Scooby-Doo, Where are you! is an animated series about four teenagers and a great dane that work together to solve spooky mysteries.
The show was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and it was directed by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna.
The show starred five primary characters Shaggy a hippie, Velma a brainac, Daphnie a pretty girl with red hair that often needed rescuing, Fred a jock and the natural leader of the group, Fred also drives the gangs vehicle the mystery machine and finally Scooby-Doo a silly, loyal and cowardly great dane.
Great characters need a good voice cast and luckily the casting here was perfect – unfortunately a lot of the original voice actors have now passed away but their legacy will always live on.
Don Messick – Scooby-Doo
Casey Kasem – Shaggy
Frank Welker – Fred
Indira Stefianna – Daphne (Season 1)
Heather North – Daphne (Season 2)
Nicole Jaffe – Velma
Im not going to review every episode of the show as they are all very similar in premise and follow the same formula which is.
A paranormal monster is scaring away locals.
The Mystery Gang find a clue and decide to solve the mystery.
Mystery gang speak to someone who has seen the monster
Gang splits up and searches for clues
Shaggy and Scooby do something comedic
A gang member finds a clue which shows that the paranormal monster is not real
The gang sets a trap and catches the monster
Velma explains how they caught the monster to the authorities
Fred removes the mask and discovers its the person they spoke to earlier.
A simple formula but very effective, but this formula would not have been as great with out some outstanding monster designs and Scooby-Doo, Where Are you! had lots of great monsters. Below are some of my favourites.
The Puppet Master
Ghost Clown
Spooky Space Kook
Compared to later versions of Scooby-Doo some of the visuals in this version are actually quite scary, especially some of the monsters, The Space Kook is particularly terrifying which is one of the reasons why its one of my favourite Scooby-Doo baddies.
The shows iconic theme song didn’t actually start until the second season which is something I didn’t realise until I re-watched the series ready for this review.
The second season also introduced some original music that played during chase sequences, this is something that becomes a series staple in some future versions of the show.
For its two season run Scooby-Doo, Where are you was an outstanding start to what would eventually become a massive franchise that is still relevant to this day and while its comedy and some of its dialogue may feel a little outdated now it still manages to withhold its charm and overall likeability making this a show that has really stood the test of time.
There was a revival third season that was released in 1978 however I will cover this in a future Scooby-Doo Review
I hope you enjoyed this review of Scooby-Doo, Where are you!
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