The more you look at the Scrappy hatred, the more unusual it gets. Oh, yes, people are bound to say "Scrappy was when Scooby Doo jumped the shark" and I know that nowadays people have pretty strong opinions on him, but there's just something so bizarre about this whole thing.
Accused of "destroying" a franchise that continues on strong to this very day?
The very franchise that he saved from certain cancellation?
Blamed for format changes that he (A fictional character) could not possibly have been involved in?
Listen, it's a pretty safe bet that it was not Hate at first sight for the viewers, considering that Scrappy stayed on the show for nine years! Even the infamous Shaggy-Scooby-Scrappy shorts endured for three full seasons! Even though internet was not around back then, Hanna-Barbera still would have had access to Nielsen Ratings, and if fans had really been as desparate as they say were, then they probably would have found some way to voice their displeasure. In any case, the Nielsen ratings remained strong as ever.
Then rolled around 1988 bringing with it Scooby Doo and The Reluctant Werewolf, Scrappy's last animated appearence. (Interestingly enough, Pup aired four days before
And yet...and yet....
Not yet was Scrappy a pariah. Would a pariah have a PAL video game released in 1991 starring him?
Cartoon Network even reaired Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo (as shown here ) as late as November 1999.
But then...BAM. Suddenly, something happened. Suddenly Scrappy was BAD. Suddenly, people didn't talk about Scrappy. Suddenly, it was OK to make Scrappy a bad guy in the live action movie.
Somtime around the early two thousands...
This isn't as simple as "Controversial" or as "jumping the shark" this is just plain abnormal. People may feel a certain way about Scrappy now, but he did once play a role in the franchise, a role a lot of people must have liked him for in order to keep him that long.
But what happened???
Now that's a mystery.