O Canada is a Canadian-American animated television anthology series, broadcast on Cartoon Network in the United States and all across the Asia-Pacific region. O Canada was the first Canadian cartoon series to air on the Turner-owned Cartoon Network. The show was also frequently aired on Teletoon in Canada, but not as much as it did on Cartoon Network in the United States and all across the Asia-Pacific region. Like TNT & Cartoon Network Asia, the 24-hour feed of Cartoon Network Asia has 8 different audio tracks including English, Standard Chinese, Taiwanese Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Korean, Japanese and Filipino. Unlike TNT & Cartoon Network Asia, Cartoon Network Asia aired O Canada on a separate 24-hour feed of its service along with Late Night Black & White and all of the other shows that also aired on its timeshared feed with TNT Asia during the night including Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Dexter's Laboratory and Crocadoo.
Shown mainly on Sunday nights (early Monday mornings) at 12:00 midnight ET, O Canada featured a selection of animated shorts from Canada, mostly from the archives of the National Film Board of Canada. Some of the animated shorts featured were part of the NFB's Canada Vignettes collection of shorts first produced for CBC Television.
The title of the series originated from the name of Canada's national anthem, "O Canada".
One of the notable shorts featured in this series was Bob's Birthday, which would later serve as the basis for Comedy Central / Global Television Network's Bob and Margaret series, which would debut the following year. Despite its time slot, Bob's Birthday was censored with one scene, that featured Bob nude from the waist down, edited with a maple leaf electronically superimposed over his genitalia, despite the sexually suggestive dialogues, depictions of severed limbs as a pet’s chew toy, and the implied act near the end remaining intact.
This packaged series was aimed more at adult audiences rather than children, despite being received a TV-Y7 rating, which it would have earned a higher rating and run on the mature block Adult Swim if it aired today. According to TV Guide on the 7/12-18/97 issue, it was classified as an adult animated program.
Cartoon Network’s deal from NFB which was signed expired in 2002 in favor of the late night adult block.
Shorts shown on O Canada[]
- Getting Started
- Hot Stuff
- Bob's Birthday
- Begone, Dull Care
- The Lump
- The Cat Came Back
- Blackfly
- To Be
- Dinner for Two
- Deadly Deposits
- Oh Sure
- Strings
- Shyness
- Every Child
- George and Rosemary
- Get a Job
- The Log Driver's Waltz
- La Salla
- Propaganda Message
- Emergency Numbers
- Balablok
- Hunger
- The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin
- The Big Snit
- The Family That Dwelt Apart
- Strange Invaders
- When the Day Breaks
- Every Dog's Guide to Complete Home Safety
- Every Dog's Guide to the Playground
- Special Delivery
- The Sweater
- Blowhard
- Overdose
- No Problem
- Pig Bird
- The Dingles
- The Apprentice
- Cactus Swing
- Arkelope
- Evolution
- Scant Sanity
- Two Sisters