DIY VIRAL
The author Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Sarah Michelle Gellar recently shocked the world when she announced that she wants to get back into the world Buffy. The actor has traditionally said he wouldn't want to return, but likes recent projects Dexter: Original Sin have convinced him that there are clever ways to bring back his beloved characters and their world. This still leaves the question of how to bring the series back, but that question was actually answered decades ago with a failed pilot: simply put, Buffy the Vampire Slayer should return as an animated series.
Buffy's first attempt at animation
In 2004, a year after the live show ended, Joss Whedon released a four-minute presentation Buffy: The Animated Series which was designed to help him sell the cartoon to any networks that might be interested (you can watch it in the video above if you're interested). He had actually been working on the project since 2001, and he hoped that cool animation and returning actors like Anthony Stewart Head could help him sell the show, which was meant to be a prequel to when the characters were still in high school.
The series never sold, and Whedon said the project ended in 2005, but with Gellar's desire to return, it was time to bring the idea to life. Buffy the Vampire Slayer animated show comes back to life. She didn't specifically return to voice the character in the 2004 presentation, nor did she reprise her role as Buffy Summers in the excellent Audible original. Slayers: A Buffyverse Story. Now that she wants to make a comeback, it's important for the aspiring showrunner to determine the best way to make it happen.
Why animation works better
If Buffy the Vampire Slayer returned as a live-action series instead of an animated series, the biggest concern for any network would be the high production costs. On top of all those nice sets and special effects, they would have to pay for the legacy actors to return, and some of them might not like the idea of going back to a grueling production schedule. Badly performed, live Buffy reboot would be like Fraser revival, which notably brought back the title character, but relegated the original ensemble cast to very sporadic cameos (mercifully, that changed with Peri Gilpin's strong Season 2 presence).
Fortunately, making Buffy the Vampire Slayer an animated series solves both problems by making production cheaper, even as it makes production much easier for the talent. One of the reasons why Audible appealed to so many veterans Buffy stars for Slayers: A Buffyverse Story is that most actors find it better to just type lines rather than spend hours tending to hair and makeup before shooting scenes at an early hour. A Buffy it would be just as easy to write lines for a cartoon, and the versatility of the format leaves a lot open for some creative writers.
Joss Whedon originally tried to create a Buffy the Vampire Slayer animated prequel show, and the idea could still work if the creators and fans wanted to use this cartoon to flesh out the Scoobies' earlier adventures. However, it would be just as easy to create a cartoon in the present day and explore how the world changed when Buffy gave her powers to every potential Slayer in the world. If they wanted to go to X-Men '97 Route and turn great comic book arcs into episodes, Dark Horse's Buffy the Killer comics created as new “seasons” of the original show would be a great starting point.
Speaking of X-Men '97this show is proof that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer an animated show could be successful while exploring some very dark subject matter. Quality always wins and if we get high quality Buffy cartoon (with or without Whedon's controversial involvement), fans will run. Sarah Michelle Gellar is set to return to the role that made her famous, and a cartoon adaptation may ultimately be our best bet to recapture some of the old magic from one of the most groundbreaking franchises in television history.
Source: Diversity
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DIY VIRAL
