THE NEVERWAS: BUFFY: THE ANIMATED SERIES

Buffy: The Animated Series is one of the great Neverwas-es. It's a show that came so close to happening, a show that fans were giddy about, a show that was almost certain to be a success... And a show we'll never get to see.

The project was first announced in 2001. It was going to be on Fox Kids, with Buffy creator Joss Whedon co-producing with Jeph Loeb. It was pitched as something for kids and adults alike, on the order of the WB's Batman: The Animated Series. In order to be a bit more "family-friendly," the cartoon was going to be set during Buffy's relatively carefree Sunnydale High days, back in season one when Willow was still pining for Xander - before she became a lesbian witch - and Buffy and Angel were attracted to each other but they weren't acting on it. While Buffy's sister Dawn didn't show up until the original series' fifth season, the animated series would have included her from the start. (It would have been interesting to see how they handled Spike, an extremely popular but extremely dark and morally ambiguous character. I'm guessing he would've turned up on the show eventually, probably in a more villainous role.)

But then Fox Kids abruptly closed down, while the Buffy cartoon was still in development. Fox tried to shop the show around to other networks, but there were no takers and Buffy: The Animated Series died.

But the series, like Buffy herself, wouldn't stay dead. A few years went by, then in 2004 Fox tried again. This time the series got even closer to becoming a reality. Scripts were written by several of the same people who wrote the live-action series. A 4-minute pilot episode was shot. All of the actors from the original series signed on to voice their characters - even David Boreanaz, even Charisma Carpenter, even Buffy's mom - with the notable exception of Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar. But Giselle Loren was such a spot-on Buffy mimic (she had already voiced the character in a pair of video games) that Gellar would hardly be missed. The animation looked great. Here, have a look:



As you can see, the show's creators were taking full advantage of the unlimited special effects budget. The pilot included a dragon that would have been almost impossible to handle on a live-action series, and a planned story reportedly involved a shrunken Buffy.

But once again, no network was willing to commit. And so Buffy: The Animated Series died for the second time. Whedon told The Hollywood Reporter:

"I was completely baffled. I felt like I was sitting there with bags of money and nobody would take them from me. It was a question of people either not wanting it or not being able to put up the money because it was not a cheap show. One thing I was very hard-line about was, I didn't want people to see it if it looked like crap. I wanted it to be on a level with Animaniacs or Batman: The Animated Series. And that's a little pricier. But I just don't think it's worth doing unless it's beautiful to look at as well as fun."

The project has been dormant ever since, but never completely dead. Late last year, Loeb told MTV he wouldn't be surprised to see the show on the air someday.

"Everything still exists," Loeb said, "the designs, the scripts. It’s such a 'no-duh' project, so why the hell not? All you need is to draw it. Eight years ago, there was no fascination with Family Guy or Robot Chicken, but there’s an audience now that could drive to it. You can’t stand in the way of pop culture.”

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