Cartoon Network
From The Matrix
Cartoon Network is a cable television channel created by Turner Broadcasting and dedicated to showing animated programming. It premiered on October 1, 1992 in the United States, and September 17, 1993 in the United Kingdom.
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[edit] History
[edit] USA
By the end of the 1980s, Ted Turner's cable TV conglomerate had acquired the MGM film library (which included the older catalog of Warner Bros. cartoons), and its cable channel Turner Network Television had gained an audience with its film library. In 1991, they purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions and acquired its large library. The Cartoon Network channel was created as an outlet for Turner's considerable library of animation, and the initial programming on the channel consisted exclusively of re-runs of classic Warner Bros. and MGM cartoons, with many Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons used as time fillers.
In 1996, Time Warner purchased Turner Broadcasting, and the Cartoon Network came under their corporate umbrella. This provided still more material for the Cartoon Network, as the channel now had access to the Warner Bros. cartoon library from the 1950s and 1960s.
Time Warner changed the direction of Hanna-Barbera Productions, and focused the studio exclusively on creating new material for the Cartoon Network channel (which were baptized Cartoon Cartoons). Among the numerous shows the studio has produced are Dexter's Laboratory (1996), Johnny Bravo (1997), Cow and Chicken (1997), and The Powerpuff Girls (1998), along with more recent shows Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (2004) and Camp Lazlo (2005).
Shows from other studios (with Cartoon Network's producing) had also shown on the channel. Such as Ed, Edd n Eddy (1999, a.k.a. cartoon), Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999, Stretch Films), Mike, Lu & Og (1999, Kinofilm Studios), Sheep in the Big City (2000, Curious Pictures) and Codename: Kids Next Door (2002, Curious Pictures)
The older Hanna-Barbera cartoons, as well as the entire Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies library and non-Tom and Jerry cartoons made by MGM such as those made by Tex Avery have been largely moved to the nostalgia-themed Boomerang sister network.
In recent years, Cartoon Network has also made attempts to attract viewers outside its core audience (young children). Their mid-afternoon cartoon block Toonami consists of acceptable-for-teens anime from Japan, as well as some American animation, while a late-night cartoon block called Adult Swim shows more risque, teenage- and adult-oriented cartoons (with a combination of anime and American-produced comedies such Futurama and Family Guy). On April 17, 2004, Toonami was moved to Saturday evenings and the afternoon slot was filled with Miguzi, showing action-oriented American, French, and Japanese TV shows aimed at a slightly younger age group than Toonami.
In October 2004, Cartoon Network relaunched itself, with a new logo and slogan, "This is Cartoon Network." The bumps now featured Cartoon Cartoons characters interacting in a CGI city. Nearly all of Cartoon Network's classic cartoon programming had been replaced by new programming, except for Tom and Jerry (a longtime staple of the Turner networks). In some countries in Europe, Boomerang is a block on the original Cartoon Network. In Brazil and Latin America, Boomerang is a separate channel.
Recently, Cartoon Network introduced a new programming block for pre-schoolers called Tickle-U. Half of the content on the block are imported British preschool programming (some of them revoiced), while the other half are original made-for-cartoon-network material.
[edit] United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, in September 2000, Toonami began broadcasting weekdays for two hours between 4pm–6pm, and 9pm–11pm, as well as weekends from 10am–12pm and 10pm–12am. Its output consisted almost solely of Japanese anime such as the cult Dragonball Z, Tenchi Muyo, and Gundam Wing. The only non-Japanese shows for quite some time were the American-produced The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and Batman Beyond (Batman of the Future in the UK). Around the same time, there was almost completely new programming on the channel, and so Boomerang began in a late night slot. On May 27, 2000, most "classic" cartoons were removed from Cartoon Network and moved to Boomerang, which became a channel in Britain on that date, running from 6am–12am. Before long, however, it became 24 hours, and the remaining shows were removed from Cartoon Network.
In June 2002, Toonami disappeared from Cartoon Network UK, and in October, a new channel was created called CNX. It was hailed as a high-octane, "'triple A' mix of Action, Adventure, and Anime." All American and Japanese animation shown on Toonami was broadcast on this 24 hour channel from 6am–12am, and during the night, there were hard hitting American dramas such as The Shield, adventure shows such as Spawn, martial arts films and extreme sports programmes. In 2003, there was a slot between 9pm and 10pm showing Cartoon Network produced comedy such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The extreme sports and films were moved to a small slot between 10pm and 2am. For the rest of the time, Toonami returned, on CNX, showing all of its previous output, plus a number of new shows. In September 2003, after 11 months on air, CNX was shut down, and Toonami became a 24-hour channel, in line with Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Cartoon Network also broadcasts in other languages like Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Hindi, Urdu (in Pakistan), etc. Most of the Cartoon Network channels in Europe are broadcast from the United Kingdom, including an English language audio channel. Most of the Kids' WB shows are broadcast on Cartoon Network in locales where Kids' WB does not exist, such as Latin America and Poland.
Turner Europe recently announced that they will be launching 2 new channels in the UK : Boomerang +1 and Cartoon Network Too. Boomerang +1 will be a timeshift channel of Boomerang. Cartoon Network Too will show classic cartoons such as Yogi bear and Wacky races. Both channels are expected sometime in 2006.
[edit] Asia Pacific
[edit] Asia including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea
Cartoon Network has been available from most Pay TV providers in Asia since the early 1990s. In most part of Asia, the Cartoon Network feed is the same. This means viewers in Singapore gets the same Cartoon Network programming at the same time as the viewers in Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, The Philippines, and many other countries in the region. However, some countries such as Japan and India gets a customized version of Cartoon Network for the country and does not use the same feed as the other countries in Asia. Also, unlike the India or Japan counterparts, Cartoon Network Asia does not have a website, and thus the programming schedule must be obtained from any one of the PayTV providers carrying the feed. The Asia feed's headquarters are located in Hong Kong.
Unlike its American counterpart, Cartoon Network Asia does not carry the Adult Swim block, but does it carry the Miguzi or Tickle U block. It used to carry the Boomerang block late at night, but have ceased doing so lately. However, classic Warner Bros and MGM cartoon programming are still aired regularly as part of it's daily programming, as does programming from the Miguzi block such as Teen Titans (they might be carried under the Toonami block, however, as in the case of Teen Titans).
While it lacks a Tickle U block, it has airs a similar block known as Tiny TV. Unlike the Tickle U block, however, this block generally airs programming that're created by Hanna Barbera and/or Warner Bros and might or might not be educational, such as The Flintstone kids and Baby Looney Toons.
[edit] Australia / New Zealand
Cartoon Network in Australia is available on Pay TV (Foxtel,Optus and Austar) and also on 3 mbile as a part of their new mobile TV service although cartoons are repeated frequently on the mobile service.
The Cartoon Network feed used in Australia and New Zealand is different from the one used in the Asia region, and thus do not share the same programming as those in the region.
[edit] Pakistan
Almost all the programs shown in other cartoon networks are shown in the Pakistani Cartoon Network. The Pakistani Cartoon Network plans to air a Pakistani made cartoon this year.
[edit] Special programming blocks
[edit] Fridays
Fridays is a live action show that shows premieres of cartoons, sneak peeks of cartoons and new episodes of cartoons, It is hosted by Tommy Snider and Tara Sands, and features kids as well as puppets acting as comic relief. It airs for five hours at 7 PM (E/P) with a rebroadcast of 4.5 hours starting at 12:30 AM.
[edit] Miguzi
Miguzi is a cartoon block that premiered on April 19 2004 and currently airs weekdays from 4–6 P.M. (E/P) on Cartoon Network in the U.S. This block is themed around Erin, a girl who finds refuge within the confines of a strange spaceship that is trapped underwater and inhabited by aquatic creatures. Not surprisingly, this lighter-toned action block is 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.
Miguzi airs action shows from different countries like Teen Titans from America , One Piece and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX from Japan, and Code: Lyoko from France.
[edit] Toonami
Toonami (a portmanteau of cartoon and tsunami, suggesting a "giant wave of animated entertainment") was initially a block of action-oriented programming on Cartoon Network in the US and UK, among other countries. The American version premiered on March 17, 1997 as a weekday afternoon block. The Toonami brand was subsequently used in the United Kingdom as the title of a Cartoon Network-operated UK spinoff channel in its own right in September 2003, a little under a year after the network launched as CNX.
Originally hosted by Moltar from Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Toonami is currently hosted by TOM (short for Toonami Operations Module), a sardonic yet heroic robot whose primary functions include piloting the Ghost Planet Spaceship Absolution and processing signals of action-animation programming along with his co-pilot, an AI hologram named Sara. Toonami's programming consisted of mostly anime, most notably popular franchises like Dragon Ball, Tenchi, Gundam, Megas XLR(Toonami's first original production), and Sailor Moon, as well as DC Comics-based programming like Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited, and The Batman.
Currently, the US Toonami airs on Saturdays from 7 to 11 PM (E/P). Some shows in this program include Zatch Bell!, Teen Titans, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Naruto, One Piece, and IGPX.
[edit] Adult Swim
Adult Swim is the name for the more adult-oriented television programming block on Cartoon Network, which premiered on September 2, 2001 in USA.
Originally a Sunday-only block that also reran on Thursdays, Adult Swim airs Saturday through Thursday nights at 11 PM (E/P) and Sunday nights at 10 PM ET/PT with an encore airing at 2 AM and then ending with an hour of older shows on every night but Sunday. The block, programmed by Williams Street, the same group that created Toonami and Miguzi, plays American animated comedy series and shorts geared towards audiences 14 and older and a wide variety of anime series and OVAs intended for audiences 18 and older.
The name comes from the name for hours designated at public swimming pools where only adults can swim in the pool. On March 28, 2005, the programming block was spun-off as a separate entity from Cartoon Network for Nielsen Ratings purposes.
[edit] Preschool programming
[edit] Tickle U (USA)
Tickle U is a preschool programming block on Cartoon Network in United States. It premiered in the on August 22, 2005. Tickle U is hosted by Pipoca, Henderson and Place. It's similar to Playhouse Disney and Nick Jr.
[edit] Tiny TV (some countries)
A special block of cartoons for young children in the morning slot. It features:
[edit] Half Ticket Express (India)
A special block of cartoons for young children in the morning slot. It features:
- Franklin
- Dragon Tales
- Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends
- Bob the Builder
- The Koala Brothers
- Maisy
- Postman Pat
- Little Red Tractor
[edit] Live-action programming
Although the majority of the network's programming is animation, live-action programming has been a part of Cartoon Network over the years. Human-hosted shows like Carrot Top's A.M. Mayhem and the current Cartoon Network Fridays (now called just Fridays) format had live actors introducing animated shows and shorts. In the mid-1990s, the Children's Television Workshop co-produced Big Bag, a series that featured a Muppet character and a human counterpart. The network has also broadcasted films which combine 2D animation and live actors, such as Osmosis Jones and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and November 2005 saw the premieres of various fully live-action films such as The Goonies, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Small Soldiers, and Batman. Cartoon Network has recently begun showing another live action series called Zixx as of January 14, 2006.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
The page was seeded with material from Wikipedia
