In 1969, animation studio Hanna-Barbera debuted Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, a TV series about a group of teenage drifters and their cowardly Great Dane Scooby-Doo, traveling in their van solving mysteries. Over the next 53 years, through various animated adventures, live-action movies, and parodies, the Scooby Gang has fought ghosts, pirates, and pirate ghosts, as well as meeting guest stars including Smash Mouth, Triple H, and even Batman and Robin.
But over a half-century later, Scooby has maintained one consistent trademark: his distinctive style of speech which includes adding an “R” sound to the beginning of words, and a vocabulary so limited he’s often left to resort to miming things he wants to describe.
Apparently, Scooby-Doo suffers from a speech-sound disorder
In fact, according to a Discover magazine article, there’s a technical term for Scooby’s unique speech pattern, as identified by Dr. Steven Long, an associate professor in Marquette University’s Speech Pathology and Audiology department. Dr. Long, a trained medical professional with a PhD., explained that Scooby suffers from “Rhotic Replacement,” which is when the brain not only distorts speech but actually adds sounds to words.
This unique way of speaking makes Scooby-Doo a more interesting character, as it sets him apart from the typical dog character who can’t talk at all.
But why can Scooby-Doo talk while others can’t?
But all of this aside, fans have spent decades theorizing as to why in the world of Scooby-Doo, some animals like Scooby and his relatives Scrappy-Doo and Scooby Dum, can talk but others, including Scooby’s girlfriend, the cocker spaniel Nova, can’t.
Reddit user “themightyheptagon,” theorized that it was because Scooby began his life as a Soviet space dog. According to this theory:
“Super-intelligent animals could potentially have been a great asset to the Soviet Space Agency. After all, why risk the life of a trained cosmonaut for a simple test flight when you could just send a dog who’s smart enough to record data, operate consoles, and understand complex commands over a radio?”
While intriguing, this doesn’t explain why the Kremlin’s top-secret military program would breed a dog so cowardly that he splits into four when he sees a “g-g-ghost.” According to another Reddit theory, Shaggy is actually a descendant of Captain America, as evidenced by his ability to run at top speeds at the first sign of danger.
This confusion as to why some dogs can talk and some can’t is similar to the debate surrounding classic Disney characters, Pluto and Goofy. It makes no sense that Goofy is able to walk on two legs and talk, while Pluto is just your everyday dog. It seems that animation can take a lot of liberties in their portrayal of dogs and their abilities, which is shown through Scooby-Doo.
The real reason behind Scooby-Doo’s peculiar speech pattern
While these are fun, the question was finally answered in the second season of the 2010 series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. It was revealed that talking animals were the descendants of Annunaki, a race of beings from another dimension that took over the bodies of animals thousands of years ago. It is great that the show took the time to answer a question that so many Scooby-Doo fans had posed for decades.
And while that may seem even more far-fetched than what the Internet has come up with, it still isn’t any crazier than the fact that Fred Jones has been a teenager for 53 years and he still thinks ascots are cool.