Scooby-Doo, that big, hungry, cowardly yet charismatic, often unintentionally heroic and loveable Great Dane, and his four human sidekicks, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne & Velma, made their debut over 35 years ago, 1969 to be exact, and the Mystery Inc. gang are still going strong today, with countless follow up cartoons (including the loathsome "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo"), the direct to to video Scooby movies (Zombie Island, Witch's Ghost, Alien Invaders, etc) and the live action movies starring husband/wife team Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini. And it was all inspired by a Frank Sinatra song...
How does Scooby & the gang do it? Given their predictable formula, the Mystery Inc gang thwarting "nut jobs in Halloween costumes" every episode, could have gone horribly stale and would have killed countless weaker shows, but somehow, Scooby & the gang endured. Also the characters are not incredibly diverse: Fred the stalwart leader who looks like a blond Captain Kirk with a knack for building traps due to usually ignored past history as a boy scout(as movie Velma put it, "He was so handsome... and he really knew how to accessorize."), Daphne the red head who keeps getting captured (but she would stumble upon clues and showed in the episode "Hassle In The Castle" that she had the potential to defend herself, as shown when she accidentally hit Shaggy with the vase), Velma the straight arrow brains of the outfit, and Shaggy the gangly goof-ball chicken with a passion for eating. So how do they do it? Well, for one thing, there are tons of repetitive shows out there (admit it, "Batman: The Animated Series" was basically about Batman thwarting villains every episode or two parter) who's characters may grow but remain the same at the core. 2, Scooby is hard not to like because he's very inoffensive as a protagonist, as are his human companions, and he's probably the only hero to openly admit that he's scared on a regular basis.
Another part of the appeal must be the physical comedy of Scooby and Shaggy (he's not a stoner, DAMN IT!), and that great theme song (too bad the theme wasn't used in EVERY INCARNATION). Sadly, some of the follow up broke the gang up to where it was just Daphne with Shaggy & Scooby or just Scooby & Shaggy, who were probably the most popular characters out of the bunch, but as we all know, Scooby was at his best when he was with the rest of the gang.
So I can't completely explain it, but I thank God for Scooby-Doo. Long live Scooby & the gang.
How does Scooby & the gang do it? Given their predictable formula, the Mystery Inc gang thwarting "nut jobs in Halloween costumes" every episode, could have gone horribly stale and would have killed countless weaker shows, but somehow, Scooby & the gang endured. Also the characters are not incredibly diverse: Fred the stalwart leader who looks like a blond Captain Kirk with a knack for building traps due to usually ignored past history as a boy scout(as movie Velma put it, "He was so handsome... and he really knew how to accessorize."), Daphne the red head who keeps getting captured (but she would stumble upon clues and showed in the episode "Hassle In The Castle" that she had the potential to defend herself, as shown when she accidentally hit Shaggy with the vase), Velma the straight arrow brains of the outfit, and Shaggy the gangly goof-ball chicken with a passion for eating. So how do they do it? Well, for one thing, there are tons of repetitive shows out there (admit it, "Batman: The Animated Series" was basically about Batman thwarting villains every episode or two parter) who's characters may grow but remain the same at the core. 2, Scooby is hard not to like because he's very inoffensive as a protagonist, as are his human companions, and he's probably the only hero to openly admit that he's scared on a regular basis.
Another part of the appeal must be the physical comedy of Scooby and Shaggy (he's not a stoner, DAMN IT!), and that great theme song (too bad the theme wasn't used in EVERY INCARNATION). Sadly, some of the follow up broke the gang up to where it was just Daphne with Shaggy & Scooby or just Scooby & Shaggy, who were probably the most popular characters out of the bunch, but as we all know, Scooby was at his best when he was with the rest of the gang.
So I can't completely explain it, but I thank God for Scooby-Doo. Long live Scooby & the gang.