Characters

• Uniqua
• Pablo
• Tyrone
• Pablo's Mother (voice, draft version)

Plot

NOTE: This plot was taken from the leaked script draft.

The episode begins with Uniqua hiding behind some trees, She tells the viewer that she is hiding, and asks them if they want to know why. She begins to sing a song called Uniqua the Adventurer. In the song, she explains that she will make a “mysterious sound” to draw Pablo and Tyrone into the woods, and when they cross the river and reach The Big Tree, she will jump out and tickle them. Later, Pablo and Tyrone emerge out of their houses and play soccer, however, they hear Uniqua’s “mysterious sound” and begin to investigate, figuring it’s from the woods. The backyard transitions into the woods.

They begin to sing a song called Hiking Through the Woods. The song ends and Pablo tells Tyrone that they should look out for quicksand, They begin to reprise Hiking Through the Woods. After they walk off, Uniqua is shown to be in a tree, she tells the viewer about “how funny it is” that they don’t even know she’s there. She then sneaks off, continuing through the woods. Later, in a different part of the woods, Pablo and Tyrone are marching through the woods, the question why they haven’t seen the “mysterious creature” yet, Pablo then points at an acorn, saying he “now has a souvenir” They continue walking and end up in a area of the woods that has “crunchy leaves” Pablo says there might be quicksand under the leaves, but Tyrone reassure him that it isn’t by putting a stick in a “sandy patch” however it sticks, meaning it’s quicksand.

Uniqua makes the sound again, and Pablo and Tyrone follow the sound. Later, deeper in the woods, Uniqua explains to the viewer that Pablo and Tyrone are “right behind her”, and that The Big Tree is not far away, but first, she has to get across the river. She then successfully crosses the river by jumping on stones in the water. Pablo and Tyrone then discover the river, and have to find a way to cross it, Pablo then comes up with the idea to swing on some vines, however, when he swings it, he falls down in the exact same area he was before. Tyrone tells Pablo that he has to do a “Big Tarzan yell” and this works and they both get across. Later, near The Big Tree, Uniqua says “It’s almost tickle time” and makes the sound again, Pablo and Tyrone hear it and figure that the sound is coming from right behind them and slowly follow it. They sing a song called Mysterious. As they get closer to Uniqua, she gets ready to tickle them. When reach her, she jumps to tickle them, however, she lands in quicksand. Pablo and Tyrone find out that she was doing the sound.

They then help her out using their sticks. She thanks them, Tyrone then asks Uniqua “if he heard her say something about tickling” She responds that he did, and then she begins to tickle them, they all begin to laugh and tickle each other, Pablo’s mom then calls them for snack time. they discuss their favorite parts of the adventure, and the woods transitions back into the backyard. They reprise the theme song, and Pablo asks them if they want to have a snack at his house, which is bananas. They all then agree and say goodbye to the viewer afterwards.

Production

The pilot was made at Nickelodeon's New York animation office, known as Nick Digital. It was made using motion capture, a process that involves digitally mapping out movements. Three dancers performed the movements for Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone. The actors' proportions were very different from the animated characters, so motion capture did not work very well. The animators had to manually change many of the movements to make them work. For the rest of the show, motion capture was not used; instead, footage of live-action dancers was used as more of a rough guideline.

Trivia

• In one scene from the pilot, Uniqua falls in quicksand, and Pablo and Tyrone use sticks to get her out. This scene was eventually remade for the episode The Heart of the Jungle.
• Tasha and Austin did not appear in this pilot, although both were planned characters for the series.
• A reel showcasing parts of this pilot's intro and proceeding plotline surfaced online in early August 2025.
• An unfinished script detailing what is believed to be the events of this pilot, under the title Hiking Through the Woods, surfaced online on December 25, 2025, on Christmas Day.
  • However, this it is a third draft of the story and is likely not the final version of the pilot, so it is unknown if this title was finalized.
  • In the script, Pablo’s unseen mother calls the characters for snack time. This is the first and, to date, only time any of the main characters’ parents are heard.
• An earlier working name of the episode was A walk in the woods, seen in an early pitch bible, also providing lyrics for the song that would later become the name of the episode. In this early version, much of the plot is the same, however the boys encounter a snake that needs help finding its lost tail. It is believed that this snake would later be reworked into a different animal, thus becoming Sherman in The Heart of the Jungle. It can therefore be assumed that both episodes originated from this early script, only later being split off and expanded upon.
• In the final episode of the series in American airing order, Pablor and the Acorns, references to hiking through the woods are mentioned, along with the direct presence of acorns. During production of the episode, the following line was present, spoken by Austin- "Yeah! I'd rather be hiking through the woods with you guys!". This line would not make it into the final episode, however Tasha would end up saying "I love hiking in the woods." in the broadcasted version. It is unknown if these were intentional nudges to the existence of this first animated episode.