Written by a pre-Guardians of the Galaxy James Gunn, the 2002 Scooby-Doo film is a nostalgic favorite for many. Immortalizing the Mystery Inc. gang with their first mainstream, live-action appearances, so many aspects of the film worked brilliantly – from the campy tone to the pitch-perfect casting (Matthew Lillard’s performance as Shaggy was so spot-on, he would take over performing the character’s animated appearances for the next 20 years), viewers couldn’t get enough.
Released with a PG rating, the film was enjoyed by audiences of all ages, making a very respectable $275m at the international box office. But many eagle-eyed viewers have noticed some small hints that the 2002 film wasn’t always meant to be family-friendly. Between some off-kilter jokes, questionable character names, and weird scene set-ups, there’s reason to believe that the film’s original cut was in fact R-rated. Even though Gunn himself tweeted earlier this year that this initial rating was due “one stupid joke the MPAA misinterpreted” and that the film was always meant to be “PG-13 or PG”, fans are still dubious – and here’s why.
A main reason why fans think that Scooby-Doo was at one point R-rated is that an early draft of the script leaked online. First surfacing on Reddit but then shared around, the script is dated “March 17, 2000” and has all the official insignia to suggest it’s genuine – by all reasonable standards, it seems real. Flicking through, then, some of the jokes definitely lean to the more ‘adult’ side of things. Highlights include Daphne playing around with “an eggplant and pink bodysuit”, Fred openly coming on to her saying “we have a long history” and Daphne rebuffing him saying “so do Godzilla and King Kong – doesn’t mean they should have sex”, and even Velma getting drunk at one point and “[swirling] her turtle neck sweater over her head” in front of some partying students.
In fact, evidence that a few of these scenes were actually filmed can be found in this corporate video from Warner Bros.:
In case it was missed, here’s Linda Cardellini as Velma seemingly topless on top of a piano:
Not something that a viewer would expect from a “PG-13 or PG”. Moreover, even aspects of the finished film were originally R-rated. Gunn has previously spoken about how the female casts’ “cleavage was CGI’d over” in some sections, in a bid to salvage shot scenes and make them family-friendly. Additionally, he’s referenced a kiss between Daphne and Velma being cut, and a scene with Shaggy and the aptly-named Mary Jane smoking a joint being abandoned. It would seem that, for a movie that would eventually be PG, a lot had to be altered to make it that way.
Nevertheless, it’s possible all these clues are merely breadcrumbs; disparate hints cobbled together. It’s entirely feasible that Gunn is right, and that the film was always meant to be “PG-13 or PG”, and the creative team were just taking some liberties with MPAA standards (who knows why they thought a topless Velma would be okay). However, for some mystery-solving fans, all these R-rated clues add up to a far more entertaining bigger picture – and Warner Bros. would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for these meddling viewers and their damn blogs.
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