Cartoonito

Cartoonito
Launched:	4 September 2006 (UK) 13 September 2021 (USA)
Owned By:	The Cartoon Network, Inc. (Warner Bros. Discovery)
Picture Format:	480i (2006-present) 1080i (2021-present)

Cartoonito is a preschool block on Cartoon Network and Max, named after the international brand of the same name.

Original logo for the British channel and the Italian channel, used from 2006-2022 In the UK and from 2011-2022 in Italy.

History

The Brand as a whole

On 4 September 2006, months after Tickle U ended, the now-defunct British sister channel Cartoon Network Too debuted a new programming block called Cartoonito, running from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily. Series featured in Cartoonito were acquired from countries around the world and were available in both English and French. The block was later given its own channel on 24 May 2007. Whereas Cartoon Network Too ceased operations in 2014, the Cartoonito channel remains operational as of 2022.

Cartoonito USA

With the announcement of Batwheels on 6 October 2020, Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults, and Classics president Tom Ascheim implied about plans for Cartoon Network to jump into preschool.

In a 5 February 2021 interview with Kidscreen, Ascheim revealed that Cartoon Network would be expanding its programming offerings to include series aimed at families, girls, and preschool children. The interview coincided with the acquisition of broadcast rights to Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!, a preschooler reboot version of the original Thomas & Friends series.

On 17 February, WarnerMedia announced that an official Cartoonito block would launch on Cartoon Network in the fall, with an additional streaming component for HBO Max. Launch programming includes 20 new series, such as Batwheels, Bugs Bunny Builders, Little Ellen and Tom and Jerry Time (formerly called Tom and Jerry Junior) from Warner Bros. Animation; Bea's Block and Mecha Builders from Sesame Workshop; Jessica's Big Little World, a spin-off of Craig of the Creek (which has now moved to CN), and acquired series Lu and the Bally Bunch, Lucas the Spider, Mush-Mush & the Mushables, and Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!.

On June 2021, Cartoonito UK's YouTube channel has begun uploading videos of clips and episodes from the US version which confirms that Esme & Roy, Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, and Love Monster are joining the lineup and a newsletter was announced.

On July 2021, Cartoonito UK's YouTube channel has rebranded to match the US branding and four more shows joining the lineup are Dylan and three acquired series Bing, Odo, and Pocoyo and the trailer for the block is released and it is hosted by four anthropomorphic shapes named Nito, Glob, Wedge, and Itty. Cartoon Network has aired the "Alpha Bodies" segment for the block on 30 July, to promote the mascots.

On 16 August 2021, it was announced that the block would launch on 13 September 2021 and it would run from 6:00AM-2:00PM on weekdays and 6:00-8:00AM on weekends, along with the confirmation of two shows - Baby Looney Tunes, which aired on the channel from 2002 to 2010 (returned briefly from 2015-16), and Caillou, which had just left PBS Kids 9 months ago at the time.

Since 2023, the block went downhill due to the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, reducing its schedule to 1.5 hours (later 1 hour as of 1 February 2024), two of its original shows Tom and Jerry Time and Scooby-Doo! and The Mystery Pups are both scrapped by the company's CEO David Zaslav, and Jessica's Big Little World airing on both Cartoonito and the regular CN schedule.

Sometime in Fall 2023, Cartoonito's section of Cartoon Network's website in the US was discontinued, redirecting to its section of clips and full episodes on said website until its closure on August 8, 2024.

Shows and Specials

[CN] means the show is only on Cartoon Network, [MAX] means the show is only on Max, and [CNM] means the show is on both Cartoon Network and Max. The airdates shown in the "Current" section are the shows that first and last aired on Cartoon Network.

Current

• Batwheels [CNM] (17 October 2022)
• Bea's Block [MAX]
• Blippi Specials [MAX]
• Blippi Visits [MAX]
• Blippi Wonders [CNM] (6 June 2022)
• Bugs Bunny Builders [CNM] (25 July 2022)
• Care Bears: Unlock the Magic [CNM] (19 September 2021 - 1 April 2022 on Cartoon Network; 13 September 2021 - 31 January 2023; 1 March 2023-present on Max)
• Hop [MAX]
• Jessica's Big Little World (20 September 2023) (episodes premiere on Cartoonito and then re-air on Cartoon Network)
• Learn With Blippi [MAX]
• Lellobee City Farm [CNM] (6 June 2022)
• Let's Go, Bananas! [October 3, 2024]
• Lu and the Bally Bunch [October 1, 2024]
• Lucas the Spider [CNM] (18 September 2021 - 29 September 2022; 31 August 2023 - present on Max, Also on Netflix)
• Mecha Builders [CNM] (Sneak Peek aired on 30 April 2022, and premiered on 9 May 2022)
• Sesame Street [MAX]
• Silly Sundays [October 2, 2024]
• Vlad and Niki [MAX]

• Barney's World [October 19, 2024]
• Dylan's Playtime Adventures [November 23, 2024]

Former

• Baby Looney Tunes [CN] (13 September 2021 - 3 June 2022; now on Boomerang)
• Bing [CNHM] (13 September 2021 - 27 June 2022)
• Caillou [CN] (13 September 2021 - 4 May 2022)
• Cocomelon [CN] (31 January 2022 - 16 February 2024)
• Esme & Roy [CNHM] (18 September 2021 - 25 March 2022 on Cartoon Network, 13 September 2021 - 18 August 2022 on HBO Max)
• Little Ellen [MAX] (13 September 2021 - 18 August 2022)
• Love Monster [CNHM] (19 September 2021 - 29 September 2022)
• Mia's Magic Playground [MAX] (13 September 2021 - 18 August 2022)
• Messy Goes to OKIDO [MAX] (13 September 2021 - 18 August 2022)
• Mo Willems Storytime Shorts [MAX] (13 September 2021- 8 February 2023 [1])
• Mush-Mush and the Mushables [CNHM] (13 September 2021 - 9 September 2022, Also on Netflix.)
• The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo [CNHM] (28 January 2022 - 25 March 2022 on Cartoon Network, 13 September 2021 - 18 August 2022 on HBO Max; now on PBS Kids)
• Odo [MAX] (2 December 2021 - 18 August 2022)
• The Ollie & Moon Show [MAX] (13 September 2021 - 18 August 2022; Now on YouTube)
• Pocoyo [CNHM] (13 September 2021 - 29 September 2022)
• See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special [CNHM] (30 April 2022)
• Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go! [CN] (13 September 2021 - 15 December 2023, also on Netflix)

Trivia

• This is Cartoon Network's third attempt to make a preschool block following the educational programming block of shows (Big Bag, Small World, and Cave Kids) in 1996 and Tickle U in 2005.
• From the block's launch till 22 September 2023, a curriculum board bumper appears before each show plays to what it promotes, similar to Nick Jr. However, since 25 September 2023, these bumpers were retired due to the block's downfall, but they can still only be seen on Cartoon Network's app. To view the curriculum boards, click here.
• While most of the shows on the block are rated TV-Y, Care Bears: Unlock the Magic is the only show on the block to be rated TV-Y7 (this is because that show was originally shown on Boomerang in 2019, two years before Cartoonito's launch in the US).
• In mid-2021, a user filmed that the Cartoonito logo shows up while The Amazing World of Gumball plays, maybe this was an error/glitch.