Scrappy-Doo 1979 had begun to sink to the point of cancellation threats from ABC, who were considering between choosing between Scooby-Doo and an unnamed pilot From Ruby-Spears Enterprises, whose pilot Evanier had also written. He successfully boosted the show's ratings and kept the show alive. Scrappy has a contradicted origin. Originally as shown in the introduction of the series, Scrappy only met his Uncle Scooby as a puppy. However, the December 1980 episode of "Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo" ("Scrappy's Birthday") depicts Scrappy-Doo's birth with both Scooby and Shaggy in attendance. Born at St. Bernard's Hospital to Scooby-Doo's sister Ruby-Doo on December 20,
Scooby-Doo (character) would be renamed "Scooby-Doo" by Fred Silverman, CBS's head of daytime programming, between its unsuccessful first pitch and a second pitch which earned the show a green light. Silverman came up with the name from the syllables "doo-be-doo-be-doo" in Frank Sinatra's hit song "Strangers in the Night". Taking notes from a Hanna-Barbera colleague who was also a breeder of Great Danes, Production designer Iwao Takamoto designed the Scooby-Doo character with a sloping chin, spots, a long tail, a sloped back, and bow legs – all traits in direct opposition to those of a prize-winning purebred Great Dane. In defining the