Once upon a midnight dreary, or in 2001-ish take your pick, Joss Whedon announced he was working on an animated version of a certain famous vampire slayer.  While series lead Sarah Michelle Gellar decided to sit the toon out, her fellow Buffy alums Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendan and Anthony Stewart Head all signed on.  The result never made it to Fox's morning kidvid, but a four-minute pilot was created.

View the Pilot Here

Initial reaction?  While it's nice to see the Sunnydale crew back in action and back in their glory days of highschool, it's easy to see why this never went any further.  Buffy brought a breath of fresh air to television in 1997, with snappy dialogue and an awesome female superhero.  Cartoons have been showing women and girls performing supercool moves to smack down the bad guys for years, so while the original stood out, the animated copy looks a little too much like what's already out there.  Still, it's a fun and nostalgic trip for four minutes of your time, and worth a view.

(Note: There's already speculation floating around that this is another water-test for Whedon, who has made a big splash with "Dr. Horrible."  An animated series, based on shorts like this, downloaded for a nominal fee at iTunes.  Discuss amongst yourselves.)

(Source: Animation Magazine)