Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context WesternAnimation / TheScoobyDooProject

Go To

1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scd_project_6733.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:"Maybe, this time, we shouldn't have meddled."]]
3
4->''In October 1999, four teenaged sleuths and their Great Dane got lost in the woods while in search of a mystery.''
5
6->''This is their story.''
7
8Franchise/ScoobyDoo and the gang decide to record one of their mysteries. This time, they're going out into the woods to investigate a haunting there. [[ScoobyDooHoax The ghost is going to be a bad guy in a mask,]] [[TemptingFate right?]]
9
10Wrong. [[SubvertedTrope So.]] [[DarkerAndEdgier Very.]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Wrong.]]
11
12''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdMZm8fAIaY The Scooby-Doo Project]]'' was a series of [[AdBumpers bumpers]] parodying ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'', which was serialized during a ''Scooby-Doo'' marathon on Creator/CartoonNetwork in October and November of 1999. The second run of the marathon culminated in the premiere of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheWitchsGhost'', and the ''Project'' aired in a short-film format at the end of both airings of the marathon. However, after that, this short vanished, never to be aired again or released to DVD. It is, however, available on Website/YouTube, [[Main/KeepCirculatingTheTapes through reuploads by fellow Scooby fans]].
13
14Several fans have compiled many of the available bumpers into a singular video, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LRvZjZQW1k such]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAe5oZpDMgs&feature=emb_logo as]] [[https://youtu.be/SPZWfXLTDuo these]].
15
16In Halloween 2022, for its 30th birthday, Cartoon Network ''finally'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyHVMPAbxrs uploaded the video officially on their youtube channel.]]
17
18This series was shot during the WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland era, and featured the new voice cast from that era. The only one of the voice cast member from WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies to reprise his role was Creator/FrankWelker returning to his role as Fred. Scott Innes reprises his role as Shaggy and Scooby-Doo from the films, as well as playing Scrappy. Creator/BJWard reprises her role as Velma, while Creator/MaryKayBergman plays Daphne Blake in her last credited role; she committed suicide only one month after the special was released.
19----
20!!''The Scooby-Doo Project'' provides examples of the following tropes:
21
22* AffectionateParody: Of FoundFootage horror movies and the Scooby-Doo franchise in general.
23* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:The ''[[RealAfterAll real]]'' monster is implied to have killed the gang and the hapless disguised homeowner in the ending, remaining uncaught as the only trace left of the gang was the Mystery Machine that they left by the road. However, the Halftime Show of Cartoon Network's Big Game 2000 has Fred discuss the events, and he says that they escaped and caught the culprit.]]
24* CharacterCatchphrase: One short has the gang make fun of each other for this.
25* ContinuityNod:
26** Shaggy's rarely used real name (Norville) is brought up and mocked by the rest of the gang.
27** An interviewee speculates that the monster is [[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland the ghost of a civil war soldier]].
28** Scooby yet again complains about his hatred of cats... and yet again, his speech impediment makes the others think he’s talking about rats.
29* DarkerAndEdgier: Being a parody of ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'', it's much darker than the usual cartoons. The monster that the gang is after is a real monster and the gang also argue a lot in the short. The woods they are camping in are also pretty creepy. It's also implied that [[spoiler:the monster killed the gang in the ending]].
30* DeadpanSnarker: Everyone gets a little snarkier in this, especially Shaggy.
31* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied that [[EverybodyDiesEnding the monster killed the gang]] after getting the jump on them at the house, as the only trace left of them after they were reported missing by the news is the abandoned Mystery Machine. Ultimately subverted by the Halftime Show of Cartoon Network's Big Game 2000, which shows Fred talking about the events.]]
32* DeconstructiveParody: The special delights in lampshading and mocking the franchise’s tropes and conventions, such as having Velma loudly complain about how annoying the ScoobyDoobyDoors bit is for her.
33* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The special ends with the gang apparently getting killed by the monster. However, the Halftime Show of Cartoon Network's Big Game 2000 has Fred discuss the events with [[WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast Moltar]]--the gang managed to escape and the culprit was arrested, but whenever they tried to show their video to anyone, people accused it of being a rip-off of ''The Blair Witch Project''. (see [[https://youtu.be/QZ0WmbwjRuU?t=3093 here]])]]
34* EmbarrassingFirstName: Acknowledged. Velma introduces Shaggy by his actual first name (Norville) to which he objects. Fred and Daphne have a field day with this. Even Scooby joins in on the mocking despite the fact that he has an equally embarrassing first name (''Scoobert'').
35* EtTuBrute: PlayedForLaughs when Shaggy says exactly this in response to Scooby making fun of his name.
36* ExtremeOmnivore: While lost in the woods, Shaggy and Scooby ate ''the gang's map'' with some habanero sauce.
37* FauxHorrific:
38** The gang treat [[spoiler:Scrappy-Doo]] as being almost as frightening as the monster itself.
39** Fred has a total meltdown over losing his ascot.
40** Likewise, Shaggy has a meltdown over eating stale Scooby Snacks that have been left on the ground outside the gang's tent at night.
41* FoolsMap: The gang's "map" turns out to just be a picture of the Mystery Machine with a dotted line leading to a tree, making it useless for navigation and getting the gang hopelessly lost.
42* FoundFootageFilms: A parody of them, particularly [[Film/TheBlairWitchProject the most famous example]]. The central premise of the genre is mocked when Fred angrily tells Velma off for continuing to film while they're trying to build their tent.
43* TheFriendNoOneLikes: Velma comes across as this to the rest of the gang due to their attitudes toward her even before things start going FromBadToWorse.
44* HellIsThatNoise: Parodied when Daphne and Velma treat [[spoiler:Scrappy doing his iconic trumpet noise]] as this.
45* IgnoringBySinging: Done by Scooby and Shaggy (who else?) when Velma starts talking about the legend of the cemetery.
46* JerkassHasAPoint: Shaggy and Scooby eating the map was uncalled for, but as Shaggy points out, the map itself was pretty much useless to begin with, so it's not like any real harm was done.
47* LetsSplitUpGang: After hearing a sound outside the tent, they split up to find the source.
48* MoodWhiplash: This, after Scooby has gone missing:
49-->'''Shaggy''': Scooby-Doo! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!\
50'''Scooby''': Over here!\
51(''[[AntiClimax camera pans to reveal Scooby is right behind them, unharmed]]'')\
52'''Shaggy''': Oh.
53* MultipleChoicePast: The locals that the gang interview all give a different backstory for the monster, citing everything from aliens to the ghost of a Civil War soldier. This is lampshaded by Velma immediately afterwards.
54* NarratingTheObvious: Velma’s [[StylisticSuck a pretty bad documentarian]] and does a ton of this, much to Fred’s annoyance.
55* NonMaliciousMonster: The monster turns out to be [[spoiler:a normal dude who was dressed up for Halloween and objects to kids intruding on his property every year. Then subverted when the real monster shows up and attacks.]]
56* NostrilShot: A promo parodies the famous shot with Shaggy, who mutters, "I'm so hungry!"
57* RealAfterAll: [[spoiler: After the gang discovers that the "monster" is just a guy in a costume celebrating Halloween, they ask why he scared them at the cemetery the previous night. He ''didn't.'' There's a shriek, and the camera turns to reveal the ''real'' monster climbing through the window...]]
58* RogerRabbitEffect: The animated Scooby gang is interacting with live-action backgrounds and people.
59-->'''Shaggy:''' Things just look more... realistic!
60* ScoobyDoobyDoors: Obligatory, and lampshaded by Velma. "I hate this part with the doors!"
61* ScoobyDooHoax: Subverted in an extended version, after the monster confronts the gang in the house they go into, they manage to hold him down off-screen, and it is revealed to be [[spoiler:just some random guy doing it because it was Halloween. However, when they question him about scaring them in a cemetery, he legitimately doesn't know what they're talking about, and then the ''real'' monster shows up.]]
62* SkewedPriorities: Daphne keeps complaining about not having a change of clothes and breaking a nail while the gang is lost in the woods.
63* SpeechImpairedAnimal: Parodied with the one of the women telling the gang about a giant radioactive cat that feeds off stray dogs.
64-->'''Scooby:''' Rye don't rike riant rats!\
65'''Daphne:''' She said giant ''cat'', not ''rats'', Scooby.\
66'''Scooby:''' Rats rat I said! Rat![[note]]Translation: "That's what I said! Cat!"[[/note]]
67* WhamLine: [[spoiler:"I didn't go to any cemetery."]]
68* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:It's unknown what happened to the Mystery Gang in the ending, but it's implied that the monster killed them.]]
69** [[spoiler:It's also not mentioned what happened to Scrappy and the grumpy woodsman, since neither is mentioned as being lost, like the Gang.]]
70** [[spoiler: Straightened up in Big Game 2000, which [[AntiClimax revealed that it was just another case]].]]
71* YouMeddlingKids: Played with. In an extended version, after they pull the mask off the "monster", he instead calls them "intrusive" kids.
72-->'''Shaggy:''' Like, he didn't say "meddling"! Doesn't he know the drill?
73** Another moment that pays parody to this trope: in a spoof of the famous "I'm so scared" line, the camera, in a close up on Velma's face, while she says, "Maybe this time, we shouldn't have meddled... we shouldn't have meddled..."

Top