Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network
Launched:	October 1, 1992
Owned By:	Time Warner & Turner Broadcasting System
Picture Format:	480i (1992-present) 1080i (2007-present)
Slogans:	The Best Place for Cartoons (October 1, 1992-June 13, 2004) This is Cartoon Network (June 14, 2004-2006) Yes! (2006-2007) Fall is Just Something That Grown-Ups Invented (2007-2008) Let's go (2008-2010) CHECK it. (2010-Present)

Cartoon Network (abbreviated CN) is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991. It was served as a 24-hour outlet for classic animation properties from the Turner Broadcasting libraries and was all-ages-oriented, but now the channel serves as a platform for the up & rising animation medium with various programs catering to both adult and child audiences respectively.

It also broadcasts many shows, ranging from action to animated comedy. Original series started in 1994 with Space Ghost Coast to Coast, along with Cartoon Cartoons original programmings like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd n Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog. In 2009, it started airing live-action programming, including movies from Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema.

History

Development

In 1986, Ted Turner's cable-TV conglomerate acquired most of the pre-May 1986 MGM film and television 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 color Warner Bros. cartoons, and the Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios Popeye cartoons released by Paramount Pictures). In 1988, its cable channel Turner Network Television was launched and had gained an audience with its film library. In 1991, it purchased animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions and acquired its large library as well as most of the Ruby-Spears library.

Launch

Original Logo Used From 1992-2004 Sometimes Still Used on rare occasions

At 12PM ET on October 1, 1992, Cartoon Network was launched 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, and Hanna-Barbera cartoons. At first, cable providers in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Detroit carried the channel. By the time the network launched, Cartoon Network had a 8,500 hour cartoon library.

Cartoon Network was not the first cable channel to have relied on cartoons to attract an audience. Nickelodeon had paved the way in the 1990s. On August 11, 1991, Nickelodeon had launched three "high-profile" animated series: Doug, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Rugrats, further signifying the importance of cartoons in its programming. The Disney Channel and the Family Channel had also included animated shows in their programming. In each of these cases, cartoons were only broadcast during the morning or the early afternoon. Prime time and late night television hours were reserved for live-action programs, following the assumption that television animation could only attract child audiences, while Cartoon Network was a 24-hour single-genre channel with animation as its main theme. Turner Broadcasting System had defied conventional wisdom before by launching CNN, a channel providing 24-hours news coverage. The concept was previously thought unlikely to attract a sufficient audience to be particularly profitable, however the CNN experiment had been successful and Turner could hope that the Network could also find success.

Initially, the channel would broadcast cartoons 24/7. 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 Walter Lantz cartoons from 1930s), and ToonHeads, which would show three shorts with a similar theme and provide trivia about the cartoons. There was also an afternoon cartoon block called High Noon Toons which was hosted by cowboy hand puppets (an example of the simplicity and imagination the network had in the early years). 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 and, as of March 14, 2011, Looney Tunes.

The first challenge for Cartoon Network was to overcome its low penetration of existing cable systems. When launched in October 1992, the channel was only carried by 233 cable systems. However, it benefited from package deals. New subscribers to sister stations TNT and WTBS could also get access to Cartoon Network through such deals. The high ratings of Cartoon Network over the following couple of years led to more cable systems including it. By the end of 1994, Cartoon Network had become "the fifth most popular cable channel in the United States".

Series

The network's first original show was The Moxy Show and was first aired in 1993. The first series produced by Cartoon Network was Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1994), but the show mostly consisted of "recycled animation cels" from the archives of Hanna-Barbera, being an ironic deconstruction of a talk show. It featured live-action guests, mostly consisting of celebrities which were past their prime or counterculture figures. A running gag was that the production cost was dubbed "minimal". The series found its audience among young adults who appreciated its "hip" perspective.

Kevin Sandler considered that Space Ghost Coast to Coast was instrumental in establishing Cartoon Network's appeal to older audiences. Space Ghost, a 1960s superhero by Hanna-Barbera, was recast as the star of a talk show parody. This was arguably the first time the Network revived a "classic animated icon" in an entirely new context for comedic purposes. Grown-ups who had ceased enjoying the original takes on the characters could find amusement in the "new ironic and self-referential context" for them. Promotional shorts such as the "Scooby-Doo Project", a parody of the The Blair Witch Project, gave similar treatments to the Scooby gang. However, there were less successful efforts at such revivals. A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith and Boo Boo Runs Wild (1999) featured new takes on Yogi Bear's supporting cast by John Kricfalusi. Their "tasteless" humor, sexual content and lack of respect for the source material was rather out of place among the rest of the Cartoon Network shows. These shorts do not seem to have much of a fan-following and the network rarely found a place for them in its programming.

In 1994, Hanna-Barbera's new division Cartoon Network Studios was founded and started production on What-a-Cartoon (promotionally known as World Premiere Toons). This show debuted in 1995, offering original animated shorts commissioned from Hanna-Barbera and various independent animators. The Network promoted the series as an attempt to return to the "classic days" of studio animation, offering full animator control, high budgets, and no limited animation. The project was spearheaded by several Cartoon Network executives, plus John Kricfalusi and Fred Seibert. Kricfalusi was the creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show and served as an advisor to the Network, while Seibert was formerly one of the driving forces behind Nicktoons and would go on to produce the similar animation anthology series Oh, Yeah! Cartoons and Random Cartoons.

Cartoon Network was able to assess the potential of certain shorts to serve as pilots for spin-off series and signed contracts with their creators to create ongoing series. Dexter’s Laboratory was the most popular short series according to a vote held in 1995 and eventually became the first spin-off of What a Cartoon! in 1996. Three more series based on shorts debuted in 1997: Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, and I Am Weasel (the latter two as segments of the same show; later, I Am Weasel was separated and got its own show). These were followed by The Powerpuff Girls in 1998 and concluded with Courage the Cowardly Dog and Mike, Lu & Og in 1999 .The unrelated series Ed, Edd n Eddy was also launched in 1999.

These original series were intended to appeal to a wider audience than the average Saturday morning cartoon. Linda Simensky, vice-president of original animation, reminded adults and teenage girls that cartoons could appeal to them as well. Kevin Sandler's article of them claimed that these cartoons were both less "bawdy" than their counterparts at Comedy Central and less "socially responsible" than their counterparts at Nickelodeon. Sandler pointed to the whimsical rebelliousness, high exaggeration, and self-consciousness of the overall output, while each individual series managed to be "visually bold and energetic" in its own way.

Expansion

In 1996, Turner merged with Time Warner. This consolidated ownership of all the Warner Bros. cartoons, so now post-July 1948 and the former Sunset-owned black-and-white cartoons (which Warner Brothers had reacquired in the 1960s) releases were being shown on the network. Although most of the post-July 1948 cartoons were still contracted to be shown on Nickelodeon, the network wouldn't air them until September 1999. Newer animated productions by Warner Bros. 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 wouldn't be available in Canada until 1997, when a Canadian specialty network entitled Teletoon and its French language counterpart launched.

On October 2, 2002, Cartoon Network's 10th birthday, Cartoon Network aired a one-day special bumper acknowledging their 10th anniversary. The promo showed quick clips from shows, bumpers, and promos throughout Cartoon Network's history including "Something to Believe In by Poison.

2000s

On September 2, 2001, Adult Swim was officially premiered (as a block) with the airing of the "Director's Cut" episode of Home Movies.

The first theatrical film The Powerpuff Girls Movie was released in 2002.

At 5AM ET on the morning of June 11, 2004, Cartoon Network debuted its second logo It's still on Since 1992 with a new theme and new bumpers (designed by Animal Logic) and its slogan, “This is Cartoon Network!” The bumpers 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.

Jim Samples, president of the Cartoon Network for 13 years, resigned on February 9, 2007 due to the 2007 Boston bomb scare. Following Samples's resignation, Stuart Snyder was named his successor. 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. On October 15, 2007, the channel began broadcasting in 1080i high definition. Every October since 2007, Cartoon Network would air 40 episodes of the former Fox Kids program Goosebumps, though Cartoon Network lost the rights to the show on October 31, 2009 and stopped airing the program.

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 reported to Rob Scorcher, who created the idea. It would have worked similar to What A Cartoon!, by creating at least 150 pieces of animation within 20 months. Cartoonstitute was eventually cancelled, and out of all the shorts, two Regular Show and Secret Mountain Fort Awesome were selected, after animator Craig McCracken (the creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends) eventually left the network after 15 years in 2009. On September 20, 2008, Cartoon Network ended Toonami after its 11-year run.

The network has also began to air some imported programs from Teletoon such as George of the Jungle, 6teen, Total Drama Island and its successors Total Drama Action and Total Drama World Tour, 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 was animated by Crew972. The bumpers of that era had white, faceless characters called Noods, based on the DIY toy, Munny. The standard network logo was then completely white, adopting different colors based on the occasion in the same style. In June 2009, a block of live-action reality shows began airing in a programming block promoted as CN Real. The network has also aired some limited sports programming, including Slamballgames, during the commercials.

Since the City Era was introduced and The New Cartoon Network, years ranging from 1994 to 2002 were the final years of Cartoon Network's Golden Age.

Summer Promotion

With the City look still going on, Cartoon network launched Cartoon Network Summer for this summer only where new episodes of old shows and premieres of new shows including Camp Lazlo and The Life and Times of Juniper Lee. In Fall 2005, there were many new things to the network including The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Camp Lazlo, and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. On Christmas premieres of new shows started to air including Ben 10, and My Gym Partner's a Monkey! During 2005, Lumpus and Slinkman (Camp Lazlo) hosted a block at Summer 05' called Cabin Fever 10am-4pm.

This was the last year of the City Era and Cartoon Network's Golden Age.

Refurbishing

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 as stick puppets and characters in front of a red background.

The new 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. The last style is a reprise of the CGI City look, using flat, dark colors, the regular City bumpers were still used however, but the YES! bumpers were mostly used.

Since the City Era and Cartoon Network's Golden Era ended at the time, 2006 was the first year of Cartoon Network's New Silver Age.

As of 2006, Cartoon Network retained the image campaign that began in 2004, although a slightly refreshed version of the theme is currently in use. On October 15, 2004, the channel began broadcasting in 1080i High Definition.

On February 9, 2006, Jim Samples, president of Cartoon Network resigned over the Boston Bomb Scare. He had been president since Cartoon Network finding Then, in mid-2006, Stuart Synder became president of the network.

Starting in Fall of 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 past fall, leading into July 2008, when it got replaced. It has seemed to still be aired during the summer. Another bumper named "Ridiculously Short Cartoons" aired excerpts from shows on Cartoon Network, also airing until May 2008.

Starting September 14, 2007, the first live action Cartoon Network Studios show, Out of Jimmy's Head started to air. In May 2008, the show left the network and the character sneak peek was still on Cartoon Network Video until Summer 2008 when the show was deleted from the Video list.

Live action started to air a lot of movies and shows.

A new direction

About a third of their Cartoon Network Studio shows were cancelled during this year. Cartoon Network's current slogan was "Funny For Your Face". When the new year started, Cartoon Network started using some of the shows that currently aired on Teletoon. Johnny Test was added in January 2008, George of the Jungle was also added that same month, Bakugan Battle Brawlers was added in February 2008, Chop Socky Chooks was added in March 2008, Total Drama Island was added in June 2008 and 6Teen was added in November 2008.

Cartoon Network announced at it's 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 What A Cartoon!, by creating at least 150 pieces of animation within 20 months.

Since April 2008, Cartoon Network has played a 1 minute sign-off bumper, depicting a child's daily activities from sunrise to sunset. 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.

Changes in store

Starting July 14, 2008, instead of the Fall is Just Something That Grown-Ups Invented song, it airs little creatures called Noods which are most of the time white until they either change colors or change to, and hereby take the personalities of, Cartoon Network main characters or other characters. Also, they have been characters in the Supermarket with food. For example, Chowder behind eaten fruits. Nood looks were so popular that Cartoon Network made Seasonal Noods for the Holidays of the Year including Halloween and Winter. The Logo has also changed a bit. A Marathon means a new color logo and the Holidays has an ice logo. It changed in almost each program that airs. Many pages of the Cartoon Network website was changed to a Nood background. The pages include Games, Shows and Front Page.

On September 20, 2008 Toonami ended and gave its Saturday night time slot to Action Flicks, showing animated action movies. In mid 2008, Movie Madness was changed into The Flicks. The Flicks airs each Sunday night premieres of worldwide movies or network movies. Pretty much, Cartoon Network stopped airing shows before 2007, since most of them were cancelled. Some weren't cancelled but aired on CN Video, in their Cartoon Network website or iTunes. 2008 also brought the return of the show, ¡Mucha Lucha! and also had many airings of the popular show, Johnny Test.

Programming blocks also changed. New episodes of Comedies moved to Thursdays because on Fridays, You Are Here, a new Action block started to air replacing Fried Dynamite's reruns of the Flicks movies. You Are Here is an action block. On Mondays to Wednesdays, evening includes a remix of shows including comedies and non-comedies (sometimes movies). Thursdays are new episodes of comedies as for Fridays are new episodes of action shows. Saturdays include action movies and Sundays are Premieres of movies.

Cartoon Network had another live action movie year. Plus, the network got all their pre-2007 shows pretty much out of their network. Ed, Edd n Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Codename: Kids Next Door still aired until 2011.

Present

Another Chance

Cartoon Network started 2009 with a Looney Tunes marathon. Apparently, Looney Tunes didn't make it on a regular spot. The Powerpuff Girls had a marathon to honor its tenth birthday which also premiered The Powerpuff Girls Rule! special. 

Low airings of Skunk Fu! brought the end of the show for the network since it wasn't seen starting March 2009. Chop Socky Chooks left the network again, Ed, Edd n Eddy returned, Squirrel Boy returned, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends returned and The League of Super Evil premiered. The Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends series finale aired on May 3, 2009 airing the last five episodes in a marathon from 1PM-7PM mixing up new episodes and older, popular episodes. Squirrel Boy later had a big marathon called the "Squirrel Boy Squirrel Bash!".

On June 11, a sequel to Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action premiered.

On June 17, Cartoon Network had hosted reality shows for a block called CN Real.

On August 17, Cartoon Network brought back the Super Chunk block. The Super Chunk block currently is inactive.

On September 8, Krypto the Superdog and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends reruns on Cartoon Network, airing weekdays at 11:30AM and 1:00PM.

November 8, 2010, Dexter's Laboratory has returned to Cartoon Network, it only aired weekday mornings at 11:30 AM until March 4, 2011.

December 6, 2010, The Powerpuff Girls returned again, like Dexter's Laboratory, it was only shown weekday mornings at 10:30 AM until February 21, 2011.

Out with the Noods, In with the Physics

In 2010, May 29th, Noods had been out of Cartoon Network and replaced by wacky, colorful physic bumpers highly reminiscent to the ones from the network's heyday. Also, a new logo of the C and N turned into 3D cubes was added. This was a tiny upward rank of Cartoon Network's greatness, as many fans hated the Noods. The new look was created by Brand New School. On April 5, 2010, Cartoon Network aired Adventure Time. This show was Cartoon Networks first TV-PG rated show within seventeen years since Space Ghost Coast to Coast. By 2010 of this year, Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls began airing on Cartoon Network again for the first time in five years. Both shows ended in reruns again in 2011.

2010s

A new identity for the station was introduced on May 29, 2010, along with a new theme and new bumpers and a new slogan, CHECK it. The network's current branding, designed by Brand New School, makes heavy use of the black and white checkerboard which made up the network's first logo, as well as various CMYK color variations and various patterns. Since December 27, 2010, Adult Swim began starting 1 hour earlier at 9 PM. In February, Cartoon Network aired their first sports award show, called Hall Of Game Awards.

At its 2011 upfront, Cartoon Network has announced 14 new series, including The Problem Solverz, formerly known as Neon Knome, The Looney Tunes Show, Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, Level Up, a scripted live-action comedy series which will have a 90-minute starting film, Tower Prep, Green Lantern, How to Train Your Dragon, the series based on the Dreamworks film, The Amazing World of Gumball, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, the sequel of Total Drama World Tour; and ThunderCats. The network also has a new Ben 10 series planned. The network announced a new block planned to air called "DC Nation"; this block will focus on the titular heroes, the first being Green Lantern. 9 Story's Almost Naked Animals, an animated comedy about a group of shaved animals in their underwear running a hotel called the Banana Cabana, was also picked up by the network and made its US debut on June 13, 2011, the same premiere date as another Canadian-acquired animated series, Sidekick.

Onward And Outward

In the summer of 2011, Cartoon Network introduced a new line of bumpers and a new slogan, YEEEAUHHHH!, that were originally going to replace the CHECK it era. However, by 2011 Cartoon Network began airing the CHECK it bumpers again for unknown reasons. Also, by 2011, Cartoon Network got most of the 1996-2003 Cartoon Cartoons out of the network. Although, old shows seem to be rotated in or out every now and then (with Courage the Corwadly Dog kicked off at one point this year for reruns of 2 Stupid Dogs, for example). Dexter's Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls even aired in reruns this year, then the original Looney Tunes shorts took its place in the schedule back.

Returning To The Classics

The logo that can be seen on CHECK it bumpers.

More recently, Cartoon Network has been airing reruns of classic shows, beginning in 2010.

On August 29, 2010, Cartoon Network returned Codename: Kids Next Door and My Gym Partner's a Monkey in reruns for a morning timeslot.

On December 6, 2010, Cartoon Network returned Dexter's Laboratory in reruns for the first time in seven years.

On December 6, 2010, Cartoon Network returned The Powerpuff Girls in reruns. Although this wasn't such a big deal as the series did just air a special on the channel recently on January 19, 2009.

On February 21, 2011, The Powerpuff Girls & Dexter's Laboratory was removed from Cartoon Network in reruns.

On March 7, 2011, Codename: Kids Next Door, My Gym Partner's a Monkey were all removed from Cartoon Network in reruns.

On June 13, 2011, Courage the Cowardly Dog was removed from Cartoon Network in reruns for the first time in five years.

On July 5, 2011, Ed, Edd n Eddy was finally removed from Cartoon Network after airing on the channel for twelve years. It was replaced with reruns of 2 Stupid Dogs.

On September 26, 2011, 2 Stupid Dogs was removed in reruns and was replaced with Courage the Cowardly Dog due to popular demand.

On December 26, 2011, Teen Titans returned to the schedule.

On January 2, 2012, Chowder, Camp Lazlo, The Flintstones and Ed, Edd n Eddy returned to Cartoon Network's schedule. This has also been the first time that The Flintstones has been broadcast on the network within eight years. On the same day, Teen Titans was removed again after only being on the network for a week, and was replaced with The Amazing World of Gumball. This led to minor fan speculation due to the fact that Cartoon Network could have kept Teen Titans in the schedule, but decided instead to replace it with a show that is already reran on the Network in the afternoon timeslot.

On January 11, 2012, The Jetsons returned to Cartoon Network for the first time in eight years.

On January 25, 2012, What's New, Scooby-Doo? once again took its timeslot back, bumping both The Flintstones and The Jetsons off of their schedule. Also removed was Chowder which was replaced with a rerun of The Looney Tunes Show (most likely due to the segment, "Gazpacho Stands Up" causing the crew to rethink their decision on returning Chowder to a regular timeslot due to the logo gag).

On March 30, 2012, Cartoon Network revived Cartoon Planet, a block that hadn't been broadcast on the network in twelve years.

On May 26, 2012, Cartoon Network revived Toonami (under [adult swim]'s timeslot), albeit with a new version of TOM's third incarnation.

On June 1, 2012, Camp Lazlo, Codename: Kids Next Door, and Tom and Jerry were taken off the air, the latter of which was taken off of Cartoon Network for the very first time in its history (Tom and Jerry' had been broadcast on Cartoon Network since its launch). To replace the empty time, Cartoon Network has been showing movies (usually Scooby-Doo or Tom & Jerry related). Tom & Jerry Tales is still shown on the network, as well as Looney Tunes.

Cartoon Network's 20th Anniversary

On October 1, 2012, Cartoon Network aired a series of old cartoons and bumpers promoting every single one of their works as apart of Cartoon Network's Twentieth Anniversary. The bumpers were highly praised for their creativity by older Cartoon Network fans, though the bumper that stood out the most was a bumper (about approximately five minutes) showcasing every single one of Cartoon Network's original creations (including only their most popular acquired programming) in a series of very detailed animation architecture that ended with all of the characters appearing in a grassy field celebrating Cartoon Network's Twentieth Birthday. From the looks of the anniversary promos, Ben appeared to be in his current Omniverse look with none of his previous counterparts appearing in either line of bumpers, despite Ben 10: Omniverse not even premiering yet.

Cartoon Network Era Names

• 1992 - 1997: Checkerboard Era
• 1997 - 2004: Powerhouse Era
• 2004 - 2006: CN City Era
• 2006 - 2007: Yes! Era
• 2007 - 2008: Fall Era
• 2008 - 2010: Noods Era
• 2010 - Present: CHECK it Era

Current programming blocks

Adult Swim (2001-Present)

Adult Swim (stylized as [adult swim]) is Cartoon Network's late night adult-oriented sister network, which premiered on September 2, 2001, in the United States. 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. this block even airs daily Cartoon Network

Toonami (1997-2008;2012-present)

Toonami (a portmanteau of the words cartoon and tsunami suggesting a "tidal wave" of animated cartoons) is a brand of Cartoon Network, used initially for action-oriented programming blocks on Cartoon Network television channel worldwide, mostly showing American cartoons and Japanese anime, originating in the United States on March 17, 1997, and ended on September 20, 2008. It was revived on May 26, 2012 as a Saturday night anime block on Cartoon Network, reclaiming Adult Swim's Saturday anime block, similar to it's previous mature-geared "Midnight Run" incarnation which was that block's forerunner.

Cartoon Planet (1997-1998;2012-present)

Cartoon Planet is an animated variety show that originally premiered in 1995 on TBS Superstation and continued its run from 1996 to 1997 on Cartoon Network. A spin-off of the animated Space Ghost Coast to Coast talk show, the premise was that Space Ghost had recruited his imprisoned evil arch nemesis Zorak and his loud and extremely dimwitted archenemy Brak to assist him in hosting a variety show. As apart of Cartoon Network's Twentieth Anniversary, Cartoon Planet was revived in an effort to gain more ratings. The newly revived block premiered on Friday, March 30, 2012 at 8pm/7c. The block will feature old classic shows hosted by Zorak and Brak (Space Ghost is absent for unknown reasons). This block may only be here for 2012, though this is unknown.

Flicks (1992-present)

Flicks (formerly Mr. Spim's Cartoon Theater, Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theater, Movie Madness and later The Flicks) is a Film block on Cartoon Network, featuring animated theatrical feature films, animated made-for-TV feature films, and films made for Cartoon Network. Since 2003, live-action films from Warner Bros. or New Line Cinema, in which are both owned by Time Warner, regardless if they are cartoon-related (though most are), became part of Cartoon Network's library of movies. Although airs movies from Warner Bros. 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, " Flicks" were now rebranded with a live-action human family, no longer capable of Noods.

Mondays (2010-present)

Mondays is an Monday night comedy block that was launched on April 5, 2010, including programs like Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incoporated, Johnny Test, Adventure Time, Regular Show, MAD, Robotomy and Total Drama World Tour.

Saturdays (2010-present)

Saturdays is a Saturday morning battle block that new episodes shows like Redakai: Conquer the Kairu, Beyblade: Metal Masters, and Pokemon BW: Rival Destinies.

Night of Action (2010-present)

Night of Action is a Friday night action programming block that was premiered on September 17, 2010, including action programs like Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Sym-Bionic Titan, Generator Rex, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Grand Chase. In March 2011, they aired Ninjago Part 1 for the first Friday then Part 2 in another Friday.

DC Nation (2012-present)

DC Nation is a action block where (as the name suggests) are emitted animated series DC company as Batman: The Brave and The Bold, Justice Young, Green Lantern, and exclusive movies like Superman and Batman: Apocalypse, special films, plus news, and news related. 

Past programming blocks

Action programming blocks (1994-1997)

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

From 1994-1996, Super Adventures presented action-oriented cartoons like Space Ghost, Birdman, The Fantastic Four, among many other 1920's-1940'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 1997, 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 Jonny 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 1959

"Power Zone" was canceled sometime in the Fall of 1995, after which there was no permanent action block on Cartoon Network until the debut of Toonami on March 17, 1997.

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 (1998-2007)

Cartoon Cartoon Fridays  (then known as Fridays), was launched on February 5, 1998 and last aired on February 23, 2007. Cartoon Cartoon Fridays (as it was known until May 16, 2003, then became Summer Fridays until August 29, 2003) 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 (1996-2003)

Cartoon Cartoons is a collective name for Cartoon Network original series which premiered before 1996. 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.

The Big Pick (2000-2001)

The Big Pick was a summer event that aired on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays. There would be a Cartoon Cartoon short that aired every Friday at 9pm, before a brand-new episode of a Cartoon Cartoon. There would also be a Cartoon Cartoon Weekend with 53 hours of original programming with the Premiere Premieres airing four additional times over the weekend then the viewers would vote for the series to become a new Cartoon Cartoon, only two series became new and those were Grim & Evil (2000, premiered in 2001) and Codename: Kids Next Door (2001, premiered in 2002). The Big Pick was discontinued in 2002.

Miguzi (2004-2007)

Miguzi was a cartoon block that premiered on April 19, 2004 and finished its run on June 1, 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. The three teams available for choosing were the "Blastidons","Vikinators", and "Shadow Mark." The objective was to vote for a certain team, so you could choose the shows that aired. The backstory: The blastidons ruled the lands as powerful Wizards. The Vikinators grew tired of their rule and rebelled. They became victorious and were free. While attempting magic, they created the Shadow Mark, a brotherhood of warlocks focused on dark magic. Now as the three elite races they battle for supremacy.

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 [1]-like character in bumps reminiscent of older arcade/Super NES game design. This block was also designed by Williams Street.

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, Gordon the Garden Gnome, Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!, Peppa Pig and Gerald McBoing-Boing.

Cartoon Network Jr. (1993-2005)

Cartoon Network Jr. was a four-hour programming block for pre-schoolers on weekday mornings from December 1993 to August 18, 2005. The first program on the block was VeggieTales.

Saturday afternoon blocks (1974-2005)

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 Cartoons 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 (1993-2003)

June Bugs was a yearly 48 hour marathon of Bugs Bunny cartoons which started on the first weekend in June 1993. In 2001, the marathon was intended to air nearly every Bugs Bunny cartoon ever made in chronological order, but Time Warner 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.

Last Bell (2003-2004)

Last Bell similar to Closing Bell was an afternoon block which aired on weekdays from August 2003 to June 14, 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 originally 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. A lot of viewers hate CN Real.

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)

Cartoon Network Invaded was a special crossover event that aired on May 4, 2007 and involved a continuing storyline involving paranormal or alien like themes 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 (Southeast 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 (2009-2010)

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, and ended sometime after the Christmas season.

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 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). Also, without any changing of the name, the block took on a Green look for Ben 10 week, featuring Ben Tennyson in clips with the other characters directly before or after commercial breaks. 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 7, 2007, and ran for the remainder of September. During the event, one show was featured during every Friday with new episodes airing several Fridays during that night.

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, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Animaniacs, and Thumb Wrestling Federation. The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack also aired every other weekday.

Original made-for-TV movies (1998-present)

25 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, 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.

• Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip (aired December 10, 1999)
• The Flinstones: On the Rocks (aired November 2, 2001)
• Party Wagon (aired February 27, 2004)
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: House of Bloo's (aired April 2, 2004)
• Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation Z.E.R.O. (aired August 11, 2006)
• Class of 3000: Home (aired November 3, 2006)
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Good Wilt Hunting (aired November 23, 2006)
• Re-Animated (aired December 8, 2006)
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey: The Big Field Trip (aired January 26, 2007)
• Camp Lazlo: Where's Lazlo? (aired February 23, 2007)
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure (aired March 30, 2007)
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: Wrath of the Spider Queen (aired July 6, 2007)
• Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix (aired August 10, 2007)
• Ben 10: Race Against Time (aired November 21, 2007)
• Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S. (aired January 25, 2008)
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey: Animal School Musical (aired May 25, 2008)
• The Secret Saturdays: The Kur Stone (aired October 3, 2008)
• Underfist: Halloween Bash (aired October 31, 2008)
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Destination Imagination (aired November 27, 2008)
• Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show (aired November 13, 2009)
• Ben 10: Alien Swarm (aired November 25, 2009)
• Firebreather (November 24, 2010)

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 (1994-1997, 2009-2010)

Super Chunk is a marathon block on Cartoon Network that first aired from 1994–1997, then started airing again on August 17, 2009. This block was dedicated to airing three-hour marathons of shows from its library of programming. It 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, but the block ended a few weeks after.

You Are Here (2008-2010)

You Are Here was a Friday night action/adventure block that premiered on October 3, 2008. It was taken off the air again after May 28, 2010, the night before the network rebranded along with a new logo. The programming consisted 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.

Related projects

Boomerang

Main article: Boomerang

The logo for Boomerang.

Boomerang was originally a programming block on Cartoon Network (since the network's launch in '74) aimed towards The Baby Boom Generation. The block's start time jumped frequently but was always aired in the weekends. On April 1, 2000, Boomerang received both a new look and a cable spin off channel. The block lasted until October 2004.

Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting have announced that Boomerang will split up to two separate channels in the U.S. by May 28, 2012 (which were both called the "new" Boomerang and Cartoon Network Extra).

Get Animated

Get Animated is a campaign of the channel, encouraging children to get active, more importantly in outdoor areas. Original promos involved many different cartoon characters, and real kids. 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: Project Exonaut

Project Exonaut is currently a MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game) which created the rivaly between the Banzai Squadron and the Atlas Brigade who created the Exonaut suits to fight a threat called the "Megalith". The Banzai Squadron favored in speed and agility while their rivals, the Atlas Brigade favored in strength and protection. All of the Exosuits represent a Cartoon Network character except for the three starter suits you get in the beginning of the game. although some characters barely have any representation of their character they're representing (E.X. Johnny Test or Flapjack) and some suits represent more than one character (E.X. Mordecai and Rigby & The Powerpuff Girls). They ast first only had new characters but eventually they included some older characters like Dexter & Grim.

High definition channels and service

In around 2006 Cartoon Network started producing content in HD. On October 15, 2007, Cartoon Network began to provide content in television 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 programs produced since mid-2006. Older 4:3 content is stretched to fill a 16:9 ratio 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.

Logos

1992-2004

2004-2010

2010-present

Variant of original logo

Network Slogans

• The Best Place for Cartoons (October 1, 1992-June 13, 2004)
• This is Cartoon Network (June 14, 2004-2006)
• Yes! (2006-2007)
• Fall is Just Something That Grown-Ups lnvented Invented (2007-2008) 
• Let's go (2008-2010) 
• CHECK it. (2010-Present)