Scooby Doo's Tips to Creativity

The 40th anniversary of the popular cartoon character Scooby-Doo and his TV series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is upon us. The cartoon canine first appeared on CBS on Sept. 13, 1969, and has since become the center of a multimillion-dollar TV, movie and merchandising franchise known worldwide.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Scooby and his fellow crime-fighters, the Cartoon Network has produced a new live-action TV movie starring the adventurous-yet-fearful pooch.

David Kleeman, American Center for Children and Media president, said the allure of Scooby and his friends has always been a blend of silly action and simple stories.

"'Scooby was pure fun, silly and kitschy enough for older kids (and some adults) to stick with it, and with simple enough stories that provided action but not violence for younger kids," Kleeman recently told the Boston Globe.

Having grown up (and old) with Scooby has taught me more than how to find a ghost or bad guy. Over the years, Scooby , Shaggy and the gang's antics taught me about imagination, discovery and creativity.

So to celebrate the 40th Anniversary, here are four haunted tips to awaken your creativity that I learned from watching Scoob Doo.

Finding the Bad Guys - In every episode of Scooby Doo the gang would split up into two or three different groups in order to catch the bad guys. Freddie, Velma, and Daphne would diligently hunt for clues while Scooby and Shaggy munched on Scooby Snacks and stumbled upon their own clues. In the end, through some twist of fate, each time good old Scooby and Shag would end up catching the criminals. Freddie and the girls were close at hand having used the clues to reach the same conclusion.

Haunted Tip #1 -Creativty is sometimes born of chaos. Be open to creativity emerging in a different manner than expected.

What was that? I can recall several instances (by this I mean at least twice an episode) where the gang would end up examining something suspicious, only to declare that there was nothing to see there, and move on. And like, come on, people. As soon as they walked past, a ghost or something would jump out of the very hiding place they were looking at! It got them every time.

Haunted Tip #2 - Creativity requires you to dig deeper and find what you may have missed.

He's just a pup! After a few season's Scooby's nephew Scrappy Doo joined the team. The gang initially thought the pup was too young and wide-eyed to be able to benefit their efforts. Scrappy Doo proved to be a very valuable addition to the gang. He kept his head in dire situations and often solved crimes that Scooby was unable to, whether due to a lack of diligence or just because Scooby was distracted by a Snak.

Haunted Tip #3- Your creative spark might be ignighted by someone else. Be open to the creative spark that someone else can provide. Don't allow ego or pride to cause a blind spot to things that might spark your creatvity.

Oh this is creepy! The gang always ended up in a creepy house that always had a secret-passage way with a shelved book, marble bust, or fireplace that activated passage. It's a well-known fact that when villains build their secret lairs, the first thing they consider is secret passage placement. However, most villains fail to be unique, and put their passages in the same old locations. Seriously, how many times do people need to pull an end book from a shelf only to have it open a passage before people learn?

Haunted Tip #4 - Use your creativity to challenge the status quo. Don't just copy what everyone else does. Use your imagination and build a better secret passage way.