Velma Dinkley

Velma Dace Dinkley is a fictional character in the American television animated series Scooby-Doo, about the adventures of four crime-solving teenagers and their Great Dane companion, Scooby-Doo. The bespectacled character is portrayed as the resident genius of the quartet, often being the one to decipher the clues and solve the crimes. Her character is famous for the lines "Jinkies!" and "My Glasses! I can't see without my glasses!" In the two feature length films, she is portrayed by Linda Cardellini.

Overview

Character biography

Velma is the most intelligent in the group and often makes great use of her skills in such areas as reading Chinese or Japanese, deciphering scientific formulae, operating communications equipment, and so forth. A running gag of the series is Velma's trouble with keeping her glasses on her face (usually from being accidentally knocked off her face while being chased by the villain). In one early episode Shaggy and Scooby become even more terrified than usual when Velma takes them for a "ride" in a bumper care without her glasses, as she is very nearsighted. When Scooby and Shaggy are too afraid to volunteer for a mission (which tends to be most of the time), Velma often offers him a dog treat called a "Scooby Snack" as a bribe. Another somewhat running gag is that she is actually stronger than she appears, often able to carry Shaggy and Scooby in her arms and still be able to run. On occasions she's able to carry Daphne and Freddy too, managing to carry all four, still able to run, and mysteriously know where she is going all at the same time. Early in the series, Velma was occasionally shown to be somewhat sharp-tongued, a disciplinarian (especially towards Shaggy and Scooby), and, rarely for this show, not afraid to physically attack a bad guy (as when she kicked villain-of-the-week The Creeper in the knee). She in fewer times plays the helpless damsel-in-distress role, smilar to Daphne. In animated movie "Scooby Doo! in Where's My Mummy?" she decided to disguise herself as the mummy of Queen Cleopatra to get away from the treasure hunters.

Velma is recognized by her famous orange sweater and glasses. When the gang splits up, Velma usually goes off with Fred and Daphne but sometimes goes with Scooby-Doo and Shaggy and on occasion, even by herself. As far as the group dynamic goes, Velma is usually the one who solves the mystery, while Fred sets up the trap to catch the criminal, though the earlier episodes generally show the two of them (and, at times, the entire gang working as a detective team) leapfrogging over each other to solve the mystery. This dynamic has been exaggerated in recent portrayals to the point where Velma is the sole brain of the outfit.

Relatives

Relatives of Velma, many of whom appear to be well-educated professionals, shown during the series' run include:

• Mr. and Mrs. Dinkley: Velma's parents.
• Aunt Thelma: works with dolphins at a marine institute.
• Dave Walton: Velma's uncle.
• Uncle John: an archaeologist.
• Uncle Cosmo: another archaeologist.
• Uncle Elmo: a doctor.
• Aunt Meg and Uncle Evan: Velma's aunt and uncle, who live in a small town called Banning Junction which features in a Halloween episode.
• Marcy: Velma's cousin, the daughter of Meg and Evan.

Alternate versions and other appearances

Velma appears as a junior high school student in A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, a spinoff series aired on ABC from 1988 to 1991. This version of Velma was, like the other characters, remodeled in a "wackier" Looney Tunes inspired style, with oversized glasses, a rapid walk similar to that of Marvin the Martian, and the ability to pull a large supercomputer out of an inexplicably small briefcase. The character's typically calm and studious persona is sharply contrasted in this series with brief instances of manic or extreme behavior.

The traditional teenaged version of Velma appeared in "Bravo Dooby Doo", a 1997 episode of Cartoon Network's Johnny Bravo cartoon series produced as a homage to Scooby-Doo. In this episode, Velma develops a crush on Johnny Bravo, however, he is more interested in Daphne. Ironically, a later Cartoon Network TV commercial features Johnny relating how he and Velma had a whirlwind romance that ended when she rejected his marriage proposal.

Scooby-Doo was parodied in an episode of Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken series, aired as part of its Adult Swim block. In this parody, Velma (voiced by Linda Cardellini from the live-action Scooby films) is portrayed as a virgin constantly bemoaning her lack of sexual activity until, by the episode's end, she sleeps with Jason Voorhees after revealing he's actually Old Man Phillips.

A handful of outside properties have featured Velma or characters derived from Velma when parodying the Scooby-Doo series. Some of these, including the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and the TV series The Venture Bros. have interpreted the Velma character as a lesbian. The character has a considerable fan base among real-life lesbians, who see her as one of their own, although the Scooby-Doo series and direct-to-video films depict her as heterosexual.

Voice artists

Nicole Jaffe originated the voice of Velma in CBS' Scooby-Doo, Where are You! in 1969, and continued to voice the character until 1973, when she married and left the acting business. When Scooby-Doo resumed production and moved to ABC in 1976, Pat Stevens replaced Jaffe as the voice of Velma. Midway through the 1979-1980 series, Marla Frumkin took over the role, although the Velma character was phased out following this season. Frumkin provided Velma's voice a few more times in 1984, when the character made a handful of "guest" appearances on The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries. Christina Lange provided the voice of pre-teenaged Velma in the ''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo series between 1988 and 1991.

Veteran voice actress B.J. Ward provided the voice of Velma in four Scooby-Doo direct to video films produced between 1997 and 2001. Former Facts of Life star Mindy Cohn began providing Velma's voice with the debut of What's New, Scooby-Doo? in 2002, (and continues in the role to this day). Nicole Jaffe briefly returned to the role for two of the direct-to-video Scooby-Doo productions, Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire and Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico (both 2003).

References

External links

• VelmaDinkley.com - a fansite focusing upon the character