''Out of the Box'' is an American children's television series which premiered on

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tel ...

on October 7, 1998, and ended its run on September 27, 2004, with reruns until June 2006 (December 2006 in the UK). The series takes place in "The Box", a playhouse made entirely of cardboard boxes, where two hosts, Tony James and Vivian Bayubay McLaughlin, make crafts, sing songs, and act out plays. Two special episodes were released on VHS by Walt Disney Home Video, ''Out of the Box: Trick or Treat'', and ''Out of the Box: Happy Holidays''. ''Trick or Treat'' is also available on the DVD entitled ''Rolie Polie Olie: A Spookie Ookie Halloween''. The series was created and executive produced by Douglas Love and was based on his series of books from

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

. Three seasons were filmed at Lifetime Studios in New York City. The series earned three Parents' Choice Awards for excellence in television and an Emmy nomination. Prior to its release on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

, on November 12, 2019, most of the show's episodes were considered

lost media Lost media are pieces of media that are nonexistent, missing, or unavailable to the general public. The term ''lost media'' primarily encompasses visual, audio, or audiovisual media such as films, television and radio broadcasts, music, and video ga ...

due to a lack of home releases.

Overview

Every day, Tony and Vivian take care of a small group of neighborhood children. They come and play in "The Box", a clubhouse made entirely out of cardboard boxes. They do crafts, sing songs, and act out stories revolved around the episode's theme. At the end of the day, either Tony or Vivian walking the kids home while the other recaps the day's events. Every episode ends with Tony and Vivian singing their Goodbye Song. The song is either sung a cappella by Vivian and with Tony tapping on a pumpkin or some other object, but in three episodes Tony plays it on his guitar. In two episodes, the kids join in to the Goodbye Song; after they finished, they wave to the viewers and the camera would move out as a piano ending of the Goodbye Song plays. In one episode, Vivian told the viewers that she will tell Tony they are thinking of him.

Cast

* Tony James as himself * Vivian Bayubay McLaughlin as herself * Brandon Zemel as Brandon (season 1) * Sue Rose as Cece (season 1) * Jill Schackner as Jill (season 1) * Matthew Storff as Matt (season 1) * Dane Hammond as Dane (seasons 1–2) * Aleisha Allen as Aleisha (seasons 1-3) * Nicholas Eng as Nicholas (seasons 1-3) * Celine Margaret Ordioni as Celine (season 2) * Spiridoula Cardona as Spiri (season 2) * Michael Mylett as Michael (season 2) * Tyler Lee as Tyler (season 2) * Christopher Jordan as Christopher (season 2) * Lindsey Pickering as Lindsey (season 2) * Elijah Rivera as Elijah (season 3) * Andrea Rosario as Andrea (season 3) * Madeleine Martin as Madeleine (season 3) * Bradley Duck as Brad (season 3) * Zachary Ross as Zachary (season 3) * Andrew Feinberg as Andrew (season 3)

Episodes

The series comprises 82 episodes in total. Unless otherwise stated, the source of production codes and airdates is the

United States Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that maintains records of copyright registration, including a copyright catalog. It is used by copyright title searchers who ar ...

Season 1 (1998)

Season 2 (1999–2000)

Season 3 (2002–2004)

Notes

References

External links

{{Playhouse Disney Disney Channel original programming 1990s American children's television series 2000s American children's television series 1990s American music television series 2000s American music television series 1998 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings American preschool education television series American children's musical television series Television series by Disney Disney Junior original programming Television series about children 1990s preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series