Nemo's Ocean Adventures Test Pilot

In November 2003, HIT Entertainment pitched a test pilot to Walt Disney Animation Television for their upcoming collaboration project, Nemo's Ocean Adventures.
== Plot ==
The pilot starts off with Marlin and Nemo sleeping in their sea anemone home as the sun rises over the ocean. The sunlight wakes Marlin up, but not Nemo. After doing his usual brushing routine and fully waking up, he swims over to Nemo and whispers, "Wake up, Nemo! You've got school today!" Nemo slowly opens one sleepy eye and replies, "Not now Dad, I'm in the middle of a fantastic dream..." and before he can fall back to sleep, Marlin shakes him and says, "Come on sleepyhead, I'll race you to Sandy Patch School!" Nemo opens his other eye, and feeling less sleepy, he says to Marlin, "You want to race me? Well, I can't say no to that!" and zips over to his brushing spot. After brushing himself, Nemo zips away from the anemone at top speed, yelling, "Bet you can't catch me!" Marlin swims away too, but can't keep up with Nemo. Marlin pants, "Nemo... Nemo... Please... Slow down... Your dad's... not as fast... as he used to be... back then!" Hearing those words, Nemo slows down so he can let Marlin overtake him. Nine minutes later, after a long chat on the way there, the two clownfish approach Sandy Patch School. Nemo's best buddies Tad, Pearl, Sheldon, and Squirt eagerly swim over to him and say, "Good morning, Nemo!" in unison. Nemo greets them back with "Morning, friends! How are you lot today?" Sheldon replies, "Great!" Pearl adds, "Especially when our ocean hero has arrived!" while nuzzling him (Tad giggles quietly to himself, knowing that something is going on with their relationship). Squirt then does the "noggin" routine with Nemo, then tells him how much he missed spending time with him. Nemo and Squirt share a hug while Nemo says, "I've missed having fun with my best friend too!" Squirt then plans a camping trip taking place at another part of the Great Barrier Reef tonight. Everyone agrees, and head over to Mr. Ray for their first lesson. Crush and Marlin wave goodbye to their sons. As soon as the two best friends approach Mr. Ray, he announces, "Good morning, crew! I'm hosting a trivial quiz game for you all to play!" The children cheer. Mr. Ray then explains the instructions of how to play. Afterwards, everyone is ready and the game begins. The first question Mr. Ray asks is, "So then, what is the name of the sea creature that protects itself with prickly spines?" The students answer, "Sea urchin!" Mr. Ray answers with, "Well done, explorers! That's the right answer!" Everyone cheers. "Next question: how did the Spanish dancers get their name?" Kathy goofily replies, "Because they're dancers from Spain?" Mr. Ray chuckles, then replies, "No Kathy, it's because their gills look like dancers' dresses!" A few minutes later, Tad gets bored and says, "Come on guys, this is boring! Let's go exploring!" Everyone follows Tad to an unknown part of the reef.
== Cast ==
* Janet James as Nemo
* Matt Berry as Marlin
* Vanessa Stacey as Dory
* Patrick Allen as Gill
* Barry Humphries as Bruce
* Andrew Stanton as Crush
* Maria Darling as Squirt and Kathy
* Geoffrey Rush as Nigel
* Ken Barrie as Mr. Ray
* Jo Wyatt as Sheldon
* Ben Small as Tad
* Emma Tate as Pearl
* Kate Harbour as Jimmy
* Lizzie Waterworth as Sandy Plankton
* Martin Clunes as Arnold
== Trivia ==
* The voice cast for this pilot would later be used for the final show's UK dub (excluding Mr. Ray's pilot voice actor Ken Barrie of Postman Pat fame before the role was given to Rob Rackstraw).
* Despite the company being bought out by HIT in 2002, the pilot features the Gullane Entertainment logo at the end.
* Barry Humphries, Andrew Stanton, and Geoffrey Rush recorded their lines in their homes and sent them to HIT via email.