Scooby Doo has been a 40-year series, why isn't this recognized?

M

Mrs.McFearless

New member
Even though it had several incarnations that have ended, Scooby Doo has been going on for literally 40 years.

Doesn't that make it one of the longest lasting cartoon properties in history, aside from Loony Tunes and Mickey Mouse shorts?
 
My guess is that Warner Bros. just doesn't want kids to know how old the show is. Shame, though, 'cause if they knew, it might dispel this myth that WB perpetuates that kids only like new cartoons.
 
I have to disagree with that; I'm fairly young(mid twenties) and started watching Scooby Doo when I was 11 or 12 years old, and I knew the shows were old, also I knew that the show debuted in 1969 when I became a fan of it so it didn't really bother me too much. Plus my mom works with elementary school kids and some of them love Scooby Doo; I think it really doesn't matter how old a cartoon is, if it's good kids will watch it.

Also, as for WB not wanting kids to know how old the show is; this is 2010, kids can look up information about cartoons online any time they want; I think most kids(like I was when I started watching Scooby a lot) look up info about Scooby and are suprised that it's been on for so long, I think most kids reactions when they find that out are: "1969? Boy I never knew this show was on so long, it's actually pretty funny" or "I never knew old cartoons were so good".

Back before He-Man and the toy based cartoons took over the airwaves along with Disney shows, some of the more popular cartoons on TV were older cartoons; like Looney Tunes or Popeye, those cartoons at the time they were broadcast on various TV stations around the country were probably 20, 30, heck even 40 years old; the reason they were so popular with kids is because they were fun, not because they were old.

Shows like the Flintstones and the Jetsons are almost 50 years old and people(including some kids) still watch those shows because they are funny; basically it doesn't really matter if a show has been on for 40 years or not, if it's fun and a good show, it will get ratings and people will watch, it's been that way for as long as I've watched TV and it will be that way for years to come.
 
I remember listening to Paul Dini's 'Double Feature' podcast, and his wife, Misty Lee (AKA. 'The Real Life Zatana') was talking about how Warner Bros. marketing worried about how kids would respond to Bugs Bugs turning 50 when they were making the book '50 Years, And Only One Grey Hare'. They were afraid that kids would see Bugs Bunny as 'too old', and in their mind, 'Bugs Bunny must not be seen as 50 years old, he must be seen as ageless.' Now if i recall, Bugs Bunny's 50th birthday was a huge event way back in 1990. (Heck, he even got a 'birthday' themed NES game that the Angry Videogame Nerd ripped apart.) So maybe somewhere down the line, they started to get worried about what kids would think of a 50 year old 'oscar winning rabbit' as one of their childhood icons. Two years prior, Mickey Mouse turned 60, and Disney made a big deal out of that, too. They even had a TV special which co-starred Roger Rabbit. (Mickey even made Kirstie Alley cry by accident when he wished her 'happy birthday' in that special.) I find it very odd that Warner Bros. didn't bother celebrating Scooby's 40th birthday since he's been going strong for that length of time, but their attitude of perceiving old Scoob as 'ageless' doesn't surprise me. :sad:
 
I remember being surprised the same way when I was a kid. I started watching Scooby-Doo sometime in the '80s and just assumed it was new at the time. But then one day my mom told me she used to watch it as well when she was younger, and I was like, "What?" I had no idea it had been around before I was born.
 
I don't see why they would. I know I was never bothered by the fact that my parents watched Scooby-Doo as kids or that Mickey Mouse was as old as my grandma.
 
At least Scooby Doo has had several DTVs, a recent live action TV movie and a new series on Cartoon Network on the way. The Flintstones is coming to it's 50th anniversary, and Cartoon Network Studios is doing nothing whatsoever to celebrate or even acknowledge this fact.



Yeah, kids could do that, but they won't because learning isn't cool.:p
 
Given one of Warner Bros./Time-Warner's biggest weaknesses is their marketing (a 12-year-old selling his blog online does a better job than *they* do), I'm not surprised there's no "40th anniversary" hype for Scooby, just as no 50th hype for the Flintstones (and no 80th hype for Looney Tunes), etc.

Far as Time-Warner and Cartoon Network are concerned, their only concern is short-term ratings/quarterly gains (and aping/beating Disney and Nick), so who cares about a bunch of ancient cartoons they've long since relegated to Boomerang/collect dust on a shelf? They've got more important things to do---like hyping the "Stuart Little 2"/"Son of the Mask"/reality show marathon next weekend!*

(* No, there's not really such a marathon... far as I know---I haven't checked CN's TV listings)

-B.
 
By comparison, you know how Disney celebrated Mickey's 80th birthday? By releasing some commemorative plates, a figurine, and special pez dispensers. That was it; no big event, no mention of it on television or even in the parks, just some merchandise for the collectors market that came off as an afterthought.

Disappointed the hell out of me (I was into the classic Mickey Mouse shorts at the time, so I was all warmed up for an anniversary that never properly got celebrated).
 
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