Since 2019, Scooby's anniversary month in September has meant a lot of content on the blog! Over the years, we've done fan spotlights, daily polls, interviews, special articles (such as last year's series of posts on underrated episodes), and much more. I mentioned back in May that I was looking to scale back how active I was on the blog. This has been going really well so far! I feel like I've struck a much better balance that has reignited some of my passion for keeping up the blog. This year, I'd still like to do something special for the anniversary, but it's going to look a little different than past years.

One of my favorite memories from the different anniversary stuff I've done is the History of the Online Scooby-Doo Fandom article back in 2021. I had such a blast putting this together, and think it would be fun to do something in this vein again. On Scooby's anniversary this year, I'm planning to post another big article that broadly encompasses the Scooby franchise as a whole. As not to ruin the surprise, I'll leave it at that for now, but I'm really excited about posting this article!

The other special thing I have planned this year is related to a change I've been thinking about making on the blog for a while now. Lately, I've been feeling a bit low on ideas for the weekly polls. We've done so many different ideas with the polls over the past seven years - episodes, settings, villains, characters, guest stars, etc. There are probably more weird combos I could come up with - i.e. "what's your favorite episode where the crime was thievery?" lol - but I feel like that would get old eventually. One of my favorite aspects  of the polls was all the discussion that they led to. However, there's been much less of that recently, and I think that's because we've covered the same episodes/movies in so many different combinations that there's less to talk about.

That said, I think it's time for the weekly polls to come to an end. Once new series come out, I still think it would be fun to do occasional polls for the new episodes/villains, but I feel they've run their course as a weekly thing. As a part of this year's anniversary celebration, I'd like to introduce a new biweekly post series to the blog. For now, I'm going to keep it a surprise, but it's an idea I'm really excited about!

I was also thinking it would be fun to give the weekly polls a final sendoff before ending them. I'd like to open it up for all of you to decide what the final weekly polls are going to be! If you have an idea for a poll, I've created a survey where you can share it below! I'll be picking my favorite three as some of the final polls that we do over these next several weeks. My current plan is to post the last poll on the day of Scooby's anniversary. I'm looking forward to seeing your ideas!

Here's a link to past poll questions that you can check to see if we've already done an idea. This is my master spreadsheet that I'd check each week to see if I'd already done a poll idea. This has served as such a helpful tool over the past 350 weeks lol.

Following the announcement of the complete series Blu-Ray for Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, there's been much confusion over the fact that the set isn't available for pre-order. Warner Archive made a post on Facebook today announcing that the Mystery Incorporated Blu-Ray has been delayed. Due to production issues, it will no longer be released on August 25. It will now be releasing three weeks later, on September 15, 2026.

A few months back, a book titled Scooby-Doo! Camp Spooky Swamp was announced. The book will be released on January 5, 2027, and will feature the characters in Funko Pop animation.

This morning, the cover art for the book has finally been revealed! It features an obscure monster, the Swamp Beast from Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, as the villain. It's really cool to see them pick a unique (and underrated) villain!

The author has also been revealed as Ally Frame. The book will be illustrated by Robert Islas. The book is now available for pre-order at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and other retailers. The hardcover costs $6.99, and the eBook version is available for $4.99.

This will be the last of our minor villain polls. During the pandemic, I did an article on unused villains from Scooby-Doo intros. I wanted to do a poll covering those as well. This one was a bit more difficult, since obviously none of them were ever given names. It's safe to say a couple of them were probably early designs for the series, like the wizard (Merlin) and the ghost shaman (Mamba Wamba) in The Scooby-Doo Show intro. However, I included them here since we're not clear on that for sure.

I did my best at labeling them with the specific series when there were multiple types of that villain, and I also organized them all in chronological series order. If there's any option you're confused on, let me know in the comments! I'll be happy to clarify which option is for which villain. :)

I had no idea what was going to win last week's poll. It's cool to see the Chemical Creep in first place! The ghost from Boo Brothers also had an awesome showing. I never would have expected it to get second place!

What is your favorite Scooby-Doo villain from a movie opening?
Chemical Creep - 15
Ghost (Boo Brothers) - 11
Luna Ghost - 9
Moat Monster - 6
Phantom Naval Officers - 6
Sea Serpent Smugglers - 5
Mummies - 4
Manic Minotaur of Mainsly Manor - 4
Cockroach Monster - 1
Monster (Sword and the Scoob) - 1

It's been a few months since I've done a ranking. In the comments of my animation style rankings article, someone mentioned that they also wanted to see my rankings for the art styles of the DTV openings. Eight different DTVs and specials from 2010-2015 featured unique art styles. These include Abracadabra Doo, Camp Scare, Legend of the Phantosaur (which all include the same art style), Spooky Games, Big Top, Haunted Holidays, Stage Fright, Ghastly Goals, FrankenCreepy, and Beach Beastie. With each ranking, I'll do a sub-ranking of each of the gang members like I did for the main animation style article. All graphics are screenshots taken from Scooby Miraculous's YouTube videos of each of the openings, which were very useful for writing this article!

8. Big Top
​I'm not a fan of the gang's designs here. The art style is clearly meant to be more absurdist, but the proportions feel really off to me. The skinniness of Shaggy and Daphne's designs remind me a bit of Be Cool. (The BCSD designs are definitely superior though imo) I think Daphne and Fred look the best of the group, but none are really my style.

Character Rankings (Worst to Best):
5. Velma
4. Scooby
3. Shaggy
2. Fred
​1. Daphne

7. Ghastly Goals
Like in the overall special, I am not a fan of the crude animation here. I tend to prefer more polished designs. I think Velma looks fairly decent, but it's a pass on all the others for me. The outline of Fred, Daphne and Shaggy's eyes particularly look strange to me. 

Character Rankings:
5. Fred
4. Daphne
3. Shaggy
2. Scooby
1. Velma

6. FrankenCreepy
​This is a step in the right direction! I quite like the skeletal figures here. I think the animation fits really well with the movie's creepier tone. The artist did a good job at making them look fairly close to their usual designs. Fred's design seems off to me, but I think the rest look pretty good! I like the detail on Velma and Shaggy's designs. It feels a bit like a precursor to their Be Cool designs, particularly Velma's.

Character Rankings:
5. Fred
4. Daphne
3. Scooby
2. Shaggy
1. Velma

5. Abracadabra Doo, Camp Scare and Legend of the Phantosaur
For the 2010-2011 DTVs, the same animation style is used to open each film. If you weren't aware, we were actually close to getting a series fully in this animation style! (You can read more about it in this fun fact) I don't know if I would have liked an entire series in this style, but I like these designs well enough for what they are. I also really like the songs in all of these openings! Just for Laughs did a great job with making them decently reminiscent of the vibe of the classic chase songs from Where Are You.

Character Rankings:
5. Velma
4. Scooby
3. Daphne
2. Fred
1. Shaggy

4. Stage Fright
​This is cute and works well. I really like all of the gang's designs here. The gang's outfits have a vintage charm to them, which is complemented by the old timey feeling Hollywood backdrop. To me, these designs seem slightly inspired by the SDMI animation style, although Velma's design reminds me of her appearance in What's New.

Character Rankings:
5. Shaggy
4. Scooby
3. Daphne
2. Fred
1. Velma

3. Spooky Games
These are really cool designs! This one feels more polished to me than many of the others. I'm indifferent to Shaggy, but I like the other four a lot. Scooby and Fred look reminiscent of their classic designs. Velma reminds me a lot of the Mook era, and Daphne feels like a cross between SDMI and Guess Who. Fred and Velma are top-tier for me here, but there's also something to be said for how Daphne's features are a nice balanced blend of a couple different eras.

Character Rankings:
5. Shaggy
4. Scooby
3. Daphne
2. Velma
1. Fred

2. Haunted Holidays
I really like these designs! Even though it's basically just their heads and shoulders, I really like the drawing style here. I debated giving this one the top spot. However, I gave the edge to another option, because Velma and Daphne's heads are basically just taken from SDMI. Velma's especially looks like they may have used stock art of her head from that series. Not that it's a bad thing if they did use stock art (if they didn't, the artist did an amazing job mirroring those designs!); they still all look great! However, I wanted to give my top spot to a more unique design.

I'm not even really sure how to rank Velma here lol. I do like Velma's design better than Fred's, but since it's a carbon copy of SDMI, I gave the edge to Fred.

Character Rankings:
5. Shaggy
4. Scooby
3. Velma
2. Fred
1. Daphne

1. Beach Beastie
​These designs are really cute! The more crudely drawn bodies and defined facial features gives these a very cool look. Fred, Daphne and Velma are the standouts for me, but Scooby's is also quite good. Shaggy's is the only one I'm a little middled on. While I like the design a fair amount, I also find it to be a bit basic compared to the others. Overall, I really like this style though. I think it is the coolest and most unique of these openings!

Character Rankings:
5. Shaggy
4. Scooby
3. Velma
2. Daphne
1. Fred

Before I wrap up this article, I just wanted to share a brief aside with you all. Typically, I've posted an article by the end of the first week of each month. Moving forward, I'm thinking of changing my strategy to posting articles whenever I have the inspiration to write one, rather than making it my goal to always post one at the beginning of each month. I don't anticipate that I'll write substantially less articles, but I'd like to try out not having a schedule and see how it goes.
​
I hope you enjoyed reading my rankings! Even if not all of them are in styles that resonate with me, many of these designs are super cool. I'd never thought in much depth about these animation styles before, so it was fun going through these! Since I never hear these designs talked about, I would love to hear what others think of them in the comments!

"How Groovy," Shaggy's song from Alien Invaders, is not a completely original song made for the franchise. It is a reimagining of a 1964 song by Petula Clark, "Downtown." Both songs have the same melody and rhythmic structure.

Interestingly, Frank Sinatra also recorded a cover of the song in 1966 on his album Strangers in the Night. This is the same album that inspired Scooby-Doo's name, from the "doo be doo be doo" part of the title track.

You can listen to the original song below! (Personally I prefer the Glee version of the song though, and that's actually where I discovered this fun fact lol)

Last week's poll made me think it'd be fun to do another similar one featuring the villains from the openings of Scooby films, where we don't get to see the full mystery. A lot of the designs are really cool imo! I never hear any of these talked about, so it will be very interesting to see which one ends up winning!

Since the monsters aren't well-known, I've included a gallery below as a guide. The monsters are featured in the order that they are listed in the poll (chronological order).

I've been super curious to see last week's poll results, given I pretty much never hear the minor villains of Zombie Island talked about. All of the options got a decent amount of votes, but the Moat Monster takes the win!

What is your favorite minor villain from the beginning of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island?
Moat Monster - 19
Zombie River Boat Captain - 13
Hooded Skeletal Ghost - 10
Man-Bat Monster - 9
Crawdad Monster - 7

"The Shrieking Madness" marks the first time we hear of the Planispheric Disc in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. When the gang discovers the diagram of a disc piece inside the Darrow Archive Documents, a set of numbers is listed with the disc piece: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42. These coordinates are a reference to a recurring sequence of numbers in the television show Lost.

The upcoming WB/Paramount merger was officially approved in June. On Friday, NBC News announced that the merger will not be moving ahead as expected. A dozen U.S. state attorneys have filed an antitrust suits against the merger, citing significant risks associated with the monopoly the merger would create, and arguing that it would harmfully reshape the entertainment industry. Because of the lawsuits, Paramount has announced the merger will be put on pause through June 1, 2027. This means the merger is unlikely to affect WB or any franchises associated with it (including Scooby) until towards the end of next year, if not later. 

Thanks to Michael Kenchington for sharing the NBC News article!