Interview with Jonathan Stern Reveals New Behind the Scenes Details on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now11/2/2021  An Animation Scoop interview with reunion special writer Jonathan Stern has revealed new details about some behind-the-scenes aspects of the creation behind Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!.
Interestingly, Stern shares in the interview that the idea for the special was heavily based on the Friends Reunion Special. In fact, the first draft was written right before the Friends special came out, and voice recording and storyboards began immediately began after the Friends Reunion Special aired. This also explains the timing of the original announcement for the reunion special, given the Friends reunion came out May 27, 2021 while this was announced on May 25, 2021. Stern also explained he thought the special airing on television was more unique than being put on a streaming service, because he believes it provides the viewers with increased excitement to see what will happen after the commercial break. For those that didn't care for the Scrappy-Doo bashing in this special, Stern reveals that the negative Scrappy comments were originally going to be much worse in the first draft of the script. However, he was asked to tone it down and cut many of the Scrappy bashing lines. Stern elaborates more on this: "I think there’s a lot of comfort level in making Scrappy-Doo the butt of jokes. If you watch the Scrappy-Doo episodes, he’s not nice to Scooby. He’s kind of a [expletive]. I feel if you watch it, you feel protective of Scooby and the other characters. Scrappy doesn’t belong here. Stop bothering them! And little things. Why does he have such a more fluid way of speaking English than Scooby? It really undermined… it suddenly made Scooby the dumb one of the partnership. I didn’t like that." This may explain some of the Scrappy bashing in other recent Scooby-Doo productions. It seems rather than a broader WB dislike of Scrappy, individual writers are projecting their dislike of Scrappy onto all fans, possibly for the purposes of comedy. In commenting he thought it would be fun to have a Laff-a-Lympics reunion special, Stern also reveals that there are rights issues surrounding that series. This could explain why season 2 has continued to not be released on DVD.
35 Comments
Lamont
11/2/2021 02:04:24 pm
Wait. Is that why people didn't like Scrappy? I just thought he was being an annoying child lol
Lamont
11/2/2021 04:23:20 pm
And I don't remember Scrappy being "mean" to Scooby. He overlooked Scooby being scared and thought his uncle was brave. And other members of Scooby's family also talked with proper English. I'm just gonna go rewatch the Scrappy episodes. Maybe I missed something lol 11/2/2021 08:22:51 pm
I think it's all subjective, honestly. I know a lot of people feel Scrappy was annoying or stole the spotlight from Scooby, but clearly others (like Jonathan Stern) have stronger opinions. I would argue he's the one who missed something if he thinks everyone shares his opinion lol.
Lamont
11/2/2021 09:07:49 pm
Yes definitely!
Bigscoobydoofan
11/2/2021 03:16:46 pm
'He's not nice to Scooby.' 11/2/2021 08:23:21 pm
He absolutely did. He idolized Scooby from the beginning.
Lance A Rutt
11/2/2021 11:05:42 pm
i think he means Scrappy pulling Scooby into danger without realizing he was obviously afraid. like yeah that would be shitty if an irl person did it but it's a cartoon 11/2/2021 11:37:06 pm
Yes, and Scrappy arguably had good intentions. It's not like he was doing it to be cruel to his uncle, or sadistically forcing Scooby into bad situations. He was just oblivious.
Becker
11/3/2021 12:29:49 pm
Honestly, Stern doesn't really seem to know what he's even talking about. He's trying to justify his hatred for a cartoon puppy through completely wrong facts. Matt was absolutely right when he said the special didn't feel like it was made by big fans, moreso a once in a while watcher. 11/3/2021 08:53:46 pm
It's especially ironic given his "I feel if you watch the Scrappy episodes" comment, because it's clear he didn't watch very many Scrappy episodes at all lol.
Amber Noel
11/2/2021 03:26:39 pm
I think this makes more sense than it just being a mandate because I feel like if it was a mandate wouldn't we have like a scrappy bashing joke in every recent scooby doo production not a few. 11/2/2021 08:24:11 pm
Yeah, I think it really just depends on who the writer is. There probably are a lot of writers at WB that hate Scrappy, but I don't think it's a full-on mandate.
Scoob16
11/2/2021 06:02:32 pm
Scrappy treated his Uncle Scooby like a God. To his eyes, he was brave, invincible, strong... In his very first appearance, he literally hugs him and says "He's the superest uncle I know"! That producer is a totally oblivious jerk. 11/2/2021 08:29:33 pm
I agree! I especially hated how he said "I feel like if you watch it" as if everyone just has this one universal interpretation of the franchise. All of us have different opinions, and some people like certain characters better than others. It felt like the writer was trying to force his opinions onto others as if him feeling a certain way means that everyone should also feel that way. And the Scrappy bashing was already pretty bad from what we did see, so I can't even imagine what it would have been like had it been worse like it was in the first draft...
Miner49
11/3/2021 10:51:18 am
Like I said before I’m neutral on Scrappy but in my personal life I’ve encountered more people who hate him rather than like him. Even though his intentions are pure he does put Scooby in very dangerous situations. The fact that he’s so oblivious to how terrified Scooby is does get a bit stale at times. I mean Scooby is whimpering, shaking, literally clawing at the floor yet Scrappy pushes him into danger constantly and Scooby even ends up getting hurt as a result of Scrappy. 11/3/2021 12:17:46 pm
Oh, absolutely. Scrappy definitely comes off oblivious and immature at times. Even if Scrappy didn't know he was doing it, it still doesn't make it right. Like you said though, I think there's a balance between disliking Scrappy and blindly hating him. It's fine to dislike Scrappy because not everyone will like every character, but he also doesn't need to be hated on 24/7 either.
Samuel Kirkwood
11/3/2021 10:58:44 am
The problem with Scrappy was he was used as a gimmick, something new to try and freshen up the show which backfired dramatically and although not the characters fault a lot of the blame for the weaker seasons now falls on his inclusion. Yet, he was also pivotol in the late 80's movies 11/3/2021 12:14:35 pm
Agreed, as I mentioned in another comment somewhere (I think it might be on the other review thread), it was more the poor writing and rushing of storylines with those shorts that made people hate Scrappy. IMO, the 80s films, 11-minute episodes and full-length episodes weren't all that bad most of the time.
Samuel Kirkwood
11/4/2021 11:55:43 am
Agreed but I don't think he was needed for them and his presence focusing on often stupidly trying to catch the monster took time away from solving the mystery properly and the way many Scooby Doo purists wanted. Simply put, we had enough comedy with Scooby and Shaggy, Scrappy was overkill. And don't even start me on the Ransom of Scooby Chief.
WildwindVampire
11/5/2021 08:19:53 am
That's a fair point. I also strongly dislike "Ransom of Scooby Chief" and it's one of my least favorite episodes of the entire franchise. It seemed like they were testing the waters for the Scrappy shorts the next year.
Samuel Kirkwood
11/5/2021 10:34:42 am
Agreed!
Becker
11/3/2021 11:32:31 am
Man... the fact that WB had to ask the writer/director to heavily tone down most of the Scrappy bashing tells you how much Stern hates Scrappy. 11/3/2021 12:11:31 pm
Exactly my thoughts. To me, this seems like a confirmation that it's individual writers hating on Scrappy, not all of WB anymore. Hopefully a writer will come along and give Scrappy some positive representation in a future film (or episode).
Becker
11/3/2021 12:22:08 pm
I really hope so. WB doesn't seem that against it per se (unless if maybe Flim Flam would be there at the same time). The guy needs some long overdue redemption. JCB was interested in bringing him back for an episode in a 3rd Be Cool season but it was canned. At least there is some hope. 11/3/2021 08:39:29 pm
Yeah, I think JCB would have done Scrappy justice. Hopefully another writer like him with a positive mindset will be able to redeem Scrappy someday.
Shadowscooby
11/4/2021 07:11:54 am
I remember when I was younger, I remember that Scrappy Doo was apart of Boomeroyalty, a block on Boomerang that honors a cartoon character every month. Ones that were most popular among boys and girls. Because of the block, I watched a lot of Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo episodes. I don’t think Scrappy was annoying at all. I guess except in those shorts. My thing is if a lot of people hated Scrappy, but he was still popular enough to be apart of this block. 11/4/2021 07:42:29 am
Yes!!! I remember that too! I believe that block is how I saw some of the Scrappy episodes that I had never seen before. And you make a good point, Boomerang wouldn't have made an entire block about him if everyone hated him.
John Locke
11/4/2021 12:24:01 pm
I like how all the comments are on the scrappy bashing, and over here I'm going "ok so what's the hold up with Laff o Lympics?" I may not really care for the show but depending what it is I'm wondering what other series it's holding back... 11/5/2021 08:17:17 am
I was wondering what's going on with Laff-a-Lympics too haha. The only thing I can think of is maybe there's a character in season 2 that they don't have the rights to. Apparently, Jeannie was originally going to appear with Babu in Laff-a-Lympics, but they had to cut her right before the show aired due to a rights issue.
John Locke
11/5/2021 12:03:37 pm
Yea I'm not really familiar with the show so unsure on that... glancing at things there's not really anything that would be more difficult than season 1 was(olympic committee likes to be litigious, those yellow blazers were modeled after ABC's I wanna say in a recent Olympics), but perhaps there's a guest character somewhere I don't know about (or the guy is misremembering what the hold up is) 11/5/2021 10:45:14 pm
The question though is the Olympic Committee as litigious as Snagglepuss? lol
Matt
11/4/2021 12:57:15 pm
Sounds like a real nice guy himself… sorry I shouldn’t be getting judgmental, but I am curious as to what show he watched? Maybe he phrased it poorly, but mean is one word that doesn’t fit. Annoyingly too nice makes more sense for a criticism 11/5/2021 08:15:48 am
Maybe some of the Scrappy shorts is the only thing I can think of? And yeah, I like "annoying too nice" much better haha. Leave a Reply. |
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