A project conceived in 1964 by Jon Stone and Tom Whedon, initially based on the fairy tale of Snow White. The two writers were familiar with the Muppets from their appearances on The Tonight Show, and wrote the pilot with Jim Henson's creations in mind. Shot in October of 1965 for ABC, the pilot was to have been the first in a serial of episodes with cliffhangers, each telling a part of the familiar Cinderella story. Characters created for the pilot, including Splurge, were performed by Jim, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and George Latshaw.^[1] Joe Raposo composed the music, making this his first collaboration with Henson and Stone. The network did not pick the project up as a series, and the pilot never aired.

This may be seen as "unfinished" since it was the pilot episode to a series of stories that were never realized as they were originally intended. The concept, however, would be restructured into the television special Hey Cinderella! (filmed in October 1968 and aired on ABC over a year later) which spawned a short series of "Tales from Muppetland" specials. Much of the original alumni (including Henson, Stone, and Raposo) came back to work on the special, and reunited again shortly after as Sesame Street began production.

While several of Henson's character designs for the pilot exist, footage of the original pilot is lost.^[1]

Character sketches

Designs by Jim Henson in 1965.^[1] Due to the pilot’s obscurity, it is unknown if these characters were actually built.

The King

The Black Duke

General Babbit

See also

• Snow White (series)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Falk, Karen. "Jim Henson's Red Book entry", 10/22/1965 – Tape Cinderella pilot

External Links

• Jim Henson's Red Book entry on the pilot