Buffy the animated series!

[SuperShazam!!]

Enjoy this while you can

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUvZP7-5LM

It never got made into a series...shame!

However who knows what the future holds

[Vergon6]

Enjoy this while you can

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnUvZP7-5LM

It never got made into a series...shame!

However who knows what the future holds
Cool. Was this on one the Buffy DVDs or something? I only own Season 7 so far. It would be cool if it were made into a series, but I imagine the actors would be too expensive at this point. Heck, I wouldn't mind a Buffy and/or Angel animated series with new people's voices, have them carry on after the finales like the comics are doing. Although I have heard some eyebrow raising things about the comics themselves. But you get what I mean.

[Fat Elvis 007]

Cool. Was this on one the Buffy DVDs or something? I only own Season 7 so far. It would be cool if it were made into a series, but I imagine the actors would be too expensive at this point. Heck, I wouldn't mind a Buffy and/or Angel animated series with new people's voices, have them carry on after the finales like the comics are doing. Although I have heard some eyebrow raising things about the comics themselves. But you get what I mean.

No, they weren't on the DVDs. I wasn't even aware that any attempt at an actual episode was made, thought I knew the concept had been floating around. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, SuperShazam. It really felt like old school Buffy, especially with Giles making fun of the teens and Buffy saying "Followers of Morgan Freeman."

[Vergon6]

No, they weren't on the DVDs. I wasn't even aware that any attempt at an actual episode was made, thought I knew the concept had been floating around. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, SuperShazam. It really felt like old school Buffy, especially with Giles making fun of the teens and Buffy saying "Followers of Morgan Freeman."
Yeah it really did. I wonder where this came from. I mean where the person who posted it on Youtube got it from.

[SuperShazam!!]

Its leaked. So the video may be taken down soon. I wish it would be made, I love the old style feel to it. The good ol' days of Sunnydale High. And the 'Morgan Freeman' bit reminded me of when Buffy called Acathla 'Afafa' in the season 2 finale :lol:


If your interested here is a long interview from this guy, Mike Jozic, with Jane Espenson(buffy writer) and Eric Wight(the guy who did the animations)



MIKE JOZIC: How did the two of you get involved with Animated Buffy back in the beginning?

JANE ESPENSON: Joss was very interested in developing an animated version of Buffy to enable us to tell stories that were visually ambitious and also to allow us to go back and tell stories that would only work in the high school setting. He graciously invited any of the writers on staff to join in if we wanted to.

ERIC WIGHT: It was definitely a case of right place, right time. I was working for Film Roman (the animation company that produces the Simpsons) when they were approached to develop the animated version of Buffy. The producer of the project I was currently working on asked if Buffy was something I might be interested in designing.

JOZIC: Eric, were you a fan of the show before getting involved?

WIGHT: Absolutely.

JOZIC: Jane, it's very unusual for an animated spin-off to snag writers from the parent show. Was it hard to find a way to squeeze it in to your already busy schedule at the time?

ESPENSON: I jumped at the chance and have not regretted it. Even though the show [has yet to] materialize, I loved working with Jeph Loeb who was in charge of the animated series along with Joss, and I loved the challenge of a slightly different kind of writing.

JOZIC: What other writers from Buffy got involved with the Animated show?

ESPENSON: Steve DeKnight and Drew Greenberg wrote episodes, if I recall. And I believe Doug Petrie did too. I think there was a story set aside for Rebecca Kirshner that she never got to start.

JOZIC: What role did each of you play in the overall development of the series?

ESPENSON: Joss already had a very clear idea of what Animated Buffy was. He knew the sorts of stories he wanted to tell and the tone he wanted them to have. But since these scripts were the very first ever written for this new series, there were obviously decisions that were being made every day.

For example, here's an issue that came up: The animated series was set during Buffy's freshman year of high school. Does that mean that the characters can't make any pop culture references that post-date season one of Buffy? Does it mean that a "new" car is a '97?

I loved it when things like that came up because it reminded me that it was early days and we were still setting the rules.

WIGHT: My role was to establish the visual style of the cartoon, from character designs, to background layouts, to color.

JOZIC: Eric, looking at your resume, it looks like Beavis and Butt-Head Do America was your first work in animation. Is that correct?

WIGHT: We all have to start somewhere! I had a phenomenal time working for MTV on that movie. I was still in college at the time, so it was tough juggling my course load and working full time. But I worked with a great group of people.

JOZIC: Since then you've worked on some pretty amazing shows - and several of my own personal favourites. When you're looking for a new project, what sorts of challenges do you look for?

WIGHT: I definitely gravitate towards the jobs that allow for the most creative freedom. Working on a high profile project can be a lot of fun, but the politics of all the people involved can be really draining. And it's great when you are involved from the very beginning of a new project.

It's a lot more fun to draw from the scripted page than to have to go into a project that they already have five different artists' styles that no one like but they want you to blend it all into one vision.

JOZIC: Jane, did it make it any easier to write for the show knowing that many of your cast from the series had committed to voicing their animated counterparts?

ESPENSON: Interesting question, but I just wrote it to their voices the way I would if it was a regular Buffy episode. It's just like when you're a beginning writer, writing "spec" episodes of a show. If you're writing a Frasier, you try to hear Kelsey Grammar's voice, even if it's a spec Frasier that's just a writing sample, and will never be performed.

JOZIC: Eric, how difficult was it to adapt living characters from an existing show like Buffy to an animated format?

WIGHT: It was really tough and rewarding all at the same time. Some faces are easier to draw than others. Sometimes you nail the look on the first try, other times I've burned through a box of pencils trying to get the design just right. It's even tougher with a show like Buffy, where all of the characters are so distinct and recognizable.

JOZIC: For all intents and purposes, the show seems like it would have been a winner with a rabid built in audience. What were the circumstances surrounding the show getting stalled when it did?

ESPENSON: I'm not entirely sure on this point. I know there were a number of times when everyone got very hopeful and we were certain that the show would be produced. But something always fell through.

WIGHT: Welcome to Hollywood. Given the fan reaction when I launched my website, it boggles my mind why this show has not been made. As far as the specifics as to why it didn't work out, you'll have to ask Mr. Whedon for those answers.

JOZIC: It would have been really interesting to see those early years of the show with Dawn included in the cast. This was explored briefly in the comic books and executed fairly well, in my opinion. Did you see that as a missed opportunity?

ESPENSON: Oh, absolutely, when the animated series stopped being a possibility, I think we all felt the loss of the opportunities to fill in the monk-implanted Dawn years. And of course, we'd all fallen in love with our own individual stories. "Teeny," my script in which Buffy shrinks, was a perfect story to tell in animated form that would've been impossible, or at least impractical to do with live-action.

JOZIC: Eric, was there any special criteria that you had to follow with the design work you did?

WIGHT: The biggest hurdle was that Buffy could not look too much like Sarah because she wouldn't be doing her own voice. That was tough, to make her design look cool and not too generic.

JOZIC: Jane, how many scripts did you write in total for the show?



ESPENSON: I wrote three Animated Buffys. One was called "Teeny" and one was called "The Back Room" and there was a third, about a demon made of cafeteria food… I'm sure I called it something like "Lunch is Revolting!" But I forget for sure.

I believe eight scripts were written [for the series], but one or two of them never went through the final series of notes from Joss and Jeph.

JOZIC: Did Jonathan conveniently make it into any or all your episodes?

ESPENSON: I know he was in at least one.

JOZIC: Eric, I'm sure each job is different but, on average, how long do you generally spend being hands-on involved with a project?

WIGHT: It can range from a few hours to a few years. The first time around, I worked on Buffy off and on for about three years.

JOZIC: You've also done some work in comic books, and considering your previous background with Buffy, I wondered if you had been approached by DHC to do any work for the Tales of the Vampires series?

WIGHT: I expressed an interest, but it didn't happen.

JOZIC: Jane, what writers have influenced your work in the past, or bring you inspiration today?

ESPENSON: I adore the Harry Potter books because the world is so completely imagined. I love Jane Austen because she's a comedy writer who seems to have written jokes that never get old. Even after oh-so-lots-of-years. There are tons of novelists I love in various ways.

But I think the writers that influence us the most are the ones we work with, because we get to see their process. Writers like Joss and like Amy Sherman-Palladino, and the others I've been lucky enough to work with - they influence me the most because I get to see how they deal with obstacles, how they tackle a rewrite, how they craft a story from the ground up. That's where the real work is done, and when all you have is a completed work, it's a mystery how it got to be what it is.

JOZIC: And you, Eric, artistically, who have your influences been?

WIGHT: For every project it's different. For Buffy, I looked at a lot of Mike Mignola, Jack Kirby, Kenichi Sonoda. I watched a lot of Japanese Anime, Hong Kong action films. Having worked with guys like Bruce Timm, Glen Murakami and Shane Glines has definitely influenced my style.

JOZIC: And what has been your favourite project to work on to date?

WIGHT: They all have a special place in my heart, but Buffy is definitely my favorite.

JOZIC: What was/is your favourite aspect of working on the show?

WIGHT: Being able to play in Joss' sandbox was an amazing experience. The Mutant Enemy writers are some of the best in the business, and the animated scripts were as good as any story from the first couple of seasons of the live action show. So the most exciting part was getting that new script to work from every couple of weeks.



ESPENSON: Hmm… I think my favorite part was writing jokes that worked in these scripts but that would not have worked on regular Buffy. Visual jokes or slightly-broad wordplay-jokes that might've seemed too "big" in live-action seemed to me to work very nicely in animation. Also, the scripts were all humor and action and very little angst… they were just a blast to write.

JOZIC: Have you heard the news that Animated Buffy is being shopped around again?

ESPENSON: I had this very conversation with Joss on the set of his movie. It sounds as though there is a chance for it to be revived.

JOZIC: Would you like to get involved in the series again if it gets the green light?

ESPENSON: If it happens, I would certainly want to be involved. I always thought it was a very smart project and I'd love to revisit those characters.

JOZIC: And what about you, Eric? Were you working on anything else when you found out that the pilot was going to be shopped around again?

WIGHT: I'm usually working on two or three (or four) projects at once, but Buffy is a top priority for me.

JOZIC: After three plus years working on it are you still on the project for the long haul?

WIGHT: After being a part of it for as long as I have, I'll definitely stick around as long as they will have me in some capacity or another.

JOZIC: So, what happened with getting the go-ahead after being on the shelf for so long? Who dug it out and dusted it off?

ESPENSON: I don't really know the answers to these, but I have to suspect that the DVD success of The Family Guy made some people see the long-term prospects for animated projects.

WIGHT: I think with both Buffy and Angel going off the air, there is a renewed interest because the powers that be want to find a way to keep the Buffy franchise alive, and the animated series is a very logical step.

JOZIC: Is the pilot they went ahead with the same as the original one or is it an entirely new entity?

WIGHT: We never made it to a [finished] pilot the first time around.

Basically, the first time around I had completed designs for most of the main cast, and there were a bunch of finished scripts. That was about as far as we got.

JOZIC: As far as you know, are all the same people still involved, like the TV writers and designers and voice actors et al?

ESPENSON: My understanding is that what has been voiced and is being animated is a presentation - a ten minute chunk of one of the scripts that we wrote years ago. So it is Joss's pilot, but it is being used as a demonstration piece as much as anything.

As to the story, we wrote them all to be entirely self-contained and capable of being aired in any order, so the pilot stands apart in writing quality, but not in terms of having a series-starting story.

WIGHT: As far as the pilot was concerned, Joss was of course very involved, as well as Jeph Loeb. My boss, animation producer extraordinaire Eric Radomski (of Batman: The Animated Series and Spawn fame) ran things from the animation side of the table. Nicholas, Alyson and Tony reprised their voices, and the girl from the Buffy video games did Buffy's voice. And of course I was on hand for the festivities as well.

As far as my involvement, I designed the characters, storyboarded it, and did some of the rough background layouts which where then rendered by Ted Blackman.

JOZIC: Anything else you can spill about the project before we shut down?

WIGHT: Sorry, I'm sworn to secrecy! If I spill any details, they'll put a hex on my family!

[Vergon6]

Thanks. I really wish this would be actually made. Also, this might be an idea for all those people are clamoring for more Smallville. Have the 'Superman Years' of the Smallville universe in animated form, especially if there doesn't end up being a Green Arrow series.

[SuperShazam!!]

Yeh. I love comics, but I think they could get more people interested to stay with the buffyverse through the cartoon.(even tho its set like season1-2)

Maybe it would of been better if they did a cartoon instead of a comic? too late now anyways:lol:

[Vergon6]

Yeh. I love comics, but I think they could get more people interested to stay with the buffyverse through the cartoon.(even tho its set like season1-2)

Maybe it would of been better if they did a cartoon instead of a comic? too late now anyways:lol:
Yeah I know. And if there had ended up being a Season 8 Buffy cartoon, I am sure they would have held back from some of the more questionable things. Like I heard that Buffy all of sudden is interested in girls in the comics, which makes no sense after 7 years, when there was not even any alternate reality episodes suggesting that possibility (unlike Willow). I think Joss called it a logical step in her character development HA!

But seeing that teaser, I definitely know where they got the idea to have a dragon in the Angel comics. I guess it was also hinted at the end of "Not Fade Away" but I heard Angel tamed the dragon??? Originally I was under the impression that all those things coming after them either the Senior Partners themselves or minions of the Senior Partners. It must not be the case.

[drew-crypto84]

I for one would have loved to see a Buffy cartoon, that clip on youtube was good and it made me think that it could have worked. I did read that the animated series was meant to be the lost episodes of season one and would have filled the gaps that Joss Whedon wanted to do. I would have loved a animated like that but at the same time I would like to see an animated series from the season 8 comics mostly cause I don't read comics (comics are not for me even though I love comic book movies and characters that started off in comics and I respect comics don't get me wrong) and also I would love to see an animated series of Angel too again based on the "After The Fall" comics


Yeah I know. And if there had ended up being a Season 8 Buffy cartoon, I am sure they would have held back from some of the more questionable things. Like I heard that Buffy all of sudden is interested in girls in the comics, which makes no sense after 7 years, when there was not even any alternate reality episodes suggesting that possibility (unlike Willow). I think Joss called it a logical step in her character development HA!

But seeing that teaser, I definitely know where they got the idea to have a dragon in the Angel comics. I guess it was also hinted at the end of "Not Fade Away" but I heard Angel tamed the dragon??? Originally I was under the impression that all those things coming after them either the Senior Partners themselves or minions of the Senior Partners. It must not be the case.

I did read that the dragon was actually the one that came out of that tear in reality that happened during the Buffy episode "The Gift", it was meant to make a comeback during the season 6 finale at which dark Willow would make it go after Buffy however the budget for season 6 was mostly used up cause of the musical episode and the episode "Gone" so they had to settle with Buffy and Dawn fighting those weird things instead.

[slayfan]

I really liked this teaser. I would totally watch it if it ever got made even though my son says I'm too old to watch cartoons. I also really liked that it was to take place back when the show was lighter and more hopeful - it fits in with the idea of a cartoon much better than the darkness and pain of the series in it's maturity. I also think there was more that could have been explored during Buffy's early years when she was just learning who she was and how to be the ultimate slayer. It would be fun seeing Cordelia as the b-otch she used to be and to see the Buffy/Angel dance like it was in season 1, before the whole true love/turned evil/send him to hell saga. It could be new and interesting, yet nostalgic as well. It could take us back to the beginning when we first fell in love with this show and these characters and remind us just why we love them sooo much.