10 Facts About The Childhood Classic "Doug" That You'll Be Surprised To Learn
If you grew up in the 90s, you knew what Nickelodeon was. And if you watched Nickelodeon, chances are you watched "Doug."
If you were any bit as big a fan as I was, you'd remember swooning for Patti Mayonnaise, fearing bully Roger Klotz, and wanting to be Quailman (truth be told, I actually dressed up as him one Halloween). But as much as you may know and remember about the iconic series, there's also plenty you didn't know.
Doug premiered in 1991 as part of Nickelodeon taking a chance on what would end up being its first three cartoons: Doug, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Rugrats (you may have heard of them). Until then, the kid-focused cable network—which had been broadcasting for 12 years—hadn't featured any cartoons.Â
Originally, Doug was going to be named "Brian," but Jinkins felt the name was “too fancy.†“I geared it down and started calling him Doug,†he said in a 2014 interview with The Huffington Post. “If you think about what that sounds like, it sounds incredibly average, and that’s what I was trying to do: express from that point of view.â€Â
Doug creator Jim Jinkins was a doodler ever since he was young. "As a little kid having to sit quietly in church, you pray there’s a little blank spot on the bulletin to draw on," he recalled. "So, drawing Doug was just something that came naturally. The idea of him expressing my twisted points of view and all that, that just sort of gathered momentum when it got started."
Prior to the hit TV show, Doug was featured in a 1989 Florida Grapefruit commercial. The ad shows Doug bouncing around on a pogo stick, then with a glass of grapefruit juice in hand, to show that it puts just as much "spring in your step."
Jinkins visited several publishing houses with his original book, "Doug Got a New Pair of Shoes," but was never able to acquire a deal. The unpublished book was what he ended up using to pitch the series to Nickelodeon executives.Â
In his first meeting with Nickelodeon, Jinkins recounted to The Huffington Post, Nickelodeon executive Vanessa Coffey "looked at the cover of the book and, in the middle of me describing it, just ran out of the room ... which is, you know, disturbing." Turns out Coffey wasn’t ditching their meeting; she just couldn’t wait to tell her boss about it.
The ethnicity of Doug's best friend, Skeeter, was a widely debated topic ever since Doug first premiered. In an interview, Jinkins stated that he chose nontraditional colors for his characters after coming to the realization that, as the creator of Bluffington itself, he could make the characters whatever colors he wanted. Jinkins ultimately embraces discussions of race in Doug’s world and wants the audience to make each character their own.
Jinkins wanted "the importance of always telling the truth" to be the most essential lesson kids learned from the series.
Talented voice actor Fred Newman is the responsible for practically all sound effects in the show’s theme song as well as scene transitions. Newman also supplied the noises for Skeeter’s honks and Mr. Dink’s sputters.
Three of the show's main characters - Patti, Skeeter, and Roger - are based on Jinkins' real-life crush, best friend, and bully—respectively—during middle and high school. Though he had fallen out of touch with them after high school, Jinkins eventually reconnected with all three and even sent a letter to the girl who inspired Patti, telling her to pay close attention to the character.