Like, Zoinks!

About three years ago, I managed to snag an interview with Scott Innes for Toonarific.com. Great Web site, great guy ... great time in my life. :)

Here's the transcript in all its glory:

Scott Innes is best known as the voice of Scooby-Doo and Shaggy in several films including Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island and Scrappy-Doo in Scooby-Doo: The Movie, the live-action film released in 2002. It was a pleasure to interview Scott between sets at WYNK Baton Rouge, where he’s a country music deejay. His Web site, www.scottinnes.com, includes information about songs he’s written, his radio show, and his book, Dreams DOO Come True!: My Life as a Dog.

How did you get the job of being Shaggy and Scooby-Doo?

Well, pretty much, I've been doing it all my life. ... But professionally I've been doing it for about five years. I do an afternoon show for WYNK in Baton Rouge, and I did a parody to a song by Alabama. And the song is called "Shagging on the Boulevard," but I did "Shaggy on the Boulevard." And this caller kept harrassing me to send it to Hanna-Barbera. So lo and behold, I did, and it was the last day of casting for a movie called Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Don Messick (the original voice of Scooby) had been sick, and you know, the day after they gave me the part, Don passed away.

Did you grow up watching Scooby? What cartoons did you like?

Really, growing up, I remember watching two things: The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island. ... I grew up watching Hanna-Barbera cartoons, but Scooby and Shaggy were always my favorite.

Isn't it true your Shaggy and Scooby voice has been used for things other than movies?

Yeah, 200-plus talking toys. And Scrappy-Doo. You know, I was Scrappy in the recent (live-action) movie.

Has your voice work put in touch with any big names in entertainment?

Yeah, I mean, really more so in the animation field. Working next to Frank Welker -- you know, Freddy -- and Adrienne Barbeau ... and John Ritter, from Three's Company. You remember that show? And you know, I'm a country disc jockey, so it's weird having stars like Reba McIntyre and Garth Brooks call me up and ask me to do the voice on their answering machine or for their kid's birthday party. The girl from X-Files (Gillian Anderson) called and wanted me to do a voice message for her kids.

Tell me a little bit about your "day job."

Well, you know, I get up early in the morning. I'm a disc jockey, so I do a lot of freelance work. I work at WYNK in Baton Rouge, La. It's a Clear Channel station. I'm also in syndication in Sarasota, Fla., at WCTQ, and I'm getting ready to pick up another couple of markets. My show is called Cartunes -- you know, "tunes," as in T-U-N-E-S.

So you've put out a book. Tell me about it.

I've always wanted to write a book, so this kind of tells how I went from a snotty 4-year-old telling my teacher I was going to be the voice of Shaggy and Scooby one day to actually having my dreams come true. The book is called Dreams DOO Come True!: My Life As a Dog. ... The book is out right now, and it's only available from my Web site (www.scottinnes.com), but I autograph it for you and everything.

What other voice work have you done besides Shaggy and Scooby?

I'm the voice of Popeye for King Features, and I've done some Radio Shack commercials as Astro, and I've done a lot of work for Cartoon Network. Let's see ... Shag Rugg and the Hillbilly Bears. I've done some Snagglepuss. Who else? Professor Pat Pending, which was one of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons from "Wacky Races."

So I've got to ask you the obligatory Toonarific.com question: How many degrees of separation are you from Kevin Bacon?

Well, in Scooby and Shaggy's case, probably not too many, because (imitating Shaggy): "We love bacon!" ... "Like, zoinks! Seven degrees? Are you kidding? We like to cook our bacon at about 110 degrees."

You know, if the newspaper didn't keep me so busy, I'd love to set up more interviews. I kind of miss writing ... but I'll never go back to being a full-time reporter.

And, anyway, I love wielding my red pen.