We return once again to the Scooby-Dooniverse, my giant online bulletin board of Silly-String’d-connections that link almost every major American cartoon character or series into one shared universe via cameos and crossovers. This week we’ll begin looking specifically at the many guest-stars that Scooby-Doo and the rest of Mystery Inc. have teamed up with to solve various and sundry mysteries.

Of course, because animation is so popular, voice acting requires less demand on a name actor’s schedule and creates much buzz for the cartoon, even if the celebrity does not appear as themselves in the cartoon (such as with early episodes of The Simpsons, guest-starring Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, and Dustin Hoffman playing other characters).

Below is the first of a series of posts listing celebrities who have appeared, as themselves or as a character from TV or film, in an animated cartoon. We start, of course, with the many variations of Scooby-Doo, who popularized such guest-stardom via The New Scooby-Doo Movies. (The Flintstones did this much earlier on their series, featuring appearances by Hoagy Carmichael, the cast of Bewitched, and Ann-Margret.)

First, a quick breakdown of the guest-star types we’ll be dealing with:

  • The first and most common type of guest-star is that of the celebrity appearance, such as Mr. T on House of Mouse.
  • The second type is an actor portraying a well-known character, such as when Debby Ryan, as Jessie Prescott, appeared in an episode of Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors.
  • The third type, what I call a “ghost star”, is when actors portray other characters, such as The Three Stooges. I do not count these, nor characters who were adapted into a cartoon series, then appear in a cameo or crossover. Those get linked in the grand Scooby-Dooniverse scheme.

Here’s the list of all the Scooby-Doo series (and a few original movies), along with the real people who teamed-up with The Gang to solve a mystery!

Seasonal Scooby-Doo Shows

 Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! 1969–70

The first series. No guest stars.

The New Scooby-Doo Movies 1972–73

This is the series that featured either crossovers with other cartoon series, or featured guest appearances by real people.

In order of appearance (from Wikipedia):

The Scooby-Doo Show 1976–78

No guest stars. (Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, who also is a voice actor, appeared in one episode.)

Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics 1977–78

No guest stars, just lots of cartoon cameos, including Fred and Barney!

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo 1979–80
Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo 1980–82
The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show 1983–84

Yes. I know. If nothing else, this kept the franchise going, and, more important, had an incredible cast of voice actors! IMDb lists these all under the same listing, totaling five seasons. [Mark Evanier has a lot of explaining to do.]

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo 1985

Vincent Price stars, as “Vincent Van Ghoul”, a nice bit of stunt-casting.

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo 1988–91

The Gang as pre-teens. No guest stars, just a lot of talent.

What’s New, Scooby-Doo? 2002–06

A return to the tried-and-true, but with modern technology. Lots of celebrity cameos, and lots of celebrities voicing characters! Rhea Perlman, Jim Belushi, Mark Hamill (of course), Peter Scolari, M. Emmet Walsh, Vincent D’Onofrio…. 

Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! 2006–08

Two seasons, 26 episodes. Feels like a web-based series. No cameos, minimal cast.

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 2010–13
Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! 2015–18

Wow. No celebrity cameos

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? 2019–present

Animated direct-to-video films

Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon February 26, 2013

If you must watch one of these DTV movies, make it this one. Set at “Mega Mondo Pop! Comic ConApalooza”, it centers on the release of a darker version of “Blue Falcon”. (Don’t ask how this jibes with the gang’s actually meeting the real Blue Falcon.) You’ll probably want to watch it twice, just to spot all the background Easter eggs.

Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery March 25, 2014

[There’s also a Young Justice Easter Egg cameo, so adjust your scorecards.]

Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery July 21, 2015
Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon August 9, 2016
Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost September 11, 2018
Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island October 1, 2019
Scoob! May 15, 2020
Scooby-Doo! in King Arthur’s Court 2020

[Forthcoming. No cast has been announced.]

Miscellaneous

Supernatural: Scoobynatural

This was an animated episode of Supernatural.

After a haunted television set transports the Winchester Brothers into the animated world of Scooby-Doo, they join forces with the Scooby Gang to solve a ghostly mystery, one that is very real and life-threatening.

State Farm Commercial

Lucy Rodas. [Yes, this is an actual, real-life, State Farm insurance agent.]

…and, this.  It doesn’t fall under the guidelines of cartoon cameos, since Peter Kay’s Animated All Star Band: The Official BBC Children in Need Medley involves some live action footage (Teletubbies and In the Night Garden…) as well as Supermarionation (Thunderbirds) and regular puppetry (Muffin the Mule), and regular animated characters. Scooby and Shaggy appear, via satellite, and SpongeBob SquarePants makes a rare cameo appearance. We have a link to British animation to add to the chart!

That’s it for this week! Think I missed any?

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