Anniversary - Scooby Doo!

Scooby Doo is 45 years old. Oh, my! How old am I, again? 

This most reluctant canine sleuth and his bizarre group of human minders was my first favorite Saturday morning cartoon series as a young lad. Although there are many criticisms that can be leveled against the show (repetitive plots, repetition of animated backgrounds, silly ideas, etc) this character has brought so much joy and happiness to me and, indeed, to at least three generations of kids and kids at heart that I feel all can be forgiven. The show is simplicity itself - Scooby and the gang drive around the country in their awesome van named The Mystery Machine and solve mysteries. Now, even at a young age I wondered just how these young folks were able to afford all this travel and all those Scooby Snacks since I never saw them getting paid for their hard work. Where did the gas money come from? How were those hamburgers bought? As I got older I created a possible side story about how Shaggy was actually a criminal mastermind pulling off heists in each town the gang drove through to finance the ghost busting 'fun' side of life. But I digress.

Nothing makes me happier about this character than the fact that he is just as beloved by the current crop of young cartoon loving kids as he was to me and mine. Scooby Doo is one the great pop culture icons in American entertainment history even if we have to squint to forget the Scrappy Doo years. Those were dark days.