3 Incredibly Awesome Cartoon Pilots Lost in Development Hell

Around the clubhouse we all love ourselves some sweet cartoons! It’s a shame that so many toons die in the pilot stage, though. Apparently, many studios in the cartoon industry buy the rights to a show before they even decide to make it or not, mostly to prevent the competition to gets their greasy hands on something that could turn into gold. It’s a shame, however, when a studio decides to scrap a project – essentially condemning it to development hell. Even more of a tragedy, many of these “lost” cartoons are even better than some of the ones aired today!

Luckily with time, and the marvels of the internet, many of these cartoons have found brief moments of glory thanks to Youtube and Vimeo, allowing them get a small but tight-knit community of fans.

The Modifyers

Take for example The Modifyers by Chris Reccardi and Lynne Naylor. With a British aesthetic and atmosphere this unaired pilot centered on the adventures of Agent Xero in her fight against the evil Baron Vain. It was seized by Nickelodeon, never to be heard of again.

Carmen Got Expelled!

Even some of the bigger names in the industry, like the creator of “EL Tigre” and MAD cartoon artist Jorge R. Gutierrez, have lost a battle or two against the cartoon system. One of the most recent was Carmen Got Expelled!, a pilot produced for Disney that featured a hyperactive and defiant school girl named Carmen.

DC’s Plastic Man

Even superheroes suffer from this terrible fate! Take Plastic Man for example, who cartoon pilot failed to go anywhere even though comedian Tom Kenny fought to make the “Pliable Paladin” a TV star. In the end, fans have had to be content with a few DC Nation short on Cartoon Network.