September 13, 1969 CBS launched the Scooby Doo Cartoon. That's right Scooby turns 50 today!
The original series cast was Casey Kasem as Shaggy, Frank Welker as Fred, Nicole Jaffe as Velma, Indira Stefanianna as Daphne and Don Messick as Scooby-Doo, until he died in 1997 at 71.
“Scooby-Doo” went from CBS to ABC in 1976. Kasem, who died in 2014, played Shaggy from 1969-1997 and again from 2002-2009, while Thelma and Daphne have been voiced by a half dozen people through the years.
Welker has been voicing Scooby since 2002 says; “You can’t capture somebody’s soul, but you can do a voice and bring your own qualities to it,” he says. “I just hope I do honor to Don and to the fans.”
Happy birthday Scooby Doo!