Scooby Doo Effect
When you can tell which objects in an animated film or video game are supposed to be picked up or manipulated by a character because they "pop out" from the rest of the scene. The effect is achieved by: (a.) making the stand-out object brighter,
(b.) making it a different shade of color than similar surrounding objects, or (c.) in the case of video games, making the object shiny or pulsing with light (intentional scooby doo effect).
The original effect was an unintended side-effect of cel animation. Animators would use the same slides over and over for static backgrounds and place the animation slides over them (e.g. the same picture of a room will be used for several hundred frames because the room never moves, but the characters have to be redrawn each frame with new slides).
The inconsistency of color and brightness between the new painted slides and the original background slide causes the animated object to stand out from the background. The Scooby Doo cartoon was a particularly noteworthy example of this effect in practice.
(b.) making it a different shade of color than similar surrounding objects, or (c.) in the case of video games, making the object shiny or pulsing with light (intentional scooby doo effect).
The original effect was an unintended side-effect of cel animation. Animators would use the same slides over and over for static backgrounds and place the animation slides over them (e.g. the same picture of a room will be used for several hundred frames because the room never moves, but the characters have to be redrawn each frame with new slides).
The inconsistency of color and brightness between the new painted slides and the original background slide causes the animated object to stand out from the background. The Scooby Doo cartoon was a particularly noteworthy example of this effect in practice.
(playing a video game) "There's some major scooby doo effect on that door. I'm pretty sure you can open it."
Scooby Doo Effect by Boondiggle August 14, 2020
Urban Dictionary Merch