The Significance of Scooby-Doo

Growing up, there were not a ton of television shows that piqued my interest enough to continue watching them 20 years later, but Scooby-Doo was an exception to this. To this day, I still throw on an episode, movie, or special whenever I need a comforting pick-me-up, and can recite almost every word using the same timing and inflection as the original characters. I learned all the trivia, know all of the editing errors, and more. But viewing it now as an adult, I can see how my lifelong affair with this loveable mutt has actually informed some of my work. Seeing how the cartoonists created these characters with black lines and blocks of color on such meticulously detailed backgrounds, I can see myself recreating similar compositions as well. The features of Norville "Shaggy" Rogers are even reflected in "The Guy", a recurring character I draw during periods of anxiety, loneliness, or just when I need something to comfort myself. The 2019 painting I did of him was part of a triptych whose subject was that of an identity crisis. The love of mysteries like these began simply by watching Blues Clues on Nick Jr., back when "Face" was the channel's host. It would also make me grow to love the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, and reading all 175 by the time I finished middle school. These three became such an important fixture of my childhood that I even illustrated a still-life of items including a plush "Blue", a VHS tape of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, and the cover of The Ghost of Blackwood Hall.