Bear in the Big Blue House (found unaired pilot of Disney Channel puppet series; 1997)

The show’s original logo.

Status: Found

Date found: 17 Dec 2022

Found by: tygerbug

In 1997, a 13-minute pilot episode of the popular Playhouse Disney show Bear in the Big Blue House was made to test the show. While the series remains widely circulated, the pilot episode had yet to surface until 2022.

A clip of it was put up online in David Gumpel's director's reel in 2006, which was of an early version of the song "Need a Little Help Today" but all that remains of this is a mere screenshot from the clip, showing Pip and Pop's (then named Pummel and Pop) original designs with gopher puppets sourced from The Muppet Show and the original kitchen design.

According to Noel MacNeal (voice of Bear), the test pilot played out essentially the same as the first season episode "Water, Water Everywhere" and featured the otter duo by their original names: Pummel and Pop (the former of which was changed to Pip because Disney thought it sounded too violent), as well as Tutter (here as a girl simply named Mouse). Additionally, the song "Need a Little Help Today" (which was carried over to "Water, Water Everywhere") was featured in the episode. Additionally, Ojo was meant to be Bear's niece.

Apart from this information, very little is known about this pilot, although at least one promotional image (which can be seen above) for the show was produced using the same set.

On December 17th, 2022, MySpleen user Tygerberg uploaded a collection of unaired and rare TV pilots to the tracker. Among them was the "Water, Water Everywhere" pilot.

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See Also

Bear in the Big Blue House

• Bear in the Big Blue House (found Playhouse Disney puppet series; 1997-2006)
• Breakfast with Bear (partially found spin-off of "Bear in the Big Blue House" Playhouse Disney puppet series; 2005-2006)

Disney Channel

• 101 Dalmatians: The Series (partially found unaired pilot episode of Disney animated TV series; 1996)
• Amazing Animals (found Disney Channel animated educational series; 1996-1999)
• Arwin! (partially found pilot of cancelled spin-off of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" Disney Channel sitcom; 2007)
• Bonkers "Fall Apart Bomb Squad" (found episode of Disney Channel animated series; 1993)
• Country Club (partially found test pilot of "Big City Greens" Disney Channel adventure-comedy animated series; 2015)
• Disney Channel Interactive (lost Dish Network game channel; late 2000s)
• Disney Channel "Disney's One Too" (partially lost "Recess" gags of TV channel block; 1999-2003)
• Disney's Coyote Tales (found Disney Channel extended version of "The Coyote's Lament" animated short; 1991)
• Disney's Doug (found episodes of animated TV series; 1996-1999)
• Dreamfinders (unproduced Disney Channel series based on "Journey Into Imagination" Epcot ride; 1983)
• Dumbo's Circus (partially found Disney Channel live action puppet series; 1985-1986)
• Fish Hooks (partially found unreleased pilot of Disney Channel animated series; 2009)
• Going Wild with Jeff Corwin (partially found Disney Channel documentary series; 1997-1999)
• Gravity Falls (found Comic Con 2012 promo of Disney Channel animated mystery comedy series; 2012)
• Gravity Falls (found pitch pilot of Disney Channel animated mystery comedy series; 2010)
• Hannah Montana (lost production material of cancelled anime adaptation of Disney Channel teen sitcom; 2009-2010)
• Herbie the Lovebug (lost Disney Channel animated pilot; late 1990s-2000s)
• J.O.N.A.S. (lost unaired pilot of "Jonas" Disney Channel comedy series; 2007)
• Katbot (partially found unreleased Disney Channel animated series; 2005)
• Lizzie McGuire "Season 3" (lost production material of unfinished season of Disney Channel comedy series; 2020)
• Minnie Takes Care of Pluto (found original English audio of Mickey Mouse Works animated short; 2000)
• Mousercise (partially found Disney Channel exercise series; 1983-1996)
• Mouseterpiece Theater (partially found Disney Channel cartoon compilation series; 1983-1990)
• Pepper Ann (partially found unaired Nickelodeon pilot of Disney animated series; 1996)
• Phineas and Ferb (lost script of cancelled theatrical film based on animated series; 2010s)
• Phineas and Ferb: Shooting Star Milkshake Bar (partially found full version of song; late 2000s)
• Phineas and Ferb: Spot the Diff (found Disney Channel animated special; 2008)
• Recess "The Break In" (partially found pilot of Disney animated TV series; 1996)
• Star and the Forces of Evil (partially found unaired pitch pilot of Disney Channel animated series; 2011)
• Talespin (lost Phil Harris audio recordings from Disney Channel animated series; 1990)
• Teen Angel (partially found Disney Channel serial drama; 1989)
• The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (partially found revival of Disney variety TV series; 1989-1994)
• The Jersey (partially lost Disney Channel sports themed comedy series; 1999-2004)
• The Owl House (partially found unaired pilot of Disney Channel animated series; 2017)
• The Proud Family (partially lost unaired Nickelodeon pilot of Disney Channel animated sitcom; 1999)
• Welcome to Pooh Corner (partially found Disney Channel live-action puppet series; 1983-1986)
• What's Stevie Thinking? (lost unaired pilot of cancelled spin-off of "Lizzie McGuire" Disney Channel comedy series; 2003)

Playhouse Disney

• Adventures in Nutrition with Captain Carlos (partially found Playhouse Disney animated short series; 2004-2007)
• Handy Manny (partially found unaired pilot of Playhouse Disney CGI animated series; 2005)
• Little Einsteins (lost second pitch pilot of Playhouse Disney animated series; existence unconfirmed; 2004)
• Out of the Box (partially lost Playhouse Disney children's series; 1998-2004)
• PB&J Otter (partially found original credits sequences of Playhouse Disney animated series; 1998-2000)
• Playhouse Disney UK (partially lost interstitial material of children's TV channel; 1999-2006)
• Stanley (found unaired pilot episode of Playhouse Disney animated series; 1999)
• The Book of Pooh (found Playhouse Disney puppet series; 2001-2004)

Disney Junior

• Beverly Hills Chihuahuas (found pilot of cancelled Disney Junior animated adaptation of film series; 2012)
• Jungle Junction (lost pilots of Disney Junior CGI animated series; 2003; 2005; 2008)

Toon Disney

• Teamo Supremo (partially lost Toon Disney animated series; 2002-2004)
• Toon News (partially found CGI Interstitial Toon Disney series; 2004/2005)

Disney XD

• Billion Dollar Freshmen (lost unaired pilot episode of "Lab Rats" Disney XD live-action comedy TV series; 2010)
• DXP (partially found Disney XD video game block; 2017)
• Power Rangers Animated Series (lost Disney XD pilot of animated adaptation of live-action superhero series; existence unconfirmed; 2007-2009)

Other

• Green Monkeys (lost Disney pilot; 1999)
• La Chambre Folle (lost French Disney children's TV block; 1998)
• Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers (found English dub of anime series; 2015)
• The Mouse Factory (partially found Disney live-action/animated TV series; 1972-1973)
• The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show (found episodes of Disney animated TV series; 1995)
• X-Heart (partially found unreleased English dub of "X-Coração" Brazilian animated TV series; 2014)

External Links

• Muppet Wiki page for the Bear in the Big Blue House pilot.