Updated September 4, 2019. Scooby-Doo has returned to the small screen in a new series that’s all about celebrity cross-overs. The long-running cartoon franchise’s new show, “Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?,” features vegan and vegetarian celebrities such as comedian Ricky Gervais, magician Penn Jillette, Weird Al, and Sia.
The show is the 13th series in Hanna-Barbera’s franchise. Each episode features a mystery (of course), the classic Scooby-Doo run, and one or more celebrities — both real and fictional.
One episode sees Sia attempt to turn Scooby and Shaggy vegan. In an exclusive clip for the upcoming episode, the pair gulp down vegan sub sandwiches at Sia’s home. Shaggy says, “who wants to be on a stakeout when we could be hanging out with Sia?” Scooby responds, “and be vegans!”
The cartoon singer then leads the duo to her carnival room, where they have vegan pies hurled into their faces and slurp dairy-free cotton candy shakes.
The episode is also complete with a mystery. Its description reads, “when Daphne gets a call from her good friend singer-songwriter Sia, the gang finds themselves in a mystery involving an evil demon ghost that has taken the shape of Sia as a ghostly doppelganger.”
Scooby-Doo and the Vegan Actors
The gang has a long history of teaming up with celebrities and other cartoon characters in cross-overs, from Sonny and Cher to DC Universe heroes and villains, as well as weirdly obscure appearances for a kids’ show, like science fiction writer Harlan Ellison.
The latest crop of guests just happens to be pretty vegan. Weird Al has been a vegetarian since 1992 and tries to avoid eggs and dairy when possible, according to his website. Gervais is also a longtime vegetarian who regularly uses his platform to speak out against animal abuse. Sia revealed that she’s a vegan in 2014 and Las Vegas magician Jilette revealed in 2015 that he follows a plant-based diet.
The show’s own Shaggy is a vegetarian (he eats veggie burgers in the Golden Raspberry Award-nominated 2002 live-action feature “Scooby-Doo: The Movie), thanks to his original voice actor Casey Kasem. As well as being a well-known radio personality, Kasem was also a vocal vegan, often speaking out in support of animal rights and environmental causes.
Kasem played Shaggy from the series’ start in 1969 up until 1997, he quit after being asked to lend his voice to a Burger King commercial. He was replaced for a short while by voice actors Billy West (“Futurama”) and Scott Innes (who also played Scooby-Doo in the direct-to-video animated movies), but returned in 2002 and remained until his retirement from Shaggy in 2009.
“Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?” premiered on Boomerang’s streaming service on June 27, with new episodes each Thursday. The season finale will air on September 19.
