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For worldwide versions of this channel, see Cartoon Network (disambiguation).
Cartoon Network
CountryUnited States
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia
Ownership
OwnerTurner Broadcasting System (a Time Warner company)

Cartoon Network (abbreviated CN, corporately known as The Cartoon Network, Inc.) is an American cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting which primarily shows animated programming. The original American channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 with the Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit being its first-ever aired program.[citation needed]

Cartoon Network originally served as a 24-hour outlet for classic animation properties from the Turner Broadcasting libraries and is mainly youth-oriented, but shares channel space with a late-night adult-oriented channel programming block called Adult Swim. Since 2003, Cartoon Network began airing a small amount of live-action programming, mostly movies from Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, both of which are also owned by Time Warner. Over the succeeding years, Cartoon Network has become more aggressive in its live-action development.

History

Late 1980s-1990s

Early developments and the launch

File:Original Cartoon Network logo.png
The original Cartoon Network logo used from October 1, 1992 to June 14, 2004. Still in use as a legal production card for Cartoon Network Studios, as the 'teeth' in the Adult Swim 'skull' production card and as of May 29, 2010, promotional bumpers, which use a variation of this logo.

In 1986, Ted Turner's cable-TV conglomerate acquired most of the MGM film library (which also included Gilligan's Island and its animated spin-offs, the U.S. rights to a majority of the RKO Radio Pictures library, and the a.a.p. catalog which includes the pre-1950 Warner Bros. film library, the Harman and Ising Merrie Melodies except Lady, Play Your Mandolin!, the pre-August 1948[1] color Warner Bros. cartoons and the Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios Popeye cartoons originally released by Paramount Pictures). In 1988, its cable channel Turner Network Television launched and had gained an audience with its film library. In 1990, it purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions and acquired its large library as well as most of the Ruby-Spears library.

By October 1, 1992, Cartoon Network was created as an outlet for Turner's considerable library of animation, and the initial programming on the channel consisted exclusively of reruns of classic Warner Bros. cartoons (the pre-August 1948 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies), the 1933-1957 Popeye cartoons, MGM cartoons (like Tom and Jerry and Droopy Dog), and Hanna-Barbera cartoons (like The Jetsons and The Flintstones), with many Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons like Wally Gator used as time fillers, all from the Turner-owned library.

Since its launch, the channel has always been broadcasting 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The network's first theme was the Checkerboard theme with bumpers involving the Cartoon Network's first logo, cartoon characters, and the show's logo. The Checkerboard theme lasted until Cartoon Network received its "Powerhouse" makeover on June 12, 1998.

Most of the short cartoons were aired in half-hour or hour-long packages, usually separated by character or studio—Down Wit' Droopy D aired old Droopy Dog shorts, The Tom and Jerry Show presented the classic cat-and-mouse team, and Bugs and Daffy Tonight provided classic Looney Tunes shorts. Late Night Black and White showed early black and white cartoons (mostly from the Fleischer Studios), and ToonHeads aired themed cartoon shorts with original, unique bumpers and trivia about the cartoons they were showing. Another noteworthy early show was High Noon Toons, which was a programming block hosted by cowboy hand puppets Haas and Lil' Jo. The majority of the classic animation that was shown on Cartoon Network no longer airs on a regular basis, with the exception of Tom and Jerry.

The original series and the Time Warner acquisition

The network's first original show was The Moxy Show and was created in 1993. In 1994, Hanna-Barbera's new subsidiary Cartoon Network Studios was founded and started production on The What-A-Cartoon! Show (also known as World-Premiere Toons and "What-A-Cartoon"), a series of creator-driven short cartoons that premiered on Cartoon Network in 1995. It was the network's third original series (the second was Space Ghost Coast to Coast). The project was spearheaded by several Cartoon Network executives, plus The Ren and Stimpy Show creator John Kricfalusi (who was an advisor to the network at the time) and Fred Seibert (who was formerly one of the driving forces behind the Nicktoons, and would go on to produce the similar animation anthology series Oh, Yeah! Cartoons).

The chief purpose of The What A Cartoon Show was to help Cartoon Network expand its library of exclusive programming and it introduced a number of new cartoon ideas. Six of them were spun off into their own series runs. These six series, Dexter's Laboratory (1996), Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken (1997), The Powerpuff Girls (1998), Mike, Lu and Og, and Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999) became the origins of the network's original cartoons, collectively known as Cartoon Cartoons. I Am Weasel (1997) and Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999) were the first two Cartoon Cartoons not to be introduced in a What A Cartoon short.

In 1996, Turner merged with Time Warner.[2] This consolidated ownership of all the WB cartoons, so now post-July 1948 and the former Sunset-owned black-and-white cartoons (which Warner Brothers had reacquired in the 1960s)[3] releases were being shown on the network, leading up to a 2000 announcement that Cartoon Network would be the exclusive TV home of the classic Warner Bros. animated library. Newer animated productions by WB also started appearing on the network—mostly reruns of shows that had aired on Kids' WB, plus certain new programs such as Justice League.

Cartoon Network's programming would not be available in Canada until 1997, when a Canadian specialty network Teletoon (and its French language counterpart) was launched.

Cartoon Network underwent its makeover on June 12, 1998, launching the Powerhouse theme that was used until June 13, 2004. The Powerhouse theme had bumpers involving characters from most of the cartoons it aired, or just objects and places with the Cartoon Network's Checkerboard logo at that time, or the word NEXT used in several "Coming up Next" bumpers, and the Checkerboard logo. There were multiple color variations for the backgrounds (Yellow for morning timeslot, green for afternoon timeslot, blue for evening timeslot, purple for action cartoons (used in all timeslots), black for overnight timeslot (starting at midnight), red for specials and Thanksgiving, black with orange outlines for Halloween, and light blue for Christmas.) Often, an announcer would say something witty over them (up until 2003), other times they had a music cue that was a cross between the show's theme and Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse". There were animated bit segments, with several variations for each one. The "Powerhouse" theme music was later removed in 2003, and they would often use the show's own theme song in bumpers, and the different color schemes were misplaced during time slots.

2000s

Making way for new series

File:CN logo.svg
The second Cartoon Network logo used from June 14, 2004 to May 29, 2010.

On June 14, 2004, Cartoon Network updated its next logo, and its slogan: “This is Cartoon Network!”[4] This is the first CN era with a female voice announcing for the network (Although she was eventually replaced with no such voices announcing for the network since). Cartoon Network president Shawn Grove from 1992-2004 left Cartoon Network due to a major heart attack after Jim Samples took his place. The first program ever aired on the relaunched Cartoon Network was Rescue Heroes. The bumps now featured 2D cartoon characters from their shows interacting in a CGI city composed of sets from their shows. By now, nearly all of Cartoon Network's classic cartoon programming had been relocated to its sister network Boomerang to make way for new programming, with the exception of a select few, such as Tom and Jerry (1940, first aired on Cartoon Network in 1992), a longtime staple of the Turner networks.

The following year, 2005, was known as the golden age for Cartoon Network, having as much as 20 new shows with new episodes for each one, at once. The network also was heavily promoted in 2005 with new commercials on a daily basis. Then, the network took of more shows from the 1990s (Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, etc.), put them on a 30 minute block called The Cartoon Cartoon Show and scrapped the CGI City look. They were still seen from time to time and were finally abandoned for good right after the network scrapped the CGI city look on April 10, 2006. Some shows like Time Squad (2001), Mike, Lu & Og (1999), I Am Weasel (1997), Looney Tunes (1930, first aired on the network in 1992), and Sheep in the Big City (2000) were taken off the network completely. Cartoon Network Latin America is the last to use the CGI city look, and is still using the look to this day.

On April 10, 2006, Cartoon Network's slogan was a simplistic “Cartoon Network — Yes!,” as spoken by Fred Fredburger, a character on The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. The network also used bumps featuring the cast of Camp Lazlo (2005) as stick puppets and characters in front of a red background.

The 2006-2007 campaign featured three different styles of bumps. The first style is "Lunchbox of Doom", featuring an assortment of show clips inside a CGI Gothic lunchbox, a reference to an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. The second is "VS.", comparing two cartoon characters. Their next style was a reprise of the 2004 CGI City look, using flat, dark colors.

Refurbishing

Jim Samples, president of the Cartoon Network, resigned on February 9, 2007 due to the Boston Mooninite Scare. Samples had been network president for three years after Shawn Grove.[5] Following Samples's resignation, Stuart Snyder[6] was named his successor, and took control in May. Under Snyder's lead, Cartoon Network underwent a number of changes. Through 2007, Cartoon Network retained the image campaign that began in 2006, albeit a slightly refreshed version.

On September 1, 2007, the network look was revamped, and bumpers and station identification were themed to The Hives song "Fall is Just Something That Grown-Ups Invented", and aired for several months. Another bumper named "Ridiculously Short Cartoons" airs shorts edited from shows as if they lasted five or 10 seconds. A month later, on October 15, the channel began broadcasting in 1080i high definition.[7]

Every October since 2007, Cartoon Network airs 40 episodes of the former Fox Kids program Goosebumps, which is based on the novels written by R.L. Stine. It is unknown whether or not Cartoon Network will maintain the show for permanent, or for annual airings.

In April 2008, Cartoon Network began airing a one minute sign-off bumper, depicting a child's daily activities from sunrise to nighttime. In the end, it reads "Good Night. See you tomorrow!" before the Adult Swim program block began. It was their first sign-off bumper after 7 years of showing such a nightly block. This sign-off was later revised to match the network's new look. It now simply shows a square saying "10:00", followed by "Check Ya Later" and the new CN logo. The entire sign off is in a nighttime blue color to resemble the night. Cartoon Network also airs a sign-on after Adult Swim go off the air at 6:00 am. Similar to the same concept that the sign-off has, the sign-on is in typically brighter colors or the traditional CN black and white. Warnings now also appear before programs rated TV-PG and higher airing outside of Adult Swim.

A new direction

Cartoon Network announced at its 2008 Upfront that it was working on a new project called "Cartoonstitute", which was headed by animators Craig McCracken (as executive producer) and Rob Renzetti (as supervising producer). Both report to Rob Scorcher, who created the idea. The program would've worked in a way similar to Ace, The Helpful Place, by creating at least 150 pieces of animation within 20 months.[8] Cartoonstitute was eventually cancelled, and only one of the shorts, Regular Show, was selected.[9]

Cartoon Network has also begun to air some imported Canadian programs from Telephonitoon such as George of the Jungle, 6teen, Total Drama Island (and its successor Total Drama Action), Chaotic and Bakugan Battle Brawlers. Beginning May 25, 2008, Cartoon Network has been airing animated shorts, called Wedgies, to fill in spots between two programs.

On July 14, 2008, the network took on a newer look created by Tristan Eaton and Phinibot. The bumpers of that era had white, faceless characters called Noods.[10] The Noods look similar to the do-it-yourself toy known as Saturday Solutions, also created by Kidrobot. A Nood would often come in contact with a color blob or a color bar and absorb the color to become a Cartoon Network character, or change into another color, if not already colored. Other bumpers feature characters interacting with one another. Various commercial parodies were aired, also using Cartoon Network characters. From July 2008 to the start of October, Greg Cipes, Kevin's voice actor in Ben 10 Alien Force and became the network's announcer. He has since been replaced with Will Darnett. The programming blocks also were changed to fit in with this look, with different Noods (or a rainbow of color for Har Har Tharsdays) being used. The standard network logo was then completely white, adopting different colors based on the occasion in the same style. On June 12, 2009, the Cartoon Network logo then turned all black with white letters.

In June 2009, a block of live-action reality shows began airing in a programming block promoted as CN Real.[11] The network has also aired some limited sports programming, including Slamball games, during the commercials. Cartoon Network is available on demand on providers that carry the channel.

2010s

Starting February 8, 2010, Cartoon Network started using bumpers that feature Noods being formed by real-life objects such as paint, grass, and confetti. Newer coming up next bumpers replaced the Noods "coming up next" bumpers. The CN Real block has ended.

On March 22, 2010, Cartoon Network debuted a third logo[12]. The logo was featured on the network's 2010 upfront and "Move It Movement" tour. It made its television debut on May 29, 2010 at 6:00 AM. Also on May 29, 2010, the Noods were phased out and new bumpers were introduced to the network. The new look also includes cameos of the 1992-2004 Cartoon Network logo (this time with a different font instead of the traditional Eagle font) in some idents (e.g. the "coming up next" bumper). Kevin G. Schmidt and Jordan Gavaris are the network's current head announcers.

After recovering from a major heart attack, Shawn Grove returned back to Turner in 2008 and started running Boomerang in June 2010. Shawn Grove is now the head of Cartoon Network again after Stuart Snyder resigned.

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Cartoon Network

A Spanish language audio track is accessible via SAP, some cable companies offer the Spanish feed as a separate channel.

Current programming blocks

Adult Swim

Main article: Adult Swim
Current logo for Adult Swim

Adult Swim (stylized as [adult swim]) is Cartoon Network's late night adult-oriented sister network, which premiered on September 2, 2001, in the USA. Originally a Sunday-only block that was rerun on Thursdays, Adult Swim now airs all week. The block, programmed by Williams Street, plays American animated comedy series and shorts as well as a wide variety of mature anime series (now moved exclusively to Saturday and early Sunday morning) and Original video animations (OVA) geared towards audiences 17 and older.

In March 2005, Adult Swim was split from Cartoon Network so that Nielsen Media Research could treat it as a separate channel for ratings purposes.[13] However, Adult Swim programming still airs as a block on the same broadcast channel as Cartoon Network.

Cartoon Network's The Flicks

The Flicks (formerly Mr. Spim's Cartoon Theater, Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theater, and later Movie Madness) is a motion picture block on Cartoon Network, featuring animated theatrical feature films, animated made-for-TV feature films, and films made for Cartoon Network. The first of Cartoon Network's movie franchises was Mr. Spim's Cartoon Theater, which premiered on February 26, 1995. Airing every Sunday night at 7PM, the block was initially preceded by the premiere of a World Premiere Toons (later What A Cartoon!) short, such as the pilot episodes of Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls & Johnny Bravo, after which it would air an animated feature. The style of the block harkened back to the days of movie theaters during the "Golden Age" of animation, in which a motion feature would be preceded by an animated short. Mr. Spim's would later be replaced by Cartoon Theater. It originally ran once a week on Saturday nights, the feature film of each week would be regularly advertised on the network making it an anticipated special movie event. The block used a classical western style with a theatrical style in its bumpers, involving a realistic-looking old-time ticket machine and a freely drifting movie ticket on top of a wood desk accompanied by the voice of Don LaFontaine, the footage being used before and after commercial breaks and in commercials advertising the block itself. The amount of time Cartoon Theater ran varied, and based solely on the amount of time the feature film ran. To even out the block's time-frame, a sub-block titled Toon Extra (later Cartoon Network Extra and then Wedgies), a block based on newspaper delivery, aired after Cartoon Theater films showing one or more cartoons helping to add less than an extra hour of content to span out the perhaps uneven time slot, when the block was still called Cartoon Theater. If Toon Extra didn't completely fill the time slot a few extra commercials may be aired, plus the occasional black-out for lesser amounts of unadded seconds. Since 2003, live-action films from Warner Bros. Pictures or New Line Cinema, in which are both owned by TimeWarner, regardless if they are cartoon-related (though most are), became part of Cartoon Network's library of movies. Although airs movies from Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, the network also airs movies from other major Hollywood studios such as: 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures. The name of this block changes on Christmas to "Flicksmas". The Flicks, the block and bumpers were often still used since the start of the current rebrand. Since July 3, 2010, "The Flicks" were now rebranded with a live-action human family, no longer capable of Noods.

Monday Nights

'Monday Nights' is a Monday night animated block launched on April 5, 2010, include programs like Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Johnny Test], Adventure Time with Finn & Jake, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Total Drama World Tour and Stoked.

Past programming blocks

Action programming blocks (1992-1997)

Cartoon Network had a long history of action-oriented programming blocks. One of the network's first blocks was Super Adventures.

From 1992-1995, Super Adventures presented action-oriented cartoons like Space Ghost, Birdman, The Fantastic Four, among many other 1960's-1980's Hanna-Barbera/Ruby-Spears action series. It aired on weekday afternoons, and also had a weekend afternoon counterpart known as "Super Adventure Saturdays".

In 1995, Super Adventures was replaced with Afternoon Adventures, which presented a more varied mix of old and then-recent action cartoons, such as James Bond Jr., Captain Planet, Swat Kats and Johnny Quest. That same year, a Saturday late-night block called Power Zone debuted, which mostly aired the same action shows as its predecessor blocks. Power Zone would eventually supplant Afternoon Adventures as the flagship weekday afternoon block in 1996.

"Power Zone" was cancelled sometime in the Fall of 1996, after which there was no permanent action block on Cartoon Network until the debut of Toonami on March 17, 1997.

Toonami (1997-2008)

Main article: Toonami

Toonami ran from March 17, 1997 through September 20, 2008, making it the longest-running programming block in Cartoon Network's history. The block is arguably most famous for popularizing the Dragon Ball anime franchise in the United States, among other anime.

Saturday CrushZone (2009)

Saturday CrushZone is a Saturday morning action block that shows Pokémon DP Galactic Battles,Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, and Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 The block still airs the same shows, Saturday Crushzone is inactive at this time.

Fried Dynamite (2007-2008)

Fried Dynamite premiered on August 31, 2007 on Cartoon Network, replacing Fridays. Fried Dynamite was the Friday-Saturday block of cartoon shows, hosted by Blake Michael, which aired on every Friday night and Saturday morning. It ended October 3, 2008 in the wake of the new block, You Are Here.

Fridays (1999-2007)

Cartoon Cartoon Fridays, was launched on April 30, 1999 and last aired on May 2, 2003. Cartoon Cartoon Fridays was the Friday night version of "Cartoon Cartoons". This program block on Cartoon Network that showcased the channel's original cartoon series, with new episode premieres usually taking place in this block. The block was "hosted" by cartoon characters that were part of Cartoon Cartoons shows (Usually along with new episodes of their respective shows airing on their corresponding night). The block aired between 7 p.m.-5 a.m., with the shows and segments repeating at least twice.

On February 23, 2007, Cartoon Network aired the last Fridays before being replaced with Fried Dynamite.

Cartoon Cartoons (1997-2003)

Main article: Cartoon Cartoons

Cartoon Cartoons is a collective name for Cartoon Network original series which premiered before 2003. These cartoons were originally produced by Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios, but over the years, studios like a.k.a. Cartoon, Kino Films, Stretch Films, Blanky Blook and Curious Pictures produced these series for Cartoon Network. Any and all Cartoon Cartoons have been featured as a part of Cartoon Network's original Friday night programming block, Cartoon Cartoon Fridays.

Miguzi (2004-2007)

Miguzi was a cartoon block that premiered on April 19, 2004 and finished its run on June 2007. This block was themed around Erin, a girl who finds refuge within the confines of a strange spaceship that is trapped underwater and inhabited by aquatic creatures. This lighter-toned action block was from Williams Street, the producers of late-night programming block Adult Swim and Toonami, a block of programming which Miguzi replaced in the weekday-afternoon timeslot.

Master Control (2007)

Master Control was a viewer-arranged programming block on Cartoon Network which ran from September 24, 2007 to November 9, 2007. The website for the block offered viewers the chance to choose between one of three teams and vote on which shows would air during the week. The block had one thirty-minute timeslot on Mondays to Thursdays, while a two-hour block aired on Fridays.

Saturday Video Entertainment System (2003-2004)

The Saturday Video Entertainment System was a Toonami-like block of action animation airing Saturday nights which ran March 15, 2003 to April 10, 2004. SVES was packaged like a video game, with a Samus Aran-like character in bumps reminiscent of older arcade/SNES game design. This block was also designed by Williams Street.

Big Bag/Small World (1996-1998)

Big Bag/Small World premiered on June 2, 1996. Big Bag was a live action television puppet program for pre-schoolers that was produced by Sesame Workshop and starred 7-year-old Tessa Ludwick and 6-year-old John Mountford along with Muppet characters Chelli, a puppet dog voiced by Joey Mazzarino, and his best friend Bag.[14] The block featured animated shorts from around the world and live action Muppet scenes as well as animated segments including "Slim Pig", "Troubles the Cat", "William's Wish Wellingtons", and "Samuel and Nina". Big Bag concluded in September 1998.

Tickle U (2005-2006)

Tickle U was a two-hour programming block for pre-schoolers on weekday mornings from August 22, 2005 to September 2006. The block had programs like Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, Firehouse Tales, Little Robots, Tom & Jerry Kids, Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!, Peppa Pig and Gerald McBoing Boing.

Currently, Cartoon Network does broadcast pre-school programs on weekday mornings from 9-11AM ET.

Saturday afternoon blocks (1992-2005)

Cartoon Network has aired Saturday afternoon mini-marathon blocks throughout the years. One of the first blocks the network aired was Super Chunk.

After a short-lived revamp, Super Chunk was replaced with Cartoon Olio, which premiered on July 7, 2001 and last aired on June 1, 2002. The block aired marathons of Cartoon Cartoons franchises such as Dexter's Laboratory, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Powerpuff Girls, Time Squad and Cow and Chicken. The block also aired marathons of Hanna-Barbera franchises such as The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

In 2004, the block was revamped yet again with the introduction of Cartoon Network Block Party. Unlike its predecessors, Cartoon Network Block Party aired new episodes of some of the shows they presented. It aired Saturday afternoon from 3pm-6pm (sometimes 3pm-5pm). It lasted from June 19, 2004 - January 22, 2005. This block aired Cartoon Cartoon franchises such as The Powerpuff Girls, Codename: Kids Next Door and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and non-Cartoon Cartoon franchises such as The Cramp Twins, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Code Lyoko, Hamtaro and Totally Spies,

Cartoon Network Block Party is also the current title for the network's anthology comic published by DC Comics as well as a Mario Party-style game.

June Bugs (1995-2003)

June Bugs was a yearly 48 hour marathon of Bugs Bunny cartoons which started on the first weekend in June 1995. In 2001, the marathon was intended to air nearly every Bugs Bunny cartoon ever made in chronological order, but TimeWarner demanded to pull off 12 cartoons deemed "politically incorrect" by today's standards. However, with there being considerably less than 48 hours of shorts, it would repeat several times. June Bugs has occasionally aired on sister network Boomerang.

Last Bell (2003-2004)

Last Bell similar to Closing Bell was an afternoon block which aired on weekdays from August 2003 to June 11, 2004, airing franchises like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Dexter's Laboratory, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd n Eddy, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Codename: Kids Next Door, and The Cramp Twins.

CN Real (2009-2010)

CN Real was a block that featured Cartoon Network's first live action shows that started airing in June 2009. Shows that have aired on the block include The Othersiders, Survive This, Destroy Build Destroy, Brainrush, Dude, What Would Happen, and Bobb'e Says. The block orginally aired on Wednesday and Saturday nights with 2 shows on each day, but they were then merged to only airing on Wednesdays. The block received negative reception and most of the shows were canceled along with the block itself. However Dude, What Would Happen and Destroy Build Destroy continue to air on CN Real's old Wednesday night timeslot.

CN Sports (2009)

A sub-block of CN Real which was a time-buy from Red Bull devoted to action sports. The programs aired Saturday nights with a Sunday afternoon encore, featuring 10 Count (a countdown list program) and Re:Evolution of Sports (a program which previously aired under the same arrangement on the Fox Sports Net family of regional sports networks). Last aired on November 1, 2009.

Wedgies (2008-2009)

Wedgies are shorts that appear occasionally after a show or a movie, usually as a time filler. Some Wedgies include Nacho Bear, Big Baby, Calling Cat 22,The Talented Mr. Bixby, and The Bremen Avenue Experience along with shorts from The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. This was a replacement of the original Cartoon Network Extra, which featured the usual 11-minute episodes of some Cartoon Network series. Wedgies also include skits by Blake and the Fried Dynamite crew, which air mostly after school. Wedgies now appear on Boomerang daily as well as filler on Cartoon Network.

Invaded (2007)

File:CNInvaded.png
The "Cartoon Network Invaded" Logo

Cartoon Network Invaded was a special crossover event that aired on May 4, 2007 and involved a continuing storyline that ran through five different Cartoon Network cartoons: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Ed, Edd n Eddy, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Camp Lazlo, and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. It also aired on Cartoon Network Asia, Cartoon Network Philippines and Cartoon Network Australia during the Halloween season of the same year.

On May 28, 2007 and June 1, 2007 the event concluded with a mini-marathon of all shows aired back-to-back with their alternate endings.

Johnny Johnny (2009)

Johnny Johnny was a block airing weekday afternoons, featuring one episode of Johnny Bravo and one episode of Johnny Test. The block launched on November 10, 2009.

Summer @ 7 (2007)

Summer @ 7 was the name of the summer line up that premiered on June 4, 2007. New episodes were shown every Monday through Friday night along with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl with Storm Hawks premiering during the block. The block ended August 31 and was replaced by Hullabanew on September 3.

Total Drama Tuesdays (2009)

Total Drama Tuesdays was a comedy block that aired Tuesday evenings, showing Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Stoked and 6teen. Sometimes it featured the newest episode of Total Drama Action, plus new episodes of Stoked and 6teen. This block was dedicated to showing cartoons created by Fresh TV, Inc. The block finished its run on November 10, 2009.

Har Har Tharsdays (2008-2010)

Har Har Tharsdays (originally CN Thursday Nights) was a block of programming on Cartoon Network that started airing June 5, 2008. The block aired comedy series such as Chowder, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, 6teen, Stoked, and Johnny Test. These shows rotated through. The block sometimes changes\d its name to commemorate certain events, like "Star Star Starsdays" (in honor of the premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars) "Heart Heart Theartsdays" (for Valentine's Day) or "Scare Scare Scaresdays" (for Halloween). This block ended before April 5, 2010, when all of Cartoon Network's comedy programs moved to Mondays.

HullabaNew (2007)

HullabaNew was a month-long block of programming which began on September 3, 2007, and ran for the remainder of September. During the event, one show was featured during a week, with new episodes airing several days during that week.

Thumbtastic Afterschool Event (2008-2009)

The Thumbtastic Afterschool Event was an afternoon block on Cartoon Network that premiered on November 3, 2008. It was mainly an action-comedy block consisting of Chop Socky Chooks, Chowder, 6teen, Total Drama Island, and Thumb Wrestling Federation. The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack also aired every other weekday.

Original made-for-TV movies (1999-2009)

23 made-for-TV movies have aired on Cartoon Network. Except for Party Wagon (which had been a pilot for a later scrapped series), these films are, in effect, feature-length special episodes of Cartoon Network series Dexter's Laboratory, Camp Lazlo, Codename: Kids Next Door, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Teen Titans, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Ed, Edd n Eddy, and Ben 10. Also among the original movies are Cartoon Network's first original live-action movies, Re-Animated, and Ben 10: Race Against Time. House of Bloo's and Home were pilot movies for Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends , The Secret Saturdays and Class of 3000, respectively.

Action Flicks (2008-2009)

Action Flicks is a movie block that replaced Toonami on Saturday evenings in October 2008. The majority of the movies that have been broadcast on Action Flicks included numerous DC super hero films (mostly Batman) and all three Naruto movies. The block's final broadcast was February 28, 2009.

Super Chunk (1992-2001, 2009)

Super Chunk is a marathon block on Cartoon Network that first aired from 1992–2001, then started airing again on August 17, 2009. This block is dedicated to airing three-hour marathons of shows from its library of programming, mostly classic shorts and older Hanna-Barbera shows. It once had a short-lived revamp, but was replaced by Cartoon Olio. Then, after an almost eight-year hiatus, Cartoon Network brought the block back again, yet again revamped with a giant Nood in the forest with the words Super Chunk painted in the sky. Currently, the block is inactive.

You Are Here (2008-2010)

You Are Here was a Friday night action/adventure block that premiered on October 3, 2008, temporarilly taken off the air on June 26, 2009, and brought back on September 11, 2009, but then taken back off the air again after May 28, 2010, the night before the network rebranded along with a new logo. While official press releases listed the block as "Action Fridays" or simply "Friday night action/adventure block", it is commonly referred to as "You Are Here" or "2nd Pulse". The programming consists of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien , Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Generator Rex. Currently, the aforementioned shows still air on Friday night, even without a block.

Boomerang

Main article: Boomerang (TV channel)

Boomerang was originally a programming block on Cartoon Network (since the network's launch in '92) aimed towards the generation of baby boomers. It originally aired for four hours every weekend. The block's start time jumped frequently, with the Saturday block moving to Saturday afternoons, then back to the early morning, and the Sunday block moving to Sunday evenings. Eventually, Boomerang was shortened by an hour, making the total airing time 2 hours each weekend instead of the original four hours.

Boomerang received both a new look and a cable spin off channel that launched on April 1, 2000. By then, the block followed a unique programming format — every week, cartoons produced during a certain year (and cartoons produced during years prior to that year) would be showcased. For example, if Boomerang was showcasing the year 1969, the viewer would more than likely see an episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? or Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines.

Get Animated

When Cartoon Network still ran its CGI city look (see 2004-2006), a promo aired involving the Mayor of Townsville officially opening Movement Inc., a fictional recreational dome facility. Thus began Cartoon Network's still-running Get Animated promotion, a campaign encouraging children to get active, more importantly in outdoor areas. Created in part of the American government's goal for a more active, and generally healthier generation, other kids' channels generally aired similar promotions during this time (such as Nickelodeon's Go Healthy Challenge). Original promos involved many different cartoon characters, and real kids, enjoying physical activities inside the Animation Station. Once Cartoon Network scrapped their CGI city look the Animation Station promos were abandoned, but the Get Animated campaign still continued. Current promos still show cartoon characters playing alongside kids, though occasional sports celebrities (such as Freddy Adu) make appearances. Other promos show real kids who make great physically-related achievements, or cartoon characters explaining ways of getting active.

Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall

Main article: Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall

High definition channels and service

On October 15, 2007, Cartoon Network began to provide content in high definition. Presently, only the East Coast feed of Cartoon Network HD ever provides content in high definition formats and the West Coast feed only provides content in standard definition (4:3) format.

A Cartoon Network HD channel is available from many cable and all satellite service providers. Actual high definition content however, remains limited to a few newer programs. Older 4:3 content is stretched to fill a 16:9 aspect ratio. This process results in a warped picture, which is especially apparent during horizontal panning. All programs produced in HD are aired in letterbox on the SD feed.

See also

References

  1. ^ The latest released WB cartoon sold to a.a.p. was Haredevil Hare, released on July 24, 1948.
  2. ^ New York Times.com TURNER TO MERGE INTO TIME WARNER; A $7.5 BILLION DEAL MARK LANDLER September 23, 1995
  3. ^ The earliest-released color cartoon to have been retained by WB over the years is You Were Never Duckier, released on August 1, 1948.
  4. ^ Cartoon Network Launches New On-Air Re-face and Supplemental Logo to Kick Off Summer
  5. ^ "Cartoon Network Boss Quits Over Bomb Scare". CNN. February 9, 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  6. ^ Stuart Snyder: The Perfect Combination, Broadcasting & Cable, October 21, 2007
  7. ^ NBCU, Turner, CNN to Launch HD Networks, TV Week, January 9, 2007
  8. ^ Liu, Ed (2008-04-03). "PR: Cartoon Network Creates The Cartoonstitute". Toon Zone. TimeWarner. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  9. ^ Cartoonstitute's Cancellation
  10. ^ "TRISTAN EATON for KIDROBOT & CARTOON NETWORK". Thunderblog. Thunderdog. 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  11. ^ LA Times.com Cartoon Network's new reality shows, kid style ROBERT LLOYD June 17, 2009
  12. ^ http://www.trademarkia.com/cn-cartoon-network-77964726.html
  13. ^ Adult Swim/CN Split Cements Strategy. ICv2. March 3, 2005.
  14. ^ "A Brand-New 'Bag'". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. May 21, 1996. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
  15. ^ SDCC2008: "Foster's" Panel Report - Series Finale in 2009
  16. ^ PR: Warner Premiere & Cartoon Network to Release Live-Action SCOOBY-DOO Prequel
  17. ^ PR: Alex Winter to Direct Live-Action Ben 10: Alien Force for Cartoon Network
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