Me and My Friends (partially found live-action pilot of "The Backyardigans" Nick Jr. CGI-animated series; 1998)

A still of the cast.

Status: Partially Found

Me and My Friends is a live-action pilot episode taped at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida. It was written and produced by Janice Burgess, and it was taped from September to November 1998. The pilot was declined by Nickelodeon, but in 2002, Burgess reworked the concept into an animated pilot featuring the same characters. This second pilot was successful and became the CGI-animated series, The Backyardigans.

Production

Janice Burgess is a former television producer for Nickelodeon. In 1998, Burgess was given the opportunity to pitch a live-action TV pilot at the request of her manager, Brown Johnson. Burgess pitched a concept titled Me and My Friends, which followed four full-body puppet characters as they embarked on adventures in their shared backyard.

The Me and My Friends pilot was storyboarded by Thomas Henry, a longtime artist for Nickelodeon. The pilot was filmed at Nickelodeon Studios from September to November 1998. The four main characters were Uniqua, an adventurous unique creature whose personality was based on Burgess herself; Pablo, a blue penguin with a tendency to panic; Tyrone, an easygoing orange moose; and Tasha, a self-confident yellow hippo. The characters' costumes were designed and built by Yvette Helin Studios in Brooklyn, New York. Two sculptors, Yuji Yashimoto and Dan Quinn were hired to create animatronic heads for the costumes.

The pilot was declined by Nickelodeon in favor of Dora The Explorer, but Brown Johnson insisted that she liked Janice's characters and would like to see them in a different form. After the pilot's completion, a gold-colored plaque bearing the Me and My Friends logo was created for Nickelodeon Studios' wall of plaques, which commemorated all of the studio's past productions.

In the early 2000s, Burgess reworked the concept into a CGI-animated short. This short was successfully picked up as The Backyardigans, which premiered in 2004. The animated series notably added a fifth main character, Austin the kangaroo, who did not appear in Me and My Friends. Nickelodeon's character description from 2004 labels Austin as "the new kangaroo on the block."

Differences

The characters' appearances are not vastly different from that of the CGI series, besides a few minor differences:

• Uniqua has visible nostrils and a thin tail.
• Pablo's hat propeller is yellow, as opposed to red.
• Tyrone and Tasha's nostrils are black instead of dark yellow and dark orange. These were utilized as vision areas.
• Tyrone's shirt has yellow/blue stripes rather than red/blue stripes.
• Tasha wears a small bow on her head.

The backyard setting also has some differences. A shed and a gate are visible, which do not appear in the final series. Additionally, Tyrone had a stuffed rabbit toy that he did not have in the final series.

Availability

A clip of Me and My Friends was released in a 5-minute compilation video created by former crew members of Nickelodeon Studios for its 10-year anniversary in 2000. There are around 3 seconds of video without the original audio. At least eight photos from the production were released by the pilot’s costume designers.

On February 21st, 2022, YouTuber "BerLostMedia" found 9 more photos from the production of the pilot given by the character designer.

On March 8, 2024, the character designer posted concept art for the pilot on Instagram.

Gallery

Images

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  Screenshot (1/2) taken from the Best of Nickelodeon Studios video.

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  Screenshot (2/2) taken from the Best of Nickelodeon Studios video.

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  The pilot's logo plaque is fourth on the bottom row.

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  Models of the costumes for Tasha, Tyrone, and Uniqua.

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  Crew member with Uniqua.

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  Uniqua's head.

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  Crew member entering the Uniqua costume.

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  Pablo making a gesture.

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  Crew member in the Pablo suit.

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  The cast and crew on the set.

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  Crew member with Tyrone.

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  Crew member with Tyrone.

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  The 4 characters standing in a line.

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  The animatronic heads.

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  Tasha.

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  Tyrone.

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  Tasha and Tyrone without their heads.

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  Uniqua actor in the suit.

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  Tasha and Tyrone with a crew member.

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  Wide shot of the playground set.

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  all characters with costume designer Yvette Helin.

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  The four main characters, alongside production people

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  The meerkats.

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  Second photo of the meerkats.

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  Tyrone with costume designer Yvette Helin.

Concept Art

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  Pablo Concept Art 1/2.

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  Pablo Concept Art 2/2.

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  Uniqua Concept Art 1/2.

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  Uniqua Concept Art 2/2.

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  Tyrone Concept Art 1/2.

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  Tyrone Concept Art 2/2.

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  Tasha Concept Art 1/2.

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  Tasha Concept Art 2/2.

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  Austin Concept Art 1/2.

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  Austin Concept Art 2/2.

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  Characters redesign made in 2002.

Footage

Footage appears at 3:32.

Videos

SewerReviewer's video on the subject.

LSuperSonicQ’s livestream that showcases the costume designers’ images.

SewerReviewer's follow-up video on the subject.

SewerReviewer's second follow-up video on the subject.

LSuperSonicQ's video on the subject.

See Also

The Backyardigans

• The Backyardigans (partially found Nick Digital pilot of Nick Jr. CGI animated series; 2002)
• The Backyardigans (partially lost British dub of Nick Jr. CGI-animated series; mid-late 2000s)

Bumpers and Interstitials

• Loretta the Letter Lady (partially found Nick Jr. short interstitial series; mid 1990s)
• Nick Jr. (partially found revamped Face promos of Nickelodeon channel block; 2003-2004)
• Nick Jr. Power Play Summer (partially found Nick Jr. interstitial series; 2005)
• Snappy Larry's Showtime (partially found Nick Jr. UK interstitial series and American dub; mid-2000s)

Pilots

• Blaze and the Monster Machines (lost pitch pilot of Nick Jr. animated series; existence unconfirmed; 2012)
• Blue's Clues (partially found pitch pilots of international adaptations of Nick Jr. animated/live-action series; late 1990s)
• Blue Prints (found unaired pilot of "Blue's Clues" Nick Jr. animated/live-action series; 1994-1995)
• Bubble Guppies (found pitch pilot of Nick Jr. CGI animated series; 2006)
• Dora the Explorer (partially found unaired pilots of Nick Jr. animated series; late 1990s)
• Fresh Beat Band of Spies (found pitch pilot of Nick Jr. animated spin-off of musical series; 2013)
• The JumpArounds (partially found pitch pilot of "The Fresh Beat Band" Nick Jr. musical series; 2008)
• Oswald (partially found pitch pilot of Nick Jr. animated series; late 1990s)
• PAW Patrol (lost pitch pilots and early concepts of Nick Jr. animated series; 2008-2013)
• Super Why! (found stop-motion Nick Jr. pilot of PBS Kids CGI animated series; 1999)
• The Umizumiz (partially found pitch pilot of "Team Umizoomi" Nick Jr. live-action/CGI animated series; 2008)
• Wallykazam! "Monty's Magic Words" (partially found pilot for Nick Jr. education series; 2010s)

Other

• As Pistas da Blue (partially lost Portuguese adaptation of "Blue's Clues" Nick Jr. animated/live-action series; mid-2000s)
• Binyah Binyah! (found spin-off of "Gullah Gullah Island" Nick Jr. musical series; 1997-1998)
• Blue's Clues (found British adaptation of Nick Jr. animated/live-action series; 1998-2003)
• Bubble and Squeak (partially found Nick Jr. UK live-action puppet series; 2007-2010)
• Downward Doghouse (partially lost precursor to "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan" Nick Jr. animated series; 2000s)
• Eureeka's Castle (partially found Nick Jr. puppet series; 1989-1991)
• Made by Maddie (partially found unaired Nick Jr. animated series; 2020)
• Riddle Blue/수수께끼 블루 (partially found Korean adaptation of "Blue's Clues" Nick Jr. animated/live-action series; 2000-2001)
• Whoopi's Littleburg (partially found Nick Jr. musical miniseries; 2004)

External Links

• MEGA mirror of Best of NSF, Florida.
• The Backyardigans Wiki article about Me and My Friends.