Cartoon Cartoons

For other original series produced by Cartoon Network, see List of programs broadcast by Cartoon Network.

Cartoon Cartoons revival logo introduced in 2021.

Cartoon Cartoons is a collective name for 15 Cartoon Network Original Series. The term was used by the network from July 14, 1997, to June 14, 2004. The first Cartoon Cartoon, Dexter's Laboratory, premiered in 1996, a year before the moniker's introduction. These series were generally produced by Hanna-Barbera and/or Cartoon Network Studios, with smaller studios like A.K.A. Cartoon, Kinofilm, Stretch Films, and Curious Pictures focusing on individual projects. Most Cartoon Cartoons were featured on CN's Friday night programming block, Cartoon Cartoon Fridays.

The "Cartoon Cartoon" moniker was first introduced in mid-July 1997. In October 2003, CCF was retooled into the live-action Fridays, and in June 2004, CN stopped using the moniker for its original animation that was still in production. Many original series have premiered since then, but are not considered Cartoon Cartoons.

From 2005 to 2008, the moniker was used for older series that were re-run on the 2005 revival of The Cartoon Cartoon Show. From 2012 to 2014, the Cartoon Cartoons along with other Cartoon Network Studios shows (from the post-Cartoon Cartoons era) aired in reruns on the 2012 revival of Cartoon Planet, as part of the network's 20th anniversary.

In 2021, the Cartoon Cartoons name was resurrected by the network for a new animation showcase program as a successor to the What a Cartoon! project. However the project was scrapped in 2024 due to Warner Bros. Discovery's financial issues.

History[]

Cartoon Cartoons were first showcased as World Premiere Toons and later in 1995 on What a Cartoon!, a series of comedic animated shorts produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Cartoon Network Studios guided by Fred Seibert. Seibert had been a guiding force for Nickelodeon (having overseen the creation of Nicktoons shortly prior to his departure) prior to joining Hanna-Barbera and would establish Frederator Studios years later.^[1] The first series to spin off from The What a Cartoon! Show was Dexter's Laboratory in 1996. A year later, Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken joined Dexter on the Cartoon Network lineup. The Powerpuff Girls became a Cartoon Cartoon in the fall of 1998. I Am Weasel and Ed, Edd n Eddy were the first two Cartoon Cartoons not to be introduced as What a Cartoon! shorts.

More shows premiered bearing the Cartoon Cartoons brand, airing throughout the network's schedule and prominently on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays, which became the marquee night for premieres of new episodes and shows beginning June 11, 1999.

On March 3, 2002, Cartoon Network introduced Cartoon Cartoons: The Top 5, an hour-long programming block featuring a countdown of the week's five "best" Cartoon Cartoons. The block was cancelled on July 13, 2008.

In October 2003, Cartoon Cartoon Fridays was rebooted as Fridays, hosted by Tommy Snider, Nzinga Blake (2003–2004), and Tara Sands (2005–2007). It aired shows outside the Cartoon Cartoon moniker, such as Samurai Jack, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Camp Lazlo, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Squirrel Boy, and Class of 3000. The last airing of Fridays was on February 23, 2007.

The Cartoon Cartoons bumpers (that appeared before and after episodes of CN's original series) were dropped after the network's CN City rebrand on June 14, 2004. Since newer shows such as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Camp Lazlo, and Ben 10 were stylistically different from previous shows, the moniker was not applied to them.

In October 2004, the block Cartoon Cartoons: The Top 5 was renamed to simply The Top 5, expanding its programming to include both newer CN Originals (such as Camp Lazlo, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends) and older Cartoon Cartoons. On September 12, 2005, CN re-introduced The Cartoon Cartoon Show, a half-hour block featuring re-runs of older cartoons that were no longer shown regularly on the network. The block was cancelled on June 21, 2008.

Cartoon Planet was revived as a block on Cartoon Network on March 30, 2012, airing in a format similar to The Cartoon Cartoon Show. It features Cartoon Cartoons such as Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Codename: Kids Next Door, and other original Cartoon Network Studios series such as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Camp Lazlo, and Chowder. Cartoon Planet returned on October 5, 2012, for Cartoon Network's 20th anniversary. On March 1, 2014, the block ended.

In April 2021, Cartoon Network announced a new iteration of the Cartoon Cartoons shorts program.^[2]

On November 23, 2021, the first new Cartoon Cartoons shorts completed production.^[3] On June 7, 2022, more Cartoon Cartoons completed production.^[4]

In August 2024, the official Boomerang YouTube channel was rebranded as an official Cartoon Cartoons YouTube channel.

On November 14, 2024, GiaAnna Ligammari (the creator of the pilot ISCREAM) confirmed the pilots will never air on television nor they will be picked up as television series due to the budget cuts at Warner Bros. Discovery.^[5]

On March 24, 2025, JJ Villard posted clips of the previously shelved Scaredy Cat, stating that it would release soon.

On July 11, 2025, it was announced that the new Cartoon Cartoons shorts were shown at the San Diego Comic-Con in the Indigo Ballroom on July 25, 2025.^[6]

List of Cartoon Cartoons[]

Full series[]

Title	Premiere date	Finale date
Dexter's Laboratory	April 27, 1996	November 20, 2003
Johnny Bravo	July 7, 1997	August 27, 2004
Cow and Chicken	July 15, 1997^{[n 1]}	July 24, 1999
I Am Weasel	July 15, 1997^{[n 1]}	March 2, 2000
The Powerpuff Girls	November 18, 1998	March 25, 2005
Ed, Edd n Eddy	January 4, 1999	November 8, 2009
Mike, Lu & Og	November 12, 1999	May 27, 2001
Courage the Cowardly Dog	November 12, 1999	November 22, 2002
Sheep in the Big City	November 17, 2000	April 7, 2002
Time Squad	June 8, 2001	November 26, 2003
Grim & Evil	August 24, 2001	October 18, 2002
Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?	July 12, 2002	November 14, 2003
Codename: Kids Next Door	December 6, 2002	January 21, 2008
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy+	June 13, 2003	November 9, 2007
Evil Con Carne+	July 11, 2003	October 22, 2004

(+) Indicates that the show originally aired as part of Grim & Evil, and that the 2003-2004 episodes were not produced for the standalone show.

Anthology/showcase series[]

Title	Premiere date	Finale date
What a Cartoon!	February 20, 1995	November 28, 1997
The Premiere Premiere Show	June 8, 2001	December 13, 2002

Blocks[]

Cartoon Cartoon Weekend (1997–2002)
Cartoon Cartoon Fridays (1999–2003)
Cartoon Cartoon of the Day (1999-2000)
The Saturday Morning Block (1999-2000)
Cartoon Cartoon Summer (1999–2001)
The Cartoon Cartoon Show (2000–03; 2005–08)
The Big Pick (2000–01)
Cartoon Cartoon Weeknights (2000)
Cartoon Cartoon Primetime (2001)
Cartoon Cartoons: The Top 5 (2002–08)
Cartoon Cartoons in the Morning (2002–03)
Cartoon Cartoons in the Afternoon (2002)

Shorts Program[]

Accordions Geoffrey & Mary Melodica by Louie Zong
Dang! It's Dracula by Levon Jihanian
Hungy Ghost by Jesse Moynihan
Fruit Stand at the End of the World by Rachel Liu
Off the Menu by Shavonne Cherry
Harmony in Despair by Andrew Dickman
Unravel by Alexis Sugden
Mouthwash Madness by Lisa Vandenberg
Scaredy Cat by JJ Villard
The All-Nimal by Nick Edwards
Buttons' Gamezone by Fernando Puig
Tib Tub, We Need You! by Sean Godsey and Mike Rosenthal
I Love You, Jocelyn by Tracey Laguerre
Pig in a Wig by Sam Marin
The Good Boy Report by Kasey Williams
Maude Macher and Dom Duck by Kali Fontecchio
ISCREAM by GiAnna Ligammari
Madison and Skylar by Violaine Briat
Sleeping Giants by Maha Tabikh
A For Angel by Chelsea McAlarney
Mandie Mander by Nick Bachman
Foools by Seo Kim & Steve Manale
The Journey to Donut Palace by Somvilay Xayaphone
Duck by Mic Graves and Tony Hull

Bumpers[]

In June 1997, Cartoon Network revealed new animated graphics made by Primal Screen featuring various CN characters in a white background promoting their upcoming shows. This era was later known as Starburst.

Following the premieres of Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken on July 14-15, Primal Screen later released new bumpers consisting of the 1992-2004 Cartoon Network logo zooming in through a green swirly background with ripples, as the word "NETWORK" gets replaced by another "CARTOON" on letter by letter. Each bumper had a random voice-over shouting "Cartoon Cartoon!" at the end.

In 1998, Primal Screen unveiled a new logo for the brand based on the Powerhouse era's typeface (including a cursive-written "Cartoon" on the top). It first appeared during the Cartoon Cartoon Weekend marathon (aired from November 6 to 8) and became as a permanent bumper for each Cartoon Network original show until the network's then-new rebrand in June 2004. The bumpers are the same as in previous year except for little differences:

The swirly background is changed from green to blue.
A CN character pops out of the letter "O" and shouts "Cartoon Cartoons!".
A generic version has the logo popping both "OO"s instead of the characters. This variant includes the same voice-overs from 1997.

Theme music[]

The Cartoon Cartoons jingle was written and composed by Stephen Mank of the now-defunct studio Primal Screen. Like the moniker, the song also made its introduction in July 1997. The song first appeared on a promo entitled "What's That?" where the Red Guy takes Cow to a stage play and explains her the use of the brand name. The instruments of the song consist of xylophone, double bass, trumpets and drums. Some samples of the song were later remixed by Bluetube's Michael Kohler for the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays block from 1999 to 2001.

The ending part of the jingle would be notably used for the Cartoon Network Productions logo (nicknamed "Ripple") used from November 12, 1999 to April 25, 2018.

Cartoon Cartoons - What's That? (1997-98)

Full instrumental version; 1997

Alternate version; unused

Short version

In September 2000, as a result of What a Cartoon! rebranding as The Cartoon Cartoon Show, Mank composed a new arrangement of the Cartoon Cartoons jingle with different instruments and more jazz-like beats (including a slow-paced remixed version in the bumpers). This replaced the intro and ending sequences to the original shorts from 1995-1997. This version was frequently used on promos for Cartoon Cartoon Summer and Cartoon Cartoon Primetime years later.

Full instrumental version; 2000

Intro version

Ending version

Remixed version; used in The Cartoon Cartoon Show

Appearances in other media[]

DC Comics ran an anthology comic based on the Cartoon Cartoon umbrella title, the ongoing series ran from March 2001 to October 2004 for a total of 33 issues.

The Cartoon Cartoons logo was featured in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode, Crossover Nexus.

Official YouTube channel[]

On August 19, 2024, an official Cartoon Cartoons YouTube channel was officially launched, though it is actually a rebrand of the former official Boomerang app YouTube channel. The channel also features post-Cartoon Cartoons such as Camp Lazlo and Chowder.

Unlike the former official Boomerang streaming service YouTube channel, the official Cartoon Cartoons YouTube channel is from the United Kingdom instead of the United States, due to the fact it is now operated by the Cartoon Network UK team.

Content[]

Hanna Barbera[]

The Flintstones
The Jetsons

Trivia[]

From 2005 to 2008, a new remixed version of the song (composed by Matt Fletcher of Elias Arts) is played for the intro of The Cartoon Cartoon Show.
It can also be heard on some shows that were distributed by various international Cartoon Network channels such as season 1 of Animal Control and the 2014 Courage the Cowardly Dog special titled "The Fog of Courage" (both were distributed by the Southeast Asian branch of Cartoon Network).
A rearranged and modernized version of the song (composed by Mint Potion Studios) is played in the OK K.O.! episode “Crossover Nexus”.
The ending part of the theme was used on a bumper for the 2018 revival of Cartoon Cartoons in Cartoon Network Asia.
The 1st logo from 1997-1998, consisted of the black and white Eagle typeface taken from the 1992-2004 Cartoon Network logo, except the word "Network" is replaced with another "Cartoon". The wordmark is now placed on a green oval as seen on the original bumpers.
The 2nd logo from 1998-2004 and 2005-2008, consisted of the red and yellow typeface taken from the Powerhouse era, except the first "Cartoon" is written in a cursive style.
Many fans tell the original Cartoon Network series from 2004 until now, Cartoon Cartoons, to think that the term Cartoon Cartoons, was discontinued since 2004.
J.J. Villard, creator of "Scaredy Cat", was allegedly threatened to be blacklisted by Cartoon Network when he tried to sell his short to other studios.^[7]^[8]
Roughly 21 shorts were made for the Cartoon Cartoons Shorts Program, and all of them are currently shelved.^[9]
Footage from five of the shorts was leaked online on November 16, 2024.^[10]
At the end of May 2025, six animatics were leaked online.^[11]
On the official Cartoon Cartoons YouTube channel, the 11 minute segments of shows that have 22 minute half hour episodes with two 11 minute segment are separated from each other rather than their original 22 minute half hour format.
- The following shows that have their segments be available that way are Camp Lazlo, Chowder, and Courage the Cowardly Dog.