Scooby-Doo: The Great Dane Behind TV’s Longest-Running Talking Dog
Scooby-Doo is proof that a badly-built dog can be a perfectly-built character. He is a Great Dane drawn on purpose to break every rule of the breed standard, and that decision has kept him on the air, in one form or another, since Nixon’s first year in office.
Who Scooby-Doo is
Scooby is the cowardly, snack-obsessed Great Dane who solves mysteries alongside four teenagers — Fred, Daphne, Velma, and his best friend Shaggy — out of the back of the Mystery Machine. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the show for Hanna-Barbera, and it premiered as “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” in 1969. The gag at the center of every episode never changes: the ghost is always a guy in a mask, and the dog is always the last one to figure that out.
The design that broke the breed on purpose
Character designer Iwao Takamoto did his homework and then ignored it. He asked a Great Dane breeder at the studio to describe a champion show dog — straight back, level topline, the works — and then reversed every feature. Scooby got the sloped back, bowed legs, and double chin a judge would fault, precisely so he’d read as a lovable goofball and never be confused with the era’s other famous cartoon dog, Marmaduke. The flaws are the whole joke.
The reboot that won’t quit
Most cartoon dogs get one hit series. Scooby has survived a dozen — “The New Scooby-Doo Movies,” “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,” “Mystery Incorporated,” live-action films, direct-to-video features, and constant revivals across more than five decades. The formula is that resilient: a talking dog, a fake monster, and meddling kids works for every generation, which is why studios keep dusting it off. He is the rare children’s character who has been continuously famous since 1969.
Scooby-Doo ranks among the greats in our guide to the most famous cartoon dogs, and he features in the internet’s most famous dogs.
Frequently asked questions
What breed is Scooby-Doo?
Scooby-Doo is a Great Dane, though designer Iwao Takamoto intentionally gave him a sloped back, bowed legs, and other faults that are the opposite of a show-standard Great Dane.
Who created Scooby-Doo?
Scooby-Doo was created by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears for Hanna-Barbera, with character design by Iwao Takamoto. The series “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” premiered in 1969.
Why has Scooby-Doo lasted so long?
The formula — a cowardly talking dog, fake monsters, and teenage sleuths — works for every generation, so the franchise has been rebooted continuously across films, series, and specials since 1969.
