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Scrappy-Doo is the unchangeable and exuberant nephew of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon dog Scooby-Doo. He has appeared in a number of the various incarnations of the Scooby-Doo cartoon series (Scooby and Scrappy-Doo (1979), The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour (1982), The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show (1983), The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1984), and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985)). Lennie Weinrib did his voice only for the 1979 series, from 1980 on it was performed by Don Messick.
A Great Dane pup who was born at St. Bernard's Hospital to Scooby's sister Ruby-Doo, Scrappy idolizes his uncle Scooby and often assists his team in solving mysteries.
Fearless and energetic, Scrappy has often been vilified by some fans of the show. Opinion is divided but many fans blame Scrappy for an apparent downturn in the show's quality in the 1980s. Supporters argue that the downturn was due to poor quality writing and a breakaway from the show's traditional premise by including real ghosts, as well as pointing to a subsequent upturn for some of the later series. Others note that in episodes featuring Scrappy (in all his bravery) required that Scooby be even more fearful than he was in other episodes.
It is notable that Scrappy-Doo was left out of the team for the more recent Scooby Doo movies, as well as for the What's New Scooby-Doo? series, primarily due to some poor fan opinion of the character. In fact, Scrappy was a villain in the first live-action movie.
Thus, 'Scrappy Doo', or even 'Crappy Doo', is also a fan term for a character, usually overexuberant or cute in an irritating way, added to a series. This concept was parodied in The Simpsons when Homer Simpson was cast to play the new character "Poochie" in "The Itchy & Scratchy Show". (See also jumping the shark and Cousin Oliver.)
Scrappy's catchphrase is "Ta ta ta da daaa! Puppy power!"
See also: Jump the shark
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