Joss Whedon finally has received the green light for his new animated series based on his hit UPN show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but he's going to have to do it without comic artist Jeph Loeb.

"The process took so long to put the package together, it just came together on (June 14), and (Loeb) got an offer -- a big deal over at Warner Bros. -- and he had to move on," Whedon recently told Sci-Fi Wire. "He'd been shepherding (the 'Buffy' animated series) for over a year. We'd put together a bunch of great scripts. He's done an amazing job, but there was no light at the end of the tunnel. It was a really difficult process, and Chris Buchanan, the president of my company, finally got it through, but Jeph had to move on."

Whedon said he has no idea when the cartoon will debut, but said that there are no hard feelings about losing Loeb.

"We love Jeph, and he loves the project, and hopefully we'll be able to find some involvement (from him). But the fact of the matter is, it just took so long."