Little Einstein (partially found pitch pilots of Playhouse Disney animated series; 2003-2004)

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Little einsteins pilot logo.jpeg

The logo from the first pilot.

Status: Partially Found

Little Einsteins is an American animated preschool series that ran on Playhouse Disney from October 2005 to December 2009. The show consists of a group of children: Leo, Quincy, June, Annie who fly around the world in a rocketship named Rocket to complete missions, while teaching art and music appreciation.

History

On November 6, 2001, The Walt Disney Company bought Baby Einstein for $25 million dollars. In a press release following the acquisition, Disney announced that among their first plans with the company was to turn the brand into a multimedia franchise, making new products that could appeal to an older audience. The first of these products would be "Little Einstein", a series targeted at preschoolers. Disney stated the series was to be launched in late 2002. However, numerous delays led to the series not being released until 2005.

First Pilot (c. 2003)

According to some trademarks, the original vision for Little Einstein was to feature characters from the original Baby Einstein line of videos. However, this idea was scrapped early on. It was then decided to create entirely new characters for the show. As such, the premise of the series would revolve around four kids, which stuck for the remainder of its development. In 2003, a pitch pilot was made for the series, and was a success with Disney, leading them to greenlight the series, now scheduled to premiere in 2005 on Playhouse Disney.

In 2004, the pilot was made into a 40-second trailer, and was included on several Disney VHS and DVD releases from that year. This trailer showed off the earliest incarnation of the series, and although the general framework of the final series can be seen, it utilizes different character designs, an unused theme song, and lower-quality animation.

  • Leo has brown eyes and a differently shaped nose. He wears a mint green shirt with a stripe near the bottom, orange shorts similar to the ones he wears in the final show, and blue sneakers. The pilot depicts him similarly to the final show, as the leader of the group who guides the other characters and the viewer through their missions. In the pilot, he says that his full name is Leonardo, and Leo was just a nickname used by his friends.
  • Annie has freckles on her cheeks and paler skin. Her pigtails are longer and appear to be braided, held with two red hair bands. She wears a white shirt under a navy blue denim dress, and large red boots. In the pilot, she was originally depicted as a Southern girl with a thick, stereotypical cowgirl accent. She's also seen as more arrogant and pouty, which was toned down significantly in the final show, as all traces of her Southern roots were removed. Additionally, she was the driver of Rocket in the pilot, whereas in the final show, it was Leo.
  • Quincy has lighter brown skin and a larger tuft of hair. He wears a cream shirt, a cyan hat, green jeans, and simple red shoes. In the pilot, he is presented as a nervous worrywart who is easily scared by many things; in the final show, Quincy's only major fear is the dark. He was originally named Wolfgang (nicknamed Wolfy by his friends), but a couple of lines in the pilot's script indicate the name Byron was also considered. He originally owned Cuddly Dudley, a stuffed toy dog who acted as a security item to calm him down whenever he became anxious. Cuddly Dudley was scrapped from the final show.
  • June has long side-swept black hair, tied into buns with two blue hair bands. She has red blush marks on her cheeks and her skin is noticeably fairer. She wears a sleeveless pink dress with a flower print on the front and a red strap around it, and blue slippers. In the pilot, she is depicted as a drama queen who loves to joke around, while the final show presents her as an elegant dancer. Additionally, she was originally named Isadora, with the script for the pilot using this name.
  • Rocket, originally named the Cosmobile, is a crudely-rendered 3D model, consisting of an oval shape with a red texture on the bottom half and a glass dome-like top half. He also has various features in the pilot which are not present in the final show, such as a computerized voice (in the final show, Rocket communicates through xylophone noises), the "Where-Oh-Where Arrow", which was used to decide where the Little Einsteins would go, and the ability to camouflage. The Rocket Room was not included in this pilot, and as such, the children instead met up at a neighborhood park.

Second Pilot (c. 2004)

By late 2004, the series was overhauled, better resembling the final series. The logo and character designs were updated to their final incarnations, and various new elements were added. However, the theme song heard in the previous trailer was kept intact. Another pilot was made, and was once again pitched to Disney, who approved of the changes. As with the 2003 pilot, this pilot was made into its own trailer included on various Disney DVD and VHS releases in early 2005. Shortly after this, the series adopted its final name of "Little Einsteins", which we know it as today. This was the final pitch pilot made for the series, as it would make its official debut in August 2005 with the direct-to-DVD movie "Our Huge Adventure", and would later premiere on Playhouse Disney in October 2005.The show had two pilot that were pitch to The Little Einstein Company (then owned by Disney). The first pitch (then titled Little Einstein) ended up becoming a promo that was included in multiple Baby Einstein DVDs and VHS tapes in 2004, the pilot shows the characters in a much earlier design than in the final show. In early 2005, a second version of the pitch with the character's updated designs was also included on various Disney and Baby Einstein DVDs. According to the series' website of the time, an autobiography for series developer Douglas Wood mentioned:

There's rumored to be a second pitch that was made. The only mentioning of it's existence is from an archived Douglas Wood autobiography that stated:

"He also created and wrote the pilot for an animated series for Disney based on the successful line of BABY EINSTEIN products that is preparing to go into production."[1]

Gallery

Images

  • Early characters designs from the aforementioned second pilot from an issue of "Animation Magazine" from November 2005.

    Early characters designs from the aforementioned second pilot from an issue of "Animation Magazine" from November 2005.

  • The character designs from the aforementioned second pilot.

    The character designs from the aforementioned second pilot.

  • An early deign of Leo from the first pilot.

    An early deign of Leo from the first pilot.

  • Another early logo for the series.

    Another early logo for the series.

Footage

A promo for the show that was included on various DVDs.

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See Also

Little Einsteins

Disney Channel

Playhouse Disney

Disney Junior

Toon Disney

Disney XD

Other

External Links

References

  1. ↑ Archived webpage on Douglas Wood's autobiography. Retrieved 30 Aug '21
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