An animated series is a set of animated television works with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either a finite number of episodes like a miniseries , a definite end, or be open-ended, without a predetermined number of episodes. They can be broadcast on television, shown in movie theatres, released on the internet or direct-to-video . Like other creative works, animated series can be of a wide variety of genres and can also have different target audiences : both males and females, both children and adults .
26-410: Crusader Rabbit is an American animated series created by Alexander Anderson and Jay Ward , and the first of its kind to be produced specifically for television . Its main characters were Crusader Rabbit and his sidekick Ragland T. Tiger, or "Rags". The stories were four-minute-long satirical cliffhangers . The concept was test marketed in 1948, while the initial serial – Crusader vs.
52-502: A cartoon series made exclusively for television came from animator Alex Anderson , who worked for Terrytoons Studios. Terrytoons turned down Anderson's proposed series, preferring to remain in theatrical film animation. Consequently, Anderson approached Jay Ward to create a partnership – Anderson being in charge of production and Ward arranging financing. Ward became business manager and producer, joining with Anderson to form "Television Arts Productions" in 1947. They tried to sell
78-518: A child-friendly show, shifted its target group to ages 12 and up, resulting in a darker and more mature storyline. Animated film theatrical series include all early animated series: Animated Weekly (1913), The Newlyweds (1913 — 1915), Travelaughs (1913, 1915 — 1918, 1921 — 1923), Doc Yak (1913 — 1915), Colonel Heeza Liar (1913 — 1917, 1922 — 1924), Kapten Grogg [ sv ] (1916 — 1922), Les Aventures des Pieds Nickelés (1917 — 1918),
104-593: A local station of a television network broadcasts an animated series as a part of its own programming, the time-slot will vary by region. All early animated television series, the first being Crusader Rabbit (1950 — 1959), are comic cartoon series. However, later series include sports ( Speed Racer , Captain Tsubasa , Slam Dunk ), action ( Hajime no Ippo , G.I. Joe ), science fiction ( Mobile Suit Gundam , Tenchi Muyo ), drama ( Neon Genesis Evangelion ), adventure ( Dragon Ball ), martial arts ( Baki
130-455: A set time period in "segments", including several such shorts. When advertising is taken into account, the cartoon itself may be only 15 — 20 minutes of the half hour, although Netflix and many other streaming companies do not show commercials. There are also series with a very short episodes lasting approximately five minutes; they have recently become more common in Japanese animation . If
156-749: The Tom and Jerry cartoon short films released in movie theatres from 1940 to 1967, and many others. Direct-to-video animated series include most Japanese original video animations (OVAs). The first OVA series (and also the first overall OVA) was Dallos (1983 — 1985). Almost all hentai (pornographic) anime series are released as OVAs. Animated web series are designed and produced for streaming services . Examples include Happy Tree Friends (1999 — 2023) and Eddsworld (2003 — present). They can also be released on YouTube , such as Asdfmovie , which debuted in 2008. Lucille Bliss Lucille Theresa Bliss (March 31, 1916 – November 8, 2012)
182-474: The 1990s, more mature content than those of traditional cartoon series began to appear more widely, extending beyond a primary audience of children. These cartoon series included The Simpsons , South Park , Family Guy , Futurama , The Ren & Stimpy Show , Rocko's Modern Life , Beavis and Butt-Head , King of the Hill , and Duckman . Canadian computer-animated series ReBoot , which began as
208-454: The Grappler ), and other genres. The first animated sitcom was The Flintstones (1960 — 1966), produced by Hanna-Barbera . It was followed by other sitcoms of this studio: Top Cat (1961 — 1962), Jonny Quest (1964 — 1965), The Jetsons (1962 — 1963, 1985, 1987) and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1972 — 1974), an adult-oriented animated series in
234-580: The Groundhog. Ragland Tiger's name was a pun on the jazz tune " Tiger Rag "; his middle initial "T" stood for The (as in Rags The Tiger). As a running gag, another character would ask Rags what the "T" stood for, to which he would reply, "Larry. My father couldn't spell!" The series was revived and 13 new "crusades" (totaling 260 color episodes) were produced in 1956 by Shull Bonsall's Capital Enterprises. Bonsall purchased Television Arts Productions and gained
260-510: The State of Texas – aired on KNBH in Los Angeles beginning on August 1, 1950 (not August 1, 1949 as some sources erroneously state). The program was syndicated from 1950 to 1951 for 195 episodes, then was revived in 1959 for 260 color episodes. Ward, who later went on to create The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends , was involved as business manager and producer. The concept of
286-642: The White Rabbit", and "Story of Grandpa Bunny". Bliss was also a voice-over performer for Airborne radio spots in 2004. Bliss produced and directed talent shows for the Embarcadero Armed Services YMCA in San Francisco. Some service personnel launched professional careers from those shows. Bliss died from natural causes on November 8, 2012, in Costa Mesa, California , at the age of 96. She
SECTION 10
#1732869743667312-452: The black-and-white era (including "Crusader Rabbit Vs. the State of Texas") and nine from the color era. The first series aired in syndication , with production of 195 episodes ending in 1951. The second series premiered in 1956 syndication with 260 episodes produced, 20 "chapters" per episode. They were later edited into 13 one-hour programs. Animated series Animated television series are presented daily or on certain days of
338-472: The early years of television, Bliss acted in Harbor Command and The Lineup . From 1950 to 1957, Bliss was "Auntie Lou" on San Francisco, California 's KRON-TV 's The Happy Birthday To You Show , also known as Birthday Party Show , which had guests from adults, to children, to animals. The program included use of Disney cartoon characters, as Bliss "picked up exclusive rights in northern California for
364-403: The first two volumes of Crusader Rabbit in a planned home video release of all the original episodes. However, 20th Century Fox claimed the distribution rights by their acquisition of previous owner Metromedia Producers Corporation. 20th Television currently owns the distribution rights of the show. In 2009, AudioTape, Inc. released a three-DVD set of 11 Crusader Rabbit serials; two from
390-505: The form of a movie serial , ending with a cliffhanger . Crusader Rabbit was syndicated from 1950 to 1952, totaling 195 episodes (divided into 10 "crusades"), and then re-aired for many years. It featured Crusader Rabbit, his companion Ragland T. Tiger ("Rags"), and their occasional nemeses – Dudley Nightshade (whose name was a play on the poisonous plant " deadly nightshade ") and Whetstone Whiplash with his sidekick, Bilious Green. Some episodes featured Crusader's and Rags' friend Garfield
416-770: The music department at the San Francisco College for Women . Bliss was active in old-time radio , having roles in Pat Novak, for Hire , Candy Matson , and The Charlie McCarthy Show . Bliss' first voice work was the role of the wicked stepsister Anastasia Tremaine in Walt Disney 's 1950 feature film Cinderella , for which she was honored 50 years later by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award in March 2000. In
442-439: The original Crusader Rabbit episodes from 1950 - 1967, and some stations used the program as late as the 1970s. The original series employed limited animation , appearing almost as narrated storyboards with frequent cuts and minor movement by the characters, much in the style of another early NBC animated program, Tele-Comics . This was due to the limited budget that producers Jay Ward and Alex Anderson worked with to film
468-667: The right to use Disney clips on her new show." At the same time, she did voices for Hanna-Barbera while they were working for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio – as Tuffy in Robin Hoodwinked , as Leprechaun in Droopy Leprechaun and later was Hugo on an episode of The Flintstones . She was also the narrator on three stories from the Disney album "Peter Cottontail and Other Funny Bunnies": "Story of Thumper", :Story of
494-592: The rights to Crusader Rabbit during a protracted legal battle between Jay Ward, Alex Anderson, Jerry Fairbanks and the NBC network over ownership of the series. Animation was provided by Bonsall's Creston Studios, also known as TV Spots, Inc., supervised by Bob Ganon and Gerald Ray. The new series was not seen until early 1959. The revived (2nd) series used an opening and closing theme from the British "Impress" production music library licensed by Emil Ascher publishing of New York. It
520-678: The series – initially presented as part of a proposed series, The Comic Strips of Television , which featured an earlier incarnation of Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties – to the NBC TV network, with Jerry Fairbanks as the network's "supervising producer". NBC didn't broadcast Crusader Rabbit , but allowed Fairbanks to sell the series in national syndication with many NBC affiliates , including those in New York and Los Angeles, picking it up for local showings. WNBC -TV in New York continued to show
546-496: The series. In 1948 Clarence E. Wheeler created the original opening and closing theme for the animated series, adapting and composing the folk melodies "The Trail to Mexico" (known on cue sheets as "Rabbit Fanfare") and " Ten Little Indians " (known as "Main Title Rabbit"). Each program began with a title sequence of a mounted knight galloping across the screen. The episodes then featured a short, usually satirical , adventure in
SECTION 20
#1732869743667572-1038: The style of All in the Family . The Alvin Show from Ross Bagdasarian Sr. and Beany and Cecil from Bob Clampett are also sitcoms. The 1980s and 1990s were a renaissance of the animated children and adult television series. Various broadcast networks and media companies began creating television channels and formats designed specifically for airing cartoon and anime series. Companies that already had these types of formats in place began to revamp their existing models during this time. Most of this animations were American-based or Japanese anime. Listed below are examples of television networks and channels that include animated programs. American British Japanese Canadian Australian Examples of animation-focused networks and channels are listed below; but some of them aired live-action programs occasionally. American South Korean Canadian Japanese During
598-430: The week during a prescribed time slot , including for example saturday-morning cartoons , prime time cartoons , late night anime , and weekday cartoons ; series broadcast only on weekends. The duration of an episode also varies. Traditionally, they are produced as complete half-hour or nearly half-hour programs; however, many are presented as animated shorts of 10 — 11 minutes, which can be combined for filling
624-603: Was an American actress, known in the Bay Area and in Hollywood as the "Girl With a Thousand Voices". A New York City native, Bliss lent her voice to numerous television characters, including the title character of the first made-for-television cartoon, Crusader Rabbit , Smurfette on the popular 1980s cartoon The Smurfs and Ms. Bitters on the Nickelodeon animated series Invader Zim . In addition to her television roles, she
650-409: Was known for her work as a voice actress in feature films. Bliss was born to James Francis Bliss, a dentist from Massachusetts, and Frieda Siemens. Her mother, a German emigrant, was a classically trained pianist and wanted her daughter to train as an opera singer. Her parents later divorced. Her father's death in 1935 prompted Frieda and Lucille to move to California, where her mother became head of
676-561: Was titled "Juggins", and was composed by Van Phillips, the professional name of Alexander Van Cleve Phillips. Lucille Bliss provided the voice of Crusader Rabbit in the original series; she was replaced by Ge Ge Pearson in the revived series. Vern Louden played Rags in both. Dudley Nightshade was voiced by Russ Coughlan, and narration was by Roy Whaley. The success of Crusader Rabbit inspired many more television cartoon character packages. Jay Ward would later produce The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show . In 1985, Rhino Entertainment released
#666333