User blog:ARTaylor/50 Years of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. The series lasted forty-one episodes across three seasons. It ran from September 9th, 1969 to October 31st, 1970 and was then picked up for a revival from September 9th, 1978 to November 4th, 1978. The show followed the adventures of four teenagers named Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy along with their talking dog Scooby-Doo who would encounter seemingly supernatural events only to solve the very real mystery behind it.

The show was produced by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna at Hanna-Barbera Productions, becoming one of their most iconic franchises. It started a large media franchise that continues to this day. It was well known for its "bubblegum" pop music, a feature that would influence many of the following Hanna-Barbera productions.

The franchise has gone on to include thirteen additional shows, six programming blocks, sixteen television films and specials, thirty-three direct-to-video features, five live-action adaptations, and twelve video games, four amusement park rides, a comic book series, and one theatrically released animated film currently in production. The characters have become staples in popular culture, frequently ranked among the most popular in fiction. Many fans have duplicated the iconic vehicle the Mystery Machine. It briefly held the world record for most episodes of an animated series produced. It has been ranked among the best animated series ever made.

Barbera and Hanna wrote, produced, and directed the series. The series features the talents of Don Messick as Scooby-Doo, Frank Welker as Fred Jones, June Foray as a gypsy fortune teller, Hal Smith as Big Ben, Keye Luke as Mr. Fong, as well as Vic Perrin and John Stephenson doing additional voices.