1969 saw the TV premiere of Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby-Doo Where Are You! An originally two-season cartoon show featuring a group of four teenagers and their talking dog. The show was later expanded in 1978, with additional episodes, later marketed as its third season.
The five teenagers: Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy, and their talking dog, Scooby, travel in their Mystery Machine, an old Volkswagen van, solving mysteries.
So, to celebrate this cartoon that both Babyboomers and Millennials grew up with as it evolved, and the Gen Z’ers were able to appreciate after the fact, here are some fun facts of Scooby-Doo:
1. Scooby-Doo is one of five in a set of quintuplets named Yabba Doo, Howdy Doo, Skippy Doo, and Ruby Doo.
2. Scooby’s sister, Ruby Doo, is Scrappy Doo’s mother. Although we’re still trying to find out who is the cause for the problem child, the missing father or the mother (ha!).
3. Shaggy’s full name is Norville Shaggy Rogers.
4. The name of the show was originally Mystery/ies Five where Scooby-Doo was a rock band that solved mysteries in between performances. However, after a review of how similar the concept was to the cartoon Archie and the character Marmaduke, it was changed to the characters we all know and love.
5. The beginning of the Scooby-Doo Empire began thanks to the grassroots organization Action for Children’s Television’s (ACT) protest of the popularity of violence in Saturday morning cartoons. Which prompted Hanna-Barbera studios to create a cartoon that didn’t involve any violence.
Happy anniversary Scooby-Doo!