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In 2019, Netflix announced they were picking up the Sooty franchise in favor of a new series dedicated to preschoolers, produced by Silvergate Media and Blue Zoo.
The pilot itself, titled Sooty & Sweep, was meant to kickstart a 26-episode series that would be renewed. The pilot was CGI and the series would be CGI, according to Netflix.
In this pilot, Sooty and Sweep were playing ball and then they had to retrieve it from Matthew (also CGI)'s house so they could play again. The pilot lasted 11 minutes, and I think Sweep in this series spoke full English (like in Sooty's Amazing Adventures, a 90s animated series which was Flash animated/hand drawn).
The pilot once was available on Netflix, but sadly, it got taken down. I managed to salvage a few clips from the pilot, including a music video that was supposed to be used as the opening to the series. Unfortunately, the full special itself is fully lost, and the series got cancelled before it could air.
Submitted 4 months, 3 weeks ago by Whopper1
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As someone who works in animation, it's always sad to see projects get shelved like this. The work that goes into even a pilot is immense. I’d love to see what Blue Zoo managed to put together for the test run—shame it's not preserved somewhere professionals can study it for reference.
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This is golden info! Been trying to track down the pilot forever. Any chance you’d be willing to share those clips? Also, what's a good contact at Silvergate or Blue Zoo? Maybe someone there's got a lead on the full pilot.
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I managed to contact Blue Zoo, and they said that both companies don't have the pilot in their archives, and will be released if they manage to revive the series and add more producers or pitch the show internationally.
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Anyone thought about reaching out to people who used to work on the project? Animators, voice actors, or maybe even the sound guys? If the producers don't have it, typically someone who's passionate might hold onto a copy. Long shot but I mean, worth the try?
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Shows you how fickle the nature of lost media can be – here today, gone tomorrow. Netflix doesn't keep a lot of their failed projects, which is a shame. I'd caution against too much optimism – even if the pilot resurfaces, clearing the rights for redistribution might be problematic, considering the cancellation and lack of interest from producers.
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