Mindy Kaling seems to be doing her own take on Velma Dinkley for her upcoming Velma animated adult prequel series. However, it seems so far to be missing one very important element: Scooby-Doo himself.

Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You
It’s nice that she gets a starring role, but not at the expense of the most iconic character in the series.

Recently on June 10, 2021; Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics (GKYAC) president Tom Aschein recently made a keynote address about upcoming WarnerMedia shows. One of those upcoming shows he talked about was Mindy Kaling’s idea for Velma. His specific words were: “Not for children, but we have a Mindy Kaling project called ‘Velma’ because she was excited to re-imagine what Scooby-Doo would be like if Velma were of East Asian descent and lived in a different world. There’s no dog, and there’s no van, but we have our four key characters through a different lens. And I think it’s great. So allowing our creators to play with our IP is super powerful.”.

Velma: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

Mindy Kaling herself.
HOLLYWOOD, CA – JANUARY 12: Actress Mindy Kaling arrives at the 17th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards held at The Hollywood Palladium on January 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

I honestly don’t mind Velma Dinkley having her race altered to be East Asian. I actually think it might be an interesting take on her character. The problem though is the lack of Scooby-Doo. Seriously, can you really say this is a Scooby-Doo spinoff show if the talking dog himself is missing from the scene? Or even just the Mystery Machine itself?

I’m honestly surprised that it’s the East Asian thing that’s got people in an uproar.

I mean, even as a prequel, there’s no precedence for Scooby-Doo to be missing in action from Velma. We saw in A Pup Named Scooby-Doo that Scooby was definitely around when the gang was children. So unless this adult animated series is about the gang from when they were toddlers, I can’t see any reason why Scooby wouldn’t be present. It just makes no sense to me. I honestly hope that Mindy Kaling changes her mind on the subject later. Hopefully.

Conclusion

Mindy Kaling wants to make an adult animated Scooby-Doo spinoff show all about Velma if she were East Asian. Nothing wrong with that, but she also wants to exclude Scooby-Doo himself and the Mystery Machine. I mean, why? Can you really call this show a Scooby-Doo show without the pupper himself? I honestly hope this isn’t the case here.

Source: worldscreenevents.com