| By :
Mark Etinger
When I think back about Scooby Doo I think what I remember most clearly is the constant stream of celebrity guest stars. While some more modern cartoons guest voices are a veritable "who's who" the guests on Scooby Doo today read more like list of "who died?" What is more surprising is that rarely in an obituary for a former Scooby Doo guest star do they list that appearance as an achievement. This is a ridiculous omission on the parts of so-called journalists and news editors everywhere. Do they really think the youth of America would know who the dead Harlem Globetrotters were if not for their iconic appearance alongside Shaggy and Scooby? Do they think the Adams Family have the cultural cachet simply based on an ancient television show that was in black and white?! No. These dead celebrities live on through the work of the Hanna Barbara animation company. The Mamas and the Papas made some of the most beloved songs of their time. Yet their appearance in a special episode of Scooby Doo stands in my mind as a far cooler depiction than they ever mustered on their own. In fact with the sort of scandal that haunted the death of Papa John Phillips it is practically insane to think that anything could be better for his continued legacy than an animated version of him. A version that has never done the horrifying acts we all heard he allegedly did. Similarly when Adam West, television's original Batman, dies his obituary will likely omit his appearance on the program most children will know him best for. Batman on Scooby Doo is still an event whenever Cartoon Network opts to drop it into rotation. Meanwhile the original Batman series has only a mild level of cultural stock, mostly among fans of kitschy culture. On the cartoon he and Robin (played by Burt Ward) manage to seem surprisingly tough and cool. Of course I cannot be too mad about the lack of Scooby Doo in the obituaries of dead celebrities. It is simply one sticking point and one begins to wonder how the guest stars on The Simpsons, many already forgotten relics, will allow their appearances on that venerated program to be represented in literature regarding their death. As a normal human man I wish I was animated alongside classic characters beloved by generation after generation. Maybe it isn't the most important thing that would have ever happened to me but it would be up there.
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