Trivia / Out of the Box

• The Danza:
  • Tony James and Vivian Bayubay McLaughlin as Tony and Vivian; the Disney+ Details page even makes it seem like they have the same surnames in the show as they do in real life, even though they rarely use them.
  • All of the kids go by their real names.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Only two VHS tapes were released: Out of the Box: Trick or Treat and Out of the Box: Happy Holidays. The episode Trick or Treat was also rereleased on the Rolie Polie Olie: A Spookie Ookie Halloween DVD. However, the near-complete series is now available on Disney+.
• Missing Episode: Playhouse Disney only aired "Let's Eat Out", "The Gift", and "Treasures" a handful of times and Disney+ doesn't have them, either. Fans have theorized that this is because the plots were recycled into other episodes. This was confirmed by cast member Dane Hammond, who mentioned that “Let’s Eat Out” was reshot as a separate episode.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: There is a rumor that the Missing Episode “The Gift” is actually an early version of the season 2 episode “Revealing Feelings”, except with Tony being the only adult present instead of Vivian. To date, this has never been confirmed or disputed.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: It seems that season 3 was meant to premiere in the U.S. in September of 2001 (and that some foreign markets did actually begin airing it at that time), but was put on hold after the terrorist attacks that occurred that month (it finally premiered in November of the following year).
• Similarly Named Works: "Out of the Box" is also the name of an episode of Doc McStuffins.
• Uncredited Role: The episodes “Trick Or Treat”, “It’s Mother’s Day” and “It’s Father’s Day” have the kids real-life siblings, mothers and fathers visiting the clubhouse, but they aren’t credited, likely for discretion reasons.
• Vindicated by Reruns: Back when it first premiered on Playhouse Disney, the show was only decently popular compared to the other programming on the block. When it was added to Disney+, its popularity increased, mainly because of parents sharing the show with their kids because they grew up with it.
• What Could Have Been: Originally there were supposed to be three hosts, with each one representing one of the show’s segments. While Tony would have been the one to represent the music segments, and Viv the one to represent the arts and crafts segments, the story time segments would have been represented by a Steve-like character.

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