who? Kids should meddle, dogs are sweet, life is groovy, and if something scares you, you should confront it.
could explain why they consistently act so irrationally. Fred, for instance, he diagnosed as a classic narcissist as evidenced by not just his vanity but also his inability to listen to others’ opinions, until there is no alternative, at which point he will claim credit for them. Scooby himself suffers from dissociative identity disorder — he’s a dog but he thinks he’s a person, often walking upright on two legs, wearing disguises and talking.
As Silver sums up the gang: “While each of them suffers from some sort of mental disorder that would cause problems for them in most social situations, the social situation of solving crazy mysteries at amusement parks is the perfect environment for their combined issue.”
Don’t tell me that’s just a coincidence . . . Over the years Scooby Doo has inspired numerous conspiracy and other theories suggesting a dark side behind the seemingly innocent carton. They can be found on Reddit, the natural home for all theories that no one should take at all seriously. Although, the idea that the gang lives in a country in a state of posteconomic collapse is certainly plausible when you consider all the abandoned and run-down theatres and amusement parks they come across. Another theory has it that Scooby Snacks contain depressant drugs. Evidence of this is that Scooby and Shaggy get very jumpy if they don’t have their snacks but soon calm down once they’ve had a taste. Some people, citing the show’s debut while the Vietnam War was in progress, believe that the gang are in fact draftdodgers, united by their desire to avoid fighting and trying to drive to Canada. A dog’s famous best friends . . . Scooby Doo pioneered the celebrity guest star in animated form which has become a staple of cartoon series such as Family Guy and The Simpsons. Guests included Monkee Davey Jones, Sonny and Cher, Dick Van Dyke, Kiss and, perhaps inevitably, Weird Al Yankovic.
The real mystery about Scooby Doo ... is just why a cartoon that’s inferior to so many others has outlived so many and is still being produced and repeated and reinvented today. Most attempts to explain its appeal end up mumbling something about good, simple fun being rare these days and how children enjoy the reassurance of repetition (every show is the same). Hank Stuever, writing in The Washington
Post probably came closest to an explanation, summing up the show’s message as “Kids should meddle, dogs are sweet, life is groovy, and if something scares you, you should confront it.”
How you like them puppies?
Scooby’s catchy name has inevitably inspired punning commercial names. There’s a canine waste removal company based in Winnipeg called Scoopy Doo. And a sports bra manufacturer calling its product Booby-do received a gentle warning from the owners of the trademark before agreeing to come up with another name for their lingerie.
You should see his trophy room. Although nominated for several Emmy awards, none of the
Scooby series has ever won one. However, Scooby himself was 22nd on TV Guide’s list of the 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time and was 13th on Animal Planet’s list of the 50 greatest TV animals, between the Lone Ranger’s Silver and that show pony, Rin Tin Tin. ● See Show time, page 5