When did Scrappy-doo become so hated?
I was initially going to ask the question of Why was Scrappy-Doo introduced to the Scooby-Doo series, but that seems to be answered succinctly by the below Wikipedia paragraph:
In 1979, Scooby's tiny nephew Scrappy-Doo was added to both the series and the billing, in an attempt to boost Scooby-Doo's slipping ratings. The 1979–80 episodes, aired under the new title Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo as an independent half-hour show, succeeded in regenerating interest in the show.
However on skimming the article, I can't see anything about a negative fan reaction.
When did that happen?
Best Answer
After hunting around I found this explanation on TV Tropes:
The Trope Namer is Scrappy-Doo from Scooby-Doo. Scrappy was introduced in 1979 as Scooby-Doo's nephew in a bid to revitalize the franchise, whose popularity was beginning to wane. It should be clearly noted that it did work; children adored the character, and thus Scooby-Doo remained a staple of Saturday morning entertainment. But with the rise of usernet groups, it was discovered that Scrappy-Doo was hated by many longtime fans, which was probably only aggravated by the fact that they had grown out of Scooby-Doo's target audience. Some hated Scrappy because they perceived him as being responsible for the franchise dumping half the main cast, switching to a Three Shorts format, and introducing real monsters, which occurred the season after Scrappy was introduced. The shorts format lasted for three seasons and gained neutral to positive reception, but many fans never warmed to the Genre Shift.
Emphasis mine.
So it looks like an older generation fomented this dislike of Scrappy, even blaming his introduction on some big format changes.
Pictures about "When did Scrappy-doo become so hated?"
When did Scrappy-Doo turn evil?
The author of "The Facts on Scrappy" claims a Nega-Scooby canon was introduced in 1988 that grew steadily throughout the '90s, culminating with Scrappy's monstrous transformation in 2002's Scooby-Doo movie.What happened to Scrappy-Doo in Mystery Inc?
Ultimately, in the final film, Scrappy is revealed to be the villain, in an attempt to get revenge on Mystery Inc. after they kicked him out.Who hates Scrappy-Doo?
Tim Curry, a longtime fan of Scooby-Doo, and voice of Ben Ravencroft in Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999), was offered the role of Emile Mondavarious. He turned it down when he heard that the movie featured Scrappy-Doo, a character he dislikes.The Rise And Fall of Scrappy Doo (Ep3) - Inside A Mind
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Images: Andrea Piacquadio, Shamia Casiano, NOHK, Keira Burton