Recess "The Break In" (partially found pitch pilot of Disney animated TV series; 1996)

The pitch pilot's title card.

Status: Partially Found

The pilot of Recess, "The Break In", was originally produced in 1996 as a pitch to Disney to get the show onto television. The pilot had noticeably different animation and character designs than that seen in the series. After the series was picked up, they reanimated the show and updated the character designs before Disney aired the remade "The Break In".

The original pitch version of the pilot with the older designs and animation hasn't been released to the public. However, clips of it to appear on a "Sneak Peek" ABC Saturday Mornings promo on 1997 VHS releases of the live-action 101 Dalmatians film and "Doug's Birthday Blues" (and possibly on station IDs for certain ABC stations). Additionally, a piece of concept art for Vince's design as used in the pilot can be seen on "The Top Ten Secrets of Disney's Recess", a featurette included on the Recess: School's Out! DVD release.

According to Paul Germain, co-creator of the series, those clips were actually animated from the initial pitch animatic of the pilot which had the older storyboards and designs for the characters long before their final designs were set in stone. The selective scenes were animated by the promotional department at Disney, made specifically for the Saturday Morning promo and as such are the only ones that were animated. The original animatic has yet to be released though.

Gallery

The aforementioned sneak peek video, containing clips from the inital pitch animatic.

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  Concept art of Vince's earlier design.

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 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)
• 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)
• Bear in the Big Blue House "Water, Water Everywhere" (lost unaired pilot of Disney Channel puppet series; 1997)
• Bear in the Big Blue House (found 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 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)
• Robodz (partially found Disney Toei animated TV series; 2008)
• 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)