Sabrina: The Animated Series


Sabrina: The Animated Series is an animated children's television series based on the Archie Comics character Sabrina the Teenage Witch. It was produced by Savage Studios Ltd. and Hartbreak Films in association with DIC Productions, L.P., which was owned by Disney at the time.
The show is a spin-off of the 1996–2003 live-action series Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
The series ran on ABC and UPN. Following the series, a movie, and a spin-off series, Sabrina's Secret Life, were produced by DiC, this time without Disney, as they had already sold off DIC by this point.

Premise

Unlike previous incarnations, Sabrina Spellman in this series is depicted as a 12-year-old attending middle school. As in the original comic series, Sabrina lives with her paternal witch aunts, Hilda and Zelda Spellman, and her loud-mouthed black cat Salem Saberhagen, all of whom advise Sabrina on the use of several magics.
Most episodes center on the typical issues of middle school, along with those that emanated from Sabrina's inexperience with or misuse of several magic, witchcraft, and extremely powerful and complex spells. Sabrina and her best friend Chloe would often use magic for all types of perceived emergencies, ranging from trying to fit into skinny new clothes to turning Sabrina's crush Harvey into a superhero. By the end of each episode, her innate magical abilities would unintentionally backfire and Sabrina would learn that using magic usually is not the solution to her everyday issues.

Characters

Main

Sabrina had previously appeared in an animated format on The Archie Show, but the popularity of the live-action Sabrina the Teenage Witch sitcom formed part of the basis for this spin-off series.
The series was developed by Savage Steve Holland and Kat Likkel, and Holland served as showrunner and executive producer of the series. As such, the series reflected some of the irreverent style of humor seen in Eek! The Cat. Celebrity voice cameos in this series included Mr. T, Long John Baldry, and "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Melissa Joan Hart, who starred as Sabrina in the live-action sitcom, served as producer of this series, but her younger sister Emily Hart voiced Sabrina. Melissa instead voiced Sabrina's two aunts, Hilda and Zelda, originally played by Beth Broderick and Caroline Rhea. Nick Bakay reprises his role as Salem from both the film and live-action series. The theme song is sung by B*Witched.

Episodes

Broadcast

United States

The series first ran in syndication on UPN and ABC for one season, with 65 episodes produced. The series remained on both blocks until 2002.
The series reran on both Disney Channel from September 3, 2002 to September 2, 2004 and Toon Disney from September 3, 2002 to September 5, 2004.
Beginning in 2004, the series aired on the Syndicated DIC Kids Network E/I block, joining the sequel series Sabrina's Secret Life.
During the 2006–2007 television season, the series returned as part of CBS' new KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS and was briefly part of the KEWLopolis cartoon lineup. On September 19, 2009, the series returned to CBS as part of the Cookie Jar TV cartoon lineup.
Reruns of the series were aired on the "This Is for Kids" block on the TV channel This from Fall 2012 to October 2013.
As of 2017, reruns of the series started airing on the Starz channel, Starz Kids & Family, and the series is also available to stream on Starz's streaming service.
The series is also available to stream on Pluto TV's After School Cartoons channel.
The show will be available to stream on NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service on July 15, 2020.

International

In Canada, reruns of the series were aired on Teletoon from late 1999 to mid-2005.
Beginning in 2004, many broadcasters who already aired the series began to air it as part of a package with Sabrina's Secret Life titled "Totally Sabrina". The package was pre-sold to TF1 in France, RTÉ in Ireland, Mediaset in Italy, ORF in Austria, Alter Channel in Greece, FORTA in Spain, SBT in Brazil and Teletoon in Canada, Super RTL in Germany, Noga Communications in Israel and Saran in Turkey, in addition to Disney Channel and Toon Disney networks in the United Kingdom, Asia, Taiwan, Australia, France, Latin America, Brazil, the Middle East, and Spain.

Home media

On August 28, 2001, Lions Gate Home Entertainment and Trimark Home Video released 2 VHS releases titled "Sabrina in Love" and "Salem's World", each containing 2 episodes. a DVD release titled "Sabrina's World" was released on the same day, and contained the same episodes from both VHS tapes.
In 2004, Sterling Entertainment released 3 VHS's/DVD's titled "Witch in Training", "Bat Attack!" and "A Witchmas Carol", each containing 3 episodes. The DVDs were re-released by NCircle Entertainment in 2007.
On October 17, 2006, Shout! Factory released The Very Best of Sabrina: the Animated Series on DVD in Region 1. This 2-disc set features fourteen episodes from the series. This release has been discontinued and is out of print as Shout! Factory no longer has the distribution rights to DIC properties.
On January 3, 2011, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series, under license from Cookie Jar Entertainment. They subsequently released Sabrina the Animated Series – Volume 1 and Sabrina the Animated Series – A Touch of Magic on DVD in Region 1 on February 15, 2011. These releases have been discontinued and are now out of print.
In the Philippines, Viva Video and Cookie Jar Entertainment released a few DVD sets in the countries.
In the United Kingdom, budget distributor Prism Leisure and Fremantle Home Entertainment released "Sabrina in Love" and "Salem's World" on DVD which had the same 2 episodes as the US VHS releases respectively, but including an additional episode. An exclusive UK DVD titled "Witchy Girls" was also released in the same year, also containing 3 episodes.
VHS/DVD nameEpisodesDistributorRelease date
Sabrina's World You Said a Mouse-Ful
A Tail of Two Kitties
Key to my Heart
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
Lions Gate Home Entertainment
Trimark Home Video
August 28, 2001
Sabrina in Love Key to my Heart
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
Lions Gate Home Entertainment
Trimark Home Video
August 28, 2001
Salem's World You Said a Mouse-Ful
A Tail of Two Kitties
Lions Gate Home Entertainment
Trimark Home Video
August 28, 2001
Witch in TrainingShrink to Fit
Strange New World
The Importance of Being Norma
Anywhere but Here
Sterling Entertainment
NCircle Entertainment
May 25, 2004
March 6, 2007
Bat Attack!Nothin' Says Lovin' Like Somethin' From a Coven
Witchery Science Theatre
The Bat Pack
Field of Screams
Sterling Entertainment
NCircle Entertainment
August 31, 2004
August 21, 2007
A Witchmas CarolWitchmas Carole
Board and Sorcery
Has Anybody Seen my Quigley?
The Grandparent Trap
Sterling Entertainment
NCircle Entertainment
August 31, 2004
October 23, 2007
The Very Best of Sabrina: The Animated Series14 various episodesShout! FactoryOctober 17, 2006
Sabrina: The Animated Series – A Touch of Magic!10 various episodesMill Creek EntertainmentFebruary 15, 2011
Sabrina: The Animated Series – Volume 1First 32 episodes of the seriesMill Creek EntertainmentFebruary 15, 2011

Reception

rated the series a three out of five stars and said: "Cute, but not quite as magical as the original."

Merchandise

Viacom Consumer Products and DIC Entertainment co-released merchandise based on the series.
An 11-inch Sabrina fashion doll was released by the company Bambola. Several other small plastic toys, including a few figurines and a Polly Pocket-esque Sabrina doll were sold in stores while the series was in production.

Video games

On August 17, 2000, Simon & Schuster Interactive's Knowledge Adventure and Havas Interactive officially announced the video game version of Sabrina The Animated Series: Zapped! for the Game Boy Color system. It was released on November 22, 2000, and followed by Sabrina The Animated Series: Magical Adventure for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh computer systems, released in October 2000.
On September 4, 2001, it was announced that Simon & Schuster Interactive had acquired the rights to the series, under license from Archie Comics based on the video game license. They subsequently released Sabrina The Animated Series: Spooked!. It was released on November 6, 2001.
Game titlePlatformDeveloperPublisherRelease date
Sabrina: The Animated Series: Zapped!Game Boy ColorWayForward TechnologiesKnowledge Adventure, Simon & Schuster InteractiveNovember 22, 2000
Sabrina: The Animated Series: Magical AdventureMicrosoft Windows, MacintoshFunnybone InteractiveKnowledge Adventure, Simon & Schuster InteractiveOctober 2000 and December 2000
Sabrina: The Animated Series: SpookedGame Boy ColorWayForward TechnologiesSimon & Schuster InteractiveNovember 6, 2001
Sabrina: The Teenage Witch: Triple PackMicrosoft Windows, Hybrid PC, MacintoshSimon & Schuster InteractiveSimon & Schuster InteractiveFebruary 27, 2004

Comic book

While Sabrina: The Animated Series was airing, Archie Comics printed a comic spin-off for the show. The first issue was dated January 2000, and it lasted for 37 issues. In order to tie the plot in with their Sabrina series, it was stated in the first issue that Repulsa the Goblin Gueen had sent Sabrina back in time to relive her pre-teen years, so that she would be out of the way while Repulsa attempted to conquer Enchantra's realm. In issue 38, the Repulsa plot was resolved, and the comic book returned to chronicling the teenage Sabrina in the next issue.