In an effort to strike new ground in the streaming world, various platforms have decided to create original animated series to get a leg up in the medium. While there have been numerous new shows spawned by the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, and others, HBO Max made a bold decision to reinvent a classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Three years ago, the Warner Bros streaming service decided to take a big actor from The Office and let her loose in the world of Mystery Incorporated. Still considered one of the most controversial animated series of all time, now feels like the perfect time to study the rise and major fall of the MAX original.
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Velma first arrived on HBO Max in 2023, garnering two seasons and a grand finale special to wrap this wild new take on the titular character and the founders of Mystery Inc. Mindy Kaling took on the role of Velma, while also acting as Executive Producer for the animated series, bringing big time voice actors like Sam Richardson, Glenn Howerton, and Constance Wu onto the show to voice Shaggy, Fred, and Daphne respectively. The fan backlash to the series was legendary online, with fans believing that Velma didn’t live up to its Scooby-Doo source material. Even when the series was canceled in 2024, there remained one character who never made an appearance.
Where Was Scooby-Doo?
Ironically enough, while the titular canine of Warner Bros fame was referenced quite a few times in Velma’s two seasons, animation enthusiasts never had the chance to see what this world’s Scooby-Doo looked like. In Velma, for those who haven’t watched, an ongoing conspiracy dubbed “Project S.C.O.O.B.I.” was created that turned canines into killing machines. While Scooby never arrived, Scrappy-Doo became a major villain for the show, as voiced by Jason Mantzoukas. Eventually twisted into a creature that was bent on revenge, Scrappy was killed thanks to some quick thinking by Velma.
In 2024, following the second season finale, Velma would return in the special one-shot, “This Halloween Needs to be More Special,” that arrived right during the start of spooky seasons. This finale brought the titular character back from the grave, wrapping almost all the plotlines in the series so far during its runtime. While there was one or two elements that were left hanging to make the final installment a bit anti-climactic, this fact didn’t stop HBO Max from pulling the plug, a decision that many animation fans were championing.
Velma series creator Charlie Grandy discussed the controversy surrounding the series with Variety in 2023. During the interview, Grandy stated, “The original Hanna-Barbera shows are still out there to watch. We are not erasing the originals. We just want to be a little ice planet on the outer regions of the Scooby-verse! Mindy came to me and said she’d love to work on a story with Velma…She loved the character and thought it would be funny to have her at the center of a show.”
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Image Courtesy of Prime Video -
Image Courtesy of Netflix
