What-A-Cartoon!

What-A-Cartoon! (originally known as World Premiere Toons, also known as Cartoon Cartoons), was the mid-1990s animation showcase that appeared on the Cartoon Network. It served as the launching point for several original cartoons including Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, The Powerpuff Girls, and Courage the Cowardly Dog. The Big Cartoon DataBase cites What-A-Cartoon!/World Premiere Toons as a "venture combining classic 1940s production methods with the originality, enthusiasm and comedy of the 1990s."

Related Topics:
1990s - Animation - Cartoon Network - Cartoon - Dexter's Laboratory - Johnny Bravo - Cow and Chicken - The Powerpuff Girls - Courage the Cowardly Dog - Big Cartoon DataBase - 1940s

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World Premiere Toons was an animation project conceived and produced by Fred Seibert, the original creative director of MTV and Nickelodeon who served as the president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. prior to founding Frederator Studios. Its mission was to return creative power to animators and artists, by going back-to-the-future and recreating the atmospheres that spawned the great cartoon characters of the mid-20th century. Each of 48 short cartoons mirrored the structure of a theatrical cartoon, with each film being based on an original storyboard drawn and written by its artist/creator.

Related Topics:
Fred Seibert - MTV - Nickelodeon - Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. - Frederator Studios

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The first World Premiere Toon to be broadcast in its entirety was The Powerpuff Girls' Meet Fuzzy Lumpkins, which made its world premiere on February 20, 1995 during a television special called the World Premiere Toon-In. The special was hosted by Space Ghost and the cast of ', and featured comic interviews and a mock contest with the creators of the various cartoons. The Toon-In was simulcast on Cartoon Network, TBS Superstation, and TNT.

Related Topics:
February 20 - 1995 - Space Ghost - Cartoon Network - TBS Superstation - TNT

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Cartoon Network's What-A-Cartoon! project, which was assembled into a half-hour series, The What-A-Cartoon! Show (later re-named The Cartoon Cartoon Show), featured over 45 new seven-minute cartoons, starring 38 new characters.

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There were also a large number of animated shorts created by several cartoonists such as: Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory (4 cartoon shorts)), David Feiss (No Smoking, which introduced the siblings Cow and Chicken), Van Partible (Johnny Bravo (2 cartoon shorts)), Craig McCracken (Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins, which introduced The PowerPuff Girls, and Crime 101), Butch Hartman (who did a number of one-shot shorts, including Pfish and Chip and Gramps), Seth MacFarlane (Larry and Steve, which were prototypes of Peter Griffin and Brian of Family Guy), John R. Dilworth (whose Oscar-nominated Chicken From Outer Space introduced Courage the Cowardly Dog), Zac Moncrief ("Godfrey and Zeek"), and countless others. Also included were works from veterans like William Hanna (Wind-Up Wolf and Hard Luck Duck), Joseph Barbera (shorts featuring The Flintstones' Dino), and Ralph Bakshi (Malcolm and Melvin).

Related Topics:
Animated - Cartoonists - Genndy Tartakovsky - David Feiss - Cow and Chicken - Van Partible - Johnny Bravo - Craig McCracken - The PowerPuff Girls - Butch Hartman - Seth MacFarlane - Larry and Steve - Peter Griffin - Brian - Family Guy - John R. Dilworth - Oscar - Courage the Cowardly Dog - Zac Moncrief - William Hanna - Joseph Barbera - The Flintstones - Ralph Bakshi

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The What-A-Cartoon! experiment introduced many of today's top animation talent and was repeated several times. A similar program, also helmed by Fred Seibert, was introduced on Nickelodeon in 1997, titled Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

Related Topics:
Nickelodeon - 1997 - Oh Yeah! Cartoons

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