The Backyardigans (partially found Nick Digital pilot of Nick Jr. CGI animated series; 2002)

The pilot's logo.

Status: Partially Found

The Backyardigans is a CGI animated series that premiered on Nick Jr. in 2004. However, its development history stretches back to the late 1990s. A CGI-animated pilot for the show was produced in 2001 by series creator Janice Burgess, based on a rejected live-action pilot from 1998 called Me and My Friends.

Production

The pilot was produced at Nickelodeon Digital Animation Studio in New York. It was animated using motion capture, but due to the major difference between the dancers and the character model's proportions, the animation looked too floaty, as Burgess wanted more precise movements.

Because of that, the animators had to change the movements manually to make them work properly, using footage of live-action dancers as a rough guideline.

Differences

The characters' appearances aren't much different from the final show, aside from a few minor differences:

Uniqua has visible nostrils, smaller eyes and a longer muzzle.
The characters have black eyebrows.
Pablo and Tyrone have lighter colors.
In the first season of the final series, Pablo is dark blue, but as of the second season, he returns to his light blue color.
Uniqua's house has three windows. It also does not have a picnic table on the outside, and in its place is a sandbox that in the final series would happen to be in front of Tyrone's house.
In the backyard there is a soccer ball and a red bicycle.
Pablo and Tyrone's houses don't have a porch.
In one scene from the pilot, Pablo is seen playing in his pool, something he never did in the final series.
The propeller on Pablo's hat is red in the final show, but in the animated pilot, his propeller is yellow.

Availability

Only a few short clips and images from the pilot are available. The episode was remade in the first season of the show, in the episode titled "The Heart of the Jungle".