Remember zoinks, jinkies, and ‘let’s split up, gang’? Yep, we’re talking Scooby-Doo, the iconic TV series that debuted half a century ago. Boy, now I feel old. And you can never trick Scooby’s cult fan base that has been glued to screens for longer than I've walked this earth.
So when this spot-on summary of Scooby-Doo's evolution resurfaced thanks to one Tumblr user, it left everyone scratching their heads. When the Scooby crew from the years 1969 to 2015 was compared side-by-side, it became obvious. A $3 budget went way further in the '70s than it goes in 2015.
Let's take a look at the hilarious overview below. Caution! It's likely to cause nostalgic feelings for the good ol' Scooby-Dooby-Doo days with pitch-imperfect animation and spooky one-liners.
1969-1971: Let’s see if we can make a show on a budget of 3 dollars
Image credits: CBS
1972-1973: Hey! We have a real budget now! Let’s use it to hire movie stars to make cameos!
Image credits: CBS
1988-1991: Let’s give parody and quality animation a whirl
Image credits: ABC
Scooby-Doo made his debut on September 13, 1969 with the premiere of “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” on CBS-TV. It was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears for Hanna-Barbera Productions.
The TV show gained such a cult following, it was translated into 15 different languages. Arabic, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish are among the languages Scooby has “spoken” over the decades.
Now that those meddling kids have turned 50, Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma have entered the universal lexicon. Phrases like “Jinkies!”, “Ruh-roh!”, “Looks like we've got another mystery on our hands," and many more are now unmistakable references in popular culture.
1988-2005: Guys. Guys. Guys. What if… We put actual effort into this?
Image credits: The WB Television Network
2002-2005: That was haaaaaaaaard. Let’s just bank off the previous movies.
Image credits: The WB Television Network
2006-2008: WHAT THE [HELL] IS A SCOOBY
Image credits: The CW Television Network
No wonder Scooby is one of the most popular animation franchises in the Warner Bros. portfolio for kids and family. “Scooby ranks #2 (just behind Batman) in both familiarity and product ownership with kids 6-12,” said Maryellen Zarakas, senior vice president at Warner Bros.
Mark Evanier, who wrote several episodes of Scooby-Doo, said that “there’s something compelling about the format that’s predictable and unpredictable at the same time. Some of them are very clever.” Basically, it has all that a good mystery needs to have but is distilled down to fit a kid’s world.
2010-2013: Let’s reinvent ourselves here. Let’s break the mold. Let’s focus on story lines and character development with less focus on the monster of the week and more focus on an over arching story line
Image credits: Cartoon Network
2015: Let’s see if we can make a show on a budget of 3 dollars
Image credits: Cartoon Network
Scooby-Doo’s long-lasting appeal was revived again in a viral #ScoobDance TikTok challenge that racked up a total of more than 1.9 billion views. The challenge was promoted as a part of Warner Bros.' new release of the animated feature “Scoob!” which is said to debut on May 15th. But due to the coronavirus shutdowns, the film is said to forgo a traditional theatrical release and will hit video-on-demand instead.
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