The Scooby-Doo franchise has captured viewers’ hearts since its debut in 1969. From TV shows to feature films, the beloved mystery-solving canine and his gang of friends have provided countless hours of entertainment for people all around the globe. The lovable animated characters Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are some of the most iconic figures in children’s television history.
This article looks closely at one of these beloved characters: Velma Dinkley. Velma is often seen as the most intelligent member of the group – she possesses an impressive intellect that usually helps her solve puzzles and quickly figure out mysteries. A natural leader, she brings her steady determination to every case in which she participates.
Velma Plot
Velma Plot Synopsis is a comprehensive look at the storyline of the classic cartoon character, Velma. She first appeared in Scooby Doo, Where Are You! and quickly became a fan favourite for her intelligence and bravery. From there, she became the star of her spin-off feature film and television series. This article takes an in-depth look at what makes Velma such a compelling character and why her unique story arc has captivated generations of fans.
As one of four teenage detectives that make up Mystery Inc., Velma is always highly logical and rational in problem-solving. She often serves as the group’s anchor with her impressive deductive skills ranging from basic detective techniques to quantum physics theories.
The series serves as an alternate universe origin story for Mystery Inc., pitched as a “love quadrangle” between them. It primarily focuses on Velma Dinkley as she tries to solve a mystery regarding her mother’s disappearance, as well as the numerous murders of local teenage girls.
Act 1: Velma’s Early Life
Velma’s Early Life begins with her birth on a small farm in West Virginia, where she was born to two loving parents, Steve and Madelyn Dinkley. Like many other young children growing up during this era, Velma had limited access to education and often turned to books for entertainment instead. She showed an early aptitude for science and mathematics, leading her parents to recognise their daughter had more significant potential than life on their rural farm could offer.
Act 2: Velma Becomes a Detective
Velma Becomes a Detective is the next exciting chapter in the story of Velma. In this act, we see our main character take her first steps into detective work and begin to unlock the mystery that has been plaguing her since Act 1. She develops new skills and becomes more confident in her abilities as she takes on increasingly difficult cases.
Velma trusts her instincts and begins to use various methods to solve previously too complex mysteries for anyone else. She demonstrates great mental understanding, resilience, and determination throughout the act, eventually finding clues that lead her closer to uncovering who or what is behind the mysterious events in her town.
Act 3: Velma Solves the Mystery
Velma Solves the Mystery marks the climax of the classic Scooby-Doo mystery. After several clues, misadventures and near misses, Velma puts all the pieces together and solves the case. The audience is taken on an exciting ride as they follow Velma through her detective work, with each clue leading her closer and closer to solving the mystery. In Act 3, Velma uses her keen eye for detail, sharp wit and impressive sleuthing skills to identify who’s behind it all. This is where all loose ends are tied up, and viewers see how our heroes outwit yet another criminal scheme. As suspenseful music plays in the background, Velma slowly but surely unravels every twist and turn until she finally puts together what happened – much to everyone’s surprise!
Act 4: The Aftermath of the Case
The Velma mystery story is the aftermath of the case. After finally uncovering the truth of who was behind her sister’s disappearance, Velma must now confront them and ensure justice is served.
In this act, Velma takes it upon herself to bring all those responsible to justice. She confronts each suspect individually and proves their involvement in her sister’s disappearance. In a dramatic courtroom scene, she presents all evidence gathered during her investigation and brings forward a conviction against each perpetrator. Her determination and tenacity can restore justice and close this case once and for all. With some help from friends, family, and others involved in this mystery-solving journey, Velma finds closure in seeing those responsible brought to justice for their crimes.
Act 5: Velma’s Legacy
Velma’s Legacy concludes the thrilling, page-turning mystery of Velma, a young woman on a journey to uncover her true identity. In this final act, we discover how Velma finally answers all her burning questions and what her legacy will be. After solving the puzzle at the heart of her story and discovering the truth about herself, Velma embarks on an epic quest to bring justice to those who have wronged her. With courage and determination, she embarks on a mission that will push her to her limits and transform her life forever. In Act 5: Velma’s Legacy, readers are taken through a gripping finale as they follow every twist and turn of this captivating tale. We witness as Velma battles inner demons and outer adversaries to save herself—and others—from injustice.
Voice cast
See also: List of Scooby-Doo characters.
Much of the recurring voice cast was revealed in a thread on the show’s official Twitter page.
Main
Mindy Kaling as Velma Dinkley, a snarky teenage would-be detective who has a crush on murder suspect Fred Jones. Because her mother went missing years prior, Velma has horrific guilt-based hallucinations. She is portrayed as bisexual and a South Asian American due to Kaling’s ethnicity, a first for the character.
Glenn Howerton is Fred Jones, a popular but dimwitted 16-year-old murder suspect and Velma’s crush, heir to the Jones Gentlemen Collection fashion line. He is also a noted late bloomer in puberty, a first for his character. He is portrayed as white, as in the original animated series.
Sam Richardson is Norville Rogers, Velma’s best friend and a school news reporter, who has a crush on her and frequently brings up how much he hates drugs. He is portrayed as African American, a first for his character, and is exclusively referred to by his real first name instead of “Shaggy”, his familiar nickname. He also does not share the original Shaggy’s cowardice, although his love of snacks remains.
Constance Wu is Daphne Blake, a popular girl and Velma’s former best friend, who has “complicated feelings” for her. Brought up by two adoptive mothers, Daphne hopes to discover her biological parents and sell drugs to her fellow students to afford a detective. This version is portrayed as East Asian American, a first for her character.
Secondary
Russell Peters is Aman Dinkley, Velma’s lawyer father, who struggles to keep her in line.
Melissa Fumero as Sophie, Aman’s pregnant model girlfriend who owns the Spooner’s Malt Shop.
Sarayu Blue as Diya Dinkley, Velma’s absentee mother.
Jane Lynch is Donna Blake, one of Daphne’s two adoptive mothers, who is a slightly incompetent detective investigating Brenda’s murder.
Wanda Sykes as Linda Blake, Daphne’s other adoptive mother, who shares her profession.
Cherry Jones as Victoria Jones, Fred’s mother.
Frank Welker is William Jones, Fred’s father, who is ashamed of him. Welker has voiced Fred since the character’s inception in 1969.
Nicole Byer as Blythe Rogers, Shaggy’s mother and the Principal of Crystal Cove High.
Gary Cole as Lamont Rogers, Shaggy’s therapist father. His design bears a resemblance to Shaggy’s original design.
Stephen Root as Sheriff Cogburn, an incompetent Coolsville policeman.
“Weird Al” Yankovic as Dandruff Tuba, a student at Coolsville High. A running gag involves him frequently getting injured by the gang’s antics.
Fortune Feimster as Olive, a popular girl at the gang’s school.
Yvonne Orji is Gigi, a cool girl at the gang’s school.
Ming-Na Wen as Carroll
Shay Mitchell is Brenda, an attractive, popular girl at the gang’s school who is a serial killer who is brutally murdered by having her brain ripped out.
Debby Ryan is Krista, another attractive girl at the gang’s school who is murdered in the same manner as Brenda.
Karl-Anthony Towns as Jacques Beau (Jock Boy), a handsome jock at the gang’s school.
In addition, Ken Leung and Kulap Vilaysack have been cast in undisclosed roles.
Episodes
No. Title Directed by Written by Original release date
1 “Velma” Anne Walker Farrell Charlie Grandy January 12, 2023
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Velma is implicated when Brenda is murdered in the school locker room and has her brain removed. She is tasked with clearing her name within twenty-four hours. Still, she is reluctant to solve another mystery, a passion she blames for her mother’s disappearance two years ago, and triggers hallucinations. With Norville’s help, she suspects that Sophie is involved after Norville’s camera goes missing. Still, after Sophie is proven innocent, Aman explains that Diya left them on purpose, supposedly solving the mystery. Velma attempts to move on, only to be confronted by the other girls, including Daphne, who lets it slip that Fred has some insecurities and is known to kick partners out of the malt shop bathroom. Velma and Norville sneak into his mansion and find the latter’s camera, revealing that Fred was the one who covered up the evidence. Fred explains that he is simply embarrassed about being a late bloomer and seemingly plans to kill Velma, but is taken in by Donna and Linda, who suspect that he is Brenda’s natural killer. Fred reveals that he only wanted to pay for Velma’s silence. With her name cleared, Velma strives to pick up mystery-solving again and figure out what happened to her mother, only to find that Krista has been murdered similarly.
2 “The Candy (Wo)man” Cal Ramsey Akshara Sekar January 12, 2023
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While Aman reluctantly agrees to defend Fred in court, Velma asks Daphne for the cold-case file on Diya, but Daphne says she’ll only do it if given $500. Velma soon discovers that Daphne is the school’s “candy woman” and is threatened with helping her sell more drugs. Meanwhile, Norville attempts to get $500 by selling a sword from his room, hoping to buy Velma’s love, but the pawn shop will only pay $80. He nearly donates a kidney for the money, but the operation is attacked by a gunman, whom he knocks out. He is rewarded $500 for apprehending a criminal but doesn’t accept it, figuring he should morally win Velma’s heart. Daphne reveals that she is mainly selling drugs so she can save up for a P.I. to find her biological parents, and ends up bonding with Velma as they escape from her mom’s. Velma is later tasked with selling drugs to one more customer, who turns out to be Aman, depressed after Fred’s botched trial. He agrees to give Velma the $500 if she helps him prove Fred’s innocence, which she ultimately does. Everyone is convinced, but Fred snaps when his childishness is displayed to the public and declared guilty. While Aman’s career is ruined, Daphne gives Velma her mother’s file. It contains a clue, stating that her phone last went off at Fred’s house, much to her shock. Daphne manages to stop her hallucination by kissing her, much to Norville’s dismay.
3 “Velma Kai” TBA TBA January 19, 2023
4 “Velma Makes a List” TBA TBA January 19, 2023
5 “Marching Band Sleepover” TBA TBA January 26, 2023
6 “The Sins of the Fathers and Some of the Mothers” TBA TBA January 26, 2023
7 “Fog Fest” TBA TBA February 2, 2023
8 “A Velma in the Woods” TBA TBA February 2, 2023
9 “Family (Wo)man” TBA TBA February 9, 2023
10 “The Brains of the Operation” TBA TBA February 9, 2023
Production
The series was first announced on February 10, 2021. On July 11, 2022, the trademark for the series was listed as abandoned,[only for HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys to confirm the series to still be in production in an August memo, Studio IAM in South Korea handled the series animation. The series will be previewed at New York Comic Con on October 6, 2022.
The characters are notably race swapped. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mindy Kaling explains that “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.” Compared to most Scooby-Doo incarnations, this series will not feature Scooby-Doo himself due to studio mandates, combined with the crew struggling to develop an adult take on the character. Matthew Lillard, the current voice of Shaggy Rogers in most Scooby-Doo media, expressed his support for the cast of Velma as opposed to his disappointment in not being cast in Scoob!
Velma marks the second series to feature Frank Welker not voicing Fred Jones after A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, though Welker is still involved in the show by speaking Fred’s father.
Release
The first two episodes of Velma were released on January 12, 2023, on HBO Max, with the following eight to release later in 2023.
Reception
Reception for the series has been hostile, with several critics drawing comparisons to its fellow HBO Max series, Harley Quinn. The review aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 53% approval rating from 19 critics and a 7% average audience score. The website’s critics’ consensus reads, “Jinkies! This radical reworking of the beloved Mystery Team has plenty of attitude and style, but it doesn’t have the first clue for how to turn its clever subversion into engaging fun”. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 59 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating “mixed or negative reviews”, and a .6 user series score indicating “overwhelming dislike”.
Saloni Gajjar of AV Club gave the show a positive review, praising most of the humour, characterisation, storytelling, voice cast, and creative liberties but stating that sometimes the show falls victim to the tropes it mocks. She concluded the review by saying, “This isn’t the Velma we’re used to, but it’s the Velma we deserve to enjoy today.”Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly was far more damaging and gave the show a C, describing it as a “self-aware slog” and “so extra it’s minus.” He criticised the strong emphasis on pop-culture references and meta-humour and how they tend to bury the few bright spots. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it two out of four stars and wrote that “at times the humour is smart and spot-on, but it quickly becomes exhausting. It’s as if a very clever scribe gathered in a writers’ room and recorded everything they said — and then shoehorned all of it into the series.”
Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence criticised the show’s unbalanced tone, lack of focus, absence of Scooby-Doo, and overstuffed narrative. She also stated that the series “feels a bit PG compared to other adult animation currently in the works.” Conversely, Miller praised the voice acting and some of the gags, ending the review by hoping for a second season to iron out its flaws, having noted that the show takes a “the first season is the pilot episode” approach. In a mixed critique, Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter praised the “thoughtful, emotionally honest” portrayal of Velma herself. Still, he noted how the show loves to poke fun at televised tropes yet “seems somewhat less sure of what it has to offer in their stead.” She stated how the series’ “insistence that it’s not like other shows grows thin” and criticised how the cast feels more like “joke machines” than individual characters.
Writing for IGN, Brittany Vincent criticised the series’ portrayal of its title character, comparing her to “a biting, hateful version of Daria without the character growth” and stating that this aspect of the show holds it back from being what it strives to be. However, she praised the “side-splitting” comedy and the portrayals of Daphne and Fred, concluding that “ironically, the series would be exponentially better without its namesake – or at least a version of her with a bit more character growth.”Paste Magazine’s Rendy Jones gave the series a 5.8 out of 10, praising the art direction and voice performances but describing the writing as “constantly at war with itself.” They also compared it unfavourably to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, which they deemed similar in intentions but superior in execution. Joshua Alston of Variety wrote that the show is “irreverent to a fault,” extolling most of the humour but stating that it could belong to any other comedy series. He also criticised the portrayal of the Mystery Inc. gang, whom he described as “just unpleasant to spend time with.