Ed, Edd n Eddy
What Could Have Been in this series.
Early designs of Eddy's Brother who would later appear in the Big Picture Show.
- It's hard to believe, but this show was originally pitched to Nickelodeon as a Nicktoon. While Nickelodeon has a lot of risqué shows, they don't go as far with it as Cartoon Network does (possibly because they don't want another The Ren & Stimpy Show on their hands). Even when pitching it, Antonucci knew that if Nickelodeon accepted the show, a lot would have to be changed for content. He was proven right when their first demand was complete creative control.
- The original pitch bible for the series
contains several differences from the final product:- The show was initially pitched as being about a group of teenagers, with the trials and tribulations of puberty being a running theme. Come the final show, and the cast would be aged down to preteens. Some remnants of the original idea remain, however, with "X Marks the Ed" focusing on Eddy getting a giant pimple and the kids being Free-Range Children at a level that would be more normal for high schoolers.
- The Eds' desire to fit in with their peers and seem grown-up is given heavy emphasis in the pitch bible, whereas in the final show, both of these elements only occasionally pop up and are almost always peripheral to their main goals of scamming kids for jawbreaker money.
- In the descriptions of each of the main trio, Edd is described as being "prone to crushes," whereas in the final show, he's no more predisposed to love than every other boy in the cul-de-sac. Likewise, Eddy is characterized as a prankster, whereas in the final show his main trait is his desire to scam his peers out of their money.
- One description of the intended art style states that "adults never bounce," implying that adult characters were supposed to play prominent on-screen roles as opposed to the faceless cameos they receive on the rare occasions when they show up in the final series.
- Ed's character page states that he has ADHD and that he draws in class all day. In the final show, he's instead ambiguously idiotic, and whatever artistic predilections he displays are far more idiosyncratic.
- Edd's character page claims that he isn't allowed to touch anything in his house while his parents are out. In the final show, while he's extremely cautious about the well-being of the place, he's more open to grabbing anything that he needs for a given situation. Additionally, it's stated that "he mails 'true loves' his socks," a habit that doesn't show up at all in the finished series.
- Eddy's character page describes him as an "exhibitionist" who once tricked his teacher into playing a porn film in class, and his father fears the possibility of him becoming a figure skater when he grows up; his brother is also implied to have left the family for less-than-savory reasons. In the final show, Eddy's relationship with his parents is not elaborated on to this extent, his sense of humor, while crass, isn't outright perverted, and his brother left the house simply because he grew up and got a job.
- Concept art pages featuring Rolf, Jimmy, Sarah, Jonny, Nazz, and Kevin labeled them as "Pals of the Eds." While Rolf, Jimmy, Jonny, and Nazz are generally friendly with the Eds unless provoked, Sarah and Kevin were anything but pals to the Eds. This implies that the two were nowhere near as antagonistic towards the Eds during development than they would be.
- Nazz's character page describes her as a role model for Sarah, who wants to be just like her when she grows up. In the final show, Sarah's relationship with Nazz is not much different from her relationship with everyone who isn't Jimmy or Edd.
- Kevin is described as a cynic who watches 60 Minutes; the final show instead depicts him as a boisterous jock.
- The Kanker Sisters' concept art describes them as having a collection of Tammy Faye Baker memorabilia; in the final show, the only significant memento of theirs is a ship-in-a-bottle, and they have no religious tendencies.
- In an interview with storyboard artist Scott Underwood, the episode "One + One Equals Ed" was supposed to include a scene where the Eds were randomly dressed as The Flintstones with Eddy as Fred, Double D as Wilma, and Ed as Dino. This concept was later reused for "The Hunt for Edosaurus" silent film scam as seen in the beginning of "Little Ed Blue", though without any "Flintstones" references.
- According to Tomasz Bednarek (Rolf's Polish VA) in an interview, Rolf was originally supposed to be a Latino speaking with a Mexican accent, and had a different name. After the network's representatives came to Sonica studio in Warsaw, Poland (who provided the show's Polish dub) pretty early into show's production process, they've realised that such concept (and jokes based on it) wouldn't work in the country due to Poland not having a Spanish-speaking minority, so at that point it was decided that Rolf would be a foreigner from Northern Europe instead.
- If an old promo is to be believed, Sarah originally had a big scary dog that she sicced on the Eds. Whether or not this dog is the same one that appears in The Mis-Ed-Ventures is unknown.
- On the topic of early promos, almost all of them seem to put emphasis on the Eds just being a bunch of kids who were troublemakers getting up to random shenanigans in their local neighborhood, overall promoting the series as a more typical 'joys of childhood' like series than what it would become. The Tagline for most of these promos was even "maybe it's just a phase?" As if to imply that it was going to be more a focus on the Eds just getting up to shenanigans in general. While the Eds would remain something of troublemakers in the series proper, much of the episodes would put focus on the Eds trying to make money through scams than whatever random shenanigans that might interest them. Dawn of the Eds is likely the closest to this original concept as advertised by the promos.
- The poorly edited third edition of The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons may have accidentally preserved some scrapped ideas for the series. Published in 2009, it refers to the other cul-de-sac kids as the Eds' friends, including "the more grown-up girl-next-door Nazz, and her nitwit skateboarding fiend younger brother, Jimmy." (Notably, those are the only two supporting characters mentioned by name.) While the encyclopedia is riddled with errors and omissions throughout, one specific mistake may lead one to believe that there is some sustenance behind this false information: it claims the show premiered on November 16, 1998, which was its scheduled premier date before production issues pushed it into 1999. Notably, the second edition of the encyclopedia was published in 1998, when the show was in initial production but had not yet premiered; it's not impossible that such a sloppy work got teaser information about the show in 1998 and simply did not correct the now-untrue information in the 2009 edition.
- The production of the previously ordered sixth season of the series was replaced by the 90-minute television film, Big Picture Show, not because of a lack of interest in new episodes, but rather because the entire a.k.a. Cartoon staff was occupied with the making of the film. Cartoon Network agreed to Antonucci's decision to make a film rather than the sixth season. Two sixth-season episodes were already in production, though, so Cartoon Network aired them as a special event in June of 2008.
Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show
Sketch of the deleted gum nightmare scene.
Many scenes from the movie were deleted and cut down to save time. These include the following.- In the early 2000s, when Cartoon Network decided to enter the movie business after Nickelodeon's success with The Rugrats Movie, an Ed, Edd n Eddy theatrical movie was fairly high up on Cartoon Network's priorities. But after The Powerpuff Girls Movie was a Box Office Bomb and made CN backpedal on their movie plans, the Eds getting a theatrical movie was nixed. The idea for a film adaptation of the series was eventually configured into this movie.
- While Sarah and Jimmy skip into the Trailer Park, they were supposed to get into a discussion on what they thought was under Edd's hat. At one point they mention the blonde theory, causing them to laugh.
- At some point during Jimmy's ridicule by the Kankers, Lee was supposed to kiss him and suck his entire face in. Not much to say why that was cut.
- Kevin and Nazz were supposed to ride across a bridge leading them to the Peach Orchards.
- Concept art shows there were supposed to be a couple location scenes extended, not to mention a few new ones; an abandoned gas station in the desert, a cave, and a drive-in theater where the Eds would walk by.
- While they were going down the river, Eddy was supposed to brag about his brother, which causes Edd to lament how he could never enjoy the company of a sibling, and Ed realizes that now he's running away, he'll never see Sarah again, resulting in him bawling his eyes out.
- A comment by one of the show's storyboarders says there was an unused campfire scene in The Movie that would have divulged on the characters' Hidden Depths.
- The scene on the bus would've included a nightmare sequence in which Jonny suffers Sanity Slippage, to the point where he imagines a piece of bubble gum turning into the Eds. Storyboards and layouts for this have been found.
- According to this blog post the scene where the Eds are camping out in the state park was meant to have TWO huge bits:
- We would have finally learned about the "Dodgeball Incident" and that what is underneath his hat is his scar.
- Eddy tries to warn them about Bro, but Ed and Edd ignore him. Eventually Ed shares expired gravy with them, which causes them to have a claymation nightmare about all their faults.
- The ending was supposed to have Eddy realizing Ed and Double D were the brothers he's always wished to have and turning on his own brother.
- Alternate endings involved the police arresting Bro. They were cut because the writers weren't sure on how to build the scene without the physical appearance of the cops, and having the kids say what the cops told them would be a cheat.
