Original pilot

In December 2010/January 2011, Disney Channel Latin America showed footage of what seems to be the pilot of the series "Fish Tales", the original title of the series. It was written and directed by William Reiss.

Plot
The footage shows Oscar (different character design) lying on the floor, and his hair pops up. Milo (different character design) gasps and spins a ship wheel. While Milo holds up a piece of paper (Bea's picture?), Bea (similar character design) looks at it, while Oscar from behind peeks. Milo and Oscar then lay on the floor.

Production
The series, and this episode, started out when Noah Z. Jones was contacted by Disney executives after seeing some of Jones's work online. They asked Jones if he would like to do anything with his drawings for a television series. Jones sent Disney 5 ideas for a short, and out of those ideas, Disney picked one that would eventually become Fish Hooks.

According to Chelsea Kane, the pilot was originally a 5-minute short, which was produced in 2009. She confirmed that she voiced Bea in the short.

During early production, Fish Hooks was called Fish Tales. The original pilot is likely to be an early version of "Bea Stays in the Picture" (the premiere episode), and parts of it have only been seen in a promotional advertisement for 2011 TV series and movies in Latin America. It is unknown however, if Fish Hooks or Fish Tales was the title at the time of producing the pilot.