Oswald (partially found pitch pilot of Nick Jr. animated series; late 1990s): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 08:20, 21 April 2024

Screenshot of the pilot found from an issue of Animation Magazine.

Status: Partially Found

Oswald is a 2001-2003 Nick Jr. 2D animated series created by Dan Yaccarino and produced by HiT Entertainment. The show was notable for its uniquely surrealist style, featuring the day-to-day adventures of a good-natured, bowler-hatted blue octopus named Oswald, his sentient hot dog Weenie and their equally whimsical friends in a colourful, childlike universe. According to official sources, the show's pilot was being worked on as far back as the late 1990s. The pilot itself has never surfaced and little is known about its development process, besides concept artwork that dates from about the same time.

Plot

According to Dan Yaccarino in a Q&A on Discord, the pilot has Oswald's hat blow off his head so that he spends the rest of the pilot chasing it, presumably involving the rest of the main cast in the process, including Weenie and main supporting players Daisy the cheerful, optimistic sentient daisy and Henry the pessimistic, self-centred penguin.

Availability

The project's existence at least as far back as 1999 has been confirmed indirectly by the creators of fellow Nick Jr series Super Why?, who indicated that the show's pilot, created around the same time, was initially passed over in favor of an Oswald pitch pilot. Around the same time, an Oswald tie-in book was produced showing how the dapper octopod met all his friends, featuring slightly different character designs (Oswald is a shade darker blue, for instance, and Weenie's belly is a much lighter tan). The book was confirmed to be based on the pilot in an email exchange with Yaccarino.^[1] Some backgrounds from this version of the pilot were later found on a Background Design portfolio.^[2]

Yaccarino added in a Q&A that in this initial pitch for the series, all the characters had jobs, recalling that Oswald was to write commercial jingles (his piano-playing and singing was carried over into the finished series, but only as a hobby) and Henry, true to his grumbling, sarcastic nature, would be a film critic. It is unknown if any aspects of this made it to the pitch pilot.

Around 2023, a possible short clip was found on a Celluoid Studios animation montage from Vimeo. There is currently no known information as to whether this clip originates from the pilot or not, but the video is likely to have predated the premiere of Oswald. It is believed that the clip may be an ident, animation test, or a commercial rather than a pilot, however it has not yet been confirmed by the uploader or any production member, however it is known that the footage does not seem to be from any aired episode of Oswald.

Gallery

Possible Footage

A short clip of the pilot (1:30).

Videos

Read-aloud of an early book that may preserve the original, slightly different character .

Images

A city street corner.
Daisy's apartment building.
Music hall.
Pet shop.
Promotional image for the series using designs from the pilot.
Possible concept art from the pilot.
Original Oswald design.

References

↑ Archived Yaccarino webpage confirming the unaired pilot is based on the book. Retrieved 26 Jul '22
↑ A webpage where the backgrounds were found on. Retrieved 26 Jul '22

[1] Archived Yaccarino webpage confirming the unaired pilot is based on the book. Retrieved 26 Jul '22

[2] A webpage where the backgrounds were found on. Retrieved 26 Jul '22

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{InfoboxLost
-|title=<center>Oswald (pitch pilot)</center>
 |image=Image-016.jpg
-|imagecaption=Screenshot of the pilot found in an Animation Magazine
+|imagecaption=Screenshot of the pilot found from an issue of ''Animation Magazine''.
-|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
+|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
 }}
 ''Oswald'' is a 2001-2003 Nick Jr. 2D animated series created by Dan Yaccarino and produced by HiT Entertainment. The show was notable for its uniquely surrealist style, featuring the day-to-day adventures of a good-natured, bowler-hatted blue octopus named Oswald, his sentient hot dog Weenie and their equally whimsical friends in a colourful, childlike universe. According to official sources, '''the show's pilot was being worked on as far back as the late 1990s'''. The pilot itself has never surfaced and little is known about its development process, besides concept artwork that dates from about the same time.
 ==Plot==
-According to Dan Yaccarino in a Q&A on Discord, the pilot has Oswald's hat blow off his head so that he spends the rest of the pilot chasing it, presumably involving the rest of the main cast in the process.
+According to Dan Yaccarino in a Q&A on Discord, the pilot has Oswald's hat blow off his head so that he spends the rest of the pilot chasing it, presumably involving the rest of the main cast in the process, including Weenie and main supporting players Daisy the cheerful, optimistic sentient daisy and Henry the pessimistic, self-centred penguin.
 ==Availability==
-The project's existence at least as far back as 1999 has been confirmed indirectly by the creators of fellow Nick Jr series ''Super Why?'', who indicated that the show's pilot, created around the same time, was initially passed over in favor of an ''Oswald'' pitch pilot. Around the same time, an ''Oswald'' tie-in book was produced showing how the dapper octopod met all his friends, featuring slightly different character designs (Oswald is a shade darker blue, for instance, and Weenie's belly is a much lighter tan). The book was confirmed to be based on the pilot in an email exchange with Yaccarino.<ref> [https://web.archive.org/web/20020709111744/http://danyaccarino.com/books/oswald.html Archived Yaccarino webpage confirming the unaired pilot is based on the book.] Retrieved 26 Jul '22</ref> Some backgrounds from the pilot were also found on a Background Design portfolio.<ref>[http://stevelowtwait.com/oswald-the-octopus A webpage where the backgrounds were found on.] Retrieved 26 Jul '22</ref> Dan Yaccarino also stated in a q&a that in the original pitch for the series, all the characters had jobs, recalling that Oswald wrote commercial jingles and Henry would be a film critic. However, it is unknown if this concept made it to the pilot.
+The project's existence at least as far back as 1999 has been confirmed indirectly by the creators of fellow Nick Jr series ''Super Why?'', who indicated that the show's pilot, created around the same time, was initially passed over in favor of an ''Oswald'' pitch pilot. Around the same time, an ''Oswald'' tie-in book was produced showing how the dapper octopod met all his friends, featuring slightly different character designs (Oswald is a shade darker blue, for instance, and Weenie's belly is a much lighter tan). The book was confirmed to be based on the pilot in an email exchange with Yaccarino.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020709111744/http://danyaccarino.com/books/oswald.html Archived Yaccarino webpage confirming the unaired pilot is based on the book.] Retrieved 26 Jul '22</ref> Some backgrounds from this version of the pilot were later found on a Background Design portfolio.<ref>[http://stevelowtwait.com/oswald-the-octopus A webpage where the backgrounds were found on.] Retrieved 26 Jul '22</ref>
+Yaccarino added in a Q&A that in this initial pitch for the series, all the characters had jobs, recalling that Oswald was to write commercial jingles (his piano-playing and singing was carried over into the finished series, but only as a hobby) and Henry, true to his grumbling, sarcastic nature, would be a film critic. It is unknown if any aspects of this made it to the pitch pilot.
+Around 2023, a possible short clip was found on a Celluoid Studios animation montage from Vimeo. There is currently no known information as to whether this clip originates from the pilot or not, but the video is likely to have predated the premiere of Oswald. It is believed that the clip may be an ident, animation test, or a commercial rather than a pilot, however it has not yet been confirmed by the uploader or any production member, however it is known that the footage
+does not seem to be from any aired episode of Oswald.
 ==Gallery==
+===Possible Footage===
+{{Video|perrow  =1
+  |service1     =youtube
+  |id1          =N0fgfTrOH_8
+  |description1 =A short clip of the pilot (1:30).
+}}
+===Videos===
+{{Video|perrow  =1
+  |service1     =youtube
+  |id1          =jvBk8_lzeHc
+  |description1 =Read-aloud of an early book that may preserve the original, slightly different character .
+}}
 ===Images===
 <gallery mode="packed" heights="150">
@@ Line 20: / Line 35: @@
 File:OswaldBackground3.jpeg|Music hall.
 File:OswaldBackground4.jpeg|Pet shop.
-File:Oswaldpromo.png|Promotional image for the series using designs from the pilot
+File:Oswaldpromo.png|Promotional image for the series using designs from the pilot.
-File:Oswaldpilott.png|Screenshot of the pilot used to promote the series
+File:Desktop-wallpaper-oswald-0swald.jpg|Possible concept art from the pilot.
+File:Oswalddesign.png|Original Oswald design.
 </gallery>
-===Videos===
-{{Video|perrow  =1
-  |service1     =youtube
-  |id1          =jvBk8_lzeHc
-  |description1 =Read-aloud of an early book that may preserve the original, slightly different character
-}}
 ==See Also==
@@ Line 43: / Line 52: @@
 ===Pilots===
 *[[The Backyardigans (partially found Nick Digital pilot of Nick Jr. CGI animated series; 2002)]]
-*[[Blue Prints (partially found unaired pilot of "Blue's Clues" Nick Jr. animated/live action series; 1994-1995)]]
+*[[Blaze and the Monster Machines (lost pitch pilot of Nick Jr. animated series; existence unconfirmed; 2012)]]
-*[[Bubble Guppies (partially found unaired pilot of Nick Jr. CGI animated series; 2006)]]
+*[[Blue's Clues (partially found pitch pilots of international adaptations of Nick Jr. animated/live-action series; late 1990s)]]
-*[[Dora the Explorer (partially found unaired pilot episodes of Nick Jr. animated 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)]]
 *[[Me and My Friends (partially found live-action pilot of "The Backyardigans" Nick Jr. CGI-animated series; 1998)]]
-*[[Super Why? (partially found stop-motion Nick Jr. pilot of PBS Kids CGI series; 1999)]]
+*[[PAW Patrol (lost pitch pilots and early concepts of Nick Jr. animated series; 2008-2013)]]
-*[[The Umizumiz (partially found unaired pilot of "Team Umizoomi" Nick Jr. CGI-animated/live-action series; 2008)]]
+*[[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)]]
+*[[Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (partially found unaired original pilot of children's animated TV series; 2005)|Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (partially found unaired original pilot of Nick Jr. animated series; 2005)]]
+*[[Yo Gabba Gabba! (found pilots/test demo of live-action/puppet musical TV series; early 2000s/2006)|Yo Gabba Gabba! (found pilots/test demo of Nick Jr. live-action/puppet musical series; early 2000s/2006)]]
 ===Other===
-*[[Binyah Binyah! (found spinoff of "Gullah Gullah Island" Nick Jr. musical series; 1997-1998)]]
+*[[As Pistas da Blue (partially lost Portuguese adaptation of "Blue's Clues" Nick Jr. animated/live-action series; mid-2000s)]]
-*[[Downward Doghouse (partially found precursor to "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan" Nick Jr. animated series; 2000s)]]
+*[[The Backyardigans (partially lost British dub of Nick Jr. CGI-animated series; mid-late 2000s)]]
-*[[Made by Maddie (partially found Nick Jr. animated series; 2020)]]
+*[[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)]]
+*[[Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (partially found British dub of children's animated TV series; late 2000s-early 2010s)|Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! (partially found British dub of Nick Jr. animated series; late 2000s-early 2010s)]]
+*[[Yo Gabba Gabba! (partially found British dub of live-action/puppet musical TV series; 2009-mid 2010s)|Yo Gabba Gabba! (partially found British dub of Nick Jr. live-action/puppet musical series; 2009-mid 2010s)]]
 ==References==

Oswald (partially found pitch pilot of Nick Jr. animated series; late 1990s): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 08:20, 21 April 2024

Contents

Plot

Availability

Gallery

Possible Footage

Videos

Images

See Also

Oswald

Bumpers and Interstitials

Pilots

Other

References