Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for the Velma season 1 finale.The origin of the classic Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine is changed for the worse by a retcon in Velma. The blue and green Mystery Machine is one of the most easily identified motorized vehicles in popular culture, having transported the Mysteries Incorporated gang through most of their animated adventures. It is not surprising that Velma would put a different spin on the classic van, but the changes seem likely to drive off any fond memories of the original Scooby-Doo cartoons.
In most incarnations of the franchise, the Mystery Machine is the pride and joy of Scooby gang leader Fred Jones, and rarely has an origin story more involved than being an old van he fixed up. Shaggy was credited with discovering the van in the 1998 Those Meddling Kids shorts produced for Cartoon Network, and a more involved origin was presented in 2002’s What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, where the Mystery Machine was originally the touring van of a family band called the Mystery Kids. All of these origins are more respectful of the Scooby-Doo legacy than the one presented in Velma.
Velma’s Mystery Machine Changes Explained
The van that will become the Mystery Machine first appears in the closing moments of Velma season 1, episode 8, “A Velma in the Woods,” when Velma’s missing mother suddenly emerges to save her daughter, rich idiot Fred Jones and the orange-haired Daphne Blake from a serial killer’s lair. They make their escape from the caves under Crystal Cove in a conveniently abandoned windowless white van, which Velma’s mother clumsily describes as a “mystery… jalopy.” The van is later sold at a police auction after Velma’s mother is accused of the serial killer’s murders. This serves as an underwhelming, disrespectful Mystery Machine origin retcon, but worse is to come.
The Velma season 1 finale, “The Brains of the Operation,” reveals that Fred bought the van as part of a plan to prove that he is capable of running his parents’ business. Working on the logic that “all cool fashion advertising for teens is trashy pedo-tinged sex stuff,” Fred decides to decorate the creepy windowless white van with the logo of Jones’ Gentlemen’s Accessories and use it to promote the virtues of ascots, cufflinks and pocket watches to his classmates. Unfortunately, Fred is not the best artist, and the stylized logos resemble poorly-painted flowers.
How Velma’s Mystery Machine Changes Make Its Origin Worse
The chief reason why Velma fails to impress compared to Scooby-Doo is that most of the dark reboot’s changes to the traditional characters and formula are illogical and mean-spirited. The changes to the Mystery Machine’s origin are the embodiment of this attitude. Altering the appearance of the classic vehicle purely to make a series of cheap and hackneyed jokes about pedophilia and the stereotype that sketchy perverts drive windowless vans is a disappointing retcon.
While this sort of comedy has an audience, the brand of shock humor stands in contrast to Scooby-Doo, and damaged Velma‘s potential after the premiere aired. The Mystery Machine is an element of Scooby-Doo canon dear to the hearts of those that enjoyed the classic series. While Velma was always likely to rewrite its origin, doing so with such an unnecessarily crass slant makes the vehicle’s new backstory much worse.
Velma season 1 is now available for streaming on HBO Max.