Scooby Doo Logo PNG
The comical, cartoony Scooby Doo logo fits the animated series’ atmosphere. It looks like the designers initially intended it to be scary, then changed their minds. The animated series’ entire plot is built on this principle.
The animated series Scooby-Doo has influenced pop culture and spawned a popular media franchise. The plot follows four friends and their cowardly dog as they form Mystery Incorporated to investigate mysterious events. It debuted in 1969 and was translated into 15 languages over the following decades. The number of episodes grew continuously, so that from 2014 to 2015, this animated project was in the Guinness World Records, even beating The Simpsons. But it lacked a permanent identity: the logo changed with each new season of the animated series Scooby-Doo.
Oddly enough, the appearance of the American series about four adventurers and their dogs is directly related to the assassination attempt on Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Because of this tragic incident, the US government has tightened the requirements for violence in cartoons. So the authorities decided to pay tribute to the deceased politician, who had advocated censoring children’s television content. At the time, the animated series was quite dark, with scenes of murder and terror. And all because the younger audience preferred horror to other genres.
The Hanna-Barbera film studio responded strategically. They launched a comedy project in which the characters don’t risk their lives to save the world from monsters because the monsters are just people in disguise. In the story, four friends and an anthropomorphic dog create Mystery Incorporated to fight monsters. Interestingly, the characters in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis served as prototypes for teenage characters.
Meaning and History
Each episode of the animated series features a monster. The main characters are called to catch it, but during the investigation, they discover an ordinary person hiding behind a monster mask. At the same time, cowardly team members make the situation comedic. One of them is a dog named Scooby-Doo, who often says his signature phrase, “Scooby-Dooby-Doo!” By the way, “Do be do be do” is a line from the Frank Sinatra song “Strangers in the Night.” She inspired the anthropomorphic character’s name and the series title.
The Scooby-Doo logo changed each season, but all variants were designed in much the same way. We are talking about bright colors and uneven letters, characteristic of the “childish” style. In the latest version, one of the animated series’ main characters appeared next to the inscription: a Great Dane.
What is Scooby Doo?
Scooby-Doo is a media franchise that combines cartoons, video games, comics, feature films, and theatrical performances. All of them are based on the animated series about a cowardly dog and four teenagers who solve mysteries. The original series premiered in September 1969. It was broadcast on CBS TV.
1969 – 1972
On the morning of September 13, 1969, television viewers first saw Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? on CBS. Ken Spears and Joe Ruby worked on the series, suggesting they may have helped create the cartoon logo. It was a light gray inscription, “SCOOBY-DOO,” against the backdrop of a mystical house. The designers made both words translucent so that the building’s elements could be seen through them. Because of its translucent texture, it was associated with ghosts. The letters trembled and looked uneven, as if they had no clear form, hung in the air, and swayed in the wind. The original logo was used in the second season, which debuted in 1970.
1972 – 1976
In 1972, the series’ developers slightly changed the concept. They renamed the children’s TV show The New Scooby-Doo Movies, extended each episode to 60 minutes, and added exclusive celebrity guest stars. At the same time, a wordmark was created with a light green inscription inside a blue rectangle. In this version, as in the previous one, the letters were uneven, but they became compact and uniform in shape. They also have darker contours. The glyphs piled on top of each other as if they didn’t have enough space. Between the words “SCOOBY” and “DOO” was a hyphen, which hadn’t been there before. This logo graced the opening credits until 1976, when the animated series moved to ABC.
1976 – 1979
When the ABC television network bought the rights to broadcast Scooby-Doo, the show’s format changed again, gradually; something new in the concept appeared every year. In the 1976-1977 season, the logo was introduced, featuring the series’ white name on a lilac gradient background. There are gaps between the letters. The “S” and “D” were enlarged, although the entire lettering was in uppercase. The glyphs remained uneven, as if children had drawn them. An individual dark purple line encircled each letter. This emblem remained in use for three seasons, until the end of Scooby’s All-Stars programming block.
1979 – 1985
In 1979, a new character was added to the series, the Scrappy-Doo puppy. The episodes currently airing use the yellow wordmark in the credits. The inscription “Scooby-Doo” was split into two lines: the top line had the hyphenated part, and the bottom line had the second half of the name. Moreover, the designers didn’t align them; they deliberately twisted them, setting them at an angle. Visual ordering was created only because all the letters were close and interconnected. And because of the uneven thickness of the black outlines, the text seemed voluminous.
1985 – 1988
An updated logo for the animated series debuted in 1985, with The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. The designers again made the lettering one-line and green, as in 1972. But now they have chosen a darker shade of green and repainted the background red. The letters became trembling and uneven, creating a mystical horror atmosphere.
1988 – 1991
From 1988 to 1991, ABC aired a series called A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. In its logo, the main character’s name was orange and in bold, with the first “S” and “D” uppercase and the rest lowercase. The glyphs still varied in size, but their edges were smoother. The inscription has thin white outlines and black shadows. Intra-letter gaps were also black.
1997 – today
After 1997, the animated series began using a two-part logo: a wordmark and an image of an anthropomorphic dog. The franchise name now consists of purple letters with orange outlines. The letters appear three-dimensional because of the gradient and highlights. A dog named Scooby-Doo peeks out over the sign with its paws on “BY” and “DOO.” He is the same as in the cartoon: a happy Great Dane with a green collar.
Font and Colors
If earlier designers tried to catch up with horror by depicting each letter in the style of Halloween horrors, the modern inscription has a childish design. Nothing about it is frightening, especially with a good-natured dog drawn next to it.
The custom glyph set used in the “Scooby Doo” logo is unparalleled. Each letter differs in shape and size. The only things that unite them are the bold style and the lack of serifs. Since the animated series is designed for a children’s audience, the designers used bright colors, rich shades of purple and orange. The character has traditional colors: brown fur, a black nose, a pink tongue, black-and-white eyes, and a green collar.