OK, so I'm a ham!  Ok all you artists, study this and get me right! Poor Velma! By John Likeglass (pen name)

It is easy for us to look back at the work done thirty-some years ago and make fun of the animation, but back then, it was true cutting edge. Remember, Scooby Doo was a Saturday morning serial cartoon. These were done on a shoe-string budget in almost a production line basis. There was no such thing as computer-aided graphics! Consider what a radical change there was from the simple backgrounds of such cartoons as The Flintstones to the intricate backgrounds used in the Scooby Doo series. You can see how this was a whole new step in the state of the art. Sure, Disney had produced some great animated features, but these were large budget "events", not weekly series. Hanna Barbara, by comparison, was a small company. When we take that into account, the work they did on Scooby was no less than fantastic! Still, there is some room to laugh at the bloopers and goofs!


The Artwork

I thought I was pretty thin in this one!I am a Velma fan, so my focus naturally is on the goofs made using her character. In production, many people do the actual artwork, and each seemed to have their own take on how Velma should be drawn! Sometimes, she had freckles, sometimes not! Some drew her as a thin girl in baggy clothing, others drew her quite chubby. And then there were the glasses.... Hey Shaggy, like my white specs?On average, the exact style of the frames changed five times each show! Sometimes in the same scene! 3D perspective was pretty much guesswork back then, so as the poor girl turned her head, the glasses would change! My favorite blooper came from the paint department, who in one scene forgot to paint in the frames, giving her for the moment a set of sporty white specs! (Scooby Doo Movies / Batman and Robin) Oh! another one was on Mine Your Own Business. When they first go into the hotel, for some unknown reason, Velma is wearing lipstick! And then, of course, there were story-board problems. Remember the episode where the gang helped the Three Stooges with the mine-town amusement park? Velma falls through a trapdoor and the gang sets out to look for her. Problem is in the next scene, she is shown helping them with the search! Oops! Daphne talked me into it!

Then there is the Mystery Machine. Lots of problems with inconsistencies. Often, the gang is pictured looking out the rear windows, yet most exterior shots show there are no windows! Also, what powered the thing? The engine is not up front, in the middle, or in the back! What windows???

The list of bloopers for the series is a long one. Maybe, with the help of other dedicated fans, I will undertake compiling a web page of goofs! I like to laugh at other people's mistakes because I make so many of my own! In no way should this be taken as criticism of the work Hanna Barbara did on Scooby. I have watched and loved the series for the last thirty years! Every show has out-takes and they are always fun to watch!

Update!  Here's a whole page of bloopers another site put together! (Don't forget to come back!)

And here is what has been sent in to us.


The Buy Out

I wonder how many Scooby Snacks HB cost?As every Scooby fan knows, Hanna Barbara was bought out by Warner Brothers. (Now merged with AOL) There is now new hope for the SD franchise. We all watched as the gang faded away, and mutations such as Scrappy Doo were thrown in! I was cheered a bit when A Pup Named Scooby Doo was aired, although like many of you, I missed the old original format. When WB announced "Zombie Island" I thought I died and went to Scooby Heaven! Many complain about the fact that some of the rules were broken with the plot-line in this movie, and I agree with these complaints... But.... I feel it was a small price to pay to bring the best cartoon series of all time back to life! Now, there several new feature length cartoons "The Witch's Ghost", "Alien Invaders" and a new live action movie. My only regret is that many of the old voices could not be used. We were all saddened by Don Messick's passing, but what about Casey Kasem and the others?


Nicole in "The Trouble With Girls"Nicole Jaffe, Where are you?Nicole, I sure hope you are ok!

In researching the Scooby history, there is one void I had problems filling. What happened to Nicole Jaffe? We all know that she gave life to the part of Velma. The slight grittiness as well as the way she annunciated her words made her the perfect Velma. The problem was, I could not find anything out about her! She played "Betty" (pictured here) in an Elvis movie in the late 60's, but other than that, she seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth! What actually happened is she got married and her name changed! Her new name is Nicole David, and she now works as an agent for the William Morris Agency.  (See more on Nicole on the "Casting" page.) There is also a bit more about her at this Elvis Fan Site. 

 

Nicole Jaffe Update / Pic of Pat Stevens

Pat Stevens in a 1998 interviewWhen Nicole left, Pat Stevens took her place and provided the voice from 1974 to 1979. In an October 1998 interview, Pat indicated just how much fun the series was to do! Unfortunately, with the introduction of Scrappy-doo, Velma was cut from the show, and Pat was out of work. She now teaches acting.

 

For more information about some of the other Velma's, see our Casting page!

As more information comes in about the show, I will be updating this page from time to time. It looks like the Warner Brothers / AOL buyout has given Scooby and the gang a bright future and I am looking forward to the new shows that lie ahead. (And hoping that Scrappy does not crawl out of the woodwork!)

Nicole Jaffe has returned!!!

In "Legend of the Vampire", Nicole has come back to reprise her part after a 30 year absents! 

Click on the picture for more info! 


Bloopers sent in by site fans:

Nightshade 12/19/02
In one of the original episodes, Velma has a stutter! In "A Clue For Scooby Doo", every time the poor child tries to say "Captain Cuttler", what comes out is something along the lines of: "Captain C-cuttler". Sometimes she stutters on the first word as well. (Not only was this unfortunate, but Cartoon Network chose to play the episode with Jagwaro right after that, causing Velma's voice to drop a good two octaves. Poor child, I guess she is about that age...^_^I have no right to talk.)

Chcooke 12/20/03
An "intentional" blooper was brought to attention from the live-action Scooby movie. Afte getting knocked over by the water spray of a hose, Velma hangs upside down in a chain by one foot. But in this position, her skirt doesn't flip over. To maintain the "family" movie integrity, Velma's underwear could not be shown (even though she's flashed them several times on the cartoon!).


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