Moral Panics and Media Production: How Space-Age Cartoons Beget “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!”
Feb. 27, 2025 at 7 p.m.
101 Archer North Gallery

The creation of “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” (1969-1971) was the result of efforts by production companies, network executives, and advertisers to replace the violent action-adventure space fantasies on Saturday morning with comedic and musical cartoons after the moral panic of 1968. Cultural discourses on media violence, industrial strategies on cross-media marketing, and musical trends like bubblegum pop all came together to inform the production of what became the most spun-off series in U. S. television history. Learn more about this history during a free event with Dr. Kevin Sandler, who visits us from Arizona State University.

Kevin Sandler is an associate professor in the Film and Media Studies Program. He specializes in the contemporary U. S. media business, with a particular focus on censorship and animation. He is the co-editor of
Hanna and Barbera: Conversations (University Press of Mississippi, 2024), author of
The Naked Truth: Why Hollywood Doesn’t Make X-Rated Movies (Rutgers University Press, 2007), the co-editor of
Titanic: Anatomy of a Blockbuster (Rutgers, 1999), and editor of
Reading the Rabbit: Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation (Rutgers, 1998). He also has published in several anthologies, journals, and public facing outlets including Cinema Journal, Animation Journal, and Slate. His upcoming books are
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (Duke University Press) and
The Hanna-Barbera Anthology (University of Texas Press).