Scooby dooby who? Why this cartoon dog is still famous

Over the years <i>Scooby Doo</i> has inspired numerous conspiracy and other theories suggesting a dark side behind the seemingly innocent cartoon.

Scooby Doo Live! Musical Mysteries is about to hit school holiday stages. It's yet another incarnation for the long-lived great dane who first saw the light of day on television in 1969 - which makes him 336 years old in dog years. Here we take a look at the some of the lesser-known aspects of one of the most successful cartoon series of all time.

What else have you boys done?

Scooby's creators, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, are still alive, aged 84 and 79 respectively. They learnt their craft working on numerous Hanna Barbera shows, such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons before turning to their own creations. When they were given a brief to come up with a cartoon show involving a gang of kids they asked casually, "Is it okay if we put a dog in it?" They spent some time deciding whether he should be a little feisty dog or a big, loveable, cowardly great dane, modelled after comedian and actor Bob Hope's screen persona. The latter character seemed to have more potential so won out. At one stage, worried about comparisons to the cartoon strip great dane Marmaduke, they made Scooby a sheepdog but soon changed him back.

A friend in high places ...

Scientist Carl Sagan was a big supporter of Scooby Doo, citing its supernatural debunking plots as a great way to help youngsters develop sceptical thinking. He once lamented that there was no analogous programme to help adult viewers do the same thing. That said, as David Kleeman, executive director of the American Centre for Children and Media once understated: "Overall, [Scooby-Doo is] just not a show that is going to overstimulate kids' emotions and tensions."

The Flintstones.

You don't have to be crazy to work at Mystery Inc but it helps ...

In "The Psychology of Cartoons", published in Wired magazine , Curtis Silver psychoanalysed the leads in Scooby Doo on the basis that only clinic psychological conditions 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 cartoon. 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 post-economic 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 draft-dodgers, united by their desire to avoid fighting and trying to drive to Canada.

Scooby and the gang.

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."

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.