Buffy the Vampire Slayer is moving to Fox. Sort of.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and company still don't know what network they'll end up on next season, but a new cartoon version of the butt-kicking heroine has found itself a home on Fox.

Buffy creator Joss Whedon has announced that he's developing an animated, half-hour version of his occult-o-rrific WB series, which will debut on Fox's kid-oriented Saturday-morning schedule. No airdate has been set, but Fox Kids President Maureen Smith told advertisers Wednesday that it could debut as early as February 2002.

While Whedon's prime-time series has a dark theme, the Buffy mastermind said the animated spinoff will primarily focus on "the chosen one" as she deals with adolescence.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer the Animated Series is a great opportunity to take our characters back to high school, back to the painful and hilarious beginning of adulthood, and tell all the stories we never got to tell about Buffy and her friends," Whedon said in a statement. "It'll be spooky, tough and epic, but with a constant vein of lighthearted humor and the comfort of the true affection this usual gang has for each other."

And hey, maybe they can all drive around in the Mystery Machine while they're at it!

Fox's announcement comes while the fate of TV's original Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains undetermined. It's still not known whether Buffy producer 20th Century Fox Television will be able to hammer out a new deal with its current home, the WB--which initially had been unwilling to shell out Fox's asking price of $2.3 million per episode.

Other networks reportedly interested in stealing Buffy away were said to include ABC, UPN and--somewhat closer to home--the Fox Network. Insiders were quoted by the Hollywood trade papers speculating that a deal would be reached by this week. But the wait continues.