History Main / PilotMovie

* Similarly, ''Barnyard: The Original Party Animals'' ended up being a pilot for a Nick TV series from the same creators of ''Jimmy Neutron''.

* Similarly, ''Manga/OnePiece'' had the pilot {{OVA}} ''Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack''.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' has a short Anime movie, unusually released a week before the series itself; it was set four years earlier and starred a younger Taichi and Hikari, and its events are later stated to be the reason why the eight heroes are {{The Chosen One}}s. It was eventually dubbed as part one of ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}: TheMovie'', and it was arguably the part that fared the best [[{{Macekre}} in translation]].
* Similarly, ''Manga/OnePiece'' had a Pilot {{OVA}}.

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* ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' had a direct-to-video movie, which was later aired as the [[FiveEpisodePilot three-episode pilot]] of the TV show (Tim Allen reprised Buzz for the VHS and DVD, but in the pilot version and the series he was replaced by Patrick Warburton, who would voice him for the series).

* ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'' had a direct-to-video movie, which was later aired as the [[FiveEpisodePilot three-episode pilot]] of the TV show (Tim Allen reprised Buzz for the VHS and DVD, but in the pilot version and the series he was replaced by Patrick Warburton).

* Each of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series from ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Next Gen]]'' on began with a movie-length pilot. The tradition actually began with the development of ''Star Trek: Phase II''; though that series would never be produced, its pilot movie, "In Thy Image", was rewritten and expanded into ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture''.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants The [=SpongeBob=] Movie: It's A Wonderful Sponge]]'' is this to ''Kamp Koral'', with both centering on a young [=SpongeBob=] going to camp.

** The [[ContinuityReboot 2015 reboot series]] also had a pilot movie (although since the movie also functions on its own, the series that follows it may be an example of RecycledTheSeries).

* The “classic” ''WesternAnimation/BlinkyBill'' series began with a movie that set up the events of the first season.
** The [[ContinuityReboot 2015 reboot]] also had a pilot movie (although since the movie also functions on its own, the series that follows it may be an example of RecycledTheSeries).

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' started with "Woo-oo"

* The first two episodes of ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk'' originally aired as a two-hour movie.

** The first series had a pilot movie for the American run. Funimation used "Curse of the Blood Rubies" as the pilot to sell the series. Because their initial dub had so much footage cut out from the actual movie, they had to copy/paste five minutes of footage from episode 2 to fill in for the lost time.

Contrast: PoorlyDisguisedPilot (a redirect of this trope name, Backdoor Pilot, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_pilot#Backdoor_pilots can also be used]] to describe pilot movies). Compare and contrast with the FiveEpisodePilot, a MultiPartEpisode at the beginning of a series that is frequently [[CompilationMovie repackaged as a Pilot Movie]]. (Sometimes, a straight example of a Pilot Movie can be re-cut into several episodes to be aired alongside the rest of its series.)

* ''Film/TurboAPowerRangersMovie'', though not a pilot for the entire series, acts as a pilot for the fifth season of the long-running show ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo''.

* "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act" from ''Series/{{Emergency}}'', a two-hour made-for-TV movie which focuses on the effort to train L. A. County firefighters as paramedics and get the legal backing necessary for them to use their training. It features a cameo from ''Series/AdamTwelve'' characters Reed and Malloy (leading to a later MindScrew when the guys are discussing a recent ep of that series)

* The eventual ''Anime/MazingerZ'' spinoff ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'' started off as a 30-minute movie named ''UchuEnbanDaisenso''.

* ABC Family's ''SamuraiGirl'' miniseries was supposed to lead into a TV series that never materialized.

* Starting in 1994, the Action Pack was a series of TV movies that were all intended as Pilot Movies, several of the titles having 4 or 5 movies made before being turned in series. ''Series/{{Hercules The Legendary Journeys}}'' was the most successful of these, but there were also series made out of ''TekWar'' and ''Vanishing Son''.

* ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' was a pilot for ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' (establishing things like Abis Mal as a villain, Genie being somewhat weaker and his powers being on the fritz so that he couldn't solve the problem-of-the-episode easily, Iago being something of an ally to Aladdin and Co.) in addition to tying up some dangling threads from the first film.

** His first series ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'' also started as a TV movie showing the Ingles moving across the country to Walnut Creek. To this day it is syndicated as part of a movie package to stations as opposed to being cut into two parts for the series.

* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' had this ''sorta''. The movie aired on Showtime, while the sitcom was picked up by ABC. Only Creator/MelissaJoanHart and Michelle Beaudoin appeared in both. The sitcom changed the setting from Riverdale to Westbridge, inverted the unrequited love plot (Sabrina now pining for Harvey), swapped the two aunts' personalities around, dropped Sabrina's RomanticFalseLead, renamed her best friend Jenny and retooled her AlphaBitch rival from Katie to Libby. The sitcom had its own pilot episode anyway, making the movie some kind of alternate continuity story.

Contrast: PoorlyDisguisedPilot (a redirect of this trope name, Backdoor Pilot, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_pilot#Backdoor_pilots can also be used]] to describe pilot movies).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' had its first thirteen episodes combined into one movie called ''Mumfie's Quest'', [[AdaptationDisplacement which is more well-known than the original episodes it comprised of]]. Unlike most examples, it did get a somewhat limited theatrical release (as part of a summer movie program in 1997 only camp and daycare groups could attend).

* It's assumed this is why ''WesternAnimation/WonderPark'' exists, since it's a Nickelodeon movie in the same vein as ''Jimmy Neutron'' and ''Barnyard'', and a television series is planned.

* The ''Film/WonderWoman1974'' starring Creator/CathyLeeCrosby as a powerless, karate-choppin’, lasso and tiara-less, blond Wonder Woman was meant to be the start of a series but Creator/{{ABC}} didn't pick it up. Instead, a year later another pilot movie called ''The New Original Wonder Woman'' starring the Creator/LyndaCarter as more traditional Wonder Woman was made which became the start of the ''Series/WonderWoman'' series.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'' was preceded by [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials two half-hour TV specials]] and a [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie feature-length film]].

** Similarly, ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' had a premiere movie that was later re-aired as a three-part episode, and renamed to "House of Bloo's".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' had a pilot theatrical movie that preceded the TV series on Nickelodeon.

* A 2003 TV movie called ''Mermaids'' was intended as a pilot for a series about three mermaid sisters. Networks apparently weren't interested, as they felt it was too similar to ''{{Series/Charmed}}''. The concept did reappear again in the form of the Australian TV show ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'' - which was more of a SliceOfLife approach, as opposed to the adventure aspect of ''Mermaids''.