The Scooby-Doo Conundrum

I just told my kids that Scooby-Doo has a speech defect. But now I’m not sure.
Even though the dog speaks and functions in a very human way, is he not still essentially a dog? And given that, should we not therefore judge him as some sort of super-freak dog speech genius, relative to the dog-normal-speaking-ability curve???
If I spoke Chinese as well as Scooby speaks English, compared to how most dogs speak English (eg: not at all), let’s just say: I’d speak really good Chinese.
Perhaps the so-called “defect” lies not in Scooby’s speech, but in our hearts and their collective inability to judge things relative to a dog-normal-speaking-ability curve.

7 thoughts on “The Scooby-Doo Conundrum”

  1. e: respectfully, I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I’ve seen him with my own eyes. On the TV for crying out loud!
    -Cecil

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  2. get a ball, a bat, a kite, get outside for christs sake, we are having the best weather in a million years….
    Uncle Lee

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  3. Scooby can’t really talk. It’s just that Shaggy smokes too much herb. All the gang’s adventures take place inside his dope-addled cranium. Didn’t you know that? The show makes no damn sense otherwise.

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  4. Exactly e. There are smart dogs and dumb dogs. SD is not smart. But to say he has a speech impediment? Isn’t that like politiclly incorrect or something? 🙂

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  5. article in the Chronicle, 1/9/07 breaks the news that Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created Scooby-Doo has died at age 81. Takamoto has explained his concept for Scooby-Doo. He spoke with breeders of Great Danes who “showed me some pictures and talked about the important points of a Great Dane, like a straight back, straight legs, small chin and such. I decided to go the opposite and gave him a hump back, bowed legs, big chin and such. Even his color is wrong.” I expect that his aversion to the true nature of the dog carried over even into speech patterns.

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