I covered some of this on my page "The Many Faces of Velma", but it
has been a while and there have been a few more Velmas! Much of the
characteristics of Velma played off the personalities of the voice actresses
behind the scenes.
So, shall we base it on one specific voice actress?
Here is what a quick search revealed as all those who voiced Velma: |



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Nicole Jaffe
was the original voice in 1969
Pat Stevens voiced the role from 1976 to 1979
Christina Lange was Velma in A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
B. J. Ward voiced Velma from 1997 to 2002
Mindy Cohn assuming the role in 2002
Linda Cardellini appears as Velma in the live-action films
Hayley Kiyoko played Velma in the live-action TV movies |
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And That's just for
Starters !!
There were many smaller
projects and videos and I can't be sure my picture list is complete! |

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Original Velma:
The first voice of Velma was Nicole Jaffe. She voiced "Scooby Doo
Where Are You?" as well as "The New Scooby Doo Movies." She also
returned to do a couple of the videos.
She was the
sarcastic, quick witted Velma, best summed up in one episode where
Freddy says "Velma, you're a genius!"
To which she replied "What else is news?"
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One issue with the
early hand-drawn animation was that depending on who was drawing her,
her looks changed a lot! Sometimes she was drawn as plump, other times
thin with baggy clothing. Some drew her with freckles, others left that
out. Her hair color would change a bit as well as facial features and
style/shape of her glasses. Modern animation is far more consistent, but
many will note that the older style was softer and more human. |
Pat
Stevens Velma:
Pat's version of
Velma mellowed out quite a bit. Not quite as sharp on the attack.
I think the writers and artists tended to tune their work to the
way each actress voiced the character. The changes were subtle but
I remember noticing. This Velma was a bit more structured, less
likely to lose her glasses, more likely to make calm summaries of
the situation. |

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Christina Lange
I'm not sure I can do
any comparison! "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo"
took things in a whole new direction. What were these kids like
when they were... kids?
The assumption was that they were always together doing the
mystery thing, but what it really was, was an attempt to grab a
new audience as the "trick" had worked on several other
re-boots. I actually thought it was pretty funny but was sad the
old gang was off the air... for the time being. |
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Mindy Cohn
What's New Scooby Doo
took things back toward the original formula. Mindy's Velma was
kind of a cross between Nicole and Pat. The features were drawn a
bit harder, but not as harsh as the newer animation. I was so glad
to see them back I probably overlooked a few things. For me, the
original version of Velma was back, even if she was a bit more
mellow. |

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Linda Cardellini
Oh boy! I can
remember the anticipation waiting for this movie to come out! Ultimately,
there were two of them and Linda did not disappoint! It was a big
budget film so the plot had to be cranked up a bit, but I feel she
was true to the character even though some questionable back-story
was added. In a movie, you have to expand on the characters, but
the expansion did not seem "out of character" for
Velma. |
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Hayley Kiyoko
Conversely, this pair of movies were
low-budget flicks. However, this was no fault of Hayley, and I
loved the way she played Velma! In the opening scene, she has a
science fair project, which she is explaining. She is so obsessed
explaining it that she completely misses the fact that she is now
talking to herself! If you have not seen these two movies, rent
them! They are really good, once you get past the fact that they
were done on a budget! |

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Mindy
Again!
2010 saw the
comeback of Mindy's Velma in "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated."
The animation had a sharp geometric look, something that had been
developing for the last few seasons. This Velma seemed a little
burned out at first, but as soon as a good mystery hit, she was
back to her old self! |
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Kate Micucci
Ah.. What? "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!"
aired starting in 2015. In all fairness, my biggest issue with
this series was not Kate as much as the animation style and the
way the characters were applied. This was more comic then mystery
and it fell short in many departments. 26 episodes were generated
but only 20 aired before the plug was pulled. |

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Kate
Redeemed!
In 2019
"Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?" brought things almost full
circle! The animation was far closer to the original style, as
were the plots! Kate did a great job with the voice. Back in 1972,
"The New Scooby-Doo Movies" brought in different guests
each week. This was a return to that format. The series ran until
2021 and it was a blast seeing something so close to the original
format! |
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Gina Rodriguez
Wow! and Wow again!
This one absolutely blew me away! Gina does a great job! I wasn't
sure how I would feel about the "3d" type characters,
but trust me, it turned out great! The humor was off the charts,
without resorting to mocking the characters. Check out the Trailer
Here
Sadly, it came out in 2020 right when the pandemic hit, so it
never had a chance to be shown in theaters. |

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In 2023, a new series
called "Velma" came out. The greatest offense I take is that
this is an adult themed series. Scooby was dumped! That's right, there
is no Scooby Doo in this series. I always felt that the series belonged
to kids. Yes, there were secondary jokes layered in, but it was a kids
show, even for us OLD kids! Again, in my opinion, the original
characters are destroyed and mocked. Some of us may actually enjoy and
understand what is being presented, but it should not be considered part
of the Scooby franchise (No Scooby!) as it really simply uses the names
and then reinvents the characters.
My greatest hope is that
Warner, or some other company will pick up the ball and run with
it! "Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?"
came close. |
Series
Timeline:
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! 1969
The New Scooby-Doo Movies 1972
The Scooby-Doo Show and Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics 1976
Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo 1979
The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show 1983
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo 1988
What's New, Scooby-Doo? 2002
Live Action - Scooby-Doo 2002
Live Action - Monsters Unleashed 2004
Live Action - Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins 2009
Live Action - Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster 2010
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 2010
Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!2015-2018
Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? 2019
Feature Movie - Scoob! 2020 |
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