Cartoon Network Apologizes For Its Scooby Doo Blair Witch Parody 23 Years After The Fact
Cartoon Network apologized for its on-point 'Scooby Doo' parody of 'The Blair Witch Project' that left millennials terrified as kids.
Zoinks! Cartoon Network has issued a formal apology (ish) for airing its hilarious but admittedly terrifying Scooby Doo Blair Witch Project parody to its target audience of, you know, children during a 1999 Halloween marathon.
The now 23-year-old short film was a mix of everyone’s favorite nostalgic animated characters with a live-action creepy woods backdrop.
“In the Fall of 1999, four teenaged sleuths and their Great Dane got lost in the woods in search of a mystery. This is their story,” reads a black and white title card.
The Scooby Doo Project, then plays just like the actual found footage horror film, showing the gang fiddling with the camera and becoming increasingly scared as they get lost in the allegedly cursed forest. The film, which originally aired during a Scooby Doo! Where Are You! Halloween marathon features the teens’ classic banter, and even some of the things that scare them in the woods are silly (Daphne breaks a nail; Fred loses his favorite scarf).
This is where it gets actually scary (or at least for younger viewers). Velma and Shaggy come across a cabin that has eerie music playing. “Not music. We always get chased when there’s music!” says Shaggy as a classic Scooby Doo masked villain pops up. After the chase, Shaggy stands in the corner of a cabin like at the end of The Blair Witch Project.
“Shaggy! Why are standing in the corner?” Velma cries. “I’m scared man!” as he starts to laugh hysterically. “Like, scared!” he adds.
The short ends with a news broadcast announcing that Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby Doo are all missing, which is a wild and dark departure from how the Mystery Gang usually wraps up their cases.
Watching it as an adult is fun and silly, but lots of people recalled being terrified as a kid watching this.
“Yes, this scared me pretty much when came out 🙈 I had no clue what was the Blair witch project at that time,” replied one Twitter user.
“I actually can’t believe you guys did the corner scene💀,” wrote another.
There is an extended version available for any adults looking to visit a creepy but nostalgic Halloween treat. Maybe make sure the kids are out of the room for this one, just in case.
