It’s long been an open secret among fans and “Scooby-Doo” creatives that Velma is gay. Even James Gunn, who wrote the early live-action films, and Tony Cervone, who served as supervising producer on the “Mystery Incorporated” series, have confirmed the character’s sexuality, but they were never able to make it official onscreen. (Read More Here).
In 2020, Gunn tweeted that he “tried” to make Velma a lesbian in the live-action movies. “In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script,” he wrote. “But the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel).”
During the 2020 Pride Month, Cervone wrote on Instagram, “I’ve said this before, but Velma in ‘Mystery Incorporated’ is not bi. She’s gay. We always planned on Velma acting a little off and out of character when she was dating Shaggy because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with the why. There are hints about the why in that episode with the mermaid, and if you follow the entire Marcie arc it seems as clear as we could make it 10 years ago. I don’t think Marcie and Velma had time to act on their feelings during the main timeline, but post reset, they are a couple. You can not like it, but this was our intention.”
For decades now, Velma Dinkley, the crime-fighting heroine of hundreds of Scooby-Doo cartoon and movies, has been trying to come out of the closet. In the early 2000s, when Warner Bros made two live-action Scooby-Doo movies, the screenwriter, James Gunn, attempted to portray her as an out and proud lesbian, but the studio was having none of it.
“I tried!” Gunn told a fan in 2020. “Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script [for the 2002 movie Scooby-Doo]. But the studio kept watering it down, becoming ambiguous.” For the 2004 sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, she even acquired a boyfriend.
In 1972, when I was just 10, I became obsessed with the Scooby-Doo cartoon, which began in 1969 and was based on four mystery-solving teenagers and their talking great dane. It was huge fun watching the crazy adventures that Shaggy, Velma, Fred and Daphne got caught up in. I learned all the catchphrases and would walk around my schoolyard singing “Scooby-Dooby-Doo, where are you?” and asking for Scooby snacks. I still use that phrase today, to the bewilderment of my younger friends and anyone outside the UK or US.
I particularly loved the character of Velma. I never felt her relationship with Shaggy was any good for her, just as I could not understand why any of my schoolfriends wanted to date boys when we entered our teens.
And I definitely identified with Velma. Like her, I was always the odd one out. Of course, I didn’t wonder at that young age whether she was a lesbian, but I certainly knew that she was what we used to call a “tomboy”, just like me. Although I was never keen on her pleated skirt, I loved the fact that she wore baggy jumpers and defied femininity. She also shared my view of the world: getting exasperated with the boys, being cleverer than them, and showing how girls do not have to adhere to stereotypes of femininity and passiveness.
As I got older, I would see the odd rerun of Scooby-Doo and, having come out as a lesbian at 15, knew exactly what was going on with Velma. At that time, there were hardly any real-life lesbian role models for us; Velma was the closest we got. I remember seeing the 2002 movie, which was directed by Raja Gosnell, at the cinema with two 10-year-olds I had borrowed in order for my visit to seem socially acceptable, and being thrilled to realise that my heroine was now written as a lesbian – even if it wasn’t explicitly stated.
Scooby-Doo” has long been famous for its big reveals, with its gang of amateur sleuths dramatically cornering criminals and pulling off their masks at the end of each episode.
But now, a new revelation just might be the most seismic in the animated show’s 53-year history.
Lead character Velma Dinkley is a lesbian in the new Warner Bros. movie “Trick or Treat: Scooby Doo!” — with the fictional character fawning over a fellow female.
Variety confirmed the cartoon character’s queerness in a new article, citing excerpts from the flick, released Thursday.
In the new film, Velma swoons over sassy character Coco Diablo. At one point, the orange bespectacled brunette is so enamored by the character that her trademark glasses start to fog up.
Fans flocked to Twitter to celebrate the fictional character’s coming out, with one writing, “Velma being gay is actually massive, we’re at a point in time when this major character, full of decades-old history and fans, gets to actually be a lesbian and that’s just another part of her canon now! Sometimes we need to celebrate these wins.”
A second supporter declared, “We have won. Velma is a lesbian with impeccable tastes.”However, others weren’t so happy with the revelation. “They destroyed Scooby Doo with this woke LGBTQIA nonsense. Just another attempt to indoctrinate children,”one decried.
Another claimed the franchise had been hijacked by identity politics, sarcastically sniped another, “Why not make Velma black and disabled as well? Are they racist and ableist?”
The Post has reached out to Warner Bros for an official statement on Velma’s sexuality.
The company isn’t the only one to increase queer visibility in children’s entertainment of late. Earlier this year, Disney’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” announced a push for 50 percent of regular and recurring characters across the Disney universe will come from “underrepresented groups.”
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