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Western Animation: Whats New Scooby Doo

The gang, in order from left to right, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby.

The ninth incarnation of Scooby-Doo, the show lasted for three seasons from 2002 to 2005. It is very similar to the original version of the show, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, in many respects, but has been updated with more modern technology and is usually more realistic than the older "cartoony" shows. It also parodies many conventions of the older series.

Additionally, this series is no longer produced by the original Hanna-Barbera Productions (which ceased to exist by 1998), instead, it was produced by its then-parent company, a certain animation studio that is famous for making a series of theatrical shorts starring a wise-cracking rabbit, a lisping duck and cat, a stuttering pig and a small canary, and is often nicknamed ''Termite Terrace''.

See the Shout Out page here.

This show provides examples of:

Abhorrent Admirer: Gibby Norton to Velma.
Acting for Two: Frank Welker voiced both Fred and Scooby in this series.
Actor Allusion: In "A Scooby-Doo Valentine", Daphne laments that the fact that she was impersonated by an extra (who, ironically, resembled her voice actor, Grey DeLisle), saying "What, Sarah Michelle Gellar wasn't available?" Sarah Michelle Gellar played Daphne in the Live-Action Adaptation of the franchise.
Adaptational Attractiveness: Most noticeably with Velma - who is given a cute face and an attractive figure here (whereas her original design had her be very plain and slightly overweight) - and to a lesser extent Shaggy, who probably more benefits from the less rough art-style.
Always Someone Better: Velma was this to a kid named Elliot Blender, who appeared in two episodes as both a Sore Loser, a Red Herring and an all around Jerk Ass.
Anti-Villain: Used several times, a first for the franchise. Every once in a while, the characters would run into a villain with sympathetic motives - generally, these folks would be let off because "nobody got hurt" (though not for lack of trying, sometimes) or the case just dropped without fanfare.
Art Shift: In contrast to the usual Hanna-Barbera style, the characters are redesigned in Warner Bros. Animation's typical "house" style of the time for this series (resembling a show produced by Adelaide Productions, such as Men In Black and Jackie Chan Adventures). It hits some characters more strongly than others, like Velma's totally redesigned body shape.
Berserk Button: In Fright House of a Lighthouse, Freddy tells Shaggy and Scooby that the Monster of the Week was badmouthing Scooby Snacks; this gets them riled up enough to be bait without the usual bribe.
Big Eater: As always, Shaggy and Scooby are made of this trope.
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Occurs in the Halloween episode with redhead Daphne, brunet Velma and Velma's blonde cousin, Marcy.
Bookcase Passage: Parodied whenever necessary.
Brainy Brunette: Velma Dinkley.
Charlie and the Chocolate Parody: Shaggy and Scooby once won a contest where the prize was either a trip to Aruba or a tour of the Scooby Snack factory in Munchville, Ohio. And the factory was run by a man dressed like Willy Wonka.
Clothes Make the Legend: While the Scooby Gang's outfits have been modernized (save for Velma, for some reason), they retain the same classic color scheme, independent of what they wear (except for disguises): Fred's is always white and blue, Daphne is always wearing purple and magenta, and Shaggy always wears green shirts and burgundy pants (Velma's orange-on-red scheme is retained as well for other types of clothes). It borders on Limited Wardrobe.
- There actually is one subtle change on Velma's design: her shoes now have platform heels.
Cloudcuckoolander: Fred Jones.
Continuity Nod: The flashback to the gang's childhood in "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown" is in the same style as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.
- This series was actually full of nods, a first for a Scooby Doo series. The gang would reference places they had been previously as well as feature recurring characters in a few episodes. Even the Hex Girls made an appearance.
Covered in Mud: In the episode "Reef Grief!" Spencer Johnson covers the sand castle competitors with mud so they can build his underground freeway.
Crazy-Prepared: The show turns Fred into this, having modified the Mystery Machine to be able to turn into a submarine. In "Wrestle Maniacs", it is shown that he carries a spare wrestling outfit around in the van.
Darker and Edgier: Certain episodes, at least. The backstory for the two ghost brothers in "Big Scare in the Big Easy", for instance, states that they killed one another in a duel in the family graveyard. The provided flashback shows the two brothers loading their pistols on-screen, and ends with the sound of a gunshot.
Demoted to Extra: Scooby-Doo himself, in most cases, and sometimes Shaggy. Typically the show would shift focus onto Fred, Daphne and Velma, but one major exception was the episode '"Camp Comeoniniwannascareya", which did not feature Fred, Velma or Daphne at all; it just featured Shaggy and Scooby-Doo as the main characters.
Dinner Order Flub: In "Pompeii and Circumstance", Fred is continually misreading his Italian phrase book. As a result, he orders a potted plant at a restaurant.
The Ditz: Again, Fred Jones.
Dork Knight: Yet again, Fred. Apparently he's the only one who can't see how much he keeps making a fool of himself.
Dramatic Thunder: Played straight in "The Vampire Strikes Back".
Even Nerds Have Standards: Velma's opinion of Gibby.
Everybody Did It: In one episode it's shown that all the suspects were in on the plan.
Farmer's Daughter: Velma's cousin Marcy is one of these, but without the overly protective father.
Flanderization: Yet again, Fred Jones.
- When you look at it, Daphne (being much more fashion-conscious than before - even though she's still sharper than Fred) and Velma (who must always be right and, whenever she's wrong, the script will find a way to prove her right at the end of the day) qualify as well.
- When Scooby and Shaggy enter a scene, you know the first thing they'll say will be food-oriented.
Food As Bribe: How the gang usually persuade Shaggy and Scooby to be monster bait. In one episode, they use Scooby Snacks to persuade Shaggy and Scooby to be literal bait—the two end up dressing like octopi.
- Even when Shaggy and Scooby see this coming, the gang manages to work around it. See the Genre Savvy entry.
Former Child Star: The Mystery Machine used to belong to the Mystery Kids, a musical group that starred a brother and a sister. They appear in the episode "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine", where their mother has been attempting to arrange a return to stardom for them. They decide at the end that they're happier being nobodies.
The Game Never Stopped: This happens in the episode E-Scream.
- From Velma's point of view, at least...
Gender Misdirection: The gang once went to an amusement park without knowing anything about its owners than their names (Chris and Terry) and their fame obtained by building the park's rides. The gang (mostly Shaggy) expected Chris and Terry to be men but it turns out they're girls.
Gentle Giant: The "Coral Creature", which turned out to be one of the few (if not only) times where the monster was real.
Genre Savvy: In one episode, Shaggy and Scooby brought their own Scooby Snacks so they'd not have to accept the ones the gang offered as bribe. The gang reacted by offering milk, which they accepted.
- This show is often genre savvy a LOT; every episode has to parody the classic Scooby-Doo formula in some way.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: In "A Scooby-Doo Halloween", Velma's cousin Marcy says that she's turning 18, "Able to legally... vote."
Human Popsicle: Dr. Armind Zola attempts to enact this trope in "Uncle Scooby and Antarctica".
Ink Suit Actor: Brett Hull, Mike Piazza and skateboarders Chris Klug and Ryan Sheckler are among the celebrities to appear on the show in cartoon form. In "A Scooby Doo Valentine," the perps who disguised themselves as the gang are unmasked to be caricatures of their voice actors—Frank Welker, Casey Kasem, Grey DeLisle and Mindy Cohn.
Insufferable Genius: Velma.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Surprisingly only done on ONE episode: "The Vampire Strikes Back," it starts off as your classic Scooby-Doo thunderstorm (complete with crackles, pops and vinyl hiss on the first couple of lightning flashes), but then it gets more realistic and LOUD, and then after the loudest thunder crash of them all (when Fred leaps down from a tower to save Daphne near the end), the storm abruptly comes to an end.
Lampshade Hanging: And lots of it, too. Every episode had to have at least one or two parodies of the classic Scooby-Doo conventions, to the point where it was no longer funny.
Latex Perfection: Typically avoided in this series in favor of the villains using makeup, animatronics, holograms, etc. Though there are a few exceptions in this series, such as in the intro, and in "A Scooby-Doo Valentine" when the gang is framed by rubber-masked impostors, and Scooby is unmasked (as seen in the trope page) to reveal J.C. Chasez of N Sync!
Let's Split Up, Gang: In pretty much every episode. The show does occasionally break the pattern of the two groups: Fred, Daphne and Velma in one group and Scooby and Shaggy in the other.
Lighthouse Point: In "Fright House of a Lighthouse".
Living Toys: Apparently living toys are the monster of the episode in "Toy Scary Boo".
MacGyvering: It's not rare for Daphne to do this, usually with items she carries around in her purse.
The Minnesota Fats: One episode introduces a girl named Verona Dempsey who plays this to Velma (all while being really bitchy to her). It turns out she's one of the episode's two villains.
Monster Clown: A giant version of this attacks a mini golf course in "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown". This is more of a problem than usual because Velma has a phobia of clowns.
Monster of the Week: Though the monster almost always turns out to be fake.
My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Fred's attempts to use an Italian phrase book in "Pompeii and Circumstance".
Mythology Gag: The flashback scene of Velma's birthday party in "A Terrifying Round With A Menacing Metallic Clown" is designed in the style of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. It explains Velma's fear of clowns—the clown hired for her party destroyed her prize gift, a set of encyclopedias, and it made Velma run off crying.
The New Adventures
Not Himself / Out-of-Character Moment: In-universe: In "E-Scream", this is what tips Velma off to the fact that she's in a virtual reality game: Freddy doesn't want to split up, Daphne is okay with wearing mismatched shoes, and Shaggy and Scooby are perfectly willing to be bait for a trap even without being offered Scooby Snacks. Shaggy saying "Toinks!" instead of "Zoinks!" is just the final nail in the coffin.
- Shaggy's bravery in "A Terrifying Round with a Menacing Metallic Clown" could count as well, if only because he didn't want a monster stopping him from winning the mini-golf tournament. In the same episode, Velma goes off cowering with Scooby as her childhood fear of clowns comes to the surface.
Notzilla: An episode has a giant monster named "Shagzilla". He's supposed to be Shaggy cursed to transform into a Godzilla parody at night (Actually, it's a giant robot built by the villain of the week, and Shaggy is duped into believing he really is the monster because, while he is asleep, he is made up as the monster and placed on a Tokyo maquette.).
Once an Episode: Nearly all the parodies of the old series (especially spoofing the "meddling kids" line.)
Panty Shot: Velma in "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine". But you've gotta not blink or you'll miss it.
Precious Puppies: The Secret Six are a group of six golden retriever puppies that appear in several episodes. And they are adorable, especially when they're performing military exercises.
Pro Wrestling Episode: "Wrestle Maniacs".
Scarecrow Solution: Gabe/Toxic Terror, to protect a camp from becoming an adult resort.
Scooby-Dooby Doors: Parodied in almost every episode.
Scooby-Doo Hoax: Naturally.
- One episode plays with it; the monster is real. It's just a creature that was disturbed by the crooked plan of the villain.
- Pretty consistently, if the monster is some kind of robot or techno-terror, it's real. This is consistent with the occasional way-out science-fiction explanations for the more conventional hoaxes.
She Cleans Up Nicely: When Velma gets shoved inside a makeover machine by Daphne. Parodied slightly in her reaction.
Velma: I feel like I'm wearing ten pounds of makeup and...
Sees herself in the mirror
Velma: 'Wow, I'm hot!
Ship Tease: There's some of this between Fred and Daphne, particularly in the Valentine's Day episode. They are the main Fan Preferred Couple, after all.
Shout Out: Wile E Coyote And The Road Runner both make a surprise cameo appearance at the beginning of "New Mexico, Old Monster", complete with their classic designs and the appropriate sound effects.
- Doctor Armind Zola should be obvious by now.
- The Halloween episode features a man at a Halloween party dressed up as Hong Kong Phooey, and getting pretty ticked off when the gang fails to recognize him.
- Not to mention that the third episode of season 3 has a character named Bocephus, as in Hank Williams, Jr.'s nickname.
- In "Big Scare in the Big Easy," the episode song quotes the entire chorus of "Magic Dance," only changing the word "babe" to "man" each time.
Stalker with a Crush: Gibby Norton, who obsesses over Velma.
Super OCD: Daphne.
Surfer Dude: Daphne impresses one of these with her surfing in "She See Sea Monsters by the Sea Shore".
Took a Level in Badass: Daphne Blake, surprisingly.
Totem Pole Trench: In the episode "Gentlemen, Start Your Monsters", Jimmy and his sister Cindy wore a jumpsuit, with one on the other's shoulders.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: All Daphne needs to look identical to her cousin Danica is a wig. She says that her Uncle Julius also resembles Danica when he wears heels.
- Velma looks like her cousin Marcy's parents, especially in contrast to Marcy herself, ironically.
Wacky Racing: Fred enters the Mystery Machine in one of these in the episode "The Fast and the Wormious". Because this is Scooby-Doo, the already bizarre race gets interrupted by a large worm monster, which turns out to be one of the racers.
With Friends Like These: Fred, Daphne, and Velma could be so mean to Shaggy and Scooby sometimes.
You Meddling Kids: Parodied in nearly every episode as well; instances include having twin villains say it in unison (in "The Vampire Strikes Back") and a young kid calling the gang "meddling grownups" (in "Gentlemen, Start Your Monsters"). And the villain of "There's no Business Like Snow Business" called them "meddling teenagers".
You Must Be This Tall To Ride: The episode "Roller Ghoster Ride" featured a few scenes that had a young boy being told that he was too short to go on certain rides, such as the Sky-Diving Simulator, the Slingshot, and the Rocket Coaster. Also, he was ruled out as a suspect for being too short for the costume. In the end, after the villain of the episode was caught, the boy gets to ride with Shaggy and Scooby on the food-based ride that was built for the amusement park.
Younger and Hipper: Basically, this is the original 1960s show retooled for the 21st century, complete with more modern and realistic settings, situations and sound effects, and a poppy punk soundtrack (included the reworked main theme by Simple Plan).