Bubsy: "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" is the pilot episode for an animated Bubsy series that did not continue production.
The story stars Bubsy, who chooses to become a test subject for Virgil Reality's newest invention. Whilst distracted, his twin cousins run off with the reality-bending helmet, allowing for Ally Cassandra's henchmen to kidnap them and claim the item.
Bubsy and his friends quickly catch on and pursue the criminals.
The episode aired on November 28th, 1993, at 7:00 a.m on FOX 53[1], and a slightly altered version was included on Super Bubsy as an Easter egg.
Bubsy's original creator, Michael Berlyn, had left Accolade around this time and wasn't directly involved with the project, except for the creation of some of the characters used, like Oblivia. [6]
Credits[]
The following names are known to have worked on the Bubsy pilot:
John A.S. Skeel Stanford Blum Tom Burton Ray De Laurentis
Writer
Ray De Laurentis
Director
Tom Burton
Producer(s)
Stanford Blum (executive) John A.S. Skeel (executive) Claudia Zeitlin Burton Tom Burton
(Click "Expand" to see more credits)>
Role
Name
Associate Producer(s)
Mimi Frances Clayton Deannie Gallegos David Chavez Bruce T. Miyake Kim Pettijohn Martin James Pratti Maria C. Quinones C.
Production Assistant(s)
Diane De Laurentis
Associate Accountant(s)
Janet Mann June Burton Shaunee Trish Boyd
Art Director
Ken Leonard
Production Designer(s)
Dan E. Chessher Won Ki Cho Hee Ja Cho Jacqueline Corley Jennifer A. McChristian Nestor P. Redondo Tom Burton.
Pre/Post-Production Supervisor
Franklin Cofod
Special Sequences Design and Direction
Mary Cim Joel Fajnor
Storyboard Supervisor
Curtis Cim
Storyboarder(s)
Tom Bernado Tom Knowles Ken Laramay
Layout
Curtis Cim (supervisor) Armando Norte Dan E. Chessher Won Ki Cho Hee Ja Cho Robert Lizarraga Jennifer A. McChristian Nestor P. Redondo Dean Thompson.
Background Styler(s)
David B. McBride (supervisor) George W. Stokes (assistant supervisor) Brad Hicks
Ink and Paint
Kristin Lande (supervisor) Cail L. Fiala Melody Hughes
Key Animator(s)
Won Ki Cho Burlon Medall
Animation Director(s)
Burlon Medall Emory "Ron" Myrick
Animation Production Coordinator(s)
Jan L. Kaluza Erica Kaluza
Camera and Optical Effect Artist(s)
Nancy Ketelsen (supervisor) Drew Redford
Film Editor(s)
Franklin Cofod (supervisor) Shannon Scudder Tim Tuchrello
Track Reader(s)
Thomas W. Anderson Ivan Ladizinsky
Publicity Team
Jan Nagel Nicole Noland
Reaction[]
Viewer reaction wasn't good and the cartoon failed to entertain. When people rediscovered the cartoon on Youtube years later, it became the subject of ridicule.
On AtariAge's Bubsy Fanblog, Michael Berlyn stated that the Accolade developers were "cringing" while watching the pilot, despite having been involved with the production. [7]
Though he dislikes the cartoon, as revealed in an interview with DoctorClu[8], he enjoyed the characters according to an interview with Sega-16:
"..I thought it was extremely clever — it did a nice job of playing on Bubsy’s name, and the characters were all “Bubsy-like.” While the art direction was not what Bubsy was all about, it was at least interesting. Bubsy‘s original art direction was an interpretation of the Fleischer cartoons of the 1920s and 30s. The rounded, bouncing, alive cars and objects was what I wanted, and after a lot of work, was accomplished. The TV pilot had a more southwest, angled feel, and that was okay since the sponsor was Taco Bell (if I recall correctly). The attitude and wisecracks were Bubsy, though.[9]"
Super Bubsy and the TV version[]
Bubsy Pilot
Bubsy Pilot - What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (With Original Commercials)
Bubsy Pilot- Super Bubsy version vs TV version
Super Bubsy, a PC remake of the first game, contained a copy of the pilot, given to the player if they collected 20 television sets in the game.
The Super Bubsy pilot is 3 minutes longer than what ended up getting aired on TV. Many scenes were cut, and some music and lines were changed.
The voice actor that uttered the line "After these messages!" is also different.
Bubsy on Youtube[]
The first Youtuber to upload the pilot was DoctorClu, consisting out of four parts of which the firsttwo were released on July 14th, 2006, and the othertwo on November 19th, 2006.
On August 13th, 2012, TheAnnotatXperiment uploaded a complete video, which got fairly popular and started talk amongst people who never got to see the episode when it initially aired.
Accolade teamed up with Software Etc. and held a contest that required fans to watch the pilot episode on TV and write down their 3 favorite characters on an entry form, attached to a flyer. This form had to be cut off and sent to the accompanied address. A postcard was handed out prior to the pilot's release.
The grand prize was a trip to Hollywood and opportunity to see Calico Studios, the first prize (entry contains a possible spelling error) either Bubsy's trademark exclamation mark T-shirt or the same shirt that would be given away with the Bubsy II cartridge a year later, and the second prize a couple of iron-on patches.
It's not been documented who won or if the contest was cancelled in the end.
Used Real-Life Footage[]
The real-life footage that appeared in the pilot came from several movies, film archives, and NASA. 9 clips were used in total, of which 8 have been found the origin of.
Below is a list of Bubsy's quotes and the footage that followed after:
(Click "Expand" to see)>
Frank Richards ( Cannonball)
"Because I am brave.."
Then it shows footage of the American performer, Frank Richards, stopping a cannonball with his stomach. [10]
Hercules And The Captive Women (1966) - Action Drama Movie Eng Sub - Reg Park, Fay Spain
Then it shows footage of a man failing to ride a bull.
Underwater Boxing in Silver Springs, Florida
"Let's beat the odds..."
Then it shows footage of two men boxing underwater, recorded in Silver Springs, Florida, where this was a tourist attraction in the 50s.
G-Force Experiments
"Let's throw the course into the wind!"
Then it shows footage of a man engaging in a US military G-force experiment.
Gizmo!
Time: 09:29
"You gotta live on the edge.."
Then it shows footage of a man standing on one hand on a roof.
Rocket Ice Skater Invention Test Archival Public Domain Footage PublicDomainFootage.com
"You gotta go for the gusto..."
Then it shows footage of a man trying to ice-skate with a rocket on his back.
Invaders from Space (1965) STARMAN
Time: 1:02:15
"You gotta be a hero, for crying out loud!"
Then it shows a scene from Invaders from Space, where the superhero, Starman, is seen flying through the sky.[11]
Quotes[]
Arnold: (wakes up from a nightmare) "Ooh, ooh, ooh, the truck..! The truck is back..!" Bubsy:"Come on, snap to it, Mr. Basket Case. It's me, the prince of personality, Bubsy!" Arnold:"BUBSY?! Oh, oh! Worse than a truck! "
Virgil:"This invention, if used responsibly, could someday end war and famine.. and eventually save the entire planet!" Oblivia:"So far it's mostly blown up on Virgil's head."
Bubsy:"Y'hello, Bubsy Bobcat here, I called about testing the helmet." Oblivia:"Oh yeah, of course, Virgil's expecting you, Bucky." Bubsy:"That's Bubsy." Oblivia:"Ok, Booby."
Bubsy:"What went wrong?! I lost the twins AND the helmet! And worse than that, I was outsmarted by a turkey and a rat!" Virgil:"Technically speaking you were outsmarted by a shrew and a buzzard, but either way, you've sentenced the universe to certain annihilation! " Bubsy:"Thanks for the pep talk, Virge!" Arnold: (still shaken up by previous events) "Ooh, the truck fell off in the sky..! TOOOooOOOoot!" Bubsy:"Get a grip, Arnie, I'm busy berating myself."
Sid: (picks up phone) "Hello, Sid here." Bubsy:"Hello, Sid. This is Bubsy Bobcat, president and owner of Bubsy's catering service. Now, because of your incredibly small brain, you have been chosen to receive a free banquet dinner for 50." Sid:"Oh! Oh, boy! Food, food! Comestibles, edibles, woo-hoo!" Bubsy:"..Heheh.. yeah.. I'll bring you all the food right now, just give me your address."
*Sid reveals the address*
Bubsy:"Thank you very much, your brain is indeed very, very small."
Ally:"When the bobcat shows up, we simply.. refuse to answer the door..!" Boz:"Sublime brilliance..!" Bubsy: (knocks on door) "Y'hello, Bubsy's catering service here for a Mr. 'Sid the Vicious Shrew'?" Sid:"Oh! That's me, defini-"
*door slammed in face*
Bubsy:"ALRIGHT TURKEY, alright rat, the game is over, the jig is up, the fat lady has sung! Now, hand that helmet over before I'm forced to humble you.."
The lettering for the on-screen "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" title looks similar to a type of font that could be found on Windows 95 computers, called "Jokerman";
A common misconception among viewers of the pilot is that these are the same and the creators settled with a standard Windows font;
The Bubsy pilot was produced 2 years prior to the release of Windows 95 and Jokerman.
In the Super Bubsy version, the "What could possibly go wrong?" phrase is spoken 10 times, while it's 8 times in TV version.
