Characteristics of long-running pop culture figures occasionally don’t translate well into contemporary incarnations. Fans were shocked recently when Shaggy Rogers, a main character in the cherished Hanna-Barbera cartoon Scooby-Doo, returned to using his real name. Shaggy is a member of Mystery Inc.
Shaggy is portrayed by his real name in HBO’s Velma, but what is it? How long has he used his official name? Who Is Shaggy Based On?
Who Is Shaggy In Scooby-Doo?
Shaggy has a peculiar speaking style that is characterized by the use of the word “like” as a filler word rather frequently. He is the only main character on the show, which sports facial hair, which is a rough goatee.
His distinctive clothing consists of a green V-neck T-shirt, baggy maroon or brown bell-bottom pants, and black shoes. In early television films and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, he wore a red V-neck and blue jeans.
Who Is Shaggy Based On?
Remember that the teenagers from the 1950s sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis served as the inspiration for the characters in Scooby-human Doo.
Shaggy was inspired by Bob Denver’s portrayal of the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs.
What Is The Real Name Of Shaggy From “Scooby-doo”?
Norville Rogers has been Shaggy’s full name since the character’s creation in 1969.
The moniker “Shaggy” was given to him because of how his hair looked when it was first cut, which was very different. Shaggy’s original nickname was going to be “Buzz,” according to the 1998 television special Scooby-Doo: Behind the Scenes, in honor of the buzz cut he sported up until his tenth birthday.
Source: Distractify
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, an American sitcom that ran from 1959 to 1963, also served as the inspiration for Shaggy’s personality and appearance, according to CBR. Shaggy’s portrayal was notably inspired by Bob Denver’s portrayal of the role of Maynard G. Krebs. Shaggy changed from being a beatnik like Bob’s character to a hippie.
Although he was “cool to hippies,” Casey Kasem previously admitted that he was initially apprehensive to the voice of Shaggy because he had never played a hippy before. Casey Kasem voiced the original iteration of Shaggy intermittently through 2009.
Casey originally wanted to portray Fred, but Frank Welker was cast in that position; therefore, Casey ended up playing Shaggy.
In the end, Casey decided to model Shaggy’s voice and mannerisms after Walter Denton from the radio/television sitcom Our Miss Brooks, played by Richard Crenna.
Fans will now get to see an entirely new side of Shaggy in the new animated series Velma on HBO Max. Except in comic contexts, Norville Rogers (voiced by Sam Richardson) is a straitlaced, diligent teen who works as a journalist for the school newspaper.
The character has never appeared on television using his formal name Norville. He despises narcotics, has a crush on Velma, and doesn’t own a dog on the show.
When character posters for Velma referred to Shaggy by his government name, some fans were taken aback, which led to a flurry of parodies on Twitter. No one should call that youngster Norville; his name is Shaggy, and that’s all there is to it, one user said. “Crying laughing who Norville is,” a different person remarked.
Why Shaggy In Scooby-Doo Doesn’t Call Himself Norville
As a result of “Shaggy” being a much better name for the character, Norville Rogers hardly ever uses it in Scooby-Doo films or cartoons. He gets his nickname from his shaggy hair, rough goatee, and baggy clothes.
He is known for his signature green v-neck t-shirt and brown bell-bottom pants as well as his insatiable appetite. Shaggy was initially modeled after a character from the 1960s sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, just like the rest of the Mystery Inc. crew.
He was particularly influenced by Bob Denver’s portrayal of Dobie’s hippy sidekick Maynard G. Krebs, who was known for his beatnik beard, lethargy, defiance of authority, and constant use of the word “like.”
In Scooby-Doo’s earliest iterations, the character doesn’t go by Norville because the name hadn’t yet been decided; however, the Shaggy nickname has also recently come to be associated with the character because it perfectly fits and accurately describes his physical attributes and laid-back demeanor.
Shaggy is primarily referred to by his real name in the already contentious Velma series, but as the R-rated Scooby-Doo series goes on, it’s possible the character will adopt his well-known moniker.
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