Katbot (partially found unreleased Disney Channel animated series; 2005): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:20, 31 October 2021

The title card for Katbot.

Status: Partially Found

Katbot was an animated series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Funny Garbage that was set to premiere on Disney Channel in September 2005, but was never released. The show was based on a web cartoon of the same name, created by Angela Martini.

According to tv.com, Disney's Katbot is a comedy series about a curious, somewhat naïve, fun-loving cat robot named Katbot, from the planet Katatonia, who, as part of her schooling is sent to Earth to study tween culture. By using her Hypno-façade, she disguises herself as Katerina Botenski, a foreign exchange student from a small Eastern European country. The only person who knows her secret is her best friend, Junior Lebore, the son of her host family. Through her friendships with an eclectic group of earthlings, Katbot experiences life on Earth with a unique and comic perspective.

Cancellation

On June 18th, 2005, Angela Martini, creator of the Katbot comic, posted a (now deleted) entry on her blog in which she revealed her distaste with Disney working on the show. Stating,

A few years ago Katbot was optioned by Disney. We made a pilot. It got shelved for a while, then resurrected into some horrid caricature of what it originally was. To top it off, I was pushed out of the picture. I got the shaft, while all these strangers came in to make my show. It was a very painful time for me.

Katbot was cancelled before its set release date of September 2005, and no episodes were ever aired. Besides 3 short clips, including a few minutes of the pilot, and the intro, no other footage has been released. It is very unlikely that any full episodes will ever surface, due to Angela Martini’s disapproval with the final production.

Episode List

Six episodes are recorded online, all with plots.

#	Episode Title	Synopsis	Status
1	"Funny Garbage" (Pilot)	This episode begins with Katbot getting ready to take off from her home planet Katonia. Katbot is sent to Earth to learn about "tweenhood. Everyone at school finds her weird.	Lost
2	"Mission Report" (also known as "First Day")	Katbot Finds She has to go to earth to learn about human life. While on earth, Katbot wonders about June's attitude towards her. At school, all the kids seem more interested in the lunch than her, and they think she's weird. Since she's smarter than most of them. At her old planet, she got all the degress in school, so she is very smart.	Lost
3	"Rockin' Meow."	Kat is just begging to adjust to the new setting. She gets into the influence of Rock at her school. Because her two best friends just happen to be in a Rock Group called "Rockin On" Kat begins to follow, thinking this causes her to be known. But soon, she gets so caught up that she finds herself in the Principal’s office.	Lost
4	"Runaway Feline."	After getting totally embarrassed by the school's bully, Latches, Kat thinks over her stay here on earth. She decides to run away. She does, and she finds new friends who are also undercover as earth people. She thinks she and her new friends can actually survive running away until a rule is enforced that every runaway animal must go to a shelter. And before it can get any worse, Kat wakes up and finds it all was all a dream.	Lost
5	"Mission Report (Code #001)"	Ms. Labore thinks it'd be a good idea if Kat and June got to know each other a little better, so she sends the two to a concert, but when the performer, who June totally adores, talks to Kat instead of her, jealousy comes about.	Lost
6	"Why Do Kats Fall in Love?"	June must bring Katrina along with her to a concert. Katrina could care less but goes along anyway. After seeing who's performing, Katrina immediately falls for him, secretly enraging June. However, when Kat gets lucky, and the performer asks her out, June gets mad and accuses her of being a "Man-Stealer."	Lost

Cast

Anneliese van der Pol - Katbot/Katerina Botenski
Mayim Bilik - Paula
Charlie Schlatter - Junior Lebore
Melissa Greenspan - Marcella Curd

Crew

Sherri Stoner - executive producer
Bart Jennett - executive producer
John Carlin - executive producer
Melissa Johnson - associate producer (3 episodes)
Kristin Ellington - co-executive producer
Sue Hollington - producer
Stuart Wenschlag - storyboard slugging (one episode)
Amy Keating Rogers - writer
Randy Myers - director
Stephen DeStefano - art director
Greg Lidstone - animation director
Tim Shankweiler - background artist
Lynda Nettleship-Carraher - background artist
John Giordani - artist

The theme song was performed by indie rock musician John Schmersal, who is best known for his work in bands such as Brainiac, Enon, and Caribou.^[1]

Gallery

One of the few known clips from the show.

Another short clip taken from the show.

Opening intro to Katbot.

Web cartoon pilot.

Unused logo for the show.
Background art from the show.
Background art from the show.
Background art from the show.
Background art from the show.
Background art from the show.
Background art from the show.
Background art from the show.
A killer whale design from the show.

External Links

Reference

↑ John Schmersal's online portfolio showcasing his work for Katbot. Retrieved 30 Jul '19

[1] John Schmersal's online portfolio showcasing his work for Katbot. Retrieved 30 Jul '19

[1]

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 File:Katbotwhale.jpg|A killer whale design from the show.
 </gallery>
+==See Also==
+===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 "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" spin-off TV series; 2007)]]
+*[[Disney Channel Interactive (lost Dish Network game channel; late 2000s)]]
+*[[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 documentary TV series; 1997-1999)]]
+*[[Gravity Falls (found Comic Con 2012 promo of animated series; 2012)]]
+*[[Gravity Falls (found pitch pilot of Disney animated TV series; 2010)]]
+*[[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 TV series; 1983-1990)]]
+*[[Pepper Ann (partially found pilot episode of Disney animated series; 1996)]]
+*[[Phineas and Ferb (lost script of cancelled theatrical film based on animated series; 2010s)]]
+*[[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 - Phil Harris performance (lost audio recordings from Disney animated TV series; 1990)]]
+*[[Teen Angel (partially found Disney Channel serial drama; 1989)]]
+*[[The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (partially found Disney Channel original 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 "Lizzie McGuire" spin-off TV series; 2003)]]
+===Playhouse Disney===
+*[[Adventures in Nutrition with Captain Carlos (partially found Playhouse Disney animated short series; 2004-2007)]]
+*[[Bear in the Big Blue House "Water, Water Everywhere" (lost unaired pilot of Disney Channel puppet series; 1997)]]
+*[[Bear in the Big Blue House (partially lost original English audio of Playhouse Disney puppet series; 1997-2006)]]
+*[[Breakfast with Bear (partially found episodes of Playhouse Disney spin-off series; 2005-2006)]]
+*[[Handy Manny (partially found unaired pilot of Disney children's animated TV 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===
+*[[Jungle Junction (lost pilots of Disney Junior CGI animated series; 2003; 2005; 2008)]]
+===Toon Disney===
+*[[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)]]
+===Other===
+*[[Robodz (lost Disney Toei animated TV series; 2008)]]
+*[[The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show (found episodes of Disney animated TV series; 1995)]]
+*[[Herbie the Lovebug (lost animated pilot; late 1990s-2000s)]]
+*[[Power Rangers Animated Series (lost Disney XD pilot; existence unconfirmed; 2007-2009)]]
+*[[Green Monkeys (lost Disney pilot; 1999)]]
+*[[Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers (found English dub of anime series; 2015)]]
+*[[X-Heart (partially found unreleased English dub of "X-Coração" Brazilian animated TV series; 2014)]]
 ==External Links==
 *[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472959/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt IMDb page for ''Katbot''.]
@@ Line 111: / Line 176: @@
 *[http://www.johnschmersal.com/cartoons.html John Schmersal's portfolio, where the opening credits to ''Katbot'' were found.]
 *[https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/r-i-p-katbot.3948991/ Forum thread covering the cancellation of the show.]
 *[https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/disney-channel-fall-2005-programming-info.4905881/ Forum thread with Fall 2005 Programming Info for Disney Channel.]
 ==Reference==