Jake's Team Pirate (found pitch pilot of "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" Disney Junior animated series; 2009)
A prototype of the series’ logo, utilizing Jake’s pilot design.
Status: Found (unedited version)
Existence Unconfirmed (re-edited version)
Date found: 25 Apr 2024
Found by: Anonymous
Jake and the Never Land Pirates was an interactive animated series that ran on Disney Junior from 2011-2016. The series follows Jake, Izzy, Cubby, their parrot Skully, and their pirate ship Bucky as they go on adventures across Never Land whilst attempting to outsmart Captain Hook and his assistant, Mr. Smee, who constantly steal their treasures. Every episode ends with an original song performed by Sharky (voiced by Loren Hoskins) and Bones (voiced by Kevin Hendrickson), who make up the Never Land Pirate Band.
History
According to an interview, production on the pilot began back in late 2007 when the show’s creator Bobs Gannaway was looking for music to listen to while writing the pilot. After discovering a pirate band called Captain Bogg and Salty, Gannaway showed the pirate band to Jay Stutler, the vice president of music at Disney Television Animation. Originally, the team was going to utilize their catalog of music created for Captain Bogg and Salty, but the team decided it would be more suitable for the composers to create their own original songs specifically for the series. The Jake pilot was completed in 2009, and due to positive reception, Disney Channel ordered a first season with 26 episodes. After originally planning to air on Playhouse Disney, the series was set to release on February 14th, 2011 as the flagship show to launch the rebranded Disney Junior[1].
In another interview with Nancy Kanter, the former Senior Vice President of Original Programming for Disney Junior (then Playhouse Disney), Kanter provided insight on how programs were made. She detailed that Disney wanted to create a pirate series based on the Peter Pan franchise. After working with writers and creators to develop ideas, a pilot was created to test to an audience of parents and their children. Following the success of the pilot, the show was green-lit for its first season[2].
A tweet from Colin Ford reveals that the show was originally titled Jake’s Team Pirate before the title was changed to Jake and the Never Land Pirates.
Footage
A user named Angelu James Talento Galacio uploaded a Hong Kong promo for Disney Junior, containing footage of an earlier version of the show. Clips can be found at 0:59-1:01, and again at 1:11. It is unconfirmed if this footage is from the pilot or an earlier version of the final show.
On April 25th, 2024, a myriad of animated pilots and workprints from the Disney Television Animation Co. were anonymously posted on various file-sharing sites, video-sharing sites, and discussion boards. Among these pilots is the full unedited animated pilot and pitch bible for Jake and the Never Land Pirates which contained an undocumented character named Nibs who wore a purple hat and purple suit.
It is unconfirmed if a re-edited version of this pilot that does not feature Nibs, as shown in the Hong Kong promo, exists, or was just cut out for the Hong Kong promo in itself.
Video
Images
See Also
Disney Channel
- 101 Dalmatians: The Series (partially found pitch pilot of Disney animated TV series based on animated film; 1996)
- The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (partially found revival of Disney variety TV series; 1989-1994)
- Amazing Animals (found Disney Channel educational animated series; 1996-1999)
- Amphibiland (found pitch pilot of "Amphibia" Disney Channel animated series; 2018)
- Arwin! (partially found pitch 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 lost 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 Channel "Wand Idents" (partially found bumpers from TV channel; 2003-present)
- 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 test 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)
- The Jersey (partially lost Disney Channel sports-themed comedy series; 1999-2004)
- J.O.N.A.S. (partially found original 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 cancelled season of Disney Channel comedy series; 2020)
- Minnie Takes Care of Pluto (found 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)
- The Owl House (found test animation of Disney Channel animated series; 2017)
- Pepper Ann (found Disney animated TV series; 1997-2000)
- Pepper Ann (partially found Nickelodeon pitch pilot of Disney animated series; 1996)
- Phineas and Ferb "Delivery of Destiny" (partially found Simon Pegg version of Disney Channel animated series episode; 2013)
- Phineas and Ferb: Spot the Diff (found Disney Channel animated special; 2008)
- The Proud Family (partially found Nickelodeon pitch pilot of Disney Channel animated sitcom; 1999)
- Recess "The Break In" (partially found pitch pilot of Disney animated TV series; 1996)
- Shooting Star Milkshake Bar (found full version of "Phineas and Ferb" song; 2008)
- Star and the Forces of Evil (found 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)
- Welcome to Pooh Corner (partially found Disney Channel live-action puppet series; 1983-1986)
- What's Stevie Thinking? (lost pitch pilot of cancelled spin-off of "Lizzie McGuire" Disney Channel comedy series; 2005)
Playhouse Disney
- Adventures in Nutrition with Captain Carlos (found Playhouse Disney animated short series; 2004-2007)
- Bear in the Big Blue House (found unaired pilot of Disney Channel puppet series; 1997)
- Bear in the Big Blue House (found Playhouse Disney puppet series; 1997-2006)
- The Book of Pooh (found Playhouse Disney puppet series; 2001-2004)
- Breakfast with Bear (partially found spin-off of "Bear in the Big Blue House" Playhouse Disney puppet series; 2005-2006)
- Handy Manny (partially found DKP Studios pilot of Playhouse Disney CGI animated series; 2005)
- Imagination Movers (found pitch pilot of Playhouse Disney series based on children's music group; 2006)
- Little Einsteins (partially found British dub of Playhouse Disney animated series; 2005-2010)
- Little Einstein (partially found pitch pilots of Playhouse Disney animated series; 2003-2004)
- JoJo's Circus (partially lost Playhouse Disney stop-motion animated series; 2003-2007)
- My Friends Tigger & Pooh (partially found test pilots of Playhouse Disney CGI animated series; 2005/2006)
- Out of the Box (partially lost Playhouse Disney children's series; 1998-2004)
- PB&J Otter (found original credits sequences of Playhouse Disney animated series; 1998-2000)
- Playhouse Disney UK (partially found interstitial material of TV channel block; 1999-2006)
- Stanley (found pitch pilot of Playhouse Disney animated series; 1999)
Disney Junior
- Beverly Hills Chihuahuas (found pitch pilot of cancelled Disney Junior animated adaptation of film series; 2012)
- Jungle Junction (lost pitch pilots of Disney Junior CGI animated series; 2003-2008)
Toon Disney
- Teamo Supremo (partially lost Toon Disney animated series; 2002-2004)
- Toon News (partially found Toon Disney CGI animated interstitial series; 2004/2005)
Disney XD
- The 7D (found pitch pilot of Disney XD animated series; 2012)
- Billion Dollar Freshmen (lost pitch pilot of "Lab Rats" Disney XD live-action comedy series; 2010)
- Commando Crash (lost pitch pilot of cancelled spin-off of "Crash & Bernstein" Disney XD sitcom; 2014)
- DXP (partially lost 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)
- Very Important House (found Disney XD animated pitch pilot; 2016)
Other
- Green Monkeys (lost Disney animated pitch pilot; 1999)
- Kingdom Hearts (found animatic of cancelled Disney animated TV adaptation of game series; 2003)
- 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 (found Disney live-action/animated TV series; 1972-1973)
- Robodz (partially found Disney Toei animated TV series; 2008)
- 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)
References
- ↑ OregonLive interview with Captain Bogg and Salty about Jake and the Neverland Pirates Retrieved 27 Jun '23
- ↑ Nancy Kanter interview wth Girl.com on Jake and the Neverland Pirates pilot Retrieved 27 Jun '23