Nostalgia Trip: Scooby Doo

Well, I promised that my Nostagia Trip posts would return at some point, and this week's entry was a no-brainer.

My five year old daughter started watching cartoons on the Boomerang TV channel about three weeks ago, which features classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Hair Bear Bunch, and, of course, Scooby Doo, Where Are You (to give the show the correct title). She was immediately hooked on the adventures of the cowardly canine and his partnership with the irrepressible Shaggy. These are the original cartoons from 1969-1970, so they are as old as I am. Thankfully, there's no trace of (ugh!) Scrappy Doo. Judging by the amount of Scooby-related paraphernalia in our local stores, either Scooby is enjoying a comeback, or he really never went away and I didn't notice.

As anyone with young children will tell you, there is nothing worse than being forced to sit through repetitive kid's shows that keep them entertained while sucking the jelly out of your brain. So I'm quite content that she seems to be addicted to this show, because watching them again is a nostalgia blast. It's actually relaxing to watch a show where no one has a cellphone, or jumps on the internet, and everyone is down to earth and not looking to become the next wannabe celebrity. Yes, there's a formula. I could describe every script using five fingers. (1. Kids get stuck. 2. There's a mystery and a spooky legend 3. They find some clues. 4. Shaggy and Scooby get chased around. 5. The baddie is taken out, and proves to be the first guy we met.) But the sum is more than the parts, with the comic interplay and one-liners hitting the spot. For example, Shaggy says something like "Scooby Doo, you found a shoe!" and my daughter laughs so much she turns to me and repeats the line, adding her own variations. Good times.

I love the fashions (poo-poo to the designers who tried to "update" them in the later series) and the appealing naivety of the kids.

When I was growing up, I never thought of them as teenagers, more like young twenty-somethings who did this for a living. Now, it's easier to pin the gang as High School misfits who find a common bond. Nowadays, I'm afraid the preppie kids would just sneer and leave Shaggy and his strange dog alone. And the girl with glasses would stay at home listening to Sara Bareilles and Jaymay on her i-Pod.

There's a lot of myths (and some truths) about the show and the in-jokes. Daphne still radiates that hottie vibe but, on reflection, her helplessness and ability to find a (ahem!) booby trap anywhere and fall in it let her off the hook.

Leaving aside the tragic tale of the Christmas ornament that (mysteriously) vanished, which I will recount another time, some of the more interesting collectibles available include a set of grape jellies going for $25, some russian nesting dolls, and a waffle iron.

Here's the famous opening theme: