It’s 1999 and Cartoon Network executives have three different Scooby-Doo marathons planned for the month of October. It’s Halloween season, and the network wants to cash in on their ‘spookiest’ show by re-broadcasting every episode of this fan-favorite series. The problem is that they need something to help promote these marathons, and they need it to be cheap.
Do they do a behind-the-scenes look at how an episode of Scooby-Doo is made? No, too boring for kids. Do they do come up with a brand-new, feature-length adventure? No, it’s the 90s and animation is too expensive. Do they parody The Blair Witch Project, a film that had just been released in August and had been described as “one of the scariest movies of all time”, merging animation with live-action and exposing young children to the result? Bingo.
It’s true – as part of a Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Halloween marathon in 1999, Cartoon Network really did broadcast a live-action Scooby-Doo parody of The Blair Witch Project on its channel. Scary, funny, and dirt cheap, The Scooby-Doo Project would go on to win an Annie Award for ‘Outstanding Animated Special Project’, and quite probably mentally scared a few children in the process.
The TV special began as a way of linking the various marathon episodes together. The idea was to break up The Scooby-Doo Project into small segments and air them during commercial breaks, incentivizing viewers to keep watching in order to get the whole story, with the special being rebroadcast again in its entirety at the end of the marathon. Wanting to keep costs low, Cartoon Network had only three animators working on this project, who found a novel way to circumvent expensive animation: make it live-action.
The premise is that Velma is making a documentary about how the Mystery Inc. gang solved a mystery, and so is recording their exploits as they hunt a monster in Casper County. Although the gang is seen in their animated forms, it’s usually only for just a moment, or from behind, so the cost of animating these snapshot appearances was minimal. Additionally, although the series’ voice cast all reprised their roles for the special, they did so over the phone, with the animators just recording their phone calls – as a result, a lot of lip flap is used.
As far as plot goes, the special is scarily faithful to The Blair Witch Project. Just like the youths in that horror cult-classic, the gang interviews local residents, discovers a curse, ventures into the woods, enters a haunted house, and stands in some corners. The level of authenticity to the original film is commendable, even if it means the end result is rather terrifying. In fact, the special has an extended ending, which goes into great detail to explain that the Mystery Inc. gang is still missing following the monster’s attack.
Moreover, apart from this genuinely scarily atmosphere, the other stand-out of the special is the meta-commentary it makes towards the TV series. On more than one occasion, reoccurring gags are referenced and lampshaded by the characters, highlighting and questioning the idiosyncrasies of the Scooby-Doo world. For example, when Velma inevitably loses her glasses, Fred snaps at her “this always happens – why don’t you get a glasses strap?” Or when Daphne not only questions how Scooby Doo is able to talk, but why his speech patterns haven’t improved after years of talking. Or when Shaggy and Scooby are encouraged to dress up like a surgeon to trick the monster in a gag, and Shaggy simply responds, “why would a surgeon even be in the woods?” For all the scariness of its plot, The Scooby-Doo Project is unafraid to have fun with some tongue-in-cheek remarks.
Following its release, the special was met with acclaim across the board, with critics celebrating both its humor and its scares – one critic even said that the special reproduces the original film "so faithfully and hilariously that there was no reason to see the dull original." In fact, as mentioned, the special even won the 2000 Annie Award for ‘Outstanding Animated Special Project' Not bad for a project that only had three animators working on it.
Due to being a one-off special by the network, The Scooby-Doo Project has never actually received an official re-release by Cartoon Network. Luckily, a handful of enthusiastic fans found a home-recording and have released the full special online for prosperity. Now, fans of Scooby Doo and The Blair Witch Project alike can bask in the silly scares and hilarious horror of this postmodern parody.