Interesting video I saw on YouTube which definitively shows whether Nibbler’s shadow was in the original airing of the pilot. Skip to 23:50 for the answer.
tl;dw?
- In season 4, an episode shows a character going back in time to the events that occurred during the pilot episode. Even though the character was not in the pilot episode, this S4 episode implies that they were there in the background, off-camera, the entire time, and playing a pivotal role in the events that kicked off the series.
- If you watch a certain scene in the actual pilot episode, you can briefly see that character’s shadow in the background, implying that the creators had actually planned these time travel shenanigans from the beginning.
- Many fans claim that the shadow was not actually in the pilot when it was first aired; that it was only added in reruns and home releases after that S4 episode was written. Other fans claim to have a home-taped recording of the very original broadcast and that they do see the shadow.
- The person that made this video came across a social media post where a user showed off a pre-release promotional tape of the pilot episode. They contacted the user and purchased the tape for an undisclosed amount.
- After a drawn out sequence detailing their multi-camera setup used to record the tape playing on their TV (in an attempt to prove nothing is being faked), we see that the shadow does indeed appear in the scene just as it does in all reruns, etc.
tl;dr
This person shows the shadow on a supposed pre-release promotional tape of the episode, so the answer is probably a yes.
Tl;dr?
Nibbler
Tap for spoiler
The shadow is there
Instead of a half-hour video, it could have been a single word.
Oldest mystery? Just watch the fucking episode
IIRC Nibbler’s shadow was in the storyboard for the pilot. Shown on the DVD extras
Meanwhile, Disenchantment seemed like it was written episode by episode. I guess it all tied up in the end, but I didn’t care about 90+ percent of the arcs, so the whole series felt half-baked to me. I enjoyed it, but something felt off, by miles.
Very different show runners.
Answer: yes. It was there.
They did a minor retcon later. The scene is shown again and as well as the original shadow (And nibbler’s eye in the bin), you see Fry’s shadow too, since he time travels back there in the Why of Fry. Unfortunately I can’t remember which episode this is in at the minute
Jurassic Bark.
And for reference, the pilot,
