OK, now that was just plain fun. What was, you ask? I just got finished watching the less-than-four-minute clip of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: The Animated Series.Four years ago, it looked like this series was a go, but somehow, it just went. Our friend Jane Espenson penned some of the scripts, and tells us she's in if the project ever takes off again. And rumors abound that the Buffy animated series may just be revived.
Why this series didn't make it in the first place is a complete mystery to me. The gal who does Buffy's voice in the video games is in, and Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head and Nicholas Brendon all do the voices for their characters from the live action series. Add to that the number of writers on board from Buffy and I'm left clueless.
The animated series looks promising. Jane Espenson mentioned in her interview with Mark Jozic that it is all humor and action, and none of the angst from the original series. So who wouldn't be up for some pure Buffy fun? Can't the Cartoon Network make a bid for it?
Check out the video and tell us what you think!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-04-2008 @ 9:00AM
Thom said...
Love it!
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8-04-2008 @ 9:29AM
Brad said...
Looks excellent, would definitely allow for some more extravagant fighting and baddies.
Definitely captures the early Buffy, with the sometimes trying too hard humor, and the usual spot on humor... "The harder they what?"
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8-04-2008 @ 9:34AM
Erin said...
I would love a Buffy comeback, but this clip didn't impress me. I was really thrown off by the Giles-Willow-Xander familiarity, but Buffy's complete change (I never played the video game) - it's like something's very, very wrong in the Buffyverse. Also, they're back in high school... didn't we do this already?
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8-04-2008 @ 10:16AM
0megapart!cle said...
Ehh
Jane does know that the angst was pretty essential to the formula of Buffy success, right?
I'm not holding my breath on this series coming to fruition.
8-04-2008 @ 9:58AM
RadioScott said...
Hmm. It's hard to base on opinion on such a short video, of course, but I didn't like the clip as much as I was hoping. Oddly, I thought the Buffy actor sounded better than the rest of the cast. I'm no acting expert, but I think it's a difficult transition for some actors to go from live action acting to animation voice work.
Was this meant to be a prequel, or maybe a standalone series taking place outside the familiar continuity? The clip, at least, didn't seem aimed at longtime Buffy fans.
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8-04-2008 @ 11:47AM
Argus said...
I loved it. The dynamic of the first seasons was the most excellent of the series. Pre-additional characters that watered down the show, pre-awful season 6 & 7. I think it should be a go fo sho!
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8-04-2008 @ 1:54PM
Jennifer said...
For the record: the animated series was going to be a reboot, pretty much along the lines of "Season 1, if Dawn had existed."
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8-04-2008 @ 3:20PM
Lemon Lyman said...
"And rumors abound that the Buffy animated series may just be revived."
Yeah, but no. The interview dates back from 2004, so don't get your hopes up, even though it would have been awesome for sure.
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8-04-2008 @ 3:37PM
latepaul said...
How old is that interview with Jane Espenson? She refers to talking to Joss "on the set of his movie" - are we talking Serenity here?
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8-04-2008 @ 6:59PM
Brooks Williams said...
I wouldn't watch it. They're kind of phoning in the horror. It needs to be much, much more unsettling.
For animation sakes, they need to take advantage of the medium that they are in.
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8-04-2008 @ 7:28PM
Anna S. said...
I am so in! If only...
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8-04-2008 @ 7:29PM
Anthony said...
They should just animate the comic books release the DVD, right after the huge following from it being posted on the interwebs (a la that OTHER Joss Whedon thing) and for good measure slap it on CN during adult swim. BAM instant hit.
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8-04-2008 @ 8:54PM
Doug Nelson said...
Good writing, bad acting. Voice acting is harder than it sounds, and however much I love the original cast, they just aren't up to this task.
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8-05-2008 @ 6:59AM
scotty said...
I think it could work if it was produced and aired for the Adult Swim audience. (A Buffy animated series could work well alongside The Venture Bros..)
From what I've read, the proposed animated series would be set sometime around Seasons 1 and 2 of the live-action series, before Angel turned into Angelus. And it would include Dawn.
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