No, Joss Whedon isn’t dead, I just felt like ‘remembering’ him because he has been swept up in successes lately, and I don’t want to forget why I first fell in love with his work.

You see, I am a Whedonite. If Joss Whedon’s name is attached to it, chances are I am going to do everything in my power to at least give that something a chance. For those who may not know Joss well, most will best remember him for having created the movie and subsequent television show, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.

I love Buffy, so I am fine with that being one of Joss’ main claims to fame, but he has done so much more than that. Allow me to take you through my remembrance of a great man’s current body of work.

Joss Whedon created, wrote, directed, or was in some way part of the screenplay processes for a lot more movies and television shows than many people realize, most notably:

Toy Story

A few other things, including the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer came out before this film, but Toy Story was a huge success to add to Joss’ growing career. He was nominated (along with six other writers) for an Academy Award for Toy Story’s screenplay. I still consider it to be one of the best animated films of all time, but as good as the acting and art (at the time) might have been a truly good story always goes first and foremost back to the script.

Alien: Resurrection

Yes I know I’m skipping a few things again. I am not quite so fanatic a fan that I have seen everything Joss has ever been a part of, and for some unknown reason I have yet to see Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire movie that is among Joss’ accomplishments. But I did see Alien 4.

There were a lot of complaints about this movie, I remember, but then when isn’t there when a franchise is given a reboot? I really enjoyed this movie, and while Aliens will always be my favorite of the films, Resurrection is one of those moves I can watch again and again.

Now that I think back on it, I know this is because of some of the truly funny lines, and therefore, because of Joss Whedon. And because Ron Perlman is an ace with delivery.

Titan A.E.

A lot of people forget about this animated film, and it is a largely underrated one too. It wasn’t your typical kid’s cartoon. This was along the anime vein, something more adult, and very entertaining. Animated drama, not animated fluff. It was about a post-apocalyptic humanity seeking a new Earth, with voice credits to Ron Perlman (god, I love that guy), Matt Damon, and Drew Barrymore, among others.

Joss Whedon can be recognized in one particular scene in this film, when the heroes are trying to pull the wool over the inept guards’ eyes, who then turn out to not be so inept after all.

Buffy & Angel

As I mentioned, the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer came years before the TV series, one of Joss’ first credits, but it was the series that made him a star. You can see my more in-depth look at Buffy and Angel as rare examples of good series about vampires in my Vampires On TV blog from earlier, but it can’t be said too often how monumental these shows really were.

Not only did Joss Whedon’s creation revolutionize strong female characters on TV, in kick-ass roles, and in horror movies, but the show spoke to several generations at once with novel writing and lasting impact on the 90s and early 2000s. Here we have an epic series about a world of monsters and demons just beneath the surface of our own, and only one hot girl can save us along with her mismatched band of friends.

The writing is what brought me back to Buffy every week, and why I happily added the spin-off Angel to my list of must-sees.

I will never forget how the first episode of Buffy (well, the second, since the first episode was two hours long and split in two) ended with the then teenage gang going over all the possible ways Buffy might get herself kicked out of school. Giles turned away, pushed his glasses up his nose, and muttered:

The Earth is doomed.

What made it all even better was that after 7 years, 7 amazing seasons, the last episode included an interlude with Buffy, Xander, and Willow having a similarly juvenile discussion to which Giles mimicked the scene from Season 1 perfectly, even finishing with that memorable line. It capped the series off for me better than anything else possibly could have. Well done, Joss, well done.

Firefly & Serenity

If you weren’t a Joss Whedon fan for Buffy then chances are you were one of the many fans who were pulled into the genius that was Firefly.

And then it was canceled.

This series, a sci-fi/old west mesh that brought a whole new look at the future, complete with English and Chinese as equal dominating languages, a slew of worlds, a new caste system that included Companions (really, courtesans) in the upper class, and with a rich history of civil war and smuggling behind the ruling government’s back.

Starring Nathan Fillion, and many other wonderful actors, this series was not given its due, mainly because Fox messed things up. The pilot was not the first episode aired, leaving out necessary relationship understandings and formations for the audience, and it had an awful time slot.

The surprise for this series came when, after being canceled, the Season 1 DVD sales were through the roof. This made it possible for Joss to finish his masterpiece as he had intended in a feature-length film that did very well. There was also a short comic that filled in the gap between series and film for those who wanted even more of their favorite crew.

Personally, I would never want this series to somehow come back. It has been too long now. The movie…did some things that I will never forgive Joss for, and really, what would have been best was if the series had never been canceled to begin with. We are left instead with a great show that was short-lived, a wonderful movie, and fond memories. Sorry about that one, Joss, we mourn for it still.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

If you weren’t on the Buffy or Firefly bandwagon then you may have been introduced to Joss Whedon through the internet hit, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. This was a three part musical series that I first saw and bought from iTunes.

Each part was fifteen minutes long, creating a total of 45 minutes, about a lesser super villain and his misadventures trying to get the girl and become a part of something larger than himself. It starred Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion (oh, how I had missed him), and Felicia Day. This unique piece of media was funny, quirky, the music was wonderful, and it was Joss. So very Joss.

It was even nominated for an Emmy this year under the category Outstanding Special Class – Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Programs. Ironically, it was the only one of the nominees that began its life online. Since Neil Patrick Harris hosted the Emmys this year, Dr. Horrible also made a guest appearance.

This may be a whole new wave of entertainment. Felicia Day and her largely successful “The Guild” internet series has been credited by Joss as one of the inspirations for Dr. Horrible, and after an Emmy nod who knows what may be in the works later on.

Dollhouse

Finally, though Joss’ exploits go far beyond what I have detailed here, we prepare for the second season of the Fox show Dollhouse. So far so good, Fox, since it didn’t die in season one.

I was skeptical of this show at first, and to be honest it didn’t pull me in like I had been hoping for right off the bat, but it grew on me, and now I am thoroughly hooked.

Dollhouse is a not-too-distant-future series about the existence of ‘dolls’, regular human beings wiped of their own memories and periodically programmed with specific preset personalities to suit a client’s special needs. This can be sexual, for assassination, infiltration, and so much more.

We see Eliza Dushku back on TV in this, the main character, Echo, once having played Faith for Joss Whedon in the Buffy and Angel series.

Dollhouse has potential and I look forward to seeing where Joss takes it now that it has found its feet.

…and the rest

Joss Whedon directs a lot of what he writes. He even directed a couple episodes of The Office, and occasionally pops in as an actor in his work for a small part, very minimal in the M. Night Shyamalan doucheness. Joss also writes comics, including Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and even some Astonishing X-men.

From Wikipedia:

He also wrote uncredited drafts or rewrites of Speed, Waterworld, Twister and X-Men, although in interviews, Whedon disowned the latter three films. He claimed that he had a good script for Alien: Resurrection, which he felt was spoiled by its director Jean-Pierre Jeunet.[23] His Waterworld script was thrown out, and only two of his lines were kept in the final script of X-Men.[24] Even the Buffy movie bore little resemblance to his original screenplay.[25] According to Graham Yost, the credited writer of Speed, Whedon wrote most of its dialogue (see examples of credit conflicts in the WGA credit system).

You may remember Joss’ moment in the X-Men movie when Wolverine meets up with the team again after Mystique had been playing his double.

Wolverine: It’s me.
Cyclops: Prove it.
Wolverine: You’re a dick.
Cyclops: (pause) Okay.

Recently, there have been some rumors of a new Buffy movie, but Joss would not be attached. Please no. I can’t help hoping that this does not pan out, because somehow it would end up being another Twilight fiasco, and I really couldn’t stand it if Buffy became something like that. No Joss, NO BUFFY.

Along with Joss’ accomplishments and credits, he is very well known for being attached to his actors. See his body of work as example, and all of the familiar names that pop up in more places than one (like Nathan Fillion, who I have already mentioned several times). It even sounds like we’ll be seeing Wesley from Angel (Alexis Denisof) in Dollhouse this season.

Joss Whedon, genius that he is, is also known for hating his characters. Or wait, is it his fans that he hates? You see, loving Joss Whedon also means you have to hate him a little, because as good as his work is, he never makes things easy.

Joss puts his characters through the ringer and almost never lets them remain happy if they even somehow managed to achieve happiness for a short time.

But then there is ‘happy’ and there is ‘right’. Buffy ended perfectly in my opinion (I have issues with what happened to Anya, but I won’t get nit-picky) and I was totally satisfied with it, having stuck with it from beginning to end.

I love the way the series ended so much, in fact, that I can’t bring myself to read the comic that picks up where the series left off in fear of losing that wonderful catharsis. I wish Joss was still on board for the Wonder Woman movie that remains in limbo now, but he has many other exciting things going on and coming up.

Like the second season premiere of Dollhouse which airs tonight (September 25th on Fox at 9/8C if you’re reading this late). I intend to watch it. And love it. Because it’s Joss Whedon, folks, and as much as he drives me crazy, I still love him and his work from the bottom of my geeky heart.

Almost as much as I love Nathan Fillion.

At last I can get into something really geeky on Monday, “Life in a Cosplay Costume”. Don’t miss it!

Thanks for tuning in.

Images taken from:
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/joss-whedon-builds-a-cabin-in-the-woods.php
http://www.sidereel.com/Alien:_Resurrection
http://popclassicsjg.blogspot.com/2009/07/buffy-vampire-slayer-storyteller.html
http://michaelmay.blogspot.com/2007/12/stuff-to-watch-for-firefly-comics-rasl.html
http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/more_names/blog/2009/04/harvard_to_honor_buffy_creator.html
http://forum.slayalive.com/index.cgi?board=buffyseason8&action=display&thread=8363&page=6

6 Responses to “Remembering Joss Whedon”