Velma Was Gay In Scooby-Doo Movie, But WB Made James Gunn Change It
Velma was explicitly gay in James Gunn’s Scooby-Doo movie script, but the studio forced him to water it down until it was removed entirely.
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Velma was explicitly gay in James Gunn’s Scooby-Doo movie script, but he was forced to change it. Gunn penned the script for both 2002’s Scooby-Doo and its 2004 sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, though both films were directed by Raja Gosnell. These Scooby-Doo movies hold the honor of being the first big screen live-action adaptations of the beloved cartoon series. While the films were moderate successes at the box office, the planned Scooby-Doo 3 never happened, though Gunn had a story in mind. Since then, the Scooby-Doo franchise has continued on, with Warner Bros. releasing a new feature-length animated film earlier this year, Scoob!
One aspect of the series that’s prompted discussion in recent weeks is Velma’s sexuality. Tony Cervone, producer of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, which ran on Cartoon Network from 2010-2013, posted an image of Velma and Marcie on Pride Day and confirmed the former was gay. In the comments on that post, Cervone explicitly stated Mystery Incorporated’s Velma was a lesbian, and the show tried to make it as clear as they could at the time. Now it turns out another Scooby-Doo project tried to depict Velma as gay, but received pushback from the powers that be.
On Twitter, Gunn was asked by a fan to “make our live-action lesbian Velma dreams come true,” and the filmmaker responded saying his original Scooby-Doo movie script included an “explicitly gay” Velma. He went on to reveal how that was slowly changed by the studio: “But the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel).” In a further tweet, Gunn said some of the “ambiguous” footage can be seen in the film’s deleted scenes.
Considering Cartoon Network held back Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated from portraying Velma as a lesbian, it comes as little surprise Warner Bros. had similar reservations a decade earlier. Scooby-Doo is a very long-running franchise, and Warner Bros. likely didn’t want to alienate any potential viewers by making Velma gay – but that’s a cowardly approach to making movies. Thankfully, Hollywood and cartoons specifically have made major strides to more diverse representation, particularly of folks belonging to the LGBTQ community. Perhaps today Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network wouldn’t be as resistant to the idea of Velma being a lesbian.
It’s unclear what’s next for big-screen Scooby-Doo adaptations, or when filmmakers would have a chance to depict/explore that aspect of Velma’s character. With Scoob! releasing on-demand instead of theatrically as originally planned, it’s unknown if it turned enough of a profit to warrant a sequel. Given the continued love for Gosnell and Gunn’s live-action Scooby-Doo movies from the early 2000s, perhaps the long-desired Scooby-Doo 3 could be an option, or a live-action reboot of some kind. Since the Scooby-Doo franchise has been around for over 50 years, it stands to reason it will be around for many more years to come, so there should be plenty of opportunity to depict Velma as a lesbian in animation and/or live-action. Hopefully the next filmmaker who tries to represent Velma as a lesbian won’t receive as much pushback as Gunn did on Scooby-Doo.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/scooby-doo-movie-2002-velma-gay-james-gunn/