Dirk Derby: Wonder Jockey (partially found unreleased animated series; 2006-2015)
Title card for the series.
Status: Partially Found
Dirk Derby: Wonder Jockey is an unreleased cut-out animated series created by Steve Oedekerk that was planned to release on digital media sometime in the mid-2010s. It would have revolved around Dirk Derby, a jockey sent by a secret spy agency, whom was also referred to as an undercover spy with a horse.
Production
In 2004, the URL for Dirk Derby was registered, but lead to a placeholder page that was under construction.[1]
The series was first teased in 2006 through an interview with Steve Oedekerk. It was announced as O-Entertainment's first dive into digital handheld media at the time, initially intended to release on iTunes and the Sony PSP store.[2][3]
In 2008, another teaser was made for the series, this time hosting a contest. The contest was to make a 36-second piece of music to accompany a transformation scene in the show. The winner would get the music featured in the final series. The contest was provided with a clip for reference, and a trial for the software Acid PRO.[4]
In 2009, the page for the Dirk Derby website was updated to show an image of the show, along with text saying the series was coming soon. The Omation site also held a listing for Dirk Derby, which when clicked on, would redirect to the site.[5]
Sometime in 2010, Omation made a tour video public on the Vimeo accounts for an employee and the official Dirk Derby account. The tour video teased some footage and production for the series. Later in 2012, a reel was posted which also contained some footage.
Despite being said to be upcoming to digital media, the 7 episodes of the series never released. Sometime in 2013, the Dirk Derby website was updated to remove the teaser image, although the website was still up until the late 2010s.[6]
The reason for Dirk Derby not being released was likely attributed to O-Entertainment's properties becoming defunct, including Omation. It is currently unknown what lead to it, but some rumors suggest it was the failure of Planet Sheen.
Production was last known to be at work in 2015, according to the resume of Paul Marshal, who produced and directed the series.[7]
Later in 2020, the series was mentioned in a book by Eric Trueheart titled The Medium-Sized Book of Zim Scripts, based on the scripts and stories during the production of Invader Zim. It was mentioned Eric once worked on the series Dirk Derby, which he proclaimed "never saw the light of day".[8]
Availability
Despite being intended for release several times, it remains unreleased, and the 7 produced episodes of the series have not resurfaced outside of clips available on several Omation reels. There are also several mentions of the series on the resumes of individuals.
There also exists a teaser for the series, which can be viewed despite being private on Vimeo by entering the password "boomsuit".[9]
Gallery
Videos
Images
Teaser image for the series taken from the website.
References
- ↑ The earlier captures for the website.
- ↑ Interview with Steve done by Crosswalk.
- ↑ Interview with Steve done by Animation World Network.
- ↑ A YouTube upload of an entry for the contest, with a description detailing the contest and its requirements.
- ↑ The website in 2009 with a teaser image.
- ↑ The website in 2013, which shows a blank image.
- ↑ Paul Marshal's resume.
- ↑ NickALive article on the book, with some excerpts.
- ↑ The private Vimeo teaser for the series, which can be viewed using the password "boomsuit".