In 1999, when three different Scooby-Doo marathons were scheduled for October, three Cartoon Network animators got assigned to create individual packaging and promotion for them.
When the film The Blair Witch Project became a major success in August, it resulted in the three of them requesting if they were allowed to pool together their resources to make a satire of the cultural phenomenon.
They put together a short proof of concept video consisting of the character Daphne running through the woods and the higher ups at the network approved the idea.
The script was written and produced to air in sketch form within intro and outro bumps across the programming stunt, with the whole content still making sense when compiled together after the fact.
The car used for the Mystery Machine was on a promotional tour in Canada at the time, so a couple of the producers involved flew up and got that footage in a day.
The deputy in the background was played by a programming exec who had worked at several of Cartoon Network's major shows in the last 20 years, and several more from the company who were at the office that day did the voice acting for the press people shouting questions.
The voice cast of the Scooby Gang was recorded over the phone from Los Angeles, and was the same team that was making Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island at around the same time.
When they arrive at the cemetery inside of the woods, the place where the county's curse began, Shaggy is horrified to learn that they will be sleeping nearby.
Velma tries to interpret the map, but Daphne calls her out for failing to do so for the past two hours, and the gang's bond deteriorates as they begin to bicker and argue.
They fail to retrace their steps and realize that they are walking in circles, and the map is lost after Shaggy and Scooby eat it, as the pair had inadvertently eaten all of their food on the first night.
The footage cuts to night, where a frantic Fred tells the gang that they have been trapped in the forest for a week, and have not unmasked a villain and says that he misses how they solved mysteries in only 22 minutes.
The monster then pops up directly in front of Velma, chasing her down into the basement, where Shaggy is standing in a corner, facing the wall out of fright.
It is revealed that the Mystery Machine was eventually discovered abandoned and search parties found hundreds of Scooby Snacks over several days, as well as the camera, though there was no sign of the gang themselves.
[9] RVA Magazine's in contrast felt that its success came mostly due to it shifted boundaries for children's shows; "under the right [lack of] lighting, it was actually kind of scary".
[10] Spencer Voyles of The Journal agreed, stating that it is a "strangely spooky episode that struck fear in the hearts of kids hoping to enjoy a day of classic cartoons".
[16] The success of the first special prompted Cartoon Network to make a sequel of sorts named Night of the Living Doo in 2001.