Meet Scrappy.
He's... your nephew.
Hi everyone, Andrew again.
Welcome back to Fifty-Difty-Doo!
So… it’s been a decade since the day the Scooby-Doo franchise debuted. And what has happened? Well…
In 1969, the short-fry viewing audience of America and the world were introduced to a new cartoon, starring a group of teens and their dog going on the road and solving (un-)mysteries in many places in the country. It aired on CBS and became a shockingly huge ratings success and animated sensation on Saturday mornings. The series would last for two seasons--ending on Halloween 1970, and The Eye kept it going in reruns until September 9, 1972, when the series returned as The New Scooby-Doo Movies, under a new format of hour-long outings with special guests in beloved Hollywood actors, popular musicians and characters from other Hanna-Barbera properties of the time. It also aired on the Tiffany network for two seasons until October 27, 1973, before another round of repeats until the network finally lost the rights to air the show in 1976, when the guy behind the commissioning, Fred Silverman, also left CBS, and took it with him to his new workplace/throne of operations, ABC. From there, the Alphabet network would become Scooby-Doo’s true home, better fit and the place the kids would find their much-loved muttering mutt with Rhotacism and mystery-mashing menagerie every end of the week (starting with The Scooby-Doo Show [technically a Scooby show under block shows The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour and Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics]) and would continue too... thanks to the network not cancelling it in 1979. Why?
During that year, Scooby-Doo was facing a mystery of its own: why viewership was dwindling.
Some questions, a few test meetings, several martini lunches and a visit to the Nielsen headquarters later and the mystery was solved -- the kids got tired of the same old thing.
Mystery Inc. goes to some haunted house, broken old boat or abandoned warehouse, they find some strange supernatural stuff going on, and they split up. Velma gets her smart on, Daphne gets her pretty on, Fred gets his boring on, and Shaggy & Scooby get their funny, hungry, twitchy, scaredy and ZOINKS-y on. They find clues, they get close to solving, the villain finds them, evil gives chase, they gangway, they go through doors, they dutch, and they finally capture and reveal the person (usually a guy) behind the mask, they wrangle the clues together, they help the police arrest the guy, balance is restored, everyone’s happy, Shag and Scoob do something embarrassing, and everyone laughs, the end. -- What a bore, a drag, a shame, a dupe, a bamboozle, a...
yep, a smekledorf.
Well, that’s what ABC thought from those ratings, and gave Hanna-Barbera an ultimatum: make some changes to The Show or it’s sayonara to Scooby-Doo (again) and air something else in its place. H-B complied and they got to work on what to do to make S-D fresh again -- and keep the kiddies happy, and especially stay on Abby’s good graces).
Some team meetings, late nights, group-thinks, loss of sleep, drunken stupors and a company celebration later and a new, freshly-minted tune-up to Scooby-Doo is complete (and ABC approved).
So what was that tune-up? In the form of a puppy. His name? Scrappy.
It’s Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo.
The series so far has been the same concept, characters and execution for the past decade (including reruns). Then comes Scrappy to shake things up. And he...comes at the bad guys, while Scooby runs away. And also cracks jokes and weirdly picks up and charges at the bad guys. Okay, not that fascinating. But it gets even more so as we go along.
Now let's talk a bit about everyone's favorite powerful puppy. The story of Scrappy's creation is a very fascinating one. Scrappy was introduced to bring some youthful flavor to the franchise by joining his uncle Scooby and the Mystery Inc. gang on their continuing adventures on the road to stop bad guys in costumes from scaring people and stealing stuff. His purpose is to be as young as the kids watching the show and bring his own style of stopping the baddies and even brought his own catchphrases to the mix -- like "Ruff!", "Lemme at 'Em!" and the most iconic of them all "Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-taaaaaa! PUPPYYYY POWEEEERRRR!!!'
What's not to love here??
Let's talk about his initial version. In this series, Scrappy speaks in a Brooklyn accent, is very strong for his age and size and seems to be pretty dim. These traits would toned down or be dropped entirely later on in the series' next incarnation. Here, he's…pretty good (if not very tolerable). His behavior is really cute -- he wants to help his uncle so much to save the day. Also, his bond with his uncle is very adorable. Scrapps sees his uncle Scoob as a super brave, very strong and awesome hero (despite the irony-inducing obvious). And unlike his great unc -- whom runs away from fear and hides under rugs or in closets, Scrappy runs toward the danger and wants to fight (all the while Scooby grabs the little tyke to keep him safe). And while that very high adoration did get pretty annoying at times, you can't deny the love and respect Scrappy has for Scooby is extremely heartwarming and endearing. And I don't blame Scoob for saving Scrappy over and over -- he's a little puppy whom often overestimates his strength (like most so-called "tough guys" from Brooklyn of the time).
As for his voice, I never noticed (or even knew about) the Brooklyn accent since it wasn't thick enough to recognize as a kid. And hearing it now, it feels weird hearing it now as an adult. It was revealed in the finale (where Scrappy visited some old pals) that he was from New York, so that explains everything. But to me the voice wasn't what makes Scrappy what he is to me.
As for the show itself… ehhh, same old same old. It's still the fun, intriguing, scary and funny show we all know and love, with a brand-new character we all know (...and YMMV). But here, the three characters not named Shaggy get less and less focus. I'm cool with the change but also not cool with it. Sure, Fred is a basic leader, Velma is only known for her brilliant mind (and beautiful look), and Daphne is known for her beauty and getting captured by the villains all the time. I understand they don't have much to them, while Shaggy and Scooby are known for their hilarity, unpredictability, chemistry, closeness and their unbelievable and unparalleled love of food. Add Scrappy to that and there's a three amigos for the cartoon ages. But also, I don't take too kindly about it because Fred, Vel and Daph together with Shag and Scoob make an iconic group that television animation looks up to. Sure, Scrappy adding on to this makes for a truly divisive opinion among fans, but in my opinion it doesn't make much of a difference but I like Scrappy so I like the addition, but not the toning down of three/fifths (or sixths? yeah, that) of the group.
Since I have an open-enough mind, I know Scrappy was added to boost ratings (and it worked), and with or without him it's still the same show (which I love regardless), and some people don't like him (which I understand…and yet I don't care). But I love Scrappy enough to weather it all. But the storm continues, and the strength gets heavier.
And now, Some Bits About the Production:
-The animation is on par with the other series, but a bit better here and there.
-The theme is pretty catchy but isn't my favorite. Great beat but the small lyrics (just 'Scooby/Scrappy-Dappy-Doo' thrice) aren't so. (I'll talk more about it in a special post on the franchise's theme songs down the line.)
-This incarnation introduced the third voice actress for Velma, Marla Frumpkin. She succeeded Pat Stevens, who fell ill during production and left after 11 episodes. Velma didn't even speak in the season finale.
-Scrappy was voiced here by VA legend Lennie Weinrib. It would be his only season as Scrappy before leaving after a pay dispute (he wanted a lot more cash). He would be replaced the following season/incarnation by Don Messick -- also the longtime VA of Scooby.
--In fact, Weinrib wasn't the first choice as Scrappy. Actually, the first choice was none other than industry icon Mel Blanc. He was contracted, and did work for the company before. But he was also expensive, so Mel was kaputz. Auditions were later held to find Scrappy's VA. Several were asked to perform, all were passed. One of the best candidates was Frank Welker -- also the voice of Fred. He didn't get the part (as well known); but during his audition, he ad-libbed a line that would forever be a part of Scrappy's DNA. "Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-taaaaaa! PUPPYYY POWEERRR!!!' Honestly, that makes me love and respect Welker much more. (But maybe I'll get to that for another time.)
-The show's production was not an easy one. Scrappy got his start seemingly through a heckish timetable.
--A pilot script was written, but received many notes from the H-B studio and ABC HQ.
--Scrappy had a VA in mind three more were auditioned before one was hired.
--The guy who created a competing pilot got pissed Scrappy's show got picked over his.
--Dealing with the evil forces of the Standards and Practices department
--One S&P worker thinking Scrappy was a bad role model for the kids because he was… "too independent". *facepalm*
All of these notes and many more are recollected in this incredible article written by none other than the legendary Mark Evanier. It was a fascinating piece of the past that explained Scrappy's birth better than I ever could (literally because he was there composing the episode that introduced when it happened in 1979 and I was probably still a sperm). Please read it; it's awesome. And Evanier doesn't hate Scrappy as other people (irrationally) do. Or at least in the logical sense.
During his essay on Scrappy's beginnings, Evanier mentioned that Scooby-Doo as a franchise wasn't any better or worse than before Scrappy's arrival. And I agree. While I personally love Scooby-Doo as a franchise and have largely enjoyed every show that I've gratefully watched throughout my life so far, I agree with Mr. Evanier in that on the surface, it's still the same show with the same characters acting the same ways and doing the same things from start to finish. And he brought up a great point: the Scrappy haters are few and far between that somehow have a voice large and loud enough to be noticed all these decades and it still lingers on today. They only saw Scooby-Doo as the perfect, never mistaken, underrated icon of all of animation. Then when Scrappy came in… disgusting, annoying, rotten, overrated, disease-ridden embarrassment of all of animation. Really people? (Fortunately, there are more people who openly like or even love Scrappy so it all checks out well.)
Also, I didn't realize this too until he pointed it out, but while Rooby-Roo ralks rike rhis, Scrappy talks like a normal human (or at least a normal anthropomorphic dog). While I myself personally love Scrappy, I can understand in some parts why some people don't like him. But TD;LR, I hate the fact that Scrappy has been immortalized as the lowest point of Hanna-Barbera's history. I'm not sorry this little cartoon puppy "ruined your childhood". But hey, whatever.
And that's Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. Next week, we'll take a look at… Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. *ahem*, excuse me. The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show. Yep, new season, new episodes, new format, same old Scooby, same new Scrappy. Essentially the same show.
Oh, and while it's only the beginning for Scrappy… it's the end for three characters who have made the franchise become what it was from the beginning. I won't tell who...because y'all already do.
I'm Andrew Pollard, saying "Rooby-Rooby-Roo!" (...and "Scrappy-Dappy-Doo!!")
No comments:
Post a Comment