The BUFFY Cartoon Show That Never Was (But Could Still Be)

by

The planned series, led by Joss Whedon and Jeph Loeb, aimed to revisit the show’s origins, placing Buffy and her friends once again in their second year at Sunnydale High School. Effectively, this series would have served as the missing episodes from the live-action show’s first season that never aired. Many of the original voice actors were set to reprise their roles, except for Sarah Michelle Gellar. Instead, Giselle Loren, who closely resembles Gellar’s voice and has voiced her in video games, stepped into the role. This series was intended to have a more playful tone, occurring before the intense, dark relationship between Buffy and her vampire lover, Angel, developed.

What transpired, you ask? A couple of factors were at play. Initially, broadcasters became hesitant to air a horror-themed show during weekday afternoon cartoon slots, due to concerns about exposing children to vampire characters even in a less intense version. This concern caused quite a stir among the executives. Secondly, the network intended to air the series, Fox Kids, ceased operations. This development signaled the end of the road for the show. Although some stories were adapted into comic books, many scripts remain unused and stored away. One unique aspect that the show would have featured was a 10-year-old version of Buffy’s sister Dawn, played by Michelle Trachtenberg. However, it’s important to note that Dawn didn’t appear until season five. The cartoon was based on the idea that Buffy had false memories of her sister being around since childhood.

Could a live-action revival of Buffy Summers indicate a possible renaissance for the animated series as well? Given that weekday afternoon cartoon blocks are now extinct, a PG-rated Buffy animated show, potentially featuring the entire original cast, seems like an ideal fit for Disney+. If it were set in the ’90s, similar to X-Men ’97, and we placed it within the “lost episodes” of early season two, it could include beloved vampires like Spike and Drusilla. The rest could remain unchanged. In the interim, we’ll keep rewatching the animated Buffy: TAS for the tenth time, imagining what a revival might look like.

Read More

2025-09-06 01:02