Scooby-Doo Day!

Today is Scooby-Doo Day and of course Scooby-Doo and the gang deserve their own day.  They have been popular with kids and adults since the 1960’s.  This rag-tag group of kids and their dog travel around solving ghostly anonymities in their van known as the Mystery Machine.  The gang consists of Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, and their brown Great Dane, Scooby Doo.  The Saturday morning cartoon was first called “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” and was started for the Hanna-Barbera Productions.

From the moment of it inception, it was a hit and spun-off many other series based on the characters, even a few movies.  Scooby’s family got bigger with the addition of his cousin Scooby-Dum and nephew Scrappy-Doo.  Their shenanigans played out for all to see, catching the person behind the ghosts such as Old Man Smithers for example.  You can find all kinds of Scooby-Doo merchandise in the stores and online.

Many voiced each character throughout the years:

Scooby-Doo:  The loveable dog was first voiced by Don Messick from 1969 to 1997.  Hadley Kay brought Scooby to life in the Johnny Bravo episode in 1997 while Scott Innes uttered Scooby’s “Rut-ro” from 1998 to 2001.  Today, Frank Welker is voicing the endearing pooch in the latest series and video games.

Norville “Shaggy” Roger:  Casey Kasem was the first to give this cool and not-so calm hippy/beatnik a voice.  He was Shaggy from 1969 to 1997.  After Casey was Billy West (1998 Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island), Casey Kasem again (2002 to 2009), and after appearing in two live action films as Shaggy, Matthew Lillard took over the cartoon vocal sounds in 2010.

Fred Jones:  Just as he voiced Scooby Doo, Frank Welker also added his vocal sound to Fred as well.  Frank has been the speaker behind the tall, blonde, somewhat dapper leader of the gang since 1969 and still brings Freddie to life even today.  Freddie Prinze Jr. and Robbie Amell played Fred in the live-action movies.

Daphne Blake:  She is the pretty redhead who loves purple and pink.  This stylish gal was first voiced by Stefanianna  Christopherson but for only one season.  Heather North took over in 1970, and then Mary Kay Bergman until 2000 and after her is Grey DeLisle who is the present voice of Daphne.  Sarah Michelle Gellar and Kate Melton played her in the live-action movies.

Velma Dinkley:  Velma is the brains of the group whose wardrobe consists of the color orange.  This smart gal was first voiced by Nicole Jaffe from 1969 to 1974.  After Nicole she was voiced by Pat Stevens (1976 to 1979), Marla Frumkin (just briefly), B.J. Ward (1997 to 2001), and finally Mindy Cohn (The Facts of Life’s Natalie Green) from 2002 to present.  Linda Cardellini and Hayley Kiyoko played her in the live-action movies.

Scrappy-Doo:  He was the obnoxious nephew of Scooby Doo and first voiced by Lennie Weinrib in 1979 to 1980.  Don Messick took over the role of Scrappy-Doo in 1980 to 1988 throughout the Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show.  Scott Innes got to perform the voice of Scrappy in the live-action movie where he was an annoying, jealous of Scooby, peed on Daphne to mark his turf, wanting to take over the world bad pup.