MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Of the many Scooby-Doo-related series that exist across medium types (cartoons, films, and comics included), one lesser-known text that is topically timed for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, and the 20th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project (TBWP), is The Scooby-Doo Project (TSDP). This special originally aired during a Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? Halloween marathon on Cartoon Network, and is an animation/live action hybrid that reimagines TBWP within the contexts of the Scooby-Doo franchise and its diegetic expectations of the youth-sleuth’s investigative hijinks. Instead of searching for the Blair Witch, however, the Scooby Gang records themselves chasing an ambiguous monstrosity—a figure with disparate origins due to the unreliable variance given by interviewees. Even so, the Gang heads confidently into the woods in anticipation of finding the usual masked suspect behind the locals’ stories, only to spiral into existential crises as they are taunted and cornered by the monstrous. The end of one commercial promo for TSDP references an iconic shot from TBWP, casting Velma Dinkley in the shoes of documentary lead Heather Donahue. Velma’s voiceover throughout the promo admits, “This was supposed to be just another mystery in the woods. We were cocky. Why shouldn’t we be? But then we got lost. In over our heads. Was the curse…real?” In a close up on her teary face, a shaken Velma admits, “Maybe this time, we shouldn’t have meddled…”   This paper considers how TSDP, as found footage parody, uses a clever hybrid visual style, Scooby-Doo in-jokes, and Blair Witch references to position viewers to see a more self-destructive side to the Scooby Gang, linked to their representational identity privileges. The Gang’s previous sleuthing successes have empowered them to expect results, yet their self-assured perspectives distract them from the life-threatening potential of the dangerous horror scenarios in which they intrude.