Sunnydale is the fictional setting for the American television drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). The series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic Californian city, as well as a narrative parody of the all-too-serene towns typical in traditional horror films.
Sunnydale is located on a "Hellmouth"; a portal "between this reality and the next", and convergence point of mystical energies."Welcome to the Hellmouth" (1.01) introduces the Hellmouth, which is referred to numerous times throughout the series. The entrance to the Hellmouth is seen under the school in "The Zeppo", "Doomed", "Conversations with Dead People", and throughout the second half of season seven.
Environment
Sunnydale itself Sunnydale's size and surroundings are implausible but justified given its origins — to sustain a human population for supernatural evils to prey upon. The town's founder spared no expense to attract a populace, and Sunnydale thus contains many elements of a large city — which the show's writers utilized fully for comic effect and narrative convenience. During the first three seasons, Sunnydale is shown to have 38,500 inhabitants,The "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign says 38,500 in two early episodes: "School Hard" (2.03) and "Lovers Walk" (3.08). very few high schools,In "Some Assembly Required" (2.02), the three dead cheerleaders attended Fondren High, which is "across town" from Sunnydale High. In "Reptile Boy" (2.05), Kent Preparatory School is mentioned. In "Dead Man's Party" (3.02) Joyce mentions a local all-girls school named Miss Porter's. Yet in most episodes "the high school" refers specifically to Sunnydale High. forty-three churches,Giles is surprised at this figure in "What's My Line, Part Two" (2.10). a small private college,Crestwood College is featured in "Reptile Boy" (2.05) but never mentioned again. a zoo,there are three visits to the zoo in "The Pack" (1.06), including a class trip and one trip by Buffy on foot. a museum,The museum director who receives the box containing the demon Acathla in "Becoming, Part One" (2.21) refers to Giles as being "right here in Sunnydale". and one modest main street. Even so, it has twelve gothic cemeteries.According to Giles in "Revelations" (3.07). These cemeteries are so heavily used that services are sometimes held at night."Once More, with Feeling" (6.07). Sunnydale is divided into five neighborhoods. The first is the entertainment district which contains the Bronze, Sunnydale's nightclub, which attracts some well-known artists despite a clientele consisting mainly of high-school kids. The second consists of the alleys directly behind Bronze, housing the town's surplus supply of pallets and cardboard. The high school makes up the third neighborhood. The fourth neighborhood is entirely occupied by a large graveyard, and finally, the suburban residential sprawl forms the last neighborhood. The prevalence of very nice homes is made possible by low property values resulting from frequent murders."Villains" (6.20)
In later seasons it is revealed that Sunnydale contains a campus of the University of California system, as well as a profitable magic supply shop. The town is also seen to include a large park containing a creek and a lake, and one of its cemeteries is shown to be adjacent to a lake."Help" (7.04). Sunnydale has a number of parks: Weatherly Park, Glebe Park, Radcliff Park and Nelson Park are just some of the examples.
Sunnydale has a train station,Buffy finds dead bodies in the train in "Crush" (5.14). a bus station,The bus station is shown in "Inca Mummy Girl" (2.04), "What's My Line, Part One" (2.09), and "Showtime" (7.11), and mentioned in "Innocence" (2.14). a small airport,Kendra arrives by plane in "What's My Line, Part One" (2.09), and the airport itself is shown in "Choices" (3.19) and "Who Are You" (4.16) as well as "Bargaining I" (6.01). The airport shown in this episode is actually Burbank Airport with "Sunnydale" photoshopped over the word "Burbank". In "Tabula Rasa" (6.08), Giles's ticket shows an itinerary from Sunnydale Airport to Los Angeles International Airport and then to London Heathrow Airport, which is the same route announced on the public address system as Giles awaits his flight in "Bargaining, Part I" (6.01). and a small military base.In "Innocence" (2.14), Xander and Cordelia break into the base to steal a rocket launcher as part of his plan to destroy the Judge. There is also a seaport with a harbor deep enough to allow the docking of coastal freighters.In Episode 3/14, "Bad Girls," Faith disposes of the body of the Deputy Mayor by weighting it down and sinking it in the harbor. In Episode 3/19, "Choices," a box containing the mystic spiders Mayor Wilkins has to consume as part of the Ascension process comes in by water and the docks are shown.
Directly beneath Sunnydale High School is a Hellmouth, a subterranean, mystical portal that attracts evil forces. This functions as a major plot device in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as it explains why vampires and other demons are so prevalent in Sunnydale. Also beneath the school is a small pool of sea water with an outlet to the Pacific Ocean.In "Go Fish," the gill monsters gather under a grate to receive victims from their creator, Coach Marin (as in "marine"). At the end of the episode, the monsters swim away to the sea.
Sunnydale exhibits many common horror-movie characteristics, including an abundance of dark alleyways, abandoned mansions, and factories. The adult population is either clueless or perpetually in denial, in stark contrast to the demon-fighting, supernaturally aware teens.
By the show's seventh season, set in 2002–03, the city's population had fallen to 32,900.The "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign says 32,900 in "Conversations with Dead People" (7.07). In the spring, the town was almost completely evacuated.
Sunnydale's surroundings Sunnydale is somewhat isolated.When Sunnydale is stricken by a town-wide epidemic — such as the silence spell in "Hush" (4.10) — no other towns seem to be nearby.
The town is situated near several acres of woods and forest, including Miller's Woods.The woods in "Homecoming" (3.05) are named "Miller's Woods". In "Bargaining, Part Two" (6.02) and "Villains" (6.20) the woods are large enough to get lost in. In season 2's "Phases," they are shown to be between Oz's house and the school. Breaker's Woods is a 45-minute drive from town. Giles visited there during "Lovers Walk" (3.08).
Sunnydale is located on or near the Pacific Ocean. An ocean port with several docked ships is nearby.The port is seen in "Surprise" (2.13) and "Consequences" (3.15). In "Consequences", Giles refers to Buffy and Faith's return from the docks as "coming back to town", indicating that the docks are not part of Sunnydale itself. Kingman's Bluff stands on a tall cliff overlooking the sea.Kingman's Bluff is the location of Willow's terrible spell ("Grave", 6.22). There is a beach not too far away.It is not specified how close this beach is to Sunnydale. It is seen in "Go Fish" (2.20) and "Buffy vs. Dracula" (5.01).
Close to or in Sunnydale is an old quarry house built beside a deep lake, located a few feet from a cliff edge.Although the quarry house never appears in any episodes, it does make an appearance in the comic book series "The Blood of Carthage", which explains the house's Pre-Columbian origins. The house and its grounds also appear in the Chaos Bleeds video game. In addition, there is a hydroelectric dam in the vicinity of Sunnydale.In "As You Were" (6.15), Buffy, Riley and Riley's wife, Sam, fight a Suvolte demon on a dam they only drove a short distance to reach.
Within a day's drive of Sunnydale is a desert.Giles drives Buffy to the desert in "Intervention" (5.18), and drives with the Potentials to the desert in "The Killer in Me" (7.13). It is stated several times that Sunnydale is approximately two hours' drive north of Los Angeles.In "Sanctuary" (Angel 1.19), cops refer to Sunnydale as being "up north".
In the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("Chosen"), and also in the first issue of the Buffy: Season Eight comic book, Sunnydale is depicted being surrounded by desert terrain.At the end of "Chosen" (7.22) the town has sunk into a large pit, and the pit is completely surrounded by desert. It is shown this way in the comic book Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #1, "The Long Way Home", pages 14-15.
The episode "Pangs" reveals that Sunnydale is in the former homeland of the Chumash people, which is the area northwest of Los Angeles, centered on Santa Barbara County. The episode references a lost Spanish mission, which might be a reference to a historical mission originally located near Point Conception which was destroyed by an earthquake and relocated inland.
The episode "Shadow" (5.08) contains a telephone directory ad for the Magic Box, which uses an 805 area code. This would indicate that Sunnydale is located in Santa Barbara County, or possibly Ventura County or San Luis Obispo County (all are along the coast north of Los Angeles but south of Monterey).
Maps of Sunnydale Maps of Sunnydale have appeared at various times during the show:
A large map of "Sunnydale County" hangs on the wall of Principal Snyder's office and also on the wall of Mayor Wilkins' office.It was in the principal's office in "Dead Man's Party" (3.02), and in the mayor's office in various third-season episodes. The best view of the map is in "Choices" (3.19). Compare this with the map of Santa Barbara County at http://www.countyofsb.org/stats.asp. This is actually a map of Santa Barbara County, California with the words "Sunnydale County" superimposed on it. According to this map, Sunnydale is located at a bend on the California coast. To the south and west of Sunnydale is the Pacific Ocean. Joss Whedon stated in November 1998 that "Sunnydale is in fact near Santa Barbara."Joss Whedon post on The Bronze posting board, November 22, 1998, archived here . Giles uses a street map of Santa Barbara as a map of Sunnydale when he is plotting sightings of the Initiative commandos in the series' fourth season."Doomed" (4.11) A street map of central Sunnydale is used by the Scooby Gang twice in the seventh season.Once early in the season, and again in "Touched" (7.20). In the seventh season, Andrew draws a map of Sunnydale to track the First's activities.Shown in "Get it Done" (7.15). The general shape of the coastline matches the map used in season three. According to Andrew's map, there are woods between Sunnydale and the ocean to the west and to the south, and directly southeast of the town, at the location where the coast bends, there is a dark forest. There are also woods to the east of Sunnydale, as well as railroad tracks.
Filming locations Various southern California locations are used as stand-ins for Sunnydale:
The exterior shots, as well as some interior shots, of Buffy's home are of an actual residence located in Torrance. The exterior shots of Sunnydale High School (seasons 1–3) are of Torrance High School in Torrance, California. The exterior shots of The Crawford Street Mansion (seasons 2–3) are of Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House in Los Feliz near Griffith Park. Most of the University of California, Sunnydale scenes (season 4) were filmed at the University of California, Los Angeles, and in a closed sound stage designed to match the UCLA architecture. Some of the later scenes were filmed at a private business park. The exterior shots of Sunnydale City Hall is the Iowa Courthouse Building, an office building in Torrance. The exterior shots of New Sunnydale High School (season 7) were filmed at California State University, Northridge in Northridge, California.
History
Prior to Buffy's arrival Long before humans settled the area, a Hellmouth existed at the site of the future town of Sunnydale.