My first introduction to Sabrina came from Sabrina: The Teenaged Witch, better yet, for those that didn't read the comics, this was their first introduction to Sabrina. I saw Sabrina plenty back in the day, but it has faded from my conscious.
I was aware of Sabrina: The Animated Series, but I never saw it, at least on television. I saw most of a few episodes, but they didn't hold my interest. I had also seen Mr. Enter's review of an episode from the show, and as silly as it is for me to say, it doesn't fill me with confidence.
History
Sabrina originated from the Archie Comics series of the same name. Going by Enter's review, I came close to writing him off for chiding a series with no relation to the live action show, but apparently this was promoted as a spin-off, though obviously it was in-name only. The series aired on the Disney One Afternoon block, airing on both ABC and UPN for 65 episodes in a single season, between 1999 and 2000.
The show was produced by DiC, and this wouldn't be their first Archie related production, as they had also produced Archie's Weird Mysteries through a subsidiary. For better or worse, this had involvement from Melissa Joan Heart from the live action show, who appeared as both of Sabrina's aunts in this show, and produced through her mother's production company as well. Another familiar name involved with this is Savage Steve Holland, better known for directing Better off Dead and for his involvement in Eek! The cat.
On a voice acting basis, this show is interesting in that it features both American and Canadian voice actors. The show starred Melissa Joan Hart's younger sister Emily, more on that later, and among other familiar faces are Cree Summer and Nick Bakay, who reprised his role as Salem from the live action show. For Canadian talent, we have Chantal Strand who starred in Generation O! and played Cassie on Dragon Tales. Other names I know are Jay Brazeau and Bill Switzer, playing Uncle Quigley and Harvey Kinkle respectively.
Premise
It's basically more of the same compared to the live-action show, Sabrina uses magic to get by in her life, with consequences. As it's an animated show, it's either a bit more grounded or more out there. The schtick behind this is that Sabrina is unable to use her powers due to not being old enough (and as an aside, she is a kid in this, all for the sake of safe appeal.), so she gets them by whatever means, and everything that happens is for the sake of... morals. The cheapest schtick ever.
Also, as Sabrina's voiced by a kid, it's bound to lead to otherwise odd results. The few times I heard Sabrina, I get the impression that Emily Hart either couldn't be bothered or they didn't have much to pay her so they had to do with whatever they got dialog wise, or acting wasn't her dream job, in that she's out of the field now. Now don't get me wrong, but I don't like child actors doing voice acting. It hardly ever works, and you'd be wasting more and more money getting replacements when they get older.
Case in point, Tails went through three child actors before 4Kids put their foot down and used a woman. Hell, look at how many voice actors The Loud House went through for Lincoln. You could say she got better as the show went on, but would you want to trudge through episodes where she was trying to find her footing? Well, maybe. I've seen decent child actors from Vancouver of all places, or better yet maybe they had more experience.
On the surface, the show seems to be episodic, so it's down to interest. I'm no fan of episodes revolving around morality tales, because I know they'll turn out the same way, no matter what, someone learns a lesson, and the conflict gets going the same way, Sabrina dips into a magic container to be able to do a spell, and it backfires. While I may never give up cartoons, I will give up on moral driven ones.
But maybe I have the feeling that a bulk of the show's morals are gone about the wrong way. This is one of many shows to feature that asinine appreciate childhood schtick. It does nothing new with the moral, at all. Let me tell you, I got by just fine into adulthood. I never had to give up all of my interests (I use them for escapism and to encourage some creativity for hobbyist writing.), college was actually easier than high school for me, I have a job and a stable income, and although I'm always encouraged, if I have to be a bachelor for my life, I don't consider that a death sentence. Also, I can safely say that the negative stereotypes around high school hold water.
Animation
If my lack of interest in the show didn't piss you off enough, maybe my stance on the animation will. Movement wise, it works for the era. DiC had the dubious nickname "do it cheaper" for a reason, but this one has better animation than previous DiC shows, probably because Disney was involved (and I only bring them up because Clerks: The Animated Series was able to draw in major celebrities.)
But I'm not feeling it on the design. It's subjective, but most of the characters look weird to me. Then again, I consider many things to be ugly, so don't take my word on this.
Overall
This show isn't for me, I have no shame admitting that. I don't consider it bad overall, but I don't consider it something I'd watch either. Like many shows, where it misses, it misses hard. I'm aware I didn't discuss the characters in full, but I wanted to be fair and give you my impressions based on what I remember for it.
Also, I kinda want to focus on other Sabrina animated shows (I won't discuss Friends Forever, sorry to say.) Consider this an appetizer, and no matter what impression I give you on this, I'd consider this show to be better than the ones coming up.
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