The long running era of the Saturday morning cartoon has officially ended, but no one can stop you from fulfilling your true weekend calling. Cartoons and Saturday mornings were made for each other and no one can tell us otherwise. It is to that end that we maintain vigil, bringing you animated selections each Saturday morning until the internet dies, or until we run out, good thing there’s always reruns.
“Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” Created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears; Starring Don Messick, Casey Kasem, Nicole Jaffe, Frank Welker, and Stefanianna Christopherson. Originally aired September 13, 1969.
“Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” debuted in 1969 and was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears for CBS and Hannah-Barbera in an attempt to placate parent watch groups who were protesting the super-hero cartoons of the sixties.
Scooby-Doo and the gang were meant to represent non-violent children’s programming while maintaining the sense of heroes solving crimes or mysteries.
While the original series only ran for 25 episodes it has had a long running influence on popular programming. The show inspired other series with similar models of a group of kids solving mysteries with a non-human sidekick or mascot, think “Josie and the Pussycats.”
In addition, the franchise has never really died, spawning reboots and spin-offs throughout most of its more than forty year history including “Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo,” “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,” and “Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated,” among others. In addition, there have been countless feature length animated movies and crossover with other characters including Batman and Robin.
While the inhabitants of the mystery mobile have captured the imaginations of children for decades, they also have a considerable following among adults who grew up with the show and now relive their nostalgia or share it with their children.
The Scooby-Doo franchise has also been hailed by scientists and skeptics including Carl Sagan who mentioned the characters in his book “The Demon-Haunted World” as a good example of children’s programming that can teach critical thinking and equip them with what he called a baloney detector. He also called for an adult equivalent to balance out the effects popular supernatural shows like “The X-Files” which lean toward supernatural explanations.
If history is any indicator, Scooby-Doo and his pals won’t be going away anytime soon. Fred, Velma, Shaggy, Daphne, and Scooby have imprinted themselves in the public consciousness so deeply that our children’s children will be watching them pull masks off villains when we’re old enough to be old Mr. Wetherby.