History Main / SpoofyDoo

''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' is one of the most recognizable SaturdayMorningCartoon franchises of all time, with a simple yet memorable concept of teenagers and their pet dog solving crimes. Because of this, parodies of the concept are practically a staple of any popular TV show. That said, this particular notion had a boost by the franchise's creators, Creator/HannaBarbera; for better or worse, they were notorious for [[SelfPlagiarism recycling a winning formula]] to the point that "gang of {{amateur sleuth}}s and their {{mascot}}" is [[FromClonesToGenre practically a recognized]] sub{{genre}} in its own right. Key elements encountered in most of these parodies and imitations include:

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' has ''a lot'' of examples of this. Considering that Creator/ButchHartman worked at Creator/HannahBarbera while on Creator/CartoonNetwork, expect a lot of examples:

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents''. One of the shows Timmy and the gang visit in "WesternAnimation/ChannelChasers" is a cartoon called ''Snooper Dog and the Clue Crew'', a ''Scooby-Doo'' parody with a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Music/SnoopDogg as the title character. Snooper Dog's design notably resembles Goober from the short-lived ''WesternAnimation/GooberAndTheGhostChasers'' show.

** The ''New WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' short "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bgfpE9wzSg Turn Back The Clock]]" sees the Titans opposing Mad Mod's attempt to warp time. They find themselves resembling the Scooby-Doo gang when they enter the 70s; specifically with ComicBook/{{Robin}} as Fred, ComicBook/{{Starfire}} as Daphne, ComicBook/{{Raven}} as Velma, ComicBook/{{Cyborg}} as Shaggy, and ComicBook/BeastBoy as Scooby.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': The episode [[Recap/TheVentureBrosS2E11VivaLosMuertos "¡Viva los Muertos!"]] features [[CorruptedCharacterCopy a team of middle-aged mystery solvers who combine the Scooby Gang with infamous criminals from the '60s and '70s]]. Ted, Fred combined with Ted Bundy, is cheerfully abusive to the others and threatens the wrath of God if they don't obey him. Patty, Daphne combined with Patty Hearst, was abducted by Ted and just wants to see her family again. Val, Velma combined with Valerie Solanas, cynically spouts radical feminist talking points. Sonny, Shaggy combined with David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), is a mentally ill man who hallucinates that their dog Groovy can talk, telling him to kill for some unholy higher power. Ted controls Sonny using "Groovy Treats", which is just Sonny's medication. The group enters the Venture Compound in search of a mystery, assuming that it must be abandoned, only to be killed by Brock for trespassing.

[[caption-width-right:350:Let's split up, gangs![[note]]Clockwise from top left: [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo The original Mystery Inc.]], WesternAnimation/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKids, [[WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers The Groovy Gang]], [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Snooper Dog and the Clue Crew]].[[/note]]]]

** The guys of the gang often have an AdventureDuo-esque dynamic; TheLeader is typically a handsome [[TheAllAmericanBoy all-American type]] similar Fred Jones. Often a StandardizedLeader, jock (typically {{lovable|Jock}} and/or {{dumb|jock}}, or {{jerk|Jock}}ish in darker parodies), or even gay if what everyone says about the ascot has a grain of truth to it.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangface}}'' was Ruby-Spears's attempt to follow Hanna-Barbera's ''Scoody-Doo'' formula: Four mystery-solving teens drive around in a customized vehicle. However, the twist is that one of the teenagers becomes a werewolf, who fits the role of requisite TeamPet. Later on, they add the requisite Scrappy-Doo version, a human baby who becomes a werewolf named Fangpuss.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangface}}'' was Ruby-Spears's attempt to follow Hannah-Barbera's ''Scoody-Doo'' formula: Four mystery-solving teens drive around in a customized vehicle. However, the twist is that one of the teenagers becomes a werewolf, who fits the role of requisite TeamPet. Later on, they add the requisite Scrappy-Doo version, a human baby who becomes a werewolf named Fangpuss.

* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'' spoofs as well as affects a TakeThat to Scooby-Doo with "Ring-a-Ding, Where Are You!," one of the myriad cartoon shows Mighty Mouse lands in at the whim of a toddler watching TV.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangface}}'' was Creator/RubySpears's attempt to follow Hannah-Barbera's ''Scoody-Doo'' formula: Four mystery-solving teens drive around in a customized vehicle. However, the twist is that one of the teenagers becomes a werewolf, who fits the role of requisite TeamPet. Later on, they add the requisite Scrappy-Doo version, a human baby who becomes a werewolf named Fangpuss.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangface}}'' was Creator/RubySpears's attempt to follow Hannah-Barbera's ''Scoody-Doo'' formula: Four mystery-solving teens drive around in a customized vehicle. However, the twist is that one of the teenagers becomes a werewolf, who fits the role of requisite TeamPet.

** "The Wand That Got Away" is basically a full {{Homage}} to the old ''Scooby-Doo'' episodes, with Timmy as Fred, Cosmo as Shaggy, Wanda as Daphne, Baby Poof as Velma and Sparky as Scooby (who keeps saying several Scooby-Doo Catchphrases as a RunningGag) driving around in a Mystery Machine-esque van to try and find Cosmo's missing wand.

* ''WesternAnimation/Fangface'' was Creator/RubySpears's attempt to follow Hannah-Barbera's ''Scoody-Doo'' formula: four mystery-solving teens drive around in a customized vehicle. However, the twist is that one of the teenagers becomes a werewolf, who fits the role of requisite TeamPet.

* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': The episode "[[Recap/WanderOverYonderS2E13TheCartoonTheBot The Cartoon]]" features a show called ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT51oQvGqlU The Mystery Kids' Mysteries]]'', which seems to be a cross between ''Scooby-Doo'', ''Gravity Falls'' and ''The Jetsons''. It features a mystery-solving gang of alien kids with a talking dog sidekick and the catchphrase "Crikeys" riding in hippie-esque spaceship called "The Mystery Ship" and investigating the case of a haunted sweater.

* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'': In "Don't Touch That Dial", the title character is TrappedInTVLand, and as the young viewer channel-surfs, WesternAnimation/MightyMouse ends up in ''Ring-a-Ding, Where Are You?'', featuring four teenagers in stereotypical 1970s fashions (with the Shaggy parody, Scuzzy, saying "Yoinks!" in a deadpan manner) and their scruffy talking dog. Scuzzy and Ring-a-Ding also drive around in a WesternAnimation/SpeedBuggy-esque vehicle, and the parody includes jabs at the ScoobyDoobyDoors gag, the show's LimitedAnimation (complete with WraparoundBackground spoof), the LaughTrack, and the DramaticUnmask at the end of each episode (the gang tries to unmask Mighty Mouse, thinking he's the "Rat Monster of Gruesome Gulch", only to accidentally [[NotAMask rip his head off of his neck]]).

* ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', which stars a CastOfExpies of well-known cartoon concepts, has Foxxy Love as the "mystery-solving musician". She's a {{Blaxploitation}}-style parody of Valerie Brown who was shown to have toured with a team of similar ladies called "the Foxxy Five"

** One of the many "WesternAnimation/CartoonsThatNeverMadeIt" was ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlTsNkiKwOI Heidi and the Yodelers]]'', a "Josie and the Pussycats" {{pastiche}}that {{yodel|Land}}s and solve crimes/mysteries. There are three yodeling girls ([[BlondeBrunetteRedhead a redhead girl, a Black girl with a huge Afro, and a girl with whitish-blonde hair]]), a [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame diminutive bearded man]], a shirtless blonde guy, and an Alexandra expy.

* ''Film/JayAndSilentBobStrikeBack: During their hitchhiking travels, Jay and Silent Bob enter a van featuring the Totally Not The Scooby-Doo Gang; Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma are listed in the credits respectively as “The Dude”, “The Guy”, “Redhead Beauty”, and “Bookish Girl”.
—> '''Jay''': Zoinks, yo.

Have a problem in your home town? Tired of that creepy house around the corner scaring away visitors? Got a murder to solve that can't be done by professionals? Call the Mystery Gang and they'll solve your problem in one night.

These cool cats are generally a group of youngsters, typically {{Kid Hero}}es or teens to young adults--however, they don't ''have'' to be youngsters; experienced adults are more than capable of falling into this trope. Usually a [[TrueCompanions close-knit group]], the Mystery Gang stumbles into trouble that often isn't solved by normal means. By this, we mean incidents that'd get only a passing glance from nay-sayers--supernatural mysteries are extremely common for this type, but so are everyday horrors like disappearances or murders.

''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' is one of the most recognizable cartoon franchises of all time, with a simple yet memorable concept of teenagers and their pet dog solving crimes. Because of this, parodies of the show are practically a staple of any popular TV show. Key elements encountered in most ''Scooby-Doo'' parodies and imitations include:

* A talking animal mascot.
* An unkempt, green-clad male character similar to Shaggy.
* A male character who wears an ascot like Fred does.
* At least one female character with glasses, similar to Velma. And said character [[RunningGag constantly losing them]].
* An attractive female in the group like Daphne.
* A setting that is easily identifiable as being in TheSixties, when [[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou the original show]] took place.
* [[ScoobyDoobyDoors Characters chasing each other in and out of doors in a hallway]].
* Characters in a dark room, insisting someone hold their hands for safety, then [[ColdTouchSurprise complain about the hand being cold]], only to find it doesn't belong to their friend, but instead the [[VillainOfTheWeek Villain]] / MonsterOfTheWeek.
* A '70s-style van, like the Mystery Machine.
* Cheap, {{limited animation}} as was common in Hanna-Barbera productions, often with {{wraparound background}}s.
* An [[DramaticUnmask unmasking scene]], usually where the team gasp and state the perpetrator's name in unison.
* The phrase "YouMeddlingKids" constantly being said.
* Ghosts. Lots and lots of ghosts.

See ScoobyDooHoax, ScoobyDoobyDoors, and YouMeddlingKids for parodies of specific {{Running Gag}}s from the franchise.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries'' issue #8, Batman and Robin, the Dynamic Duo, are working with "Ranger and the Wraith Wranglers", a group of Mystery Inc. lookalikes: Duke, a rich AmbiguouslyBrown youth with a British posh accent (maybe Indian); Sensei, a blond karateka; Specs, a BlackAndNerdy girl; Bongo, an even {{Beatnik}}-ier version of Shaggy, and Ranger, a Doberman (instead of a Great Dane, as Scooby-Doo is). [[spoiler:They were robots operated by Batgirl, created as Mystery Inc.'s decoys while Batman was conducting an investigation on Deathstroke.]]

* ''Literature/TheFamousFive'' may be the UrExample. This series by Enid Blyton was so popular that she ended up writing many more books than she had intended, which meant that the characters seem to not age and remain children for a long time. The Famous Five consisted of two boys, two girls (one a girly girl, the other a tomboy) and their dog, Timmy. They were MeddlingKids who solved serious crimes, often facing gangsters and foreign spies.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' had long been compared to ''Scooby-Doo'', as its protagonists drove around in a CoolCar chasing ghosts and solving mysteries. This culminated in a full-on crossover episode called "[[Recap/SupernaturalS13E16ScoobyNatural ScoobyNatural]]" with Sam, Dean and Castiel getting plunged into the animated world of ''Scooby-Doo'' and solving a mystery with the gang. Unfortunately, the ''Supernatural'' gang brought the violent reality of their world into the animated one, causing trauma for the animated characters.

* Creator/HannaBarbera may as well have been doing this to themself, given how many cartoon shows they made seemed like carbon copies of Mystery Inc. Examples include...
** ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingChanAndTheChanClan'' extended this to ''nineteen'' people, and made this into a family affair.
** ''WesternAnimation/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKids''
** ''WesternAnimation/CaptainCavemanAndTheTeenAngels'' - the goofy mascot is Captain Caveman and he is accompanied by three teen girls.
** ''WesternAnimation/ClueClub'' is basically ''Scooby-Doo'' but with two dogs.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheFunkyPhantom'': ''Scooby-Doo'' with a ghost from the Revolutionary War!
** ''WesternAnimation/GooberAndTheGhostChasers'' is ''Scooby-Doo'' mixed with ghost-chasing amateur reporters (interestingly, this one actually introduced some elements that would later be used in ''Scooby-Doo'').
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Jabberjaw}}'' has their gang solve underwater cases. The ''WesternAnimation/CartoonNetworkGroovies'' version of them are instead a {{ska}} band that lives above land, ironically making them closer to a typical Mystery Gang.
** ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats'' is about a band that constantly runs into trouble on tour. Unlike their [[ComicBook/JosieAndThePussycats comic]] counterparts, which mostly stick to ''Archie''-style humor, the animated Pussycats were reworked into a mystery and adventure series, with Sebastian even being upgraded from Alexandra's familiar to the TeamPet. The cliche of a mystery gang being in a band was codified by them.
** ''WesternAnimation/SpeedBuggy'' is basically ''Scooby-Doo'' with a [[SentientVehicle talking dune buggy]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': In "Back in Style," as Warner Bros. Pictures is suffering financial woes in TheSixties and [[TheSeventies seventies]], the Warner siblings are loaned out to a parody of Creator/HannaBarbera to do cameos in the studio's LimitedAnimation TV cartoons. One such show is ''Uhuru, Where Are You?'', featuring the titular dog, Bristly (a Shaggy parody who says "Zink!" when startled), Phoebe (a combination of Daphne and Velma), and an unnamed Fred parody (voiced by ''Animaniacs'' regular Creator/FrankWelker for [[ParodyAssistance good measure]]). While investigating a haunted house, the Warners bungle the investigation by riding on Uhuru, and then dance to "cheesy fake rock songs" (in a parody of the bubblegum rock songs that accompanied the chase scenes in ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'''s second season).

** "The Wand That Got Away" is basically a full {{Homage}} to the old ''Scooby-Doo'' episodes, with Timmy as Fred, Cosmo as Shaggy, Wanda as Daphne, Baby Poof as Velma and Sparky as Scooby (who keeps saying several Scooby-Doo catchphrases as a RunningGag) driving around in a Mystery Machine-esque van to try and find Cosmo's missing wand.
** The episode "Let Sleeper Dogs Lie" reveals that Sparky had many owners before Timmy and his fairies. This includes [[CaptainErsatz the blatant parody of]] Mystery Inc. (along with [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Dorothy]], CaptainErsatz of [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Charlie Brown]] and, the most important, Denzel Crocker - along with Cosmo and Wanda -).

* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': The 100th episode features Shake, Frylock, and Meatward facing a monster who represents the 100th episode who wants them to give it to him. To escape, they end in a show called "Aqua Unit Patrol Squad" (this was some time before they would use the title as part of the NewSeasonNewName joke) which resembles ''Scooby-Doo'' (and some Hanna-Barbara toons in general) with Meatwad even resembling Scooby and the group suddenly having a female member resembling Velma.
* ''WesternAnimation/CasperAndTheAngels'' may fit the ''Teen Angels'' formula: Casper, the Friendly Ghost, is the Team Pet, while his companions are a large ghost, and two female cops. Together, they fight crime in space.

* Parodied by, of all people, Creator/CartoonNetwork themselves, way back when: during commercial break, the network would air short musical parodies which they called "Cartoons That Never Made It". One of them was ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlTsNkiKwOI Heidi and the Yodelers]]'', a "Josie and the Pussycats" pastiche: a music band that yodels and solve crimes/mysteries. There are three yodeling girls (a redhead girl, a Black girl with a huge afro, and a girl with whitish-blonde hair), a diminutive bearded man, a shirtless blonde guy, and an Alexandra-Expy.
* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'': The episode "Johnny Dukey Doo" is a parody of ''Scooby-Doo'', with Dukey as Scooby, Johnny as Shaggy, Susan and Mary as Daphne and Velma, and Gil as Fred. Gil even changes into Fred's attire as part of his proclaimed "ghost hunting gear".
* ''WesternAnimation/LaffALympics'': one of the competitors is a group called the Scooby-Doobies, a team that gathers Scooby and Shaggy, their Expies Speedy Buggy and its human driver, and the ''Josie and the Pussycats'' expies of ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels''.
* ''WesternAnimation/MikeTysonMysteries'' is Creator/AdultSwim's send-up of both Mystery Gangs and '80s celebrity toons. Mike and his daughter Yung Hee are even accompanied by a ''Funky Phantom''-esque ghost companion, the Marquess of Queensberry. There’s also a talking animal sidekick (Pigeon) and a Mystery Mobile that the team drives from one case to the next.
* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouseTheNewAdventures'': In "Don't Touch That Dial", the title character is TrappedInTVLand, and as the young viewer channel-surfs, Mighty Mouse ends up in ''Ring-a-Ding, Where Are You?'', featuring four teenagers in stereotypical 1970s fashions (with the Shaggy parody, Scuzzy, saying "Yoinks!" in a deadpan manner) and their scruffy talking dog. Scuzzy and Ring-a-Ding also drive around in a WesternAnimation/SpeedBuggy-esque vehicle, and the parody includes jabs at the ScoobyDoobyDoors gag, the show's LimitedAnimation (complete with WraparoundBackground spoof), the LaughTrack, and the DramaticUnmask at the end of each episode (the gang tries to unmask Mighty Mouse, thinking he's the "Rat Monster of Gruesome Gulch", only to accidentally [[NotAMask rip his head off of his neck]]).
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/steven-universe/images/4/47/Colin_Howard_Gem_Hunt_Promo.png Promotional art]] for the episode "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E17GemHunt Gem Hunt]]" has the Crystal Gems cosplaying as the Scooby gang, with leader of the group Garnet as Fred, the feminine Pearl as Daphne, {{Bookworm}} Connie as Velma, Steven as Shaggy, and Amethyst shapeshifted into Scooby-Doo.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' features a parody in the Halloween special "[[Recap/SouthParkS3E10KornsgroovyPirateGhostMystery Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery]]", starring the metal band Music/{{Korn}} in the roles of Mystery Incorporated as they investigate why pirate ghosts are haunting the town (which they are blamed for). They have their own mascot, Nibblet, but unlike Scoob, he generally gets in the way of the investigation and only manages to help uncover the culprit's identity in the end. To complete the reference, they're all drawn in the style of ''Where Are You!'', contrast to everyone else in the episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': The episode [[Recap/TheVentureBrosS2E11VivaLosMuertos "¡Viva los Muertos!"]] features [[CorruptedCharacterCopy a team of middle-aged mystery solvers who combine the Scooby Gang with infamous criminals from the '60s and '70s]]. Ted, Fred combined with Ted Bundy, is cheerfully abusive to the others and threatens the wrath of God if they don't obey him. Patty, Daphne combined with Patty Hearst, was abducted by Ted and just wants to see her family again. Val, Velma combined with Valerie Solanas, cynically spouts radical feminist talking points. Sonny, Shaggy combined with David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), is a mentally ill man who hallucinates that their dog Groovy can talk, telling him to kill for some unholy higher power. Ted controls Sonny using "Groovy Treats", which is just Sonny's medication. The group enters the Venture Compound in search of a mystery, assuming that it must be abandoned, only to be killed by Brock for trespassing.

** "The Wand That Got Away" is basically a full {{Homage}} to the old ''Scooby-Doo'' episodes, with Timmy as Fred, Cosmo as Shaggy, Wanda as Daphne, Baby Poof as Velma and Sparky as Scooby (who keeps saying several Scooby-Doo [[{{Catchphrase}} catchphrases]] as a RunningGag) driving around in a Mystery Machine-esque van to try and find Cosmo's missing wand.

* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': The episode "[[Recap/WanderOverYonderS2E13TheCartoonTheBot The Cartoon]]" features a show called ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT51oQvGqlU The Mystery Kids' Mysteries]]'', which seems to be a cross between ''Scooby-Doo'', ''Gravity Falls'' and ''The Jetsons''. It features a mystery-solving gang of alien kids with a talking dog sidekick and the CatchPhrase "Crikeys" riding in hippie-esque spaceship called "The Mystery Ship" and investigating the case of a haunted sweater.

** The Mysterious Five, cut material from ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRoleplayingGame'', but included in [[http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=2167 the "Designer's Notes" column]] in ''Pyramid Magazine'' vol 3. They appear to be four familiar-looking young people and a dog, who travel the Disc refusing to believe magic exists and trying to pull the "masks" off trolls and zombies. What they ''actually'' are is even stranger than that.
** A scenario in ''Pyramid Magazine'' vol 3 was "Terry Toucan and the Puzzle Pals in: The House of 10,000 Sock Monkeys", described as "a cock-eyed homage to the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons, where a wholesome group of kids and their semi-intelligible animal companion solved mysteries through curiosity, grit, and dumb luck". Unfortunately, this time the monsters are real. Even more unfortunately [[spoiler: Terry Toucan ''hates'' the Puzzle Pals and is trying to get them killed]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': One of the segments of the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E19SaturdayMorningFunPit Saturday Morning Fun Pit]]" is a fairly straightforward parody of ''Scooby-Doo'' called ''Bendee-Boo and the Mystery Crew'', with Bender being Scooby, Fry being Shaggy, Amy being Velma, Leela being Daphne, and Hermes being Fred. The segment itself pokes fun at general conventions of the show such as limited animation and the ScoobyDoobyDoors.

* ''Literature/TheFamousFive'' may be the ''Ur-example''. This series by Enid Blyton was so popular that she ended up writing many more books than she had intended, which meant that the characters seem to not age and remain children for a long time. The Famous Five consisted of two boys, two girls (one a girly girl, the other a tomboy) and their dog, Timmy. They were ''MeddlingKids'' who solved serious crimes, often facing gangsters and foreign spies.

* Cheap, {{limited animation}} as was common in Hanna-Barbera productions.
* An unmasking scene, usually where the team gasp and state the perpetrator's name in unison.