# Scooby-Doo Scooby-Doo is the Hanna-Barbera animated mystery franchise that premiered in 1969 and grew into a fixture of internet joke culture through stoner readings of Shaggy and Scooby, Velma appreciation posts on Tumblr, and endlessly quoted lines like "you meddling kids." The Mystery Inc. gang's unmasking gag turned into a reusable template long before anyone called it a meme format. ## Origin Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears for Hanna-Barbera and premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969[4]. It ran for two original seasons, wrapping in 1971, then stayed in CBS rotation until 1976 before spinning off into a chain of revivals through the 1980s and 1990s, including Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo in 1979 and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo in 1988[4]. The core premise, four teenagers and a talking dog rolling around in the Mystery Machine unmasking supposed ghosts as costumed grifters, kept resurfacing in new formats and fed decades of quotable moments that fans later hauled onto the internet. - **Platform:** CBS (show origin) / Tumblr (fandom spread) - **Creator:** Joe Ruby and Ken Spears (show creators); meme usages are fan-made and largely unattributed - **Date:** 1969 ## Overview The meat of Scooby-Doo's meme life sits in a few recurring gags that fans keep pulling apart. The best known is the unmasking scene, where the gang rips a rubber mask off a supposed ghost to reveal a scheming adult, a beat that fan communities repurposed for political and pop-culture reveal jokes. The runner-up is Shaggy's stoner coding, which Urban Dictionary entries have long joked "subconciously makes you want to smoke weed," complete with running bits about the Mystery Machine, the munchies, and the paranoid vibes[1]. Then there is Velma. Tumblr blogs like zoinksyeahscoobydoo built a whole aesthetic around her, with posts arguing that "the show should be called Velma" and cosplay pictures pairing her with X-Men's Cyclops, both fumbling for their glasses on the floor[2]. The 2010-2013 Cartoon Network revival Mystery Incorporated had its own fandom Tumblr running production teasers, sneak peeks and Crystal Cove lore around the Planispheric Disk[3]. Add in the 2002 live-action films with Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini, and Scooby-Doo works from a decades-deep bench of jokes that keep circulating. ## How to Use The unmasking template is used by dropping a "let's see who this really is" caption over a photo of an unmasked person or thing, mimicking the show's reveal beat. The "you meddling kids" line typically punctuates jokes about scheming villains foiled by nosy critics or journalists. Stoner riffs on the show pair Shaggy and Scooby with jokes about their perpetual munchies and the Mystery Machine[1], while Velma appreciation posts often play on the "the show should be called Velma" running gag from Tumblr fandom[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Scooby-Doo? An American Hanna-Barbera animated mystery series that started in 1969 and became a long-running source of internet jokes about unmasking villains, stoner-coded characters and Velma appreciation[4]. ### Where did Scooby-Doo come from? Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the show for Hanna-Barbera, and it first aired on CBS on September 13, 1969[4]. ### What does Scooby-Doo mean? Urban Dictionary lists "Scooby Doo" as both the show and a slang verb meaning to check something out, as in "we heard about this party, so we 'ScoobyDoo'd' it"[1]. ### How do you use Scooby-Doo? Common uses include the unmasking-reveal template, the "meddling kids" quote for foiled-villain jokes and Shaggy/Scooby stoner riffs referencing the Mystery Machine[1]. ### Is Scooby-Doo still popular? The official Scooby-Doo Facebook page had over 17 million likes as of April 2014, and the franchise has kept spinning off revivals across decades[4]. ### Who created Scooby-Doo? Animation writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! for Hanna-Barbera[4]. ### When did the first live-action Scooby-Doo movie release? The live-action Scooby-Doo film opened in theaters on June 14, 2002[5]. ### Who starred in the live-action Scooby-Doo films? Freddie Prinze Jr. played Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar played Daphne, Matthew Lillard played Shaggy and Linda Cardellini played Velma[5]. ### How much did the Scooby-Doo films earn? The 2002 film grossed over $275 million worldwide[8], and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed pulled in more than $181 million[9]. ### What did critics think of the films? The 2002 film scored 30% on Rotten Tomatoes[6] and 35 on Metacritic[7], while the 2004 sequel dropped to 21% on Rotten Tomatoes[10] and 34 on Metacritic[11]. ### What are the main Scooby-Doo TV revivals? Notable revivals include Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979-1980), A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988-1991), What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002-2006) and Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013)[4]. ### Why is Velma a fandom favorite? Tumblr blogs like zoinksyeahscoobydoo built a running gag that "the show should be called Velma," pairing her with cross-fandom cosplay bits like the Cyclops-glasses joke[2]. ## References 1. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Scooby%20Doo]() 2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131007022349/https://zoinksyeahscoobydoo.tumblr.com/]() 3. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130326233323/https://scoobydoomysteryincorporated.tumblr.com/]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scooby-doo]() 5. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0267913/]() 6. [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1112357_scoobydoo]() 7. [https://www.metacritic.com/movie/scooby-doo]() 8. [https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=scoobydoo.htm]() 9. [https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=scoobydoo2.htm]() 10. [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/scooby_doo_2_monsters_unleashed]() 11. [https://www.metacritic.com/movie/scooby-doo-2-monsters-unleashed]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/scooby-doo Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library