What a Cartoon! facts for kids

{{Infobox television | image = WhatACartoon!.PNG | caption = Intertitle for What a Cartoon! in its original incarnation designed by Jesse Stagg

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| creator = Fred Seibert | voices = | theme_music_composer = Gary Lionelli | composer = | country = United States | language = English | network = Cartoon Network

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| company = Cartoon Network Studios | num_episodes = 16 episodes (48 segments) | list_episodes = #List of shorts | runtime = 22 minutes | first_aired = February 20, 1995 (1995-02-20) | last_aired = November 28, 1997 (1997-11-28)

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What a Cartoon! was an American animated TV show created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. It was also known as The What a Cartoon! Show and The Cartoon Cartoon Show. The show featured many short cartoons, like a collection of mini-movies. These shorts were made by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Later, some shorts also had a Cartoon Network Studios tag, showing they were made especially for the network.

The main goal of What a Cartoon! was to let animators and artists be very creative. They wanted to bring back the feeling of classic cartoons from the mid-1900s. Each short cartoon was based on an original idea from its artist. Usually, three of these short cartoons were put together to make a half-hour episode.

What a Cartoon! first aired on February 20, 1995, under the name World Premiere Toons. It started with a special episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast called "World Premiere Toon-In". This special featured interviews with the cartoon creators. Over time, the show's name changed to The What a Cartoon! Show and then to The Cartoon Cartoon Show. The last original shorts aired on August 23, 2002.

This series was very important for bringing back animated TV shows in the 1990s. It helped launch many popular Cartoon Network shows. These included Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and The Powerpuff Girls. These shows became the first "Cartoon Cartoons." After Fred Seibert left in 1997, Sam Register took over. By 2000, he changed the show into The Cartoon Cartoon Show. This led to even more Cartoon Network originals like Sheep in the Big City, Grim & Evil, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, Codename: Kids Next Door, and Megas XLR. From 2005 to 2008, The Cartoon Cartoon Show was brought back to show reruns of older Cartoon Cartoons.

How the Show Started

The Idea Behind the Cartoons

What a Cartoon! creator Fred Seibert at Vidcon 2014.

Fred Seibert became the head of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in 1992. He helped the studio create many successful shows like 2 Stupid Dogs. Seibert wanted the studio to make short cartoons, just like the famous ones from the "Golden Age of American Animation." He believed that animators knew best what cartoons should be like.

Seibert's idea was to make 48 short cartoons. He told Cartoon Network that this project would give them many chances to find new hit shows. The studio started looking for ideas in 1993 and received over 5,000 pitches! The people who made these cartoons came from all over the world. They were from different countries, races, and genders. Seibert hoped that having many different creative people would lead to shows that many different audiences would love.

Seibert's idea was greatly inspired by classic cartoons like Looney Tunes. The founders of Hanna-Barbera, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, taught Seibert how these older cartoons were made.

For the first time at the studio, individual creators could keep the rights to their cartoons. They could also earn money from their creations. This was a new idea in the animation world, and it encouraged many cartoonists to bring their original ideas to Hanna-Barbera.

How the Cartoons Were Made

The way What a Cartoon! was set up was very special. No one had tried anything like it in TV animation before. The short cartoons were made exactly how the original cartoonists wanted them. Even the music for each short was created just for that cartoon. Each short was about 7 minutes long. They were shown on Cartoon Network either by themselves or as part of a series. Three of these 7-minute cartoons were often put together to make a half-hour episode. Seibert said that they just wanted to make great cartoons, without worrying about what other TV shows or sales teams wanted.

Who Made the Cartoons

The team behind What a Cartoon! was very diverse. It included creators from Europe, Asia, and the United States. Many young animators who were new to making TV series worked on the show. These included Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken, Rob Renzetti, Butch Hartman, and John R. Dilworth. There were also experienced animators like Don Jurwich and Ralph Bakshi. Even William Hanna and Joseph Barbera each produced two shorts for the project.

Many of these crew members later went on to create and direct episodes for shows like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and The Powerpuff Girls.

To promote the show, the creators worked with the Hanna-Barbera art team. They made cool, limited-edition art posters for each cartoon. These posters were sent to important people in the animation world before the show launched. This was a new way to introduce the exciting new characters to everyone.

When the Show Aired

The very first cartoon from What a Cartoon! to air was The Powerpuff Girls in "Meat Fuzzy Lumkins". It premiered on February 20, 1995, during a TV special called World Premiere Toon-In. This special was hosted by Space Ghost and his friends. It featured funny interviews with the cartoon creators. To help promote the shorts, Cartoon Network even created "Dive-In Theater" in 1995. They showed the cartoons at water parks and swimming pools on big screens for kids and their families.

Starting February 26, 1995, new What a Cartoon! shorts began to air every Sunday night. They were called World Premiere Toons. After a while, Cartoon Network grouped the shorts into a half-hour show called World Premiere Toons: The Next Generation. This show included both reruns and new premieres.

Eventually, all the cartoons were put into one program. It was first called World Premiere Toons: The Show and then, in the summer of 1996, it became The What a Cartoon! Show. New episodes continued to air until November 28, 1997.

In 1998, Cartoon Network showed two new pilot shorts: Mike, Lu & Og and Kenny and the Chimp. These were also called World Premiere Toons. These two pilots later became their own series.

On June 9, 2000, The What a Cartoon! Show was relaunched as The Cartoon Cartoon Show. This new version showed reruns and new episodes of the full Cartoon Cartoon series. It also featured new Cartoon Cartoon shorts and older What a Cartoon! shorts. From 2000 to 2001, pilot shorts that were part of Cartoon Network's "viewer's poll" (like The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Codename: Kids Next Door) were added to the show. The show continued until October 16, 2003.

On September 12, 2005, The Cartoon Cartoon Show was brought back. This time, it was a half-hour show that featured older Cartoon Cartoons that weren't shown regularly anymore, like Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel. In 2006, it also started showing other popular Cartoon Network shows like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. The show finally ended on June 21, 2008.

In 2007, reruns of What a Cartoon! were briefly shown on Boomerang, Cartoon Network's sister channel for classic cartoons. In 2020, some shorts were added to the Cartoon Network website and app.

List of Cartoons

Original Show (1995–1997)

Here is a list of the original short cartoons made for What a Cartoon! by Hanna-Barbera under Fred Seibert's leadership. They are listed in the order they first aired.

The Cartoon Cartoon Show (1998–2002)

The Cartoon Cartoon Show logo

After What a Cartoon! finished its original run in 1997, Sam Register took over the project in 1998. Two years later, he turned it into The Cartoon Cartoon Show. Register later created Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi for Cartoon Network.

Two new Cartoon Cartoon shorts were made in 1998, and one in 1999. All Cartoon Cartoon shorts made between 2000 and 2001 were part of "The Big Pick." This was a contest where viewers voted for the newest Cartoon Cartoon. The shorts aired on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays before "The Big Pick" 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. These shorts did not compete against each other. They were the last Cartoon Cartoon shorts before the name was changed. One short, LowBrow, later became its own series called Megas XLR.

Cartoon Cartoon Segments

From 2000 to 2003, The Cartoon Cartoon Show featured new episodes and reruns of full Cartoon Cartoon series. It also showed premieres and reruns of the Cartoon Cartoon pilot shorts. From 2005 to 2008, the show was brought back, but without the pilot shorts.

Episodes from each show were divided into 7 and 11-minute segments. Here is a list of shows that were shown on this block:

Images for kids

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  Intertitle for What a Cartoon! in its original incarnation designed by Jesse Stagg

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  What a Cartoon! creator Fred Seibert at Vidcon 2014.

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  The Cartoon Cartoon Show logo

See also

• 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
• The Cartoonstitute – a show that would have continued the What a Cartoon! idea
• Liquid Television on MTV
• Cartoon Sushi on MTV
• Funpak on YTV