Sabrina the Animated Series: Making Magical Memories
Imagine this. You’re 8 years old. It's 2011, and you’re still in your PJs since it’s Saturday morning, decidedly not a school day. You race to the television before you parents even properly wake up, and you flick through the channels with your grubby kid fingers until you find exactly what you’re looking for.
Sabrina the Animated Series; Base Sketch:
From September 6 to November 19 1999, televisions across America—or generally, just those that could access the Disney channel—were blessed with a colorful, 2-D reinventing of the hit show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Which, ironically, was a 3-D reinventing of the hit comic series of the same name, under Archie Comics.
Full circle, huh?
The premise of Sabrina the Animated Series was relatively tame. Instead of being a full-fledged teenager, Sabrina in this reiteration was a 12 year old preteen, though through the horrors of middle school. All whilst being a half-human, half-witch! All of the shenanigans follow an episodic treatment; a problem arises, Sabrina uses magic to solve it, the magic goes out of hand, and everyone involved needs to try and reverse or undo the magic. And, as a staple of all kids television at the time, some moral lesson was attached at the end.
Sabrina the Animated Series; Line Art:
Sabrina, much like the original comics, lives with her paternal aunts in the show; Hilda and Zelda Spellman—along with our favorite black cat, Salem Saberhagen!
One interesting thing to note, is that Sabrina, despite being predisposed for the life of spellcasting, can’t actually cast spells at her young age. That’s right, in Sabrina the Animated Series, a story about a preteen witch, said witch can’t fully act as one!
This is because she, like other witches and warlocks, must wait until they’re 16 to gain their full magical abilities! This doesn’t mean that Sabrina isn’t without any magic, though, as she can “borrow” Hilda and Zelda using a magical "Spooky Jar," which she…does way more than she needs to, honestly.
As assumed, this is where most of the episode’s problems are both solved, and caused! What’re some of these problems you may be asking? Well…buckle up, buttercup!
Ready for the list of shenanigans our favorite blonde half-witch came up with? With some of these entries…you may not be!
Standing at just one season, yet 65 episodes, these first few aren’t impossible to notice the staple of what the show has to offer. Although definitely directed for a specific age group of young girls, sometimes dated in a few references or themes, it absolutely can stand the test of time for one of the better shows put to television.
Though, I just gotta ask; what did poor Harvey do to be at the butt-end of all of these magical catastrophes? Poor guy.
Sabrina the Animated Series; Spin-Offs.
Despite having aired so briefly, there were plenty of spin offs for Sabrina the Animated Series! There had been a (sadly) canceled one for our beloved sassy black cat Salem, which would’ve focused on Salem’s attempts on earning his humanhood again, but having his (spectacular) attitude ruining things.
There was a TV show, Sabrina: Friends Forever, about Sabrina going to Witch Academy to become a full witch, but is unsure if she will be accepted due to being half-witch, until she meets a fellow half-witch.
Sabrina's Secret Life was more of a sequel series than anything, but this time, Sabrina’s a (gasp) 14-year-old teenager in high school! During these showings, the comic books were still being rolled out, and for about 37 series, they had a focus to maintain canonicity with Sabrina the Animated Series.
Coloring & Rendering:
Despite it being well over two decades at this point (where did the time go??), this show still very much remains in our hearts. Although not quite something adults would enjoy should it be their first watch through, it’s very much a nostalgic piece of the 2000’s that those who grew up on it, would reminisce about fondly.
Am I hoping for a reboot one day, with modern day beautiful animation and a stellar awakening of the fandom? Quite possibly! I want to see how the tales told back then fare, compared to now. How similar would they be? How much would they have changed? But most importantly…will they please let Harvey breathe? Only one way to find out, but, alas, doesn’t seem like anything close will happen in the next few years.
A guy can only dream, huh? Would like to nominate the Salem show, though, as a first option if rebooting comes up into question!! We seriously missed out there!