Store-bought Pineapples

Store-bought Pineapples is the pilot episode of the British animated series Meelk n' Creem. It was written and directed by BaconMatthew and premiered on Nickelodeon on July 3, 2000. An early version of the episode was produced in 1997 as a pilot, however it was remade to a higher quality for its television broadcast.

In the episode, palace guards Meelk and Creem are assigned by King Iyce Creem to pick up some pineapples for a party. The episode is a spoof of action films, greatly overdramatising its simple concept.

The episode was Nickelodeon's fifth highest broadcast of the week with an audience of 0.24 million people. It received positive reviews, particularly for its action film spoofing.

Plot
The episode opens with a meta sequence in which Meelk and Creem eagerly anticipate introducing the series to the audience. They mix up the address of the introduction ceremony, however, and accidentally break into the Academy Awards, from which they are kicked out.

Production of the pilot
In 1996 BaconMatthew was recruited by Nickelodeon to pitch an animated series. He began to develop several concepts, settling on one following anthropomorphic dairy products living their day-to-day lives. Further development introduced the ideas of semi-intelligent monsters seeking out the dairy and a ninja ruling them as their queen.

The pilot was successful and Nickelodeon greenlit a series.

Differences between the original pilot and final episode
BaconMatthew decided to remake the pilot as the first episode of the series, due to his particular fondness of the episode. While the original pilot was mostly independently animated, the broadcast version was cel-animated by Rough Draft Studios Korea. BaconMatthew also voiced Creem and King Iyce Creem in the pilot as a placeholder until a permanent actor could be found. Stephen Fry was cast as King Iyce Creem in 1998 and Jason O'Mara as Creem in 1999 and they have voiced these characters ever since.

Cast

 * BaconMatthew as Meelk, Sundai, Omlit, Shopping Monster #2, Guard #3
 * Jason O'Mara as Creem, Cheese Father, Guard #3
 * Tress MacNeille as Queen Kickback, Graytid, Shopping Monster #1, Cheese Mother, Cheese Kid, Store Worker
 * Stephen Fry as King Iyce Creem
 * Mary Kay Bergman as Convenience Store Shopper, Store Manager, Guard #1, Shopping Monster #3
 * Richard Pearce as Monster in Guillotine, Pineapple Shopper

Broadcast and reception
The episode premiered on July 3, 2000 at 6pm on Nickelodeon to an audience of 0.24 million viewers, becoming the sixth highest rated Nickelodeon broadcast of the week.

When the channel Dessin2 was launched on March 5, 2018, the episode was one of four in the series to be part of the Everystravaganza event to introduce the channel.

In the United States, the episode premiered on December 11, 2000 to an audience of 0.94 million viewers.