Buffy the Animated Series

Buffy the Animated Series
Promotional artwork
Created by	Joss Whedon
Starring	Giselle Loren Alyson Hannigan Nicholas Brendon Anthony Stewart Head
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	Single 4-minute pilot Six+ scripts completed but unproduced
Production
Running time	4 minutes (pilot)
Release
Original network	Fox (developed for)

Buffy the Animated Series is an animated television series concept based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer created by Joss Whedon. Initially greenlit by 20th Century Fox in 2002, it went ultimately unproduced and unaired when no network was willing to buy the series. The series would have taken place in the middle of Buffy season 1, as writer Jeph Loeb described the continuity as "Episode 7.5".

Whedon and Loeb would later revisit the style of the series in the Season Eight comic story "After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back!".

Development began on the show in 2001. Joss Whedon and Jeph Loeb were to be executive producers for the show, and most of the cast from Buffy would return to voice their characters. The series soon ran into problems. 20th Century Fox were going to produce the show, and it was initially planned that the show would air on Fox Kids, possibly as early as February 2002. When Fox Kids ceased operations, Fox shopped it to other networks. When no network was willing to purchase the series, production halted.

Two years later, in 2004, Fox once again showed an interest in developing and selling the show to another network. Various key actors, including Anthony Stewart Head, did voice work, and artwork was produced to make a four-minute presentation. That pilot was used to try to sell the series to a network. Once again no network was willing to take the risk of purchasing the show. Loeb explained that networks find the show difficult since it would be too adult to air with children's television, but not suitable to many people in a prime-time slot.

In a Q&A with The Hollywood Reporter on May 16, 2003, Whedon explained:

We just couldn't find a home for (it). We had a great animation director, great visuals, six or seven hilarious scripts from our own staff—and nobody wanted it. 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.