I Never Liked Those Meddling Kids in Scooby Doo

But I loved Land of the Lost

Photo by Dinu J Nair on Unsplash

When I was 6, my favorite cartoon was anything with Bugs Bunny. Not only did Bugs introduce me to great literature (A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Frankenstein, The Arabian Nights) but also to classical music, including opera. Other Merrie Melodie cartoons introduced me to The Blue Danube and classic fairy tales. Those were my favorites.

Then there was Scooby Doo. I was thinking about this show the other day when I heard about a reboot of the classic cartoon called Velma. Except the latest version doesn’t have the famous Great Dane.

So, what’s the point, I thought? Even though I never really cared for the original.

I think it was because the plot was formulaic, even to my 6-year-old self. Every episode, you got to hear about “those meddling kids”. But they didn’t really seem like kids. Or, at least, Fred and Daphne didn’t.

I didn’t really like any of the characters except for Scooby. I mean, it’s hard not to like a goofy dog, particularly when you’re a kid. I thought Scooby was the only reason to watch the show.

On the other hand, Carl Sagan apparently liked the show since it debunked paranormal claims and always provided a reasonable explanation for such phenomena. It was like garlic to…