The difference between Velma and previous series and films in the Scooby-Doo franchise is that this time Velma Dinkley is taking center stage in an adult animation set before the classic show.
Velma presents the origins of Mystery Inc. by following the gang during their time at Crystal Cove High School, where Velma begins to investigate a series of murders. She enlists the help of her BFF-turned-nemesis Daphne Blake (Constance Wu), Norville “Shaggy” Rogers (Sam Richardson) and Fred Jones (Glenn Howerton) to solve the case.
Mindy Kaling’s ‘Velma’ Sparks Backlash Among ‘Scooby-Doo’ Fans Over Race-Swap
Velma may not feature the talking Great Dane that defined the original Scooby-Doo animated films and series, but it does feature diversity by race-swapping three of the original show’s four main characters.
Kaling’s Velma is now Indian, while Wu’s Daphne is portrayed as Asian, and Richardson’s Norville is African American rather than being white. Fred is the only Scooby-Doo character to remain the same.
The Mindy Show star Kaling has explained why she and showrunner Charlie Grandy decided to make Velma Indian in an interview with Entertainment Weekly magazine.
Kaling said: “We knew it would be fun for me to play Velma, but we had a conversation where Velma is white, and we have this new choice to do the show and if I’m voicing her, should she be white or should she not?
“We were really inspired by [the animated film Spider-Man:] Into the Spider-Verse — it’s animation, we can do anything. The essence of Velma is not necessarily tied to her whiteness. And I identify so much as her character, and I think so many people do, so it’s like, yeah, let’s make her Indian in this series.”
Despite this, viewers appeared divided by the decision to race-swap several characters in Velma, and some took to Twitter to share their opinion.
One Twitter user wrote: “U know I’m willing to accept the new design but I’m sorry this ain’t a race thing people are mad because this doesn’t feel like the scooby gang what’s worse is each Character other then velma seem like there one note with out much in terms of growth mystery incorporated is best [sic].”
Another fan tweeted: “TRUE DIVERSITY is about creating and standing by original content as opposed to using cheap ‘parlor tricks’ like race-changes. VELMA is about cheap race-changes as opposed to creating something original, with original/new diverse characters that stand on their own.”
Some Twitter users criticized the show for being “woke” for race-swapping characters, while others tweeted that they felt the animated show was poor because of its writing and how little it felt like the original Scooby-Doo.
One fan defended the show’s decision to race-swap multiple characters, writing in a series of Twitter posts: “you can make velma asian, black, white, etc and she would still be velma because… her character is not based on her race. she is just velma lmao.
“if a character isn’t specified racially, why do we default them to white every time? it doesn’t hurt to make them black. but we all know the truth to that answer and tbh… its tiresome to continue these conversations when we KNOW people are just being antiblack and colorist.
“i love how that velma is SEA and the focus is on black people. never fails.”
The first two episodes of Velma are available to watch on HBO Max now, and the show will air a further two episodes a week until February 9.
