovers. I feel the same way about other classics. Glad to see that he’s a hit on the Emerald Isle!

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  7. Grandson still sleeps with Scooby Doo every night, a gift from his dad when he was much younger. When the girls were younger we had a Hanna Barberaland near us. Still have the video of daugher #1 and friends solving a mystery at the haunted mansion!

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    • Gorgette,
      As you know, Hanna Barbera was big back in the day. At our amusement park, Kings Island, HB characters were very prominent in the early years. Hope your grandson sees this post. 😉

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  10. Scoobys real name was Scoobert? I found that so funny and I had no idea Shaggys name was Norville ?? LOVED the show when I was growing up. Great post!

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  11. Scooby Doo is still my favorite cartoon to this very day. Even today’s kids know who he is.

    Suddenly I have a craving for an anchovy, mayonnaise, hot fudge covered pizza. Mmm…..

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    • H.E.,
      Although I have a preference of pre-Scooby characters, then again, that was my era. One thing for sure, Scooby-Doo has longevity on this side!

      Many thanks for stopping by as I’m touched by the presence of someone with such stature.

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  21. Frank, as always I appreciate your cartoon posts, but I never got into Scooby Doo. Maybe blame where I stand on the generational divide (which I think is right behind you). I am aware of Scooby’s speech impediment thanks to friends that find imitating him irresistible, even though I find that insufferable. When it debuted I had pretty much stopped watching cartoons on network TV. When I started getting into animation again a few years later, I was into more sophisticated fare like what was coming out of the National Film Board of Canada and Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Scooby was the sort of show I could see watching when I used to get high and satiate my munchies with Fiddle Faddle. Then, I could mindlessly watch anything on TV this side of a test pattern, but I don’t think that Scooby Doo was playing at that hour.

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    • Lame,
      I didn’t watch Scooby-Doo. But, realizing that he is #22 and that I did this for a reader’s granddaughter, he was worth doing. Besides, the generation behind you seems to love him, and he has survived a long time!

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  24. I’m late to come around, Frank. I wondered what cartoon you had for us! Scooby came along after I was so much older that I didn’t really pay much attention at the time. Later, when my own children were old enough they watched this cartoon some so i certainly knew him. He was never a favorite of mine, but I think that’s irrelevant. He is popular enough that I know the theme song and recognize the characters! I will always like the older ones best, but isn’t that the way we all are. We are very nostalgic with our own personal cartoons! 🙂

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    • Rita Kay,
      Welcome first-time commenter … and sorry for my delayed response. Glad you enjoyed Shaggy. I like to feature cartoon characters from my youth on Saturday posts – but not every Saturday.

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  28. never liked scooby. every episode was the same. there’s a haunted place, some kind of ghost or monster seen. they investigate. sheriff comes out. set a trap. eventually they catch the guy. often the sheriff was in on it. pull off the mask. “it’s farmer brown!” “yes, he was keeping people away so he could find the treasure.” “yeah, and i would have done it too, if it hadn’t been for those meddling kids!”

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