Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Next, we’ve been getting a lot of complains from fans about Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season being in full frame aspect ratio, and not anamorphic widescreen. We contacted Fox, and now we’ve got official word from series creator Joss Whedon on the issue. Here’s what he has to say:

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM JOSS WHEDON

Gentle Viewer:

No doubt you are looking over this scrumptious BUFFY package and exclaiming "No @#$%ing letterboxing? Whutzat? GYPPED!" Possibly you are breaking things. Please calm down. The fabulous episodes of BUFFY (and that one crappy one, sorry about that, seemed really cool when we wrote it...) were not shot in a widescreen format. They were shot in the TV 4 by 3 ratio. Now I’m a letterbox fanatic, but not just because I crave th’ wide. I want to see the whole screen, as framed by the director. The BUFFY’s I (and others) shot were framed for traditional TVs. Adding space to the sides simply for the sake of trying to look more cinematic would betray the very exact mise-en-scene I was trying to create. I am a purist, and this is the purest way to watch BUFFY. I have resisted the effort to letterbox BUFFY from the start and always will, because that is not the show we shot. This is. So enjoy! Stop breaking things. You’re getting the best presentation of — let’s face it — the best Television Drama since MATCHGAME ’79. Bye for now!

Sincerely,

Joss Whedon

For those of you also upset that Dark Angel: The Complete First Season is full frame as well, we’re told that series creator James Cameron wanted it that way too. Go figure.

I’m just going to say right now, that this seems a little disingenuous to us here at The Digital Bits, given that both Dark Angel: S1 and Buffy: S4 are already available on other regions on DVD in full anamorphic widescreen. So our feeling is that there’s something else going on here. And the reality is, because the sets are available in 16x9 in other regions, a LOT of fans are going to be pissed. And we think rightly so.