Fifty-three years ago, the iconic animation studio known as Hanna-Barbera Productions released a Saturday morning cartoon series called Scooby-Doo. In the decades that followed, the children's mystery series would go on to endure itself with several generations, from the Baby Boomers all the way to Generation X and Millenials. But now, the celebrated 2D series is getting a major Hollywood makeover. 

Last week, at New York Comic Con, Mindy Kaling (The Office) confirmed that her new interpretation of the Scooby-Doo series, VELMA, would star an East Indian version of Velma Dinkley (Voiced by Mindy Kaling), an Asian version of Daphne Blake (voiced by Constance Wu) and a Black Shaggy (voiced by Sam Richardson). Unlike the original series, which was centered around the adventures of Mystery Inc., this cartoon is intended for an adult audience, and it will focus largely on the romantic intricacies of the group without the pressance of their dog, Scooby. The revelation was met with excitement by several of Kaling's supporters, as many of them cited the production as another positive step towards representation for all. The release of VELMA will mark one of first times in American history that animated series in the mainstream is led by a South Asian character. Nevertheless, not everyone shares Kaling's social viewpoint on the upcoming show. The fact that the character known as Fred is the only Caucasian holdover from the original drawings has irked a large portion of the original show's fanbase, thus making Kaling the object of backlash on various social media platforms and igniting the #NotMyVela hashtag. In response, Kaling has taken the criticism in stride by explaining that she is not trying to erase the show's past by changing the ethnicity of nearly every core member of Mystery Inc. Instead, she aims to expand upon the show's demographic by including people like herself in a different adaptation of the show. 

"People were not happy," Kaling said during an interview with Insider. "There was a lot of, 'So, not Velma?' Those kinds of tweets. 'Not the classic Velma that I'm always thinking about?'"

The actress/comedian continued: "I think of the characters in this as so iconic, but in no way is the gang defined by their whiteness, except for Fred. So, I was a little bit surprised, and I think most Indian-American girls when they see this skeptical, hardworking, kind of underappreciated character, can identify with her."

A separate Scooby-Doo production called Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo, was released on October 14th, and it depicts the Velma Dinkley character as a lesbian. But in Mindy Kaling's adult version, Velma will be romantically linked to "a lot of characters." VELMA is tentatively scheduled to be made available for streaming on HBO Max sometime during 2023.

For more on this story, stay tuned.

Source: Insider