Keener Media Facts

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

10 Groovy facts about Scooby-Doo

"Google search engine! Where are you? We got some work to do now!" From behind the scenes secrets to the reasoning behind certain characteristics, here are 10 interesting facts about Hanna-Barbera's cash cow franchise.

#10: Scooby Sinatra

Legends look for inspiration from legends!

Believe it or not, Scooby's name came from the Frank Sinatra Song "Strangers in the Night". TV executive Fred Silverman heard the phrase "scooby doobie doo" during a flight home one night and liked it enough to make it the dog's name.

#9: Vegetarian Shaggy

They're certainly doing the environment a favor!

For much of the show's early run Shaggy was a vegetarian because his then voice actor, the late great Casey Kasem, was a vegan and a critic of factory farming. He temporarily quit voicing the character in the 90s because he was asked to voice Shaggy in a Burger King commercial.

#8: Scooby and The Doos

A mystery solving band? That would've been pretty cool!

Like many other shows, this show went through multiple changes during development. One idea the showrunners had was for the main group to be a traveling band called the Mysterious Five. In addition to 5 teens this version of the Mystery Gang would've had a bongo playing sheepdog called Too Much.

#7: My Glasses!

Word to the wise: Get a chain or lanyard for your glasses!

Velma's catchphrase "My Glasses! I can't see without my glasses!" came from an incident that happened during the production of the original show. Her voice actress at the time, Nicole Jaffe, was nearsighted just like Velma. One day she uttered a variation of the famous line after losing her glasses and everyone liked it so much they made Velma losing her glasses a running gag.

#6: Fred and Shaggy

Rare footage of Fred splitting up with someone other than Daphne.

Frank Welker and Casey Kasem are well known for their roles as Fred and Shaggy respectively, but initially they wanted the opposite roles. Frank wanted Shaggy's role because he was always the straight man and wanted to voice a comedic character. Casey meanwhile wanted to voice Fred because he claimed he wasn't a comedic actor.

#5: From one series to another

Jinkies, this franchise goes back further than we thought!

The creators and writers of Scooby-Doo confirmed that the four human leads of the show were based on the main characters of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, a live action sitcom that ran from 1959 to 1963. The series also draws inspiration from The Archie Show and a book series called The Famous Five.

#4: Scooby out of focus Doo

Rooby Roo!

Originally Scooby-Doo wasn't the main character, but rather just an extra the creators threw in to make the show more interesting. Over time, his antics made him not only the star of the show, but also one of the most iconic characters in cartoon history.

#3: Rehashes everywhere

Scooby did the multiverse thing before that concept became popular!

Back in the 70s, Hanna-Barbera has made several shows that were basically clones. Some of these had entities besides dogs following the group of teens (for example, Speed Buggy and Funky Phantom had a sentient vehicle and a ghost respectively) or make changes to the group as a whole (Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kids is basically the original show's band concept realized), but they were pretty much the same show again and again.

#2: Let's split up, gang!

Fortunately, future writers warmed up to these two.

In the original show whenever the gang would split up to look for clues, we'd almost always follow Scooby, Shaggy and Velma. This is because the writers of that show thought they were boring and wanted to focus on the other three since they thought they were more interesting.

#1: More versions than you can count

Unless you've been living under a rock, there's no way you haven't seen this!

Starting all the way back in 1969, Scooby-Doo is one of the longest running cartoons in the world. As for the television cartoon, there are 12 different iterations as of 2025, ranging from reboots to spinoffs to sequel series.

Like zoinks, that was a lot of knowledge to take in! If you know something I didn't or feel I messed something up, drop a little thing in the comment section. Thanks for reading and may the Scooby Snacks be with you!

Sources

Monday, May 26, 2025

10 Haunting facts about The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Here's where things get a little grim! From past experiences to influences for the show's jokes, here are 10 interesting facts about this darkly comedic CN classic.

#10: Billy & Mandy go way back

Now we know why Billy's so stupid!

Back when he was in college, series creator Maxwell Atoms made a short film called "Billy & Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You", which is all about the titular duo learning about trepanation and ends with Billy going through the operation. Like many early pilots, this short is way different from the show it would spawn; Featuring completely different versions of the main characters, absolutely zero supernatural elements, a different animation reminiscent of 1950s educational shorts and some bloodshed at the end.

#9: Cartoon Cartoon Graveyard

Gone but not forgotten!

Near the end of the intro sequence is a shot of a graveyard with zombie hands sticking out of the dirt. If you remove the zombie hands and grainy film effect, you'll find that the three front most graves have the names of past CN shows Robot Jones, Time Squad and Evil Con Carne. Speaking of which...

#8: Grim & Evil

Thank you viewers who voted for this in The Big Pick back in the 2000s!

When this show first started airing, it and Evil Con Carne were one show called Grim & Evil. In between the Billy and Mandy episodes an episode of Evil Con Carne would air, similarly to the Dial M for Monkey and Justice Friends episodes of Dexter's Lab. After a while both programs were split into their own shows and while Billy and Mandy went on to be one of CN's longest running shows, Evil Con Carne only managed two seasons before it's cancellation.

#7: There was almost some spinoffs

Another victim of network executives...

There were a few spinoffs that were planned, but for one reason or another never got the greenlight. One of these is Underfist, which got a half hour pilot that aired in2018, but never got expanded beyond that. At one point Craig McCracken and C.H. Greenblatt considered making a show called "Cheeseburger", which would've starred Fred Fred Burger and Cheese from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. The network liked the idea, but scheduling conflicts forced them to cancel the series.

#6: Autism reveal

Yeah I'd believe it.

In 2021 series creator Maxwell Atoms, who was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, confirmed that the three main characters all have different forms of autism.

#5: Reverse speech in the credits

At one point during the ending credits, there is a bit of backwards speech. If you reverse this soundbite you'll an unidentified guy saying "No no no this is the end of the show. You're watching it backwards!"

#4: Nickelodeon strikes again!

Yeah, nobody wants cartoons starring death.

Just like other CN shows I talked about in the past, this cartoon was originally pitched to rival channel Nickelodeon. The reason this time was while they liked the pitch, executives thought that no would would greenlight a show that starred the Grim Reaper.

#3: Movie parodies out the wazoo

This one just blew my mind!

This series is loaded with references to old, often obscure movies. For example: Recurring character Hoss Delgado is modeled after Snake Plissken from Escape from New York, while his transforming weapon arm is a reference Ash Williams from the Evil Dead series. This show's version of Dracula is modeled after the protagonist of Blacula. The official pilot episode of the show was loosely based on the movie The Seventh Seal.

#2: Milkman

The inner machinations of Billy's mind are an enigma!

Before he made this show, Maxwell Atoms worked on Cow and Chicken. While working on that show he thought of making a show called Milkman. This show would've starred Billy and Mandy going on adventures with Milkman, a living milk carton who saves the missing children depicted on his back.

#1: A fourth movie?!

Friggin cartoon execs!

Back in 2021, series creator Maxwell Atoms pitched a revival movie to Cartoon Network that sadly never got greenlit. You can read about it on Atoms' Patreon page linked below, but in short it was gonna feature older versions of the main trio exploring a multiverse. There would've been a twist revealing that the show's negative continuity took place in different universes.

I know a cartoon about death might not be the most appropriate things to discuss on Memorial Day, but you gotta admit this show was great. Do you know something I didn't or think I made like Billy and messed up somewhere? If so, leave your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading and have a happy Memorial Day.

Sources

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Absolutely Nothing! XD

April Fools!

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

10 Speedy facts about Sonic The Hedgehog

Gotta go fast! From the idea behind the hedgehog himself to things left on the cutting room floor, here are 10 interesting facts about Sega's rival to Mario.

#10: Sonic and Eggman's designs came from a contest

Some characters are just too good to go unused!

At the start of the 16-bit era, Sega held an internal contest where employees would pitch various characters to see who would be their mascot. Besides Sonic himself, some of the more interesting designs include a Jester-like creature, a Bart Simpson-like man in overalls, a rabbit that could throw things with his ears and a Theodore Roosevelt looking man in pajamas who would become Sonic's nemesis Dr. Eggman.

#9: Sonic almost had a band and a human girlfriend!

This would've been pretty cool to see!

The first game had a few interesting scrapped concepts. One such concept was a band that Sonic was gonna play in alongside a rabbit named Mach, a parakeet named Sharps, a monkey named Max, and a crocodile named Vector who would later be introduced in Knuckles Khaotix. Another unused concept was Madonna, a blonde haired, red dress wearing human who would've served as a love interest to Sonic.

#8: Bugs. Bugs everywhere

Viewer, meet Ashura!

While some games are worse in this regard (ie Sonic 06 and Sonic Boom), the Sonic games are known for being pretty glitchy. In fact, the manual for Sonic Three and Knuckles references these glitches, telling players to watch out for traps set by Robotnik and advising they restart the console should they fall into an area they can't escape. The first game can't even get past the title screen with out a glitch. The words "Press start to play" were supposed to appear on the start screen, but they don't because they take up the same set of memory as the "Sonic Team Presents" screen.

#7: When misinformation becomes game mechanics

Character better suited to the ground than the water exhibit A!

You ever wonder why Sonic couldn't swim? This was because the game designers incorrectly thought that real world hedgehogs couldn't swim.

#6: Interesting inspiration

Remember when these two were rivals?

Whilst Sonic's character design comes from classic cartoon characters like Felix the cat and Mickey Mouse and his shoe design came from Michael Jackson and Santa Claus (yes really), the inspiration for the game play ironically comes from Sonic's old rival, Mario. Specifically, it came from Yuji Naka's memories of getting through Super Mario Bros.' first level as fast as possible.

#5: Totally Different

Imagine if this was the route the series went with.

The story for the first game was almost completely different. Originally, it was gonna feature Sonic travelling through a nightmare world fending off weird creatures. Before Robotnik was chosen, the antagonist was originally a ghost-like entity named Thirteen.

#4: The secrets to his speed

Run Sonic, run!

According to the first game's instruction manual, Sonic's speed comes from his sneakers. Also according to Sonic's creator Yuji Naka, Sonic needs eight hours of sleep a night to maintain his speed.

#3: Very humble beginnings

Now that's a rad cameo!

A few years before Sonic became one of the big names in gaming, he made a cameo appearance in Sega's own Rad Mobile. Specifically, an air freshener modeled after him is visible during game play, hanging from the car's mirror. Additionally, the skid sound he makes when stopping comes from Sega's own Outrun.

#2: Michael Jackson composed for Sonic Three

This was cool back then, but it's kinda creepy nowadays.

During his lifetime, pop singer Michael Jackson was a huge fan of the Sonic series. In fact, he was allowed to compose portions of the soundtrack to Sonic's third game. However, he remains uncredited because he wasn't satisfied with the Sega Genesis' music capabilities. The child abuse allegations that occurred around that time probably didn't help either.

#1: Some speedy records

I bet he's thankful to get this before Mario did!

During it's over 20 year lifetime the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise has set more than a few records. For one, he was the first video game character in history to get a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, which first appeared in 1993. Additionally, the Archie Sonic comic series is the longest running video game comic series in history, spawning 290 issues from 1992 to 2016.

You know what they say: Sega does what Nintendon't! If you know of any other interesting tidbits or think I fudged something up, please say something in the comment section. Thanks for viewing and keep on running!

Sources

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

10 Gigante facts about Mucha Lucha

It's all bueno! From behind the scenes stuff to references to good ole Mexico, here are 10 interesting facts about The FOREMOST, WORLD RENOWNED, INTERNATIONAL SHOW OF LUCHA!!!!

#10: A first for Flash

No Ruffle Necessary, at least for this time period!

While Flash in the early 2000s was mostly used for internet based cartoons and games, this was the first TV cartoon to be animated in the program. The pilot and first season used the line tool for its animation, but this was too clunky so the switched to the brush tool for seasons two and three.

#9: The pitch pilot

Wow, nearly everyone got a makeover!

The pilot episode of the show, simply called "Lucha School", had a few differences from the final product, from a cruder animation style to different character designs and names. However, the most interesting difference Psiclone, a bull-themed wrestler who would've been part of the main group.

#8: Attempted revival

A shame this never got greenlit!

In 2014 there were plans for a revival series called "Mucha Lucha: Para Siempre". While there are comics and an animatic available online, the series unfortunately seems to have been cancelled. That being said, the series would get a continuation in the form of the "Tales from the Coliseo" webcomics.

#7: No punches pulled

When the show was first pitched, Warner Bros was hesitant to greenlight it as they believed it would be too violent. In addition, most of the storyboard artists weren't too interested in watching Lucha wrestling just to capture it in storyboards.. In response, co-creator Lili Chin drew a series of drawings consisting of Rickochet and Beuno Girl wrestling each other and explaining what each hold was. This not only showed executives that the whole thing was staged, but also gave the storyboard artists an easy reference to draw from.

#6: The cutting room floor strikes again

A shocking discovery!

Besides Psiclone, there are multiple characters who never made it onto the show. You can read the full list here, but a few interesting ones include the magnet-themed Magnetico, a character called Chad From Chad who apparently was scrapped because WBA staff thought his character wasn't appropriate for kids and a character named Princess Enigma who was set to appear in the episode Party Animal.

#5: Mexican Celebrities

Forget Rey Mysterio, say hello to Rey Dinamico!

The show staff originally wanted Luchadore wrestlers like Rey Mysterio Jr and Brazo de Plata aka Super Porky to appear on the show, but scheduling conflicts prevented that, forcing the staff to redesign their animated alter egos. That being said, the show still managed to get other Mexican celebrities like Los Mobos and Blue Demon Jr. In addition, the theme song was preformed by Mexican music group Chicos de Barrio.

#4: The creators weren't Mexican

It's an Aussie-Chinese production!

Even though this show is known for it representation of Mexican culture, the creators weren't Mexican themselves. Eddie Mort hales from Manchester England and emigrated to Australia at age 10, while Lili Chin is Chinese. That being said it did have some Mexicans working on it, including future El Tigre and Book of Life creator John R. Gutierrez.

#3: PSAlmost

In 2003 there were plans for a PS2 game called Mysterioso Grande. Unfortunately, this game was cancelled because the developers couldn't find a publisher and it was around this time that the show's ratings were dropping. That being said, some of the animations for the game are available in the video above this paragraph.

#2: Build Your Own Wrestler

Some kid's day was made!

Around the time of the show's airing on TV, there was an online game on Kids WB's website that let users create their own luchadore wrestler. Some of the fan made characters made with this program even made it onto some versions of the show's intro.

#1: Mexican Dub Relationships

They're closer than we thought!

The Mexican dub voice actors for Rikochet and Beuno Girl (Héctor Emmanuel Gómez and Karla Falcon respectively) started dating and eventually married after the third season finished. Likewise, El Rey's VA (Eduardo Fonseca) is the uncle of The Flea's VA (Victor Ugarte).

A truly caliente list if I do say so myself. If you know something I don't or believe I screwed up somewhere, please send your comments to the designated section. Thanks for reading and have a muy bueno day!

Sources

Saturday, June 22, 2024

10 Military Grade facts about Team Fortress 2

Poot facts about TF2 here! From scrapped concepts to gags involving old games, here are 10 note worthy facts about Team Fortress 2.

#10: It started from Quake

If it weren't for Quake, there would be no TF2!

Over a decade before making this game, Robin Walker and John Cook made a free mod for Quake simply called Team Fortress. After they were hired by Valve, they would go on to make Team Fortress Classic before finally making this game.

#9: The game went through 2 redesigns during development

Talk about getting a makeover!

Before becoming the cartoony FPS we all know and love, this game went through 2 different ideas during development. The first idea, given the subtitle Brotherhood of Arms, was a realistic military shooter kind of like Call of Duty. The next iteration was a game that pitted humans against alien invaders, somewhat like Valve's own Half-Life series.

#8: The Spy came about because of a glitch

Proof that some bugs are worth keeping around!

The inspiration for the Spy was a glitch that happened in older versions of the original Team Fortress Quake mod. In the old versions of the game which didn't have the Spy class, there was a glitch where players would see other players with the wrong team colors.

#7: The supplementary stuff retcons a few things

What else are these mercenaries hiding?

This game is known for having lore held within other sources like official videos and web comics. What you might not know is that some of this lore contradicts the original bios of the playable characters. For example: The Medic's bio implies that he never had a medical license, while in his Meet the Team video he tells the Heavy the story of how he lost it. Meanwhile, the Demoman's bio states that his eye was lost during an attempt at killing the Loch Ness Monster, while the comic released with the Very Scary Halloween Special reveals that it was actually taken and turned into a monster by an evil spell book.

#6: A lot of the items were community made

A Smissmas miracle!

A surprising amount of the game's items were made by fans and submitted to Valve either through the Steam Workshop or the old contribution page on the TF2 website. These include several weapons like the Southern Hospitality, the Wrap Assassin, the Scotsman's Skullcutter and the Dalokoh's Bar.

#5: Some of the scrapped content made it in after all

Sometimes you just can't get rid of a good idea!

Throughout its development, there have been plenty of weapons that went unused for one reason or another. However, some of them have made it into the game in vastly different forms. For example: The Instant Teleport became the secondary feature to the Eureka Effect, the Flame-Retardant Suit was reworked into the current incarnation of the Darwin's Danger Shield (plus some of its function became part of the Spycicle), and the Walkabout's main gimmick (being able to move at full speed while zoomed in) was added as a feature to the Classic.

#4: There was almost a TV show

This would've been freaking sweet!

At one point in time, Adult Swim commissioned Valve to make a Team Fortress 2 cartoon for them. Sadly, Valve never got around to finishing it and before long the project was cancelled.

#3: It started off as part of a bundle

That's a damn good deal!

This game was first released in 2007 as part of The Orange Box, a video game compilation that also included Portal and both episodes of Half-Life 2. It got its own standalone release the following year.

#2: Marriage on the set

Well, ain't that sweet!

The voice actors for the Sniper and Administrator, John Patrick Lowrie and Ellen McLain, are married in real life. Speaking of the Administrator, her voice actress also voices GLaDOS from Portal, the Combine Overwatch AI from Half-Life 2, and the Witch from Left 4 Dead 2.

#1: There's a lot of scrapped content

Read all about it here!

As mentioned before, this game has had quite a few concepts that didn't make it off the cutting room floor. Some of the more interesting unused content includes holdovers from TFC (throwable grenades, an actual flag for capture the flag, the Civilian class etc.), a camera model, some PDAs for the Demoman and Spy, animations of every character besides Pyro seemingly burning to death and concept art featuring female versions of the classes.

You're welcome fans of Valve's iconic shooter! If you can think of any facts I missed or feel that I got something incorrect, feel free to deploy some comments. Thanks for reading and keep those SFM videos a going!

Sources

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

10 Cheap facts about Ed Edd N' Eddy

Ten interesting facts and it won't cost you a quarter! From behind the scene misedventures to plot twists, here are 10 interesting facts about Danny Antonucci's claim to fame.

#10: Danny did other things beforehand

Don't do drugs kids, unless you wanna look like these freaks!

Before making this show, Danny Antonucci made 2 cartoons that definitely weren't for kids. One of these was MTV's The Brothers Grunt, a gross out show about disgustingly animated humanoid creatures searching for their lost brother. The other is called Lupo the Butcher, a short cartoon about a foul mouther butcher who accidentally tears himself apart while trying to prepare ribs.

#9: The tongues were candy colored

He's got a lizard tongue!

Did you ever wonder why the characters had green and blue tongues? It's because Danny saw his son and his friends eating candy that changed the colors of their tongues.

#8: The show stuck with animation cells

Hand drawn (almost) all the way baby!

This show holds the distinction of being the last Western Television cartoon to use traditional animation cells, holding out until 2004 when many other cartoons started using digital and/or CG. This was because Danny preferred doing hand drawn animation to digital. Eventually the show would switch to digital in it's fifth season, starting with Jingle Jingle Jangle.

#7: It almost ended before the Big Picture Show

If it weren't for CN, this show would've ended on a sour note!

Take This Ed and Shove It, the episode where Eddy wakes up from an accident and discovers that he and all the other neighborhood kids are old as dirt, was originally gonna be the grand finale of the show. However, thanks to the show's popularity, it was renewed for 2 more seasons and ended on a TV movie. In addition to that, the episode has 2 deleted scenes that are available to watch online, one where Eddy begs the cartoon's creator to wake him up and one where he discovers that he and the other Eds married the Kankers.

#6: It was almost a Nicktoon

Just how many CN shows were pitched to their rivals?

Like the Powerpuff Girls and Adventure Time, this show was pitched to Nickelodeon before being picked up by Cartoon Network. In this case, the deal with Nick was rejected by Danny Antonucci after Nick executives tries to have full creative control of the show.

#5: Eddy's brothers true nature was foreshadowed

No wonder Eddy turned out the way he did!

Way before his true, horrible nature was revealed in the Big Picture Show, Eddy's brother and Eddy's past were referenced in a negative light a few times on the show. In Smile for the Ed, Eddy says the line "No more beating up on little Eddy, huh bro?" In The Ed-Touchables, Eddy tells Edd that a little childhood trauma builds character. In Edd... Pass It On..., Eddy becomes terrified when what looks like his older brother shows up at his house.

#4: The cast was based off real people

For the record, Danny also debunked the theory that these guys and gals are lost souls trapped in limbo.

The kids of the Cul-De-Sac were based on people Danny Antonucci knew. The Eds were based off of himself and his two sons, the cul-de-sac kids and Kanker sisters were based on kids he grew up with and Rolf was based on himself and his cousins, as he grew up in an Italian immigrant family

#3: Here's Mud in Your Ed was fanmade (sort of)

When fanfics become official fics!

The episode Here's Mud in Your Ed was inspired by a fan. Specifically, it was inspired an idea by Kit Topp, the founder of the defunct but still available on the Wayback Machine Edopolis.com.

#2: A few episodes were cancelled

It's a secret to everybody!

There are three episodes that never made it off the cutting room floor. These episodes are A Room for an Ed (Sarah takes over Ed's room and turns it into a play area for her and Jimmy), Luck Be an Ed Tonight (Ed finds out through his horoscope that it's his lucky day and Eddy tries to take advantage of it), and Special Ed (All we know about it is that Danny said "it was just too real").

#1: Facts from the bible

You should check this out sometime, it's an interesting read!

The pitch bible for the show has some interesting differences from the final show. For example, the show was originally about a group of teens who are trying to fit in with their peers and seem grown-up, with the challenges of puberty being a running theme. The pitch also has some interesting characteristics that were scrapped from the final project, including Edd being prone to crushes, Kevin being a cynic who watches 60 Minutes, Nazz being a role model for Sarah, and the Kankers having a bunch of Tammy Faye Baker memorabilia.

I hope I was able to ed-ucate you! If you know something I didn't or believe I mess-ed something up, please leave your thoughts in the comment section. Thanks for reading and be careful of any scams that you come across.