A series referred to as The Environmental Show by the press, but called W.I.L.D. during production, was proposed for the Disney Channel in 1990 with the intentions of educating young people about animals and the environment. The program would be set in a TV station completely run by a cast of animal characters.
Jim Henson spoke about the project with People magazine, expressing the notion that "preteens love animals... You can turn that interest into an awareness of problems in the world today."
Even though this version of the show was never produced, the premise was eventually reworked and repurposed for The Animal Show, premiering in 1994.
Characters[]
Michael K. Frith designed a group of new Muppet characters to star in the series:
- Ponce D. Lion, the station's head anchor
- Netty, the lifestyles and culture reporter who would dole out sage advice
- Spike, an eager and hardworking termite
- Mingo, a fish who reports on oceanic affairs and works for the station's "think tank"
- Cass, a somewhat rigid cassowary bird with high ambitious
Many other animal characters would appear as correspondents and guests. Kermit the Frog was additionally mentioned in the pitch documents as making special appearances covering the swamp. Publicity photos for the series feature a variety of repurposed animal puppets from previous productions, including a bear from The Muppets Take Manhattan that would later become Bobo, and Milton and Ruth from The Song of the Cloud Forest.
When the series did not go forward, some of the puppets made for the series later turned up in other projects. The puppet used as Netty would be reused in the Dinosaurs episode "Honey, I Miss the Kids" (as an amphibian named Tad). Spike's puppet would be a nameless termite featured prominently in Billy Bunny's Animal Songs. The puppet for Mingo would wind up in The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss episode "The Cat in the Hat's Indoor Picnic."
