Mutant Enemy Productions is a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

that was created in 1996 by

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television serie ...

to produce ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...

.'' The company also produced the ''Buffy'' spin-off, ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

'', and his two short-lived science fiction series, the space Western ''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

'' and his high-concept ''

Dollhouse A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy home made in miniature. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. English-speakers in North America ...

'', produced by

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Co ...

. Mutant Enemy also produced the internet series '' Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog'' and the film ''

The Cabin in the Woods ''The Cabin in the Woods'' is a 2011 science fiction horror comedy film directed by Drew Goddard in his directorial debut, produced by Joss Whedon, and written by Whedon and Goddard. It stars Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, F ...

''. Mutant Enemy produced the superhero series ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, an ...

'' along with

ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...

and

Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated (through Marvel Animation) television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. The division was based at affi ...

. Most recently, Mutant Enemy produced the supernatural fiction series ''

The Nevers ''The Nevers'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Joss Whedon for HBO. The series is produced by HBO and Mutant Enemy Productions with executive producers including Whedon, Philippa Goslett, Doug Petrie, Jane Es ...

'' for HBO. Its offices (made out of glass bricks) were on the lot of

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, previously the home of Chris Carter's

Ten Thirteen Productions Ten Thirteen Productions is a production company founded by Chris Carter in 1993, which produced four television series and two films (''The X-Files'' and '' The X-Files: I Want to Believe''). The company was named after Carter's birthday, October ...

. According to March 2006's issue of UK magazine ''The Word'', the offices were closed not long after ''Angel'' was cancelled.

Productions

The following table lists the production credits of ''Mutant Enemy''.

Name and logo

Name

The name "Mutant Enemy" is taken from the song "

And You and I "And You and I" is the second track from the album ''Close to the Edge'' by the English progressive rock band Yes. The song is just over ten minutes in length and consists of four movements. The first and second parts of the song were released as ...

" by

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

band

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talent ...

, of whom Whedon is a professed fan: "There'll be no mutant enemy/we shall certify/political ends/as sad remains will die." (On the special features of the ''Buffy'' DVDs, Whedon also says in an interview that he called his typewriter "mutant enemy".)

Original end-of-credits logo

The company's end-of-credits logo and

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...

is an intentionally poorly animated

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

monster cartoon figure crossing the screen from right to left and saying, "Grr. Argh." It was drawn and voiced by Whedon himself. In certain episodes of ''Buffy'' the animation was changed: * " Becoming, Part Two": He says "Oooh, I need a hug" instead. * "

Amends "Amends" is episode ten of season three of the television show ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. It was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon. Advertised as a Christmas episode, it was first broadcast on December 15, 1998. Plot It is ...

": He wears a Santa hat. * "

Graduation Day, Part Two "Graduation Day" is the season finale of the WB Television Network's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 3), third season of the Dramatic programming, drama television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', consisting of the twenty-first and twenty-seco ...

": He wears a graduation cap—the image used is a reversed logo from the U.S. national college honor society

Mortar Board Mortar Board is an American national honor society for college seniors. Mortar Board has 233 chartered collegiate chapters nationwide and 15 alumni chapters. History Mortar Board was the first national honor society for college senior women ...

. * " Once More, with Feeling": He sings the line in

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

. * " Storyteller": The monster (overdubbed by cast member

Adam Busch Adam Richard Busch (born July 6, 1978) is an American actor, film director and singer best known starring as Warren Mears on the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Career Busch was born in East Meadow, New York. His first film rol ...

) sings a line from the episode, "We are as Gods". * " Chosen": He turns and pulls a face at the viewer. The episode " Bargaining, Part One" references the end-of-credits logo. Tara gives Giles a small rubber monster and says "And a monster. Sort of a Sunnydale souvenir, we thought. Grr. Argh." In season seven of ''Buffy'', there is a species of ancient Vampires called "

Turok-Han The following is a list of demons, vampires, human monsters, walking dead, ghosts, beasts and any kind of evil being or supernatural creature seen in the Buffyverse (created by Joss Whedon). Demons, Half-Demons and Old Ones * Acathla ("Becoming, ...

" or Ubervamps. They look like more detailed versions of the Mutant Enemy. In the canonical ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8'' comic books, issue 22 "Swell", on page 10, the slogan for an in-comic fictional product is "Vampy Cat! Grr! Argh! He'll love you to the Santorio Corporation!"

Parodies

At the end of the credits of the animated sketch comedy parody show ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The write ...

'', a parody of the Mutant Enemy, Inc. logo appeared with Joss Whedon (guest starring as himself) providing the "Grr... Argh..." As the enemy mutant rips apart the city, the scene cuts to an office where Joss Whedon is playing with dolls and an executive says to him, "Come on Joss, that's why you got kicked off ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as bein ...

''."

New end-of-credits logo

With ''

'', the Mutant Enemy vampire end-credits logo was replaced. The new end-of-credits card features a typewriter, upon which the company's name is affixed as an embossed label maker label.

Members

Staff members of Mutant Enemy, all of whom have writing and/or production credits on at least one of the above shows, have included, in alphabetical order: *

Jeffrey Bell Jeffrey Jackson Bell is an American writer and producer best known for his work on television. He began his career writing for '' The X-Files'', where he stayed for three seasons, then became a writer/director/producer on '' Angel'', becoming it ...

Elizabeth Craft Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain are American television screenwriters and producers, mostly working together as partners. They have also written two young adult fiction novels together. Craft and Fain are from Kansas City, Missouri, and wrote th ...

Steven S. DeKnight Steven S. DeKnight (born October 28, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for being the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the Starz series '' Spartacus'', including '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'', '' Spartacus: Gods of t ...

Ben Edlund Ben Edlund (born September 20, 1968) is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, television producer, and television director. He is best known as the creator of the satirical superhero character The Tick. Background Edlund was born and raised in ...

Jane Espenson Jane Espenson (born July 14, 1964) is an American television writer and producer. Espenson has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and shared a ...

Sarah Fain Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain are American television screenwriters and producers, mostly working together as partners. They have also written two young adult fiction novels together. Craft and Fain are from Kansas City, Missouri, and wrote the ...

Tracey Forbes Tracey Forbes is a Canadian television writer and producer. She has worked on numerous Canadian and American television shows including '' Flashpoint'', '' The Bridge'', '' Spider-Man: The New Animated Series'' and ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. ...

David Fury David Fury is an American television writer, producer, actor and director. Career He is well known for his work on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Angel'', ''Lost'', '' 24'', ''Fringe,'' '' Tyrant'' and ''The Tick''. Fury was a co-executi ...

Drew Goddard Andrew Brion Hogan Goddard (born February 26, 1975) is an American filmmaker. He began his career writing episodes for the television shows ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Angel'', ''Alias'', and ''Lost''. After moving into screenwriting in fi ...

* Drew Z. Greenberg *

David Greenwalt David Greenwalt (born October 16, 1949) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. He was the co-executive producer of the TV series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and co-creator of its spinoff, ''Angel''. He is also co-creator of the sh ...

* Rebecca Rand Kirshner * Tim Minear *

Marti Noxon Martha Mills Noxon (born August 25, 1964) is an American television and film writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her work as a screenwriter and executive producer on the supernatural drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' ...

Doug Petrie Douglas Petrie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known as a writer, director, and co-executive producer on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. He co-wrote the screenplays for the ''Fantastic Four'' film and '' Harriet the Spy ...

Mere Smith Meredyth (Mere) Smith is an American television script-writer who wrote a number of episodes of the series ''Angel''. She was also the executive story editor and script coordinator for 66 episodes from 1999 to 2003. More recently, she wrote the ...

Maurissa Tancharoen Maurissa Tancharoen () in Los Angeles, California)Maurissa Tancharoen
biographical inf ...

Jed Whedon Jed Tucker Whedon (born July 18, 1975) is an American screenwriter and musician, and the son of screenwriter Tom Whedon, grandson of screenwriter John Whedon, and the brother of screenwriter Zack Whedon and of filmmaker Joss Whedon. Career Al ...

Zack Whedon Zachary Adam Whedon (born August 14, 1979) is an American screenwriter, film director, and comic book writer. Early life Whedon is from a family of writers: he is the son of screenwriter Tom Whedon, grandson of screenwriter John Whedon, and t ...

References

External links

A Brief History of Mutant Enemy
{{Authority control Buffyverse Fictional vampires Film production companies of the United States Television production companies of the United States Privately held companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Mass media companies established in 1996 1996 establishments in California Works by Joss Whedon