Joss Whedon terrorizes Hollywood; Anti-hero demands gold, be

[revisionJohanna]

I was cruising some local rumour sites (much the way that Buffy hits up the "underworld" for demon info) when I ran across this news report. So, naturally, I types 'em up and sends 'em along.

Oh, and I'm back, too.

From the Boulevard Herald

Whedon plans extravaganza for Buffy season finale

"Had it been anyone else-" says Abe Horowitz, a studio executive at Fox networks, "We would have nixed the idea immediately. It's insane! But, this is Joss Whedon, after all. The man's a genius."
Those words are the refrain across the streets of Hollywood, upon the news that the season finale for Buffy will be an animated production, utilizing the latest techniques from Skywalker Ranch. The finale will also be 2 hours long.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, however. Bouyed by his latest success (the critically acclaimed Buffy: the Musical), Joss Whedon will be animating the show himself. Whedon has no previous experience with animation from a production standpoint.
Whedon has a history of inspired "rule-breaking" on his show. Studio executives were leery when he revealed that his heroine was slated for death in the first season, but allowed him the creative control he desired. Also notable are his Emmy nominated episode "Hush", which had no dialogue for approximately half the show and the surreal "The Body". Each time, the studio reluctantly allowed him the creative license to express himself. And each time, critics and viewers were impressed.
A track record like that gives Whedon room to bargain with. And given last season's literally show-stopping final episode, executives may be hoping that giving Whedon free rein may let him top himself.
Will Whedon be able to pull another talent from his seemingly endless supply? Or will Whedon finally have bitten off more than he can chew?

[Does anyone else find it interesting that "Mutant Enemy" is nowhere mentioned in the article? Perhaps Joss really is going it alone.... And what do the cast Members have to say about this? Presumably, they'll be doing the voices, unless Joss will be doing that, too. I trust in Joss, I trust in Joss....]

revision_Johanna
Did you miss me?

[ed. for mis-type correction, and to add the thought that it is humbling to be a wanna-be again. Humble is good, though.]

[This message has been edited by revision_Johanna (edited November 18, 2001).]

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Anyone able to speculate about how the showing of this (if it were ever to happen) would coincide with the animated Buffy series? Test run? Promo to prove that it can be done and that the quality would be high? Certainly the costs associated with doing it would be less due to the animated series work in progress.

Just some idle thoughts.

Katharyn

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She's my always

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I find this very hard to believe for a number of reasons - none of which have to do with questioning Joss' range of talents or genius.

First, why would he do an animated ep w/in the series while he's already developing an entirely animated series for FoxKids?

Second, animation takes months and months to do - much longer than a live-action ep. Joss would have to have already started it, and by all accounts he's got his plate more than full at the moment, let alone animating it by himself...It takes a whole crew of Korean sweat-shop animators to make one 30 minute ep of "The Simpsons" (or most other cartoons - which "The Simpsons" has made fun of itself), and it takes YEARS to make a 90-120 minute animated film (Titan A.E., which Joss script-doctored, for example).

Third, Joss is Mutant Enemy and Mutant Enemy is Joss - so why no direct mention of the production company?

Fourth, he's paying actors lots of money to be there live and in-person; voice-acting (not singing for a live-action ep like the musical) is a different animal with diferent union rules, contracts, and pay scales. For instance, during the SAG strike voice-actors were exempt.

Fifth, it just doesn't make sense to the serious, dark, "Oh, grow up tone" of this season. I, for one, would find it very anti-climactic to have all these intense storylines wrapped up in animation. Farscape did a partially-animated ep, but it was light and appropriate to the character's mental condition and backstory. This -so far - would not at all fit with the themes of this season (IMHO).

Sixth, Has anyone ever heard of this alleged "trade rag" before? I haven't. Can this be verified as a real paper?

edited to add:

Actually, the cost would be very high, because the FoxKids series is set back in H.S., so none of that could be adapted to this storyline. 2 hours of well-done animation (and I doubt Joss would settle for crap) is quite costly.

revision_Johanna, I don't remember you from before, but welcome back!*G*

Anyway, to end the rant, I think someone made a very nice fiction.

[This message has been edited by wiccie (edited November 18, 2001).]

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this sounds fascinating.

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I am sure Joss will be doing all the voices.

And welcome back johanna, I missed you, and your brother.

Oh, and I am pretty sure that was the stench of sarcasm in this article

[This message has been edited by xita (edited November 18, 2001).]

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Xita...*rolls around holding stomach*..you kill me. Oh boy. Fun.

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"Welcome to the nancy tribe."

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First warning flag - it mentions Fox Networks which has nothing to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 20th Century Fox Productions is who Mutant Enemy is contracted with to make the show. Fox Networks is the division that runs FOX, FX, etcetera. Even the Fox Kids block is run separate from the main Fox network because that block is sold to non-affiliate stations too. It's more like syndication than usual network fare.

And like Wiccie says, it takes years to make a feature length animated show. At least of any quality. There's no way this has been a secret for this long. I agree with the rest of what Wiccie said too.

I can't even consider this as a real possibility for this season. Next season... maybe. But why?

This is definitely somebody's idea of a joke.

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"Wish I could slay your demons..."

[This message has been edited by Salix (edited November 18, 2001).]

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I completely trust Joss...but I really wouldn't wanna see the finale done as an animation!

I'm a major fan of the show (Especially W&T!) but I wouldn't wanna see all the story lines wrapped up, and possibly a cliffhanger done in animation. It would just be weird!!

Plus if it was 2 hours long....I'd wanna see Aly and Amber in person!!

Love 2 all Kitties!
Emma
xxxx

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"I think being a beautiful, heavy lesbian witch rocks!" - AMBER BENSON

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Well, of course, it doesn't say whether they mean traditional DRAWN animation, or something like stop-motion animation or perhaps computer animation. These latter two methods might produce some intriguing results .

And let's not forget that one of the writer-producers (I think it was Marti Noxon) stated that she wouldn't have a problem doing one of the episodes as "ThunderBuffy" (i.e. with puppets ).

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quote:

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Originally posted by revision_Johanna:
the surreal "The Body".

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Actually, "The Body" was just plain real.

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quote:

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Originally posted by revision_Johanna:
From the Boulevard Herald

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First of all there is no publication by this name. Do a Google search. See for yourself.

quote:

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"Had it been anyone else-" says Abe Horowitz, a studio executive at Fox networks

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Buffy is a FOX Television show airing on the UPN. Why in the world would anyone from FOX network give a flying frog?

quote:

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Those words are the refrain across the streets of Hollywood, upon the news that the season finale for Buffy will be an animated production, utilizing the latest techniques from Skywalker Ranch. The finale will also be 2 hours long.

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So, it's going to be as long as a animated movie feature? And it's going to be done in 6 months. Right.

quote:

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Joss Whedon will be animating the show himself. Whedon has no previous experience with animation from a production standpoint.

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*snort* And he's probably going to hand deliver it to each of our homes in his spare time.

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So, um, Autumn...are you telling us you don't believe this?

Seriously, this doesn't seem very credible.

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Tracy

Hear that Baby? You're my always.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Wiccagrrl:
So, um, Autumn...are you telling us you don't believe this?

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Did it show?

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Just a little around the edges

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Wow, I laughed my ass off reading that 'article'. Someone has a good sense of timing and a hand on what Joss does. Not all the details worked out, but it was funny enough.

That some people took it seriously, well, that's Hollywood for you...

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It said nothing about gold, beer and virgins! I'll sue!

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quote:

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Originally posted by AutumnT:
*snort* And he's probably going to hand deliver it to each of our homes in his spare time.

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ok I controlled my laughter until I got to this point in AutumnT's reply...then I just about wet myself.

-Amy

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"You want to take a picture of my butt?...ummm...OK...You've got two seconds." -Amber

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Okay, folks, this is not only a joke, it's meant to be taken as a joke, from a well liked Kitten returning from a hiatus. Don't stress about it, just giggle.

-len

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Actually, Autumn, you were right on the money. In my first version of the story, Joss Whedon was going to fire all the actors and perform the finale as a one man show... in person, for every viewer.

It's meant to be taken as a what-can't-this-man-do-kinda thing. I'm pretty sure if he said "I wanna do a reality show, where buffy and her friends go out and stake vamps live", network execs would blink, then say "OK."

revision_Johanna

(heh. I'm well-liked!)

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quote:

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Originally posted by revision_Johanna:

Oh, and I'm back, too.
Did you miss me?

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Welcome back Johanna. Six months is a long time. Happy to see you back here.

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Paula
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Amber FanGirl #1a; May the Amber Force be with you.
Keeper of my own insanity
"I love being a girl, having a girl.." ~as sung by Amber Benson in the UK

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