Happy 50th Scooby, Haunted Mansion and the Monsters of Sesame Street!

Warning: If you grew up watching Scooby Doo and Sesame Street, and/or remember visiting the Haunted Mansion in the 1970s, prepare to feel old. At least that’s how I felt when I realized all three are turning 50 this year. (Because it’s a reminder I’m right behind them.)

But, yep, 1969 was a great year for the start of icons that are now firmly entrenched in pop culture. Let’s take a look at each a bit closer.

Haunted Mansion – Opened to the Public on August 12, 1969

Welcome, Foolish Mortals.

This dark ride attraction was an instant hit with park goers when it opened at Disneyland in 1969 and attracted record crowds.

However, the Haunted Mansion was originally slated to open six years earlier, in 1963. The exterior was completed in 1963, and in 1965 it was previewed in an episode of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, but it didn’t officially open until 1969.

The Haunted Mansion was originally pitched as part of a New Orleans-themed land set in a swamp. It would’ve included an Antebellum manor overgrown with weeds and dead trees. But Walt didn’t like the idea of a run-down house. After visiting Winchester Mystery Manor, he drew inspiration from that instead.

5 Fun Facts

1. The Haunted Mansion opened at the Magic Kingdom in 1971 and Tokyo Disneyland in 1983.
2. The Haunted Mansion inspired Disneyland Paris’ Phantom Manor, and Hong Kong Disneyland’s Mystic Manor.
3. Doom Buggies are the method of transportation in all Haunted Mansions and variations thereof except Mystic Manor, where they’re called Magneto-Electric Carriages.
4. The Doom Buggy Loading Area isn’t the same in each location. You board after the Portrait Hall in the original Haunted Mansion (Disneyland) and Phantom Manor. You load after the Stretching Room in Florida and Tokyo.
5. For Haunted Mansion Holiday (during the holiday season), the Doom Buggies are called “Black Sleighs.”

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! – First Cartoon Aired September 13, 1969

Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?

Four sleuths and their talking Great Dane solve mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures. Like Sesame Street (which we’ll get to), Scooby Doo, Where Are You? was created in response to parents protesting violence in children’s cartoons.

Joseph Barbera first attempted to create a version of the show, which he’d titled House of Mystery. His partner, William Hanna, produced the shows they created together. Barbera was the one who developed them. Barbera ended up recruiting storywriters Joe Ruby and Ken Spears to take charge of the show. Artist and character designer Iwao Takamoto brought the creations to life.

The show’s concept was pitched three times to CBS. It started out as House of Mystery, then became Mysteries Five, but was retitled Who’s S-S-Scared? Execs liked the last concept, but felt the Who’s S-S-Scared? presentation artwork was too scary and would frighten young viewers, so the show was revised and the comedy elements emphasized.

That draft won, and that’s how the meddling kids of Mystery, Inc. jaunting all around the world in their Mystery Machine was born.

5 Fun Facts

1. Scooby Doo’s original name was Too Much.
2. Fred Silverman, the executive for CBS daytime programming in 1969, decided to rename not only the dog, but the show, after being inspired by Frank Sinatra’s “doo-be-doo-be-doo” scat in his song, “Strangers in the Night.”
3. The first episode was “What a Night for Knight.”
4. The full names of each character are Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville “Shaggy” Rogers.
5. If Scooby’s voice sounded similar to another animated dog (Astro from The Jetson’s), that’s because Don Messick voiced both.

Did you have a favorite Scooby Doo character (besides Scooby)?

Sesame Street – First Aired November 10, 1969

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

When it debuted, Sesame Street‘s urban setting and integrated cast with non-white performers joining Jim Henson’s Muppets were immediately noticeable differences in a kid’s show. (And even caused minor controversy. See the Fun Facts below.)

The original cast of Muppets included Guy Smiley, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, Grover, Mr. Snuffleupagus, and Big Bird. However, only Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird appeared regularly in Street scenes.

The Muppets have not been without controversy.

Mr. Snuffleupagus was Big Bird’s “imaginary friend” until many argued that sent kids a bad message. As a result, Snuffy became visible to all in 1985.

Because of the obesity epidemic in America, in 2005 Cookie Monster renounced his love of cookies (sort of) and declared they are only a “sometimes food.”

Are Bert and Ernie gay? There had long been speculation. In 2018, a writer confirmed that, yes, the male roommates were modeled after the writer’s real-life relationship with his life partner.

5 Fun Facts

1. Sesame Street was born out of the formation of the Children’s Television Network. Its mission was to offer a better option for preschool viewers from all walks of life, one that would better prepare them for the classroom.
2. No one was particularly crazy about the show’s title. They felt it would be hard for their intended audience to pronounce. But the name stuck.
3. Big Bird appeared on the cover of Time in 1970.
4. In the first season, Big Bird also received more fan mail than the show’s human cast.
5. In 1970, Mississippi voted not to air the show at first because of the integrated cast.

Did you have a favorite Sesame Street character?

From the Skareporium

If you love Scooby Doo and the Haunted Mansion, too, be sure to check out the Idea Lists in the Skareporium. Here’s some fun things I found to list there:

Sources

The Haunted Mansion – Wikipedia

Scooby Doo – Wikipedia

The Evolution of ‘Sesame Street’ – Biography.com

Muppet Wiki Season 1 – Muppet Wiki