Whedon-riffic!
Few writers have a following as fanatical as that of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator (and occasional director) Joss Whedon. But in addition to Buffy and its spin-off Angel, Whedon’s had a hand in plenty of other big- and small-screen hits–from a draft of the X-Men screenplay to Roseanne. Here are some of the things Whedon’s less famous for.
– Toy Story (1995)–Sure, it’s kiddy canon now, but back when the Whedon-penned Toy Story came out, it was a dark horse from an unproven studio (Pixar) in a near-unseen format (computer animation). Now, Pixar towers over the floundering Disney, DreamWorks’ Shrek 2 is the fourth-highest grossing film of all time, and traditional animation studios are dying off in waves.
– Alien Resurrection (1997)–The sci-fi/horror series’ fourth film–penned by Whedon–finds Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) revived from her Alien3 molten lava swan dive and teamed up with the super-hot android Call (the super-hot Winona Ryder). Directed by Delicatessen and City of Lost Children‘s Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the film is simultaneously artsy and pulpy, but always entertainingÉ that is, until the embarrassingly bad climax.
– Firefly (2002)–Arguably Whedon’s best work, this sci-fi/western TV series followed the misfit crew of the spaceship “Serenity” as they scrambled from planet to planet, scavenging from abandoned ships and avoiding bounty hunters. Described as “the anti-Star Trek,” the weird, unexpected, wholly humane Firefly pushed TV drama’s limits–until Fox, who fumbled Firefly‘s marketing and production, abruptly cancelled it. (The good news: the series–including never-broadcast episodes–is out on DVD, and due to the show’s surprising popularity, Whedon’s currently directing a feature film adaptation, Serenity, with all of the original cast members.)
