Watch the Crash Bandicoot TV show that nearly was

The producer for the original Crash Bandicoot game, David Siller, allowed the user to upload the mini cartoon on YouTube. Not a 3D animation test to get a sense of character movement and dimensions, but an actual 2D hand-drawn mini-cartoon produced by Universal.

It could have been used in the actual game to bookend the bits you played. Sadly, the cartoon was never used or even added to the final game. Siller said later in comments that the plan was for the animated scenes to be source material for a full animated series, provided the game was successful and well received. Siller believes Sony didn’t want this kind of show because they were heavily pushing the idea of “3D” graphic interfaces. However, owing to David Siller’s position in the game’s development (and the way the second set of footage ends), his explanation seems by far the most likely. This animation was influenced by Animaniacs and even a few others popular at that time.

Since Universal Interactive Studios was located close to the Universal Theme Park, a Crash Bandicoot “attraction was also discussed” at one point.

Even more interesting to think about is the fact that Sony likely wouldn’t have picked up the property had it ended up partnering with the house of Mario for the Nintendo PlayStation, which would have meant that the Crash Bandicoot cartoon may have very well happened with Universal. UIS even did some consulting for them. A cartoon had a game which had a ride which had a children’s cereal?

The pilot hosts familiar Crash villains, the notorious Dr. Neo Cortex, Crash’s girlfriend Tawna, and the famous Crash Bandicoot himself.