What a Cartoon!
{{short description|American animated anthology series}}
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{{Infobox television
| image = WhatACartoon!.PNG
| caption = Intertitle for What a Cartoon! in its original incarnation designed by Jesse Stagg
| alt_name = {{Plainlist|
- World Premiere Toons
- The What a Cartoon! Show
- The Cartoon Cartoon Show
}}
| genre = {{Plainlist|
}}
| creator = Fred Seibert
| voices =
| theme_music_composer = Gary Lionelli
| composer =
| country = United States
| language = English
| network = Cartoon Network
| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|
}}
| producer = {{Plainlist|
- Joey Ahlbum
- John R. Dilworth
- Christine McClenahan
- Richard Ostiguy
- Michael N. Ruggiero
}}
| company = Hanna-Barbera Cartoons
Cartoon Network Studios
| num_episodes = 16 (48 segments)
| list_episodes = #List of shorts
| runtime = 22 minutes (three 7-minute segments)
| first_aired = {{Start date|1995|2|20}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1997|11|28}}
| related = {{Plainlist|
- The Cartoonstitute
- Dexter's Laboratory
- Johnny Bravo
- Cow and Chicken
- I Am Weasel
- The Powerpuff Girls
- Courage the Cowardly Dog
- Mike, Lu & Og
- Sheep in the Big City
- Grim & Evil
- Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?
- Codename: Kids Next Door
- Megas XLR
}}
}}
What a Cartoon! (later known as The What a Cartoon! Show and The Cartoon Cartoon Show) is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons; by the end of the run, a Cartoon Network Studios production tag was added to some shorts to signal they were original to the network. The project consisted of 48 cartoons, intended to return creative power to animators and artists, by recreating the atmospheres that spawned the iconic cartoon characters of the mid-20th century. Each of the shorts mirrored the structure of a theatrical cartoon, with each film being based on an original storyboard drawn and written by its artist or creator. Three of the cartoons were paired together into a half-hour episode.
What a Cartoon! premiered under the World Premiere Toons title on February 20, 1995.{{Cite book |last=Erickson |first=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2005 |isbn=978-1476665993 |edition=2nd |location=Jefferson, North Carolina; London |pages=919–920}} The premiere aired alongside a special episode of Cartoon Network's Space Ghost Coast to Coast called "World Premiere Toon-In", which features interviews with animators Craig McCracken, Pat Ventura, Van Partible, Eugene Mattos, and Genndy Tartakovsky, as well as model Dian Parkinson. During the original run of the shorts, the series was retitled to The What a Cartoon! Show and later to The Cartoon Cartoon Show until the final shorts aired on August 23, 2002.
The series is influential for helping to revive television animation in the 1990s and serving as a launching point for the Cartoon Network animated television series Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and The Powerpuff Girls. Once it had several original shorts, those became the first Cartoon Cartoons. From 2005 to 2008, The Cartoon Cartoon Show was revived as a block for reruns of older Cartoon Cartoons that had been phased out by the network.
History
= Origins and production =
File:Fred Seibert by Gage Skidmore.jpg at VidCon 2014.]]
Fred Seibert became president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in 1992 and helped guide the struggling animation studio into its greatest output in years with shows like 2 Stupid Dogs and SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron. Seibert wanted the studio to produce short cartoons, in the vein of the Golden age of American animation. Although a project consisting of 48 shorts would cost twice as much as a normal series,{{Cite web |last=Seibert |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Seibert |date=December 30, 2006 |title=Blog History of Frederator's Original Cartoon Shorts. Part 15. |url=http://archives.frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2006/12/30/blog-history-of-frederators-original-cartoon-6/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215054827/http://frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2006/12/30/blog-history-of-frederators-original-cartoon-6/ |archive-date=December 15, 2010 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |publisher=FrederatorBlogs.com}} Seibert's pitch to Cartoon Network involved promising 48 chances to "succeed or fail", opened up possibilities for new original programming, and offered several new shorts to the thousands already present in the Turner Entertainment library. According to Seibert, quality did not matter much to the cable operators distributing the struggling network, they were more interested in promising new programs.{{Cite news |last=Seibert |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Seibert |date=September 1, 2007 |title=Blog History of Frederator's Original Cartoon Shorts. Part 17. |url=http://archives.frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2007/09/01/blog-history-of-frederator%e2%80%99s-original-carto-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123015208/http://frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2007/09/01/blog-history-of-frederator%E2%80%99s-original-carto-2/ |archive-date=January 23, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |work=FrederatorBlogs.com}}
With Turner Broadcasting CEO Ted Turner and Seibert's boss Scott Sassa on board, the studio fanned out across the world to spread the word that the studio was in an "unprecedented phase", in which animators had a better idea what cartoons should be than executives and Hanna-Barbera supported them.{{Cite news |last=Seibert |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Seibert |date=September 16, 2007 |title=Blog History of Frederator's Original Cartoon Shorts. Part 20. |url=http://archives.frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2007/09/16/blog-history-of-frederator%e2%80%99s-original-carto-5/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506074651/http://frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2007/09/16/blog-history-of-frederator%E2%80%99s-original-carto-5/ |archive-date=May 6, 2010 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |work=FrederatorBlogs.com}}{{Cite web |last=Seibert |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Seibert |date=October 25, 2009 |title=Blog History of Frederator's Original Cartoon Shorts. Part 22. |url=http://archives.frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2009/10/25/blog-history-of-frederator%e2%80%99s-original-cartoon-shorts-part-22/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122161842/http://frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2009/10/25/blog-history-of-frederator%E2%80%99s-original-cartoon-shorts-part-22/ |archive-date=November 22, 2010 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |website=FrederatorBlogs.com}} The company started taking pitches in earnest in 1993 and received over 5,000 pitches for the 48 slots. The diversity in the filmmakers included those from
various nationalities, race, and gender. Seibert later described his hope for an idealistic diversity as "The wider the palette of creative influences, the wider and bigger the audiences."
Seibert's idea for the project was influenced heavily by Looney Tunes. Hanna-Barbera founders and chairmen William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, as well as veteran animator Friz Freleng, taught Seibert how the shorts of the Golden Age of American animation were produced. John Kricfalusi, creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, became a teacher of sorts for Seibert and was the first person Seibert called while looking for new talent for the project.{{Cite news |last=Strike |first=Joe |date=July 15, 2003 |title=The Fred Seibert Interview — Part 1 |url=https://www.awn.com/animationworld/fred-seibert-interview-part-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806012907/http://www.awn.com/articles/people/fred-seibert-interview-part-1 |archive-date=August 6, 2010 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |publisher=Animation World Network}}
As was the custom in live action film and television, the company did not pay each creator for the storyboard submitted and pitched. For the first time in the studio's history, individual creators could retain their rights, and earn royalties on their creations. While most in the industry scoffed at the idea, encouragement, according to Seibert, came from the cartoonists who flocked to Hanna-Barbera with original ideas.{{Cite news |last=Seibert |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Seibert |date=September 2, 2007 |title=Blog History of Frederator's Original Cartoon Shorts. Part 18. |url=http://archives.frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2007/09/02/blog-history-of-frederator%e2%80%99s-original-carto-3/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825122816/http://frederatorblogs.com/frederator_studios/2007/09/02/blog-history-of-frederator%E2%80%99s-original-carto-3/ |archive-date=August 25, 2010 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |work=FrederatorBlogs.com}}
= Format =
The format for What a Cartoon! was ambitious, as no one had ever attempted anything similar in the television animation era. The shorts produced would be a product of the original cartoonists' vision, with no executive intervention: for example, even the music would be an individually crafted score. Each 7-minute short would debut, by itself, as a stand-alone cartoon or a stand-alone series on Cartoon Network. Three of the 7-minute cartoons are paired together into a half-hour episode. Seibert explained the project's goal in a 2007 blog post: "We didn’t care what the sitcom trends were, what Nickelodeon was doing, what the sales departments wanted. [...] We wanted cartoons."
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= Crew =
class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;"
| style="text-align: left;" | "On top of [a research and development program], I reinvigorated the 'who comes in the studio' equation. Now talented people wanted to show up. Some 5,000 people pitched us cartoons from all over the world. We got into business with Ralph Bakshi, with Bruno Bozzetto; we got into business with a broad range of people who never would've given Hanna-Barbera a passing chance. We worked with people who were 70 years old, who were 20 years old. We turned on its head the perception the people in the community had of us." |
style="text-align: left;" | — Creator Fred Seibert on the variety of directors for What a Cartoon! |
The What a Cartoon! staff had creators from Europe (Bruno Bozzetto), Asia (Achiu So), and the United States (Jerry Reynolds and colleague Seth MacFarlane). The crew also contained young series first-timers (like Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti, Butch Hartman, and John R. Dilworth), but veterans as well (like Don Jurwich, Jerry Eisenberg, and Ralph Bakshi). In addition to the veterans, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera each produced two shorts each for What a Cartoon!. Many of the key crew members from previous Hanna-Barbera series 2 Stupid Dogs joined the team of What a Cartoon! as well.
Many of its crew members later went on to write and direct for Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and The Powerpuff Girls, including those named above. The Kitchen Casanova director John McIntyre is particularly known for directing several Dexter episodes. Ralph Bakshi's series (Malcom and Melvin) was considered too risqué to be shown.{{Cite magazine |last=Deneroff |first=Harvey |date=February 1997 |title=Where the Action Is |url=https://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.11/articles/deneroff1.11.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014103311/http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.11/articles/deneroff1.11.html |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |magazine=Animation World Magazine |publisher=Animation World Network |issue=1.11}} It has been rumored that John Kricfalusi was slated to direct several new What a Cartoon! shorts of his own (produced by his production company, Spümcø). However, both Yogi Bear-influenced cartoons were commissioned separately by Seibert, and instead premiered as their own: Boo Boo Runs Wild and A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith both premiered in 1999.{{Cite magazine |date=September 1997 |title=Tooning in the Fall Season |url=https://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.6/2.6pages/2.6tooningin.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014103633/http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.6/2.6pages/2.6tooningin.html |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |magazine=Animation World Magazine |publisher=Animation World Network |issue=2.6}}
Inspired by Seibert's interest in the modern rock posters of Frank Kozik, each of the shows' creators worked with the internal Hanna-Barbera Creative Corps creative director Bill Burnett, and senior art director Jesse Stagg, to craft a series of high quality, limited edition, fluorescent art posters. The Corps launched a prolonged guerrilla mailing campaign, targeting animation heavyweights and critics leading up to the launch of World Premiere Toons. The first poster campaign of its kind introduced the world to the groundbreaking new stable of characters.{{Cite web |last=Seibert |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Seibert |date=September 8, 2012 |title=A Poster Gallery of What a Cartoon!/World Premiere Toons |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/84568447@N00/sets/72157612239662173/detail/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319082302/https://www.flickr.com/photos/84568447@N00/sets/72157612239662173/detail/ |archive-date=2017-03-19 |access-date=2017-01-20 |website=Flickr}}
= Broadcast =
The first cartoon from the What a Cartoon! project broadcast in its entirety was The Powerpuff Girls in "Meat Fuzzy Lumkins", which made its world premiere on Monday, February 20, 1995, during a television special called the World Premiere Toon-In (termed "President's Day Nightmare" by its producers, Williams Street). The special was hosted by Space Ghost and the cast of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and featured comic interviews and a mock contest with the creators of the various cartoons. The Toon-In was simulcast on Cartoon Network, TBS Superstation, and TNT. To promote the shorts, Cartoon Network's marketing department came up with the concept of "Dive-In Theater" in 1995 to showcase the 48 cartoon shorts. The cartoons were shown at water parks and large municipal swimming pools, treating kids and their parents to exclusive poolside screenings on 9' x 12' movie screens.{{Cite magazine |date=October 1997 |title=Cartoon Network's Dive-In Theater: A Floating Cinema |url=https://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.7/2.7pages/2.7diveintheatre.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014103859/http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.7/2.7pages/2.7diveintheatre.html |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |magazine=Animation World Magazine |publisher=Animation World Network |issue=2.7}}
Beginning February 26, 1995, each What a Cartoon! short began to premiere on Sunday nights, promoted as World Premiere Toons.{{Cite news |last=Bleale |first=Lewis |date=February 17, 1995 |title=Network a Boon to New Toons |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/network-boon-new-toons-article-1.683197 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006064153/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/network-boon-new-toons-article-1.683197 |archive-date=October 6, 2013 |access-date=May 31, 2011 |work=New York Daily News}} Every week after the premiere, Cartoon Network showcased a different World Premiere Toons made by a different artist. After an acclimation of cartoons, the network packaged the shorts as a half-hour show titled World Premiere Toons: The Next Generation, featuring reruns of the original shorts but also new premieres.
Eventually, all of the cartoons were compiled into one program which was used the name World Premiere Toons: The Show until the summer of 1996 when it started bearing the name of the original project: The What a Cartoon! Show. The show's initial premieres for each short preceded Cartoon Network's Sunday night movie block, Mr. Spim's Cartoon Theatre. The shorts continued to air on Sundays until 1997, when the network moved the shorts to Wednesdays at 9pm.{{Cite magazine |last=Doyle |first=Larry |date=January 22, 1997 |title=Changing Their Toons |url=https://slate.com/culture/1997/01/changing-their-toons.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110125081801/http://www.slate.com/id/3293/ |archive-date=January 25, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |magazine=Slate}} Following the premiere of Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken as full series in July 1997, the series shifted to Thursday nights, where it remained.{{Cite news |last=Boedeker |first=Hal |date=July 14, 1997 |title=Cartoon Network Zany Relief |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j4c1AAAAIBAJ&pg=1308,7322907&dq=cartoon+network&hl=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930223532/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j4c1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=dqYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1308,7322907&dq=cartoon+network&hl=en |archive-date=September 30, 2015 |access-date=May 31, 2011 |work=Reading Eagle |page=B6}}
The What a Cartoon! Show continued airing new episodes on Thursdays until November 28, 1997, when the final short of the 48 contracted during Seibert's era aired. In 1998, Cartoon Network debuted two new short pilots and advertised them as World Premiere Toons: Mike, Lu & Og and Kenny and the Chimp,{{Cite magazine |date=November 1998 |title=Animation World News – Television: Cartoon Network |url=https://www.awn.com/mag/issue3.8/3.8pages/3.8television.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921211732/http://www.awn.com/mag/issue3.8/3.8pages/3.8television.html |archive-date=September 21, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |magazine=Animation World Magazine |publisher=Animation World Network |issue=3.8}} both of which were produced by outside studios and produced after Time Warner's acquisition of Turner Broadcasting in 1996. The two pilots were later compiled into The Cartoon Cartoon Show, while both shorts eventually garnered their own series, Mike, Lu & Og in 1999 and Codename: Kids Next Door in 2002. One pilot entitled King Crab: Space Crustacean, which released in 1999, was also retconned into The Cartoon Cartoon Show anthology.
On June 9, 2000, The What a Cartoon! Show was relaunched as The Cartoon Cartoon Show. In this new format, it aired reruns and new episodes of the full-series Cartoon Cartoons, as well as new Cartoon Cartoon shorts and old WAC! shorts. From 2000 to 2001, the pilot shorts appearing on the network's viewer's poll that lost to The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Codename: Kids Next Door (except for Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?) were added to the anthology. The show continued to air until October 16, 2003, when it was temporarily dropped from the network's schedule.
On September 12, 2005, The Cartoon Cartoon Show was revived, this time as a half-hour program featuring segments of older Cartoon Cartoons that were no longer shown regularly on the network, such as Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and others. Some Cartoon Cartoons were moved exclusively to this show and the Top 5, though there was also some overlap with shows that already had regular half-hour slots outside the series. In 2006, the programming was expanded to also include non-Cartoon Cartoons that were regularly shown on the network, such as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Camp Lazlo, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, and Squirrel Boy. The show ended on June 21, 2008.{{Cite web |date=June 14, 2008 |title=CN Schedule: June 16 - June 22 |url=https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/cn-schedule-june-16-june-22.4553641/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126200320/https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/cn-schedule-june-16-june-22.4553641/ |archive-date=January 26, 2022 |access-date=January 7, 2022 |website=Anime Superhero}}
In 2007, reruns of What a Cartoon! played briefly on Cartoon Network's retro animation sister channel, Boomerang.{{Cite web |date=June 3, 2007 |title=Cartoon Network Schedule — Boomerang |url=http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/BoomerangServlet?action=selectBMDay |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070603081839/http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/BoomerangServlet?action=selectBMDay |archive-date=2007-06-03 |website=Cartoon Network |publisher=Time Warner}}
In 2020, a selection of shorts were added to the Cartoon Network website and app.{{Cite web |date=April 3, 2020 |title=Cartoon Network "Legacy Collection" on HBO Max |url=https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/cartoon-network-legacy-collection-on-hbo-max.5786273/#post-87693912 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305203724/https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/cartoon-network-legacy-collection-on-hbo-max.5786273/#post-87693912 |archive-date=March 5, 2022 |access-date=March 5, 2022 |website=Anime Superhero}}
On July 29, 2024, reruns of What a Cartoon! returned to Cartoon Network, airing only on Monday evenings as part of Adult Swim's Checkered Past block.
Legacy
What a Cartoon! is the first short cartoon incubator created by Fred Seibert. Starting with What a Cartoon! and continuing throughout his cartoon career, his Frederator Studios has persisted in the tradition of surfacing new talent, characters, and series with several cartoon shorts "incubators," including (as of 2016): What a Cartoon! (Cartoon Network, 1995), Nickelodeon/Nicktoons' own Oh Yeah! Cartoons (1998), Nicktoons Film Festival (2004), Random! Cartoons (2008), The Meth Minute 39 (Channel Frederator, 2008),{{Cite web |title=The Meth Minute 39 on YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL74F257B28D3C60DA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230183710/https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL74F257B28D3C60DA |archive-date=2015-12-30 |access-date=2015-04-19 |website=YouTube}} The Cartoonstitute (Cartoon Network, 2009/unfinished), Too Cool! Cartoons (Cartoon Hangover, 2012), and GO! Cartoons (Cartoon Hangover, 2016).{{Cite web |last=David Bloom |date=November 3, 2014 |title=Sony, Channel Frederator Launch Online Animation Incubator |url=https://deadline.com/2014/11/sony-pictures-animation-fred-seibert-cartoon-hangover-incubator-1201271591/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429124610/http://deadline.com/2014/11/sony-pictures-animation-fred-seibert-cartoon-hangover-incubator-1201271591/ |archive-date=April 29, 2015 |access-date=April 19, 2015 |website=Deadline Hollywood}} These laboratories have spun off notable series like: Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Family Guy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Samurai Jack, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Codename: Kids Next Door, The Fairly OddParents, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Nite Fite, The Mighty B!, Fanboy & Chum Chum, Adventure Time, Regular Show, Bravest Warriors, Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, Gravity Falls, Bee and PuppyCat, and Uncle Grandpa.
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. Two more series based on shorts, Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken, premiered in 1997, and The Powerpuff Girls became a weekly half-hour show in 1998. Courage the Cowardly Dog (spun off from the Oscar-nominated short The Chicken from Outer Space) followed as the final spin-off in 1999. In addition, the Cow and Chicken short I Am Weasel eventually was also spun off into a separate series: in all, six cartoon series were ultimately launched by the What a Cartoon! project, any one of which earned enough money for the company to pay for the whole program. In addition to the eventual spin-offs, the What a Cartoon! short Larry and Steve by Seth MacFarlane featured prototypes of characters that would later go on to become MacFarlane's massively successful Family Guy.
The What a Cartoon! project and its assorted spin-offs brought Cartoon Network more commercial and critical success, and the network became an animation industry leader as the 1990s drew to a close. In 2001, coinciding with the death of William Hanna, Hanna-Barbera Productions absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network opened its own production arm, Cartoon Network Studios, in Burbank, as the rightful Hanna-Barbera successor to produce original programming for the network and future projects. Two What a Cartoon! shorts, Wind-Up Wolf and Hard Luck Duck, were the last cartoon shorts directed and produced by co-founder and co-chairman William Hanna. In addition, What a Cartoon! and spin-offs were the final original productions released by Hanna-Barbera.
Creator of The What a Cartoon! Show, Fred Seibert, left Hanna-Barbera in late 1996 to open up his own studio, Frederator Studios, and has persistently continued in the tradition of surfacing new talent, characters, and series with similar shorts "incubators", including (as of 2015) Oh Yeah! Cartoons (Nickelodeon, 1998), Nicktoons Film Festival (Nickelodeon, 2004), The Meth Minute 39 (Channel Frederator, 2008), Random! Cartoons (Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, 2008), Too Cool! Cartoons (Cartoon Hangover, 2012), and GO! Cartoons (Cartoon Hangover, 2016). Oh Yeah! Cartoons{{Cite news |last=Joe Strike |date=August 4, 2003 |title=The Fred Seibert Interview — Part 2 |url=https://www.awn.com/animationworld/fred-seibert-interview-part-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908161142/http://www.awn.com/articles/people/fred-seibert-interview-part-2 |archive-date=September 8, 2010 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |publisher=Animation World Network}} showcased What a Cartoon! alumni (Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti) and launched several successful Nickelodeon series, including The Fairly OddParents, ChalkZone and My Life as a Teenage Robot. Frederator Studios also launched an animation film festival, Nicktoons Film Festival from 2004 to 2009; only to have The Mighty B! greenlit as a series based on the Super Scout short; though one short from Alex Hirsch would later go on to make Gravity Falls for Disney Channel/Disney XD. The studio launched another animation showcase in 2006, titled Random! Cartoons, which in turn produced Nickelodeon's Fanboy & Chum Chum in 2009, Cartoon Network's Adventure Time in 2010, and Cartoon Hangover's Bravest Warriors in 2012.
A sequel-of-sorts to the What a Cartoon! project, a Cartoon Network project titled The Cartoonstitute, was announced on April 3, 2008. Created by the channel executive Rob Sorcher and headed by The Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken and My Life as a Teenage Robot creator Rob Renzetti, the project was to "establish a think tank and create an environment in which animators can create characters and stories", and also create new possible Cartoon Network series.{{Cite news |last=Liu |first=Ed |date=April 3, 2008 |title=Cartoon Network Creates The Cartoonstitute |url=http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=22715 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203140309/http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=22715 |archive-date=February 3, 2009 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |website=ToonZone.net}}{{Cite web |last=Bynum |first=Aaron H. |date=April 3, 2008 |title=CN Upfront 2008: 'The Cartoonstitute' Announcement |url=https://www.facebook.com/animationinsider.net?articleID=1688 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105022346/http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=1688 |archive-date=January 5, 2009 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |website=Animation Insider}} However, the project was eventually scrapped as a result of the late 2000s recession and only 14 of the 39 planned were completed.{{Cite news |date=June 6, 2009 |title=Comments on Craig McCracken's DeviantArt profile |url=https://www.deviantart.com/comments/4/6465375/1085753054 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511203834/http://comments.deviantart.com/4/6465375/1085753054 |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |website=DeviantArt}} Nevertheless, J. G. Quintel's Regular Show short and Peter Browngardt's Secret Mountain Fort Awesome were greenlit to become full series. A recurring character on the show, Uncle Grandpa, would get his own series two years later.{{Cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Mike |date=August 13, 2009 |title=Cartoon Greenlights 'Regular Show,' 'Horrorbots' |url=https://www.multichannel.com/article/327550-Cartoon_Greenlights_Regular_Show_Horrorbots_.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615225344/http://www.multichannel.com/article/327550-Cartoon_Greenlights_Regular_Show_Horrorbots_.php |archive-date=June 15, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2010 |website=Multichannel News}} The Big Cartoon DataBase cites What a Cartoon! as a "venture combining classic 1940s production methods with the originality, enthusiasm and comedy of the 1990s".
On April 15, 2021, Cartoon Network announced it debuted a new iteration of Cartoon Cartoons.{{Cite web |last=Low |first=Elaine |date=April 15, 2021 |title=Cartoon Network Studios Debuts New Animated Shorts Program |url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/cartoon-network-studios-new-animated-shorts-program-1234952382/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124003928/https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/cartoon-network-studios-new-animated-shorts-program-1234952382/ |archive-date=January 24, 2022 |access-date=May 28, 2021 |website=Variety}} The lineup of the first nine shorts were announced on November 24, 2021: Accordions Geoffery & Mary Melodica by Louie Zong (of The Ghost and Molly McGee and We Bare Bears), Dang! It's Dracula by Levon Jihanian (of Tig n' Seek), Hungy Ghost by Jesse Moynihan (of Adventure Time), Fruit Stand at the End of the World by Rachel Liu, Off the Menu by Shavonne Cherry (of Ren and Stimpy and The Looney Tunes Show), Harmony in Despair by Andrew Dickman (of Looney Tunes Cartoons), Unravel by Alexis Sugden, Mouthwash Madness by Lisa Vandenberg (of Animaniacs), and Scaredy Cat by J.J. Villard (of King Star King).{{Cite web |last=Amidi |first=Amid |author-link=Amid Amidi |date=2021-11-24 |title=Cartoon Network Studios Reveals 9 Shorts Made As Part Of Its Cartoon Cartoons Program |url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/shorts/cartoon-network-studios-reveals-9-short-made-as-part-of-its-cartoon-cartoons-program-210862.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224232326/https://www.cartoonbrew.com/shorts/cartoon-network-studios-reveals-9-short-made-as-part-of-its-cartoon-cartoons-program-210862.html |archive-date=2021-12-24 |access-date=2021-12-24 |website=Cartoon Brew}}{{Cite tweet |number=1463251280596545537 |user=cartoonnetwork |title=Check out the first group of shorts from #CartoonCartoons, a new #CartoonNetworkStudios program cultivating the next generation of hits and hit makers with a commitment to creativity, diversity & mentorship 🎨✏️ Check back for updates as we get to know these talented artists! |date=November 24, 2021}} On June 7, 2022, more Cartoon Cartoons were announced.{{Cite tweet |number=1534215616852377603 |user=cartoonnetwork |title=Check out the second group of shorts from #CartoonCartoons, a #CartoonNetworkStudios program cultivating the next generation of hits and hit makers with a commitment to creativity, diversity & mentorship! Check back for updates as we get to know these talented artists! 🎨✏️ |date=June 7, 2022}} The next seven shorts include The All-Nimal by Nick Edwards (of Apple & Onion and The Fungies!), Buttons' Gamezone by Fernando Puig (of The Cuphead Show!, Middlemost Post and Tig n' Seek), Tib Tub, We Need You by Sean Godsey and Mike Rosenthal, I Love You Jocelyn by [https://traceyelle.com/ Tracey Laguerre] (Art and Animation Director for brands like Google, DreamWorks Animation, BuzzFeed, etc.) , Pig in a Wig by Sam Marin (of Regular Show), The Good Boy Report (based on the webcomic of the same name) by Kasey Williams (of Niko and the Sword of Light and Harley Quinn) and Maude Macher and Dom Duck by Kali Fontecchio (of The Looney Tunes Show and Jellystone!). On March 21, 2024, GiAnna Ligammari (of Niko and the Sword of Light and Inside Job) announced a Cartoon Cartoons short ISCREAM created by her.{{Cite tweet |number=1770856224386400383 |user=virtualGIA_ |title=This is the first bit of VisDev I drew for my short, ISCREAM! Made for the Cartoon Cartoons Shorts program. I am dying for everyone to see it already. 🍦 |date=March 21, 2024}} Four days after, the short was announced as being completed.{{Cite tweet |number=1772342889030267276 |user=virtualGIA_ |title=And as of today, the short is finished!!! |date=March 25, 2024}} The shorts were showcased in a screening on April 25, 2024.{{Cite tweet |number=1783622166598299866 |user=virtualGIA_ |title=The time has come … #ISCREAM |date=April 25, 2024}}{{Cite tweet |number=1783675466014248991 |user=artsyspencerg |title=Animation at its finest on display here. Insanely proud of my gia, and grateful i was able to see the great work by the other extremely talented artists. A full feast of animation |date=April 25, 2024}}
Filmography
{{See also|Fred Seibert cartoon shorts filmography}}
List of shorts
= Original show (1995–97) =
The following is a list of the original shorts produced under Fred Seibert's management for What a Cartoon! by Hanna-Barbera. The shorts are listed in the order that they originally aired.
{{Reflist|group="note"}}
= ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'' (1998–2002) =
After What a Cartoon! ended its run in 1997, Fred Seibert left Hanna-Barbera in 1997 to launch Frederator Studios. In 1998, Sam Register, who was Cartoon Network's vice president at the time, took over What a Cartoon!, and two years later, turned them into The Cartoon Cartoon Show. Register would later create Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi for Cartoon Network in 2004. Two Cartoon Cartoon shorts were produced in 1998 and one in 1999. All Cartoon Cartoon shorts produced between 2000 and 2001 were entered in The Big Pick, a contest to choose the newest Cartoon Cartoon. The shorts premiered on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays in the weeks leading up to "The Big Pick" and the winner was revealed during the actual event. The winners were The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, in 2000, and Codename: Kids Next Door, in 2001.
In 2002, eight new shorts premiered during the Cartoon Cartoon Weekend Summerfest. They did not compete against one another. These were the final Cartoon Cartoon shorts before the brand name was dropped. One short, LowBrow, was given its own series under the name Megas XLR.
{{Episode table |background= |title= |aux1= |aux1T=Created by |aux2= |aux2T=Production company(s) |airdate= |episodes=
{{Episode list
|Title=Kenny and the Chimp: Diseasy Does It! or Chimp 'n' Pox
|Aux1=Mr. Warburton
|Aux2=Hanna-Barbera
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1998|11|6}}
|ShortSummary=A boy named Kenny (voiced by Tom Kenny) and his pet chimpanzee Chimpy must watch the disease laboratory run by Professor XXXL (voiced by Frank Welker) while he is away. However, Chimpy causes trouble for Kenny as he follows Professor XXXL's advice to use the Help Me Disease Hotline if he gets infected with any of his diseases.
Note: The style of the short and the character Professor XXXL would be used on Codename: Kids Next Door.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Mike, Lu & Og: Crash Lancelot
|Aux1=Mikhail Aldashin, Mikhail Shindel,
and Charles Swenson
|Aux2=Kinofilm
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1998|11|6}}
|ShortSummary=A castaway girl named Mike (voiced by Nika Futterman) asks for native inventor Og (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) to build a car to get across the island. He also builds a specially improved model for princess Lu (voiced by Nancy Cartwright), which runs too fast for her.
Note: Pilot to Mike, Lu & Og.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=King Crab: Space Crustacean
|Aux1=Bill Wray
|Aux2=Hanna-Barbera
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1999|8|21}}{{Cite web |last=Kilmer |first=David |date=August 5, 1999 |title=Cartoon Network offers sneak peeks |url=https://www.awn.com/news/cartoon-network-offers-sneak-peeks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129110100/http://www.awn.com/news/cartoon-network-offers-sneak-peeks |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |access-date=July 30, 2014}}
|ShortSummary=King Crab (voiced by Frank Gorshin) is a highly-evolved king crab and captain of his intergalactic space cruiser with crew members like his ward Zesty Relish (voiced by Charlie Adler), Dr. Deli (voiced by Lane Schirmer), Lt. Rock Shrimp (voiced by Billy West), and Jackie Android (Billy West). Relish soon has his body invaded by a life-sucking outer space parasite (Charlie Adler).
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Nikki
|Aux1=Debra Solomon and Todd Kessler
|Aux2=Sea Monkey Productions
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1999|12|14}} {{small|(stealth premiere)}}{{Cite web |title=Nikki (Registration No. PA0000990047 / 2000-03-17) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531152425/https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |archive-date=2021-05-31 |access-date=2022-12-13 |publisher=United States Copyright Office}}
{{Start date|2000|6|30}}{{Cite web |last=DeMott |first=Rick |date=May 10, 2000 |title=Cartoon Network Navigates 10 New Pilots |url=https://www.awn.com/news/cartoon-network-navigates-10-new-pilots |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227040207/http://www.awn.com/news/cartoon-network-navigates-10-new-pilots |archive-date=2013-12-27 |access-date=2013-06-06 |publisher=Animation World Network}}
|ShortSummary=Two friends find unusual responses to their on-line postings after they try to cheer up a broken-hearted woman in the park.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: Meet the Reaper
|Aux1=Maxwell Atoms
|Aux2=Hanna-Barbera
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1999|12|27}} {{small|(stealth premiere)}}{{Cite web |title=The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: Meet the Reaper (Registration No. PA0000990048 / 2000-03-17) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531152425/https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |archive-date=2021-05-31 |access-date=2022-09-25 |publisher=United States Copyright Office}}
{{Start date|2000|6|9}}
|ShortSummary=Billy (voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz) and Mandy (voiced by Grey DeLisle) are paid a visit by the Grim Reaper (voiced by Greg Eagles) when he comes to collect the soul of Billy's hamster, Mr. Snuggles. Mandy then makes a bet with him in the form of a game: if Grim loses, he lets them keep Mr. Snuggles AND become their "best friend".
Note 1: Winner of Cartoon Network's Big Pick marathon (2000).
Note 2: Pilot to The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Grim & Evil.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Foe Paws
|Aux1=Chris Savino
|Aux2=Hanna-Barbera
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1999|12|27}} {{small|(stealth premiere)}}{{Cite web |title=Foe Paws (Registration No. PA0000989889 / 2000-04-10) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531152425/https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |archive-date=2021-05-31 |access-date=2022-09-25 |publisher=United States Copyright Office}}
{{Start date|2000|7|7}}
|ShortSummary=This cartoon follows the misadventures of an eccentric old woman (voiced by Rhoda Gemignani) who tries to replace her long lost children by dressing up her cat (voiced by Ryan Stiles) and her dog (voiced by Tom Kenny) in human clothes.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Thrillseekers: Putt 'n' Perish
|Aux1=Deborah Cone
|Aux2=Hanna-Barbera
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1999|12|27}} {{small|(stealth premiere)}}{{Cite web |title=Thrillseeker: Putt 'n' Perish (Registration No. PA0000990046 / 2000-03-17) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531152425/https://cocatalog.loc.gov/ |archive-date=2021-05-31 |access-date=2022-09-25 |publisher=United States Copyright Office}}
{{Start date|2000|11|3}}
|ShortSummary=A group of thrill seekers named Ashley (voiced by Grey DeLisle), Joe (voiced by Scott Menville), and Otto (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) attempt to conquer the world's most dangerous golf course called "Putt & Perish".
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?
|Aux1=Greg Miller
|Aux2=Hanna-Barbera
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|6|16}}
|ShortSummary=Robot Jones (voice provided by MacInTalk Junior) learns that he has been put into a human public school that he must now attend.
Note 1: Pilot to Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?.
Note 2: In the Cartoon Network's Big Pick marathon (2000), the pilot had lost at 2nd place.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Trevor!: Journey to Sector 5-G
|Aux1=Adam Shaheen and Jeff Rockburn
|Aux2=Cuppa Coffee Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|6|23}}
|ShortSummary=This cartoon follows the wild world of Trevor Braithwaite (voiced by Susan Roman) whose doodles dance right off the page.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Prickles the Cactus
|Aux1=Denis Morella
|Aux2=Curious Pictures
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|7|14}}
|ShortSummary=Its plot follows the mishaps of a clumsy water-phobic cactus (voiced by Monica Lee Gradischek) who helps save her family from a deadly drought at Cyclone Ranch.
Note: This pilot was later adapted to an interactive short for Cartoon Network Video's anthology series Web Premiere Toons.{{Cite web |title=Prickles the Cactus |url=http://www.skyetheguy.com/WPT/prickles.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302130314/http://www.skyetheguy.com/WPT/prickles.html |archive-date=2016-03-02 |access-date=2015-09-15 |website=SkyeTheGuy.com}}
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Lucky Lydia: Club Lydia
|Aux1=Arthur Filloy and Bob Camp
|Aux2=FilmGraphics Entertainment
Frames Animation•Illustration
Bob Camp Productions, Inc.
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|7|21}}
|ShortSummary=This cartoon follows the unwittingly lucky Lydia Lucas (voiced by Laraine Newman) who is raised by half-crazy parents and narrowly misses her demise at the hands of the Baxter Boys again and again.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Longhair and Doubledome: Good Wheel Hunting
|Aux1=Gavrilo Gnatovich
|Aux2=Knock-Knock Cartoons Ltd., LLC
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|7|28}}
|ShortSummary=This cartoon follows two philosophical cavemen named Longhair (voiced by Daniel Davis) and Doubledome (voiced by Jess Harnell) who just don't fit into their prehistoric surroundings as the work on inventing the wheel.
Note: In the Cartoon Network's Big Pick marathon (2000), the pilot had lost at 3rd place.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Lost Cat
|Aux1=David Feiss
|Aux2=David Feiss, Inc.
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|8|4}}
|ShortSummary=A homeless purple cat (voiced by Phil LaMarr) attempts to scam his way into cozy new digs by passing himself off as someone else's lost cat.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Uncle Gus: For the Love of Monkeys
|Aux1=Lincoln Peirce
|Aux2=Hanna-Barbera
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|8|11}}
|ShortSummary=This cartoon follows the journey of a wily unemployed geezer (voiced by Stuart Pankin) and his rag-tailed bunch of friends as they travel to the zoo to reunite Uncle Gus with his AWOL fiancée (voiced by Josephine Bradley).
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Sheep in the Big City: In the Baa-ginning
|Aux1=Mo Willems
|Aux2=Curious Pictures
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|8|18}}
|ShortSummary=Sheep (vocal effects provided by Kevin Seal) leaves the farm of Farmer John (voiced by James Godwin) in pursuit of a happy life in the city while being pursued by General Specific (Kevin Seal).
Note: Pilot to Sheep in the Big City.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Captain Sturdy: Back in Action!
|Aux1=William Waldner, Ashley Postlewaite,
and Darrell Van Citters
|Aux2=Renegade Animation
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|6|8}}
|ShortSummary=The long-retired Captain Sturdy (voiced by Corey Burton) must return to action when the Union of Super Heroes cancels his pension. Upon returning to duty, he discovers that the organization has lost sight of what it means to be a superhero and has become more concerned with political correctness and marketing deals than saving the world from the evil clutches of Moid.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Yee Hah & Doo Dah: Bronco Breakin' Boots
|Aux1=Kenny Duggan
|Aux2=Pitch Production
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|6|15}}
|ShortSummary=A cowboy named Yee Hah (voiced by Rafael Ferrer) and his horse named Doo Dah (voiced by Thomas Haden Church), reside in Manhattan's Central Park. Yee Hah enjoys the city life until he discovers that the city pavement is giving him a dreadful blister. Much to Doo Dah's dismay, he decides to stop walking and ride his horse everywhere, thereby cramping Doo Dah's power-lunching lifestyle. Eventually, Doo Dah finds the real culprit behind Yee Hah's sore feet: the branding iron, tractor, etc. that Yee Hah has been hiding in his boots.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=IMP, Inc.
|Aux1=Chris Reccardi and Charlie Bean
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|6|22}}
|ShortSummary=Travelling in an orbiting meteor, three Imps are up for review and are offered the opportunity to help a poor farm couple by granting them their wish for desperately needed rain to help their crops. They manage to deliver rain, but their hopes for promotion come crashing down when their meteor smashes the couple's crops.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=My Freaky Family: Welcome to My World
|Aux1=John McIntyre
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|6|29}}
|ShortSummary=It's the first day of school for Nadine (voiced by Kath Soucie), a significant historical event considered by her mother to be one of many "milestone days", which must be documented with a photo much to the dismay of her father (voiced by Jeff Bennett) and the support of her grandmother (voiced by Billie Hayes). She manages to make it onto the school bus without being photographed, but her "freaky" family grabs the camera and jumps on the family multi-seater bicycle for a mortifying chase to catch up with her.
Note: In the Cartoon Network's Big Pick marathon (2001), the pilot had lost at 3rd place.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Major Flake: Soggy Sale
|Aux1=Adam Cohen and Casper Kelly
|Aux2=Kurtz + Friends Animation
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|7|6}}
|ShortSummary=Major Flake (voiced by Rob Paulsen), a frenetic French cereal mascot, and his grim sidekick Sparkles (voiced by Jeff Bennett) must find a way to sell their rather unappealing Major Flake cereal before their boss Sylvia Soggy (voiced by Becky Bonar) pulls the breakfast treat from store shelves. During this time, they meet a successful cereal mascot named King Sweet (voiced by Jess Harnell) which later gives Sparkles an idea after every attempt fails.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Utica Cartoon: Hotdog Champeen
|Aux1=Fran Krause and Will Krause
|Aux2=Animation Cowboys
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|7|13}}
|ShortSummary=When Dan Bear (voiced by Jesse Schmal) and Micah Monkey (voiced by Fran Krause) learn that they can get free hot dogs by beating the current hot dog eating record at their local diner, they are up for the challenge. Dan Bear reigns as hot dog champ by consuming loads of free hot dogs, continually beating his own record. For awhile, he enjoys the free franks until beating the record becomes too much even for him.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Codename: Kids Next Door — No P in the OOL
|Aux1=Mr. Warburton
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|7|20}}
|ShortSummary=When the villainous Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb (voiced by Tom Kenny and Dee Bradley Baker) extend the adult swimtime to extreme lengths at the neighborhood pool during their lifeguard gig, the Kids Next Door members Numbuh 1 (voiced by Benjamin Diskin), Numbuh 2 (Benjamin Diskin), Numbuh 3 (voiced by Lauren Tom), Numbuh 4 (Dee Bradley Baker), and Numbuh 5 (voiced by Cree Summer) plan to strike back with vengeance.
Note 1: Winner of Cartoon Network's Big Pick marathon (2001).
Note 2: Pilot for Codename: Kids Next Door.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Swaroop: Bovine Bliss
|Aux1=Mike Milo and Atul N. Rao
|Aux2=Warner Bros. Animation
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|7|27}}
|ShortSummary=Swaroop (voiced by Atul N. Rao) and his family (voiced by Veena Bidasha, Brian George, Nick Jaine, and Aashna Patel) are trying to assimilate their Indian heritage with modern American culture. The differences become glaringly apparent when their neighbor Steve (voiced by Quinton Flynn) brings home a cow (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) to throw on the barbecue. Swaroop decides to hide the sacred cow before the neighbors can cook it for dinner.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Ferret and Parrot
|Aux1=Scott Morse
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|8|3}}
|ShortSummary=A ferret (voiced by Mark Hamill) and a parrot (voiced by J. Grant Albrecht) fight for the affection of a comic strip character. Meanwhile, their owner tries to get rid of ants that have infested the house.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=A Kitty Bobo Show: Cellphones
|Aux1=Kevin Kaliher and Meg Dunn
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|8|17}}
|ShortSummary=Kitty Bobo (voiced by Dante Basco) wants to prove that he is cool by getting a cell phone. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be receiving many important calls, thereby reducing his cool factor, so he begins to fake incoming calls. It's only a matter of time before everyone catches on to the farce.
Note: In the Cartoon Network's Big Pick marathon (2001), the pilot had lost at 2nd place.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Uncle Gus: Not So Fast!
|Aux1=Lincoln Peirce
|Aux2=Red Sky Brand
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|11|23}}
|ShortSummary=In the second Uncle Gus short, Gus enters his loyal horse Flapjack (voiced by Dave Thomas) in a horse race to win a bet with mysterious paperboy Ali Ali (voiced by Rob Paulsen).
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Commander Cork: Space Ranger
|Aux1=Mike Bell
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2002|8|23}}
|ShortSummary=Commander Cork (voiced by Mike Bell) is an enthusiastic and overzealous, though not very bright, do-gooder. When he meets Peggy and Petey Paddle (voiced by Kath Soucie and Debi Derryberry), a brother and sister duo who share a fascination with outer space, he decides to bring them with him on his wacky space adventures.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=LowBrow: Test Drive
|Aux1=Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2002|8|23}}
|ShortSummary=During a routine trip to the garbage dump, suburban misfit Coop (voiced by David DeLuise) discovers an advanced robot from the future. Coop brings the treasure home and retools it to suit his modern-day slacker needs.
Note: Pilot to Megas XLR.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Longhair and Doubledome: Where There's Smoke... There's Bob!
|Aux1=Gavrilo Gnatovich
|Aux2=Knock-Knock Cartoons Ltd., LLC
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2002|8|23}}
|ShortSummary=In their second animated cartoon outing, Longhair and Doubledome discover fire. Having never before seen fire, Doubledome concludes that the blaze must be his son Bob.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Jeffrey Cat: Claw and Order — All Dogs Don't Go to Heaven
|Aux1=Mark O'Hare
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2002|8|23}}
|ShortSummary=Jeffrey Cat (voiced by Diedrich Bader) has never met a crime he couldn't lick. A surge in the pet population raises the need for a pet investigator. Jeffrey Cat, the sergeant on all pet-related cases, makes it his mission to safeguard the rights of all of the pets in the community. When a friendly dog (voiced by Steve Mackall) is accused of attacking a neighbor, Jeffrey Cat smells a rat.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Fungus Among Us
|Aux1=Wes Archer
|Aux2=Rough Draft Studios, Inc.
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2002|8|23}}
|ShortSummary=Keeping clean is a dirty business as the animated mascots (voiced by Roz Baker, John DiMaggio, and Phil LaMarr) from cleaning product commercials well know. "Fungus Among Us" follows the trials and tribulations of the fungus who must coexist with the cleaning agents that have been created to destroy them.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Colin Versus the World: Mr. Lounge Lizard
|Aux1=Stu Gamble
|Aux2=Square Centre Pictures Limited
Varga Budapest
Cartoon Network Europe
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2002|8|23}}
|ShortSummary=Colin (voiced by Lewis MacLeod) is a color-blind chameleon whose life is full of mishaps and blunders. While working as a shelf stocker at Cheapway's Supermarket, Colin passes the days with dreams of becoming a Lounge Lizard in Las Vegas.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Maktar
|Aux1=Gavrilo Gnatovich
|Aux2=Knock-Knock Cartoons Ltd., LLC
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2002|8|23}}
|ShortSummary=Slashing through our gassy universe, hurtling through our own Milky Way, an invader from the far reaches of Space comes knocking upon our atmospheric door. Sent by Zen (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) and his Space Council of Planet Q-8, Maktar is on a mission to conquer Earth. But, Maktar, a sniveling middle manager and galactic pushover, couldn't invade someone's privacy let alone conquer our Great Blue Planet.
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Bagboy!
|Aux1=John Mathot and Ken Segall
|Aux2=Cartoon Network Studios
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2002|8|23}}
|ShortSummary=Parker (voiced by Kurt Long) is a typical 14-year-old with the usual adolescent trials, except when he is a Bagboy. Carefully selected by the elite intergalactic council, known as the Bagi, Parker moonlights as a powerful superhero.
}}
}}
= Cartoon Cartoon segments =
{{expand section|date=November 2014}}
From 2000 to 2003, The Cartoon Cartoon Show featured new episodes and reruns of the full-series Cartoon Cartoons (which were introduced in 2002 for the primetime hours), interspersed with premieres and reruns of the Cartoon Cartoon pilot shorts (some of which were retconned WAC! shorts). From 2005 to 2008, the block was revived, this time dropping the pilot shorts.
Episodes from each show were anthologized into 7 and 11-minute segments. This is a list of shows that were presented on the block:
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
- Dexter's Laboratory{{Cite web |title=Cartoon Network |url=http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=viewAll&showID=313920&show=Cartoon+Cartoon+Show |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051123104819/http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=viewAll&showID=313920&show=Cartoon+Cartoon+Show |archive-date=2005-11-23 |access-date=2017-06-08 |website=CartoonNetwork.com}} (2002–2003; 2005–2008)
- Johnny Bravo (2002–2003; 2005–2008)
- The Powerpuff Girls (2002–2003; 2005–2008)
- Cow and Chicken (2002–2003; 2005–2008)
- I Am Weasel (2002–2003; 2005–2006)
- Time Squad (2002–2003)
- Grim & Evil (2002–2003)
- Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? (2002–2003; 2005–2006)
- The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2006–2008)
- Evil Con Carne{{Cite web |title=Cartoon Network |url=http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=viewAll&showID=313920&show=Cartoon+Cartoon+Show |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051227132523/http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=viewAll&showID=313920&show=Cartoon+Cartoon+Show |archive-date=2005-12-27 |access-date=2017-06-08 |website=CartoonNetwork.com}} (2005–2008)
- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends{{Cite web |title=Cartoon Network |url=http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=viewAll&showID=313920&show=Cartoon+Cartoon+Show |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060612221123/http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=viewAll&showID=313920&show=Cartoon+Cartoon+Show |archive-date=2006-06-12 |access-date=2017-06-08 |website=CartoonNetwork.com}} (2006–2008)
- Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (2006)
- Camp Lazlo (2006–2008)
- My Gym Partner's a Monkey (2006–2008)
- Squirrel Boy{{Cite web |title=Cartoon Network |url=http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=viewAll&showID=313920&show=Cartoon+Cartoon+Show |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611233412/http://schedule.cartoonnetwork.com/servlet/ScheduleServlet?action=viewAll&showID=313920&show=Cartoon+Cartoon+Show |archive-date=2007-06-11 |access-date=2017-06-08 |website=CartoonNetwork.com}} (2006–2008)
- Ed, Edd n Eddy (2002–2003; 2005–2008)
- Mike, Lu & Og (2002–2003)
- Courage the Cowardly Dog (2002–2003; 2005–2008)
- Codename: Kids Next Door (2006–2008)
{{div col end}}
See also
{{portal|Animation|Television|Film|Cartoon|1990s|United States
}}
- KaBlam! on Nickelodeon
- Oh Yeah! Cartoons on Nickelodeon
- Random! Cartoons on Nicktoons Network
- Shorty McShorts' Shorts – a Disney Channel Original Series of shorts on Disney Channel
- Raw Toonage – created by Disney and originally aired as part of CBS's Saturday Morning Line-up
- The Cartoonstitute – a cancelled spiritual successor that would have continued the What a Cartoon! format
- Liquid Television on MTV
- Cartoon Sushi on MTV
References
{{Reflist}}
{{notelist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title}}
- {{URL|https://frederator.com/series/what-a-cartoonworld-premiere-toons/|What a Cartoon!}} at Frederator.com
{{Former Cartoon Network original programming}}
{{Hanna-Barbera}}
{{Frederator Studios}}
{{Cuppa Coffee Studios}}
Category:1990s American animated television series
Category:1990s American anthology television series
Category:1990s American children's comedy television series
Category:1990s American variety television series
Category:1995 American animated television series debuts
Category:1997 American television series endings
Category:American children's animated anthology television series
Category:American children's animated comedy television series
Category:Cartoon Network original programming
Category:Television series by Cartoon Network Studios