Monday, January 20, 2014

You Know The Voice(s): Meet the cast of Scooby-Doo (the 70's version)

This next item was culled from a DVD release for Scooby-Doo to explain just how the cast came together. Well, most of them, anyway. This focuses on material from the ABC years (1976-86), hence Gary Owens (Blue Falcon) is here as well.

Heather North (Daphne) was, ah, moonlighting at the time, as she also appeared on Days of Our Lives during the 70's. She was actually the 2nd Daphne. Today, Nicole Jaffe (Velma), at least at the time this interview was recorded, had become an agent and made a 1-shot return in a DVD a few years back. Mindy Cohn, the current Velma, has come the closest to matching Nicole's original characterization. To think that, today, Casey Kasem (Shaggy) has been in ill health, but the real revelation is how he & Frank Welker had wanted to read for other parts. And, as we all know, Welker eventually would inherit the role of Scooby himself from Don Messick, but not before they'd tried out other actors after Messick had passed away. Some of Welker's facials during this video suggest the influence, in this writer's opinion, of comedy icon Red Skelton. Shoot, I'd bet he could recreate some of Red's classic routines.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

Seeing his clip makes me feel like a little kid again! I used to have a fantasy of doing an interview with the characters by having the VAs in the room behind a screen!

It makes one miss Don Messick all the more! That interview had to have been taped 20 years ago!

I had heard Kasem and Welker wanted to read for other parts, but how everything worked out is just lightning in a bottle.

Heather North was also a Hollywood starlet - she was even in an episode of The Monkees - as a love interest of Davy's of course! Come to think of it, so was Sherry Alberoni (aka Alexandra Cabot).

Jaffe and Welker were also co-stars in an Elvis film about a year before SDWAY.

hobbyfan said...

I'm going to have to locate that Elvis movie.

Considering that Messick passed on before Zombie Island came out, I'd say, yeah, the interview footage with him is at least 20 years old.

All the more amazing is that after 45 years, Welker is the only original cast member still active!