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“Come and Learn With Pibby!” was a short that really took off with Adult Swim fans before it was revealed that it would not be moving forward with a series, and the creator behind it all has shared a wild look at what could have been if Pibby got a full pick up. The original short made its surprising debut during the spooky Halloween season back in 2021, and saw a children’s cartoon character from “Learning With Pibby” fighting for her life as a massive dark blob started taking over Cartoon Network and warping its characters beyond recognition in dark and twisted ways.
“Learning With Pibby” was such a hit following that pilot that fans immediately hoped it would get picked up for a full series. But in 2023, creator Dodge Greenley revealed that a full series would not be moving forward. In a new series of posts shared on Instagram, Greenley has shared more wild looks at what the Pibby series would have looked like including Courage’s (from Courage the Cowardly Dog) violent death, and Pibby hitting Snorks with hammers in a desperate fight.
Learning With Pibby Creator Reflects on Adult Swim Cancellation
Pibby creator Dodge Greenley also opened up about all of the emotions felt during the Adult Swim pitching process as they reflected in an emotional Instagram post, “In 2019, I pitched a show idea about a cute preschool character facing the apocalypse, and through 2020 I worked on her story in a real world apocalypse. I wish I could say developing her story was a delight, but honestly, it was like being punched in the soul every week.” Noting that following the debut of the pilot, it was labeled such a success that a full show seemed possible at that point. But the reality of the situation was much different.
The short was not picked up for a full series despite it appearance as part of Adult Swim’s April Fool’s Day prank back in 2022, had Greenley did not have any better luck working on pitching the series. Noting that following another failure during the writer’s strike, the creator went into a depression, “Every time someone asked me about Pibby, every comment, every message, pains me so deeply. I wish I could make more. I wish she could have her whole story.” Explaining that this is the end of Pibby’s story, this art shared is a rare look into what could have been.
RELATED: Adult Swim Seemingly Cancels Surprising Show After Two Seasons
What Happened With Learning With Pibby?
Learning With Pibby is certainly one of the more surprising passes from Adult Swim in the last few years. Greenley attributed the series to not getting picked up due to the fact it was an original show, and that does play a large part in why it might not have gotten off the ground. But with all of the changes within Warner Bros. Discovery as a whole, this kind of series might not have been a great fit either.
When it comes to the licenses of each of these shows within the Warner Bros. umbrella, it’s not hard to imagine how logistically tough it might have been. This includes the more violent takes on the ideas shared by Greenley, and whether or not the series would have been able to get the necessary permissions to pull off some of its more grander ideas. As of right now and likely for the foreseeable future, this is the end of Pibby’s journey. It’s a shame as animation fans can only dream of what could have been (and Greenley was put through this ordeal as a creator), but at least we did get that cool initial short out of it.
