Welcome to the
Scooby Doo analysis page.
So I am unsure exactly which universes the multiple series and movies would take place in, here’s an accurate guess.
- Universe 1: It’s safe to say that Scooby Doo Where Are You, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and The Scooby-Doo Show all exist in this universe. The reasons it’s separated from Universe 2 would most likely apply to the addition of The Scrappy and the regular consistence of the Scooby-Doo Hoax being thrown out. This universe is the most consistent and obvious, as well as being the one that most long-term Scooby-Doo fans are familiar with.
- It is also possible that Johnny Bravo takes place in this universe, if you accept "Bravo-Dooby-Doo" as Scooby-Doo canon. If not, it stands out on its own, or in another universe.
- There's a bit of a timeline problem though. Johnny Bro is set in the early 2000s, possibly late 90s. What's New Scooby Doo is very late 60s, early 70s.
- Then it most likely takes place in another universe.
- Universe 2: The 1979-85 era of Scooby-Doo, which takes care of all the Scrappy series, and is the one fans would like to be rid of the most. Whether or not you want to split this universe up into two different ones, between the frauds and paranormal is up to you, but there is likely more than one "sub’universe" involved here, containing episodes with the five original gang members, the episodes where they all disappeared, the episodes where Daphne returned, and the movies starring Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy.
- Universe 3: The universe that made itself known around the time of the series revival, including the three earliest Direct-to-Video films, Scooby Doo On Zombie Island, Scooby-Doo And The Witch’s Ghost, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders and Scooby Doo And The Cyber Chase. Due to the similarities in animation and the older depiction of the characters, these four films stand alone over the others.
- Universe 4: The 2000’s revival of the franchise, placing the gang in the modern universe and causing them to catch on to the constant frauds much quicker. While it mainly applies to What's New, Scooby-Doo?, it’s likely that the Direct-to-Video films from 2002-2009 are also included, for similarities of animation and for placing the gang in the current time period.
- Universe 5: The universe that includes the Direct-to-Video films from 2010 and onward. The animation improved, and the continuity between Universe 4 is disrupted in Big Top Scooby Doo, where Shaggy states that he does not believe in Australia, despite visiting it in Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire. Although the animation is similar to that of Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, the show’s story arc suggests otherwise.
- Universe 6: The live action universe. 'Nuff said.
- And some works stand out in their own universes:
The original Scooby-Doo, which debuted in 1969, kept its voice actors throughout the franchise shockingly consistent for a large amount of time. With Casey Kasem voicing Shaggy until 2009,
Frank Welker voicing Fred Jones presently, and
Don Messick voicing Scooby-Doo (most of the time) up until the late 1990's. That being said, Don Messick's death had a strong impact on the series overall. When I say that, I don't mean that it was sad, and the series had to find someone else to voice Scooby; there's more to it than that.
Scooby Doo On Zombie Island was made in memory of Don Messick, and many fans agree that because of this movie, the series was revived in the 2000's, due to the 1990's being a pretty dormant time for Scooby-Doo. It's because of Messick's death and the film being made in memory of someone that the series was revived in the 2000's and is still going on strong to this day. Messick's death may have been
the overall contributing factor that led to the creation of
Zombie Island, which saved the series' life.
