Cartoonstitute

Cartoonstitute was a Cartoon Network project created by Cartoon Network executive Rob Sorcher that will be a showcase for animated shorts. The series will executive produced by Craig McCracken (creator of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends) and supervised by Rob Renzetti (creator of My Life as a Teenage Robot). The project was abrutly cancelled after only 14 of the planned 39 shorts were produced.

History

The series was first announced on April 3rd, 2008 at Cartoon Network's annual upfront in New York City. The project would be similar to The Cartoon Cartoon Show (more commonly known as the "What A Cartoon!") which aired on the network more than a decade earlier, and which gave birth to some of the channel's first animated series, such as Dexter's Laboratory and Cow and Chicken. The Cartoonstitute hoped to establish a think tank for animators and create an environment in which animators can create characters and stories. A section of Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, California was set aside exclusively for the project. The "Cartoonstitute" name was imagined by Lauren Faust, the wife of Craig McCracken.

Goal

The project holds an ambitious goal of producing 39 animated shorts in the timespan of 20 months. Sorcher, the creator, says the goal of the project is to create a swift track for Cartoon Network's original programming. While the project will set up 6 core artists to create animated pilots for the showcase, Sorcher hopes to enlist some 30 more artists as development progresses. Unlike the What A Cartoon! project, the showcase does not aim to bring new, fresh artists into the animating industry. However, Sorcher is not completely against the idea of bringing new, unknown talent into the project in the future.

Spin-Offs

Two spin-off shows were produced after the cancelation of Cartoonstitute:

• Regular Show: A show that debuted on Cartoonstitute.
• Secret Mountain Fort Awesome: A show based on the Cartoonstitute short Uncle Grandpa.
• Uncle Grandpa: Another show based on the Cartoonstitute short of the same name.

Trivia

The 14 Cartoonstitute shorts were privately screened at Cartoon Network Studios on June 9, 2009.

Gallery

"Pamphlet" for the June 2009 CN Studios screening of the Cartoonstitute.

References

• Cartoon Network Creates The Cartoonstitute
• CN Upfront 2008: 'The Cartoonstitute' Announcement