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Meet the man behind Shaggy, Robin and more classic cartoon characters!
Zoinks! Holy voice actors, Batman!
Many know Casey Kasem for his work as a radio DJ on America's Top 40, but we here at MeTV Toons know him for his incredible animation career. Kasem was not only the man behind Shaggy and Robin, he appeared in dozens of cartoons and entertained viewers of all ages.
Let's jump into a few of our favorite cartoon characters voiced by Casey Kasem.
Alexander Cabot III
The groovy band manager of Josie and the Pussycats, Kasem brought a level of goofiness to Alexander that balanced well off of Melody and Valerie. Alexander as a character is very similar to Shaggy, which made for a hilarious crossover episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies where Kasem voiced both Alexander and Shaggy.
Winfield Wheely
Kasem also lent his voice to The Funky Phantom where he played Winfield Wheely, a famous racecar driver competing in the Desert Race with the Road Hog Roadster.
Professor Lundgren
Another character Kasem voiced on The Funky Phantom is Professor Lundgren - an archaeologist who may have accidentally released the ghost of Montezuma while looking for artifacts.
Robin (and Dick Grayson)
Holy voices, Batman! One of Kasem's most prolific roles was Robin. He played Robin in 76 episodes of Super Friends, 17 episodes of The Adventures of Batman, and in the Scooby-Doo special Scooby-Doo Meets Batman.
Professor Goodfellow
Kasem also provided guest character voices on Super Friends. One such voice was Professor Goodfellow, the well-meaning but stubborn scientist who introduced a form of artificial intelligence (the G.E.E.C.) to the Super Friends world.
Monty Marble
Another guest role Kasem would often play on cartoons would be as a gameshow host, like Monty Marble in The Flintstones Meet Rockula and the Frankenstones and Bill Barker in 2 Stupid Dogs.
Himself!
Outside of his voice acting career, Kasem was a public figure in his own right as the radio host of America's Top 40. He was often asked to appear in movies and television shows as himself - or as his voice playing over the radio. He played himself in Undercover Angel (1999), Sister, Sister (1996), Mr. Wrong (1996), Cybill (1995), The Martin Short Show (1994), The Ben Stiller Show (1992 and 1993), Saved by the Bell (1989, 1991), Amen (1991), ALF (1990), My Two Dads (1989), The People Next Door (1989), and Ghostbusters (1984).
Honorable Mentions
Before getting to the BIG character that defined Kasem's career, let's explore some honorable mentions. He played multiple characters on 1984's The Transformers including Bluestreak, Cliffjumper, Teletraan I, and Dr. Arkville. He also appeared in 39 episodes of Sesame Street starting in season one, appearing mostly in cartoon shorts as "Guy with the letter Q", "Guy with the letter B", etc. Following his professional DJ career, he also played fictional DJs in Blue's Clues, Rugrats in Paris, and Teamo Supremo. Kasem also provided additional voices to Richie Rich, The Gary Coleman Show, Plastic Man, Emergency +4, and What's New, Mr. Magoo?.
Shaggy Rogers
Zoinks! Shaggy was Kasem's most played role - he played Shaggy in 16 movies, 15 television series (over 200 episodes!), and numerous commercials and videos. While Kasem initially auditioned for Fred, he appreciated that he was allowed to make Shaggy his own. He came up with the phrase "Scoob, ol' buddy, ol' pal, ol' friend of mine" and used his two radio jockey colleagues - Dave Hull and Richard Crenna - as inspiration for Shaggy's voice and demeanor. Kasem noted many times that he had never said the word "Zoinks!" before Scooby-Doo and did not use it in everyday conversation - no matter how much people asked him to.