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118-493: What a Cartoon! (later known as The What a Cartoon! Show and The Cartoon Cartoon Show ) is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network . The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions ; by the end of the run, a Cartoon Network Studios production tag was added to some shorts to signal they were original to the network. The project consisted of 48 cartoons, intended to return creative power to animators and artists, by recreating
236-830: A Cartoon! alumni ( Butch Hartman , Rob Renzetti ) and launched several successful Nickelodeon series, including The Fairly OddParents , ChalkZone and My Life as a Teenage Robot . Frederator Studios also launched an animation film festival, Nicktoons Film Festival from 2004 to 2009; only to have The Mighty B! greenlit as a series based on the Super Scout short; though one short from Alex Hirsch would later go on to make Gravity Falls for Disney Channel / Disney XD . The studio launched another animation showcase in 2006, titled Random! Cartoons , which in turn produced Nickelodeon's Fanboy & Chum Chum in 2009, Cartoon Network's Adventure Time in 2010, and Cartoon Hangover 's Bravest Warriors in 2012. A sequel-of-sorts to
354-773: A Cartoon! and continuing throughout his cartoon career, his Frederator Studios has persisted in the tradition of surfacing new talent, characters, and series with several cartoon shorts "incubators," including (as of 2016): What a Cartoon! ( Cartoon Network , 1995), Nickelodeon / Nicktoons ' own Oh Yeah! Cartoons (1998), Nicktoons Film Festival (2004), Random! Cartoons (2008), The Meth Minute 39 ( Channel Frederator , 2008), The Cartoonstitute (Cartoon Network, 2009/unfinished), Too Cool! Cartoons ( Cartoon Hangover , 2012), and GO! Cartoons (Cartoon Hangover, 2016). These laboratories have spun off notable series like: Dexter's Laboratory , The Powerpuff Girls , Johnny Bravo , Cow and Chicken , Family Guy , Courage
472-547: A Cartoon! as a "venture combining classic 1940s production methods with the originality, enthusiasm and comedy of the 1990s". On April 15, 2021, Cartoon Network announced it debuted a new iteration of Cartoon Cartoons . The lineup of the first nine shorts were announced on November 24, 2021: Accordions Geoffery & Mary Melodica by Louie Zong (of The Ghost and Molly McGee and We Bare Bears ), Dang! It's Dracula by Levon Jihanian (of Tig n' Seek ), Hungy Ghost by Jesse Moynihan (of Adventure Time ), Fruit Stand at
590-498: A Cartoon! played briefly on Cartoon Network's retro animation sister channel, Boomerang . In 2020, a selection of shorts were added to the Cartoon Network website and app. On July 29, 2024, reruns of What a Cartoon! returned to Cartoon Network, airing only on Monday evenings as part of [adult swim] 's Checkered Past block. What a Cartoon! is the first short cartoon incubator created by Fred Seibert . Starting with What
708-458: A Cartoon! project and its assorted spin-offs brought Cartoon Network more commercial and critical success, and the network became an animation industry leader as the 1990s drew to a close. In 2001, coinciding with the death of William Hanna , Hanna-Barbera Productions absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network opened its own production arm, Cartoon Network Studios , in Burbank , as
826-430: A Cartoon! short began to premiere on Sunday nights, promoted as World Premiere Toons . Every week after the premiere, Cartoon Network showcased a different World Premiere Toons made by a different artist. After an acclimation of cartoons, the network packaged the shorts as a half-hour show titled World Premiere Toons: The Next Generation , featuring reruns of the original shorts but also new premieres. Eventually, all of
944-594: A Cartoon! Show , Fred Seibert , left Hanna-Barbera in late 1996 to open up his own studio, Frederator Studios , and has persistently continued in the tradition of surfacing new talent, characters, and series with similar shorts "incubators", including (as of 2015) Oh Yeah! Cartoons ( Nickelodeon , 1998), Nicktoons Film Festival (Nickelodeon, 2004), The Meth Minute 39 ( Channel Frederator , 2008), Random! Cartoons (Nickelodeon/ Nicktoons , 2008), Too Cool! Cartoons ( Cartoon Hangover , 2012), and GO! Cartoons (Cartoon Hangover, 2016). Oh Yeah! Cartoons showcased What
1062-502: A Wig by Sam Marin (of Regular Show ), The Good Boy Report (based on the webcomic of the same name) by Kasey Williams (of Niko and the Sword of Light and Harley Quinn ) and Maude Macher and Dom Duck by Kali Fontecchio (of The Looney Tunes Show and Jellystone! ). On March 21, 2024, GiAnna Ligammari (of Niko and the Sword of Light and Inside Job ) announced a Cartoon Cartoons short ISCREAM created by her. Four days after,
1180-508: A bonus feature. A set for "Seasons Three and a Half-ish", containing all of season three and the first half of season four up to "It's a Dog's Life/Egg Yölkeo", followed on June 28, 2005. Season Five and Some More of Four completed the DVD release of the Nickelodeon series on September 20. Like the previous DVDs, some scenes were removed in these releases. A two-disc set dubbed The Lost Episodes
1298-527: A cell phone. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be receiving many important calls, thereby reducing his cool factor, so he begins to fake incoming calls. It's only a matter of time before everyone catches on to the farce. During a routine trip to the garbage dump, suburban misfit Coop (voiced by David DeLuise ) discovers an advanced robot from the future. Coop brings the treasure home and retools it to suit his modern-day slacker needs. From 2000 to 2003, The Cartoon Cartoon Show featured new episodes and reruns of
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#17329301976041416-501: A collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – see Greek Anthology . Anthologiai were collections of small Greek poems and epigrams, because in Greek culture the flower symbolized the finer sentiments that only poetry can express. Many popular old-time radio programs were anthology series. On some series, such as Inner Sanctum Mysteries , the only constant was the host, who introduced and concluded each dramatic presentation. One of
1534-638: A cultural touchstone in the mid-1990s, and were featured in works such as the films Clueless (1995), The Cable Guy , and Jack (both 1996). Ren & Stimpy placed 31st in TV Guide 's list of "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" in 2002. The cover story of the October 2001 issue of Wizard , a magazine for comic book fans, listed the 100 Greatest Toons ever as selected by their readers, with Ren & Stimpy ranked at number 12. Other entertainment journals similarly hold Ren & Stimpy as one of
1652-537: A demented Peter Lorre from the film The Maltese Falcon . When Nickelodeon terminated Kricfalusi's contract, Billy West , already the voice of Stimpy, took the role using a combination of Burl Ives , Kirk Douglas , and a slight "south of the border accent" for the rest of the Nickelodeon run. West voiced Stimpy for the Spümcø and Games Animation episodes, basing the voice on an "amped-up" Larry Fine . Some notable artists and performers who voiced incidental characters on
1770-495: A different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One , began on radio and then expanded to television. The word comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθολογία ( anthología , "flower-gathering"), from ἀνθολογέω ( anthologéō , "I gather flowers"), from ἄνθος ( ánthos , "flower") + λέγω ( légō , "I gather, pick up, collect"), coined by Meleager of Gadara circa 60 BCE, originally as Στέφανος ( στέφανος ( stéphanos , "garland")) to describe
1888-467: A human public school that he must now attend. Note 1 : Pilot to Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? . Its plot follows the mishaps of a clumsy water-phobic cactus (voiced by Monica Lee Gradischek ) who helps save her family from a deadly drought at Cyclone Ranch. This cartoon follows two philosophical cavemen named Longhair (voiced by Daniel Davis ) and Doubledome (voiced by Jess Harnell ) who just don't fit into their prehistoric surroundings as
2006-496: A late-night block for shows that appeal to both children and adults. The immediate influence of the show was the spawning of two "clones". Kricfalusi's previous employer Hanna-Barbera produced 2 Stupid Dogs , in which Kricfalusi contributed jokes. Walt Disney Television Animation produced The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show to mimic the show's success. The Disney series failed to gain any recognition and remained obscure. However, The Ren & Stimpy Show had
2124-482: A live-action host presenting different cartoons, each cartoon parodying a different genre. Ren and Stimpy were pets of one of the children in Your Gang , serving as a parody of the "cat and dog genre". The network's vice president of animation production Vanessa Coffey was dissatisfied with the other projects but liked Ren and Stimpy, singling them out for their own series. Production of the series' pilot episode began in
2242-554: A new type of anthology format in the U.S. Each season, rather than each episode, is a standalone story. Several actors have appeared in the various seasons, but playing different roles—in an echo of the Four Star Playhouse format. The success of American Horror Story has spawned other season-long anthologies such as American Crime Story and True Detective . Anthology film series are rare compared to their TV and radio counterparts. There have been several attempts within
2360-431: A photo much to the dismay of her father (voiced by Jeff Bennett ) and the support of her grandmother (voiced by Billie Hayes ). She manages to make it onto the school bus without being photographed, but her "freaky" family grabs the camera and jumps on the family multi-seater bicycle for a mortifying chase to catch up with her. When the villainous Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb (voiced by Tom Kenny and Dee Bradley Baker ) extend
2478-417: A product of the original cartoonists' vision, with no executive intervention: for example, even the music would be an individually crafted score. Each 7-minute short would debut, by itself, as a stand-alone cartoon or a stand-alone series on Cartoon Network . Three of the 7-minute cartoons are paired together into a half-hour episode. Seibert explained the project's goal in a 2007 blog post: "We didn’t care what
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#17329301976042596-556: A second reboot of the series to be produced without the involvement of Kricfalusi. The series centers on Ren Höek (voiced by John Kricfalusi in seasons 1–2; Billy West in seasons 3–5), a hot-tempered, psychotic, "asthma-hound" Chihuahua , and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat (also voiced by Billy West), a dimwitted and happy-go-lucky Manx cat . The duo fill various roles from episode to episode, including outer-space explorers, Old West horse thieves, and nature-show hosts, and are usually at odds with each other in these situations. While
2714-408: A special episode of Cartoon Network's Space Ghost Coast to Coast called " World Premiere Toon-In ", which features interviews with animators Craig McCracken , Pat Ventura, Van Partible , Eugene Mattos, and Genndy Tartakovsky , as well as model Dian Parkinson . During the original run of the shorts, the series was retitled to The What a Cartoon! Show and later to The Cartoon Cartoon Show until
2832-464: A visit by the Grim Reaper (voiced by Greg Eagles ) when he comes to collect the soul of Billy's hamster, Mr. Snuggles. Mandy then makes a bet with him in the form of a game: if Grim loses, he lets them keep Mr. Snuggles AND become their "best friend". Note 1 : Winner of Cartoon Network 's Big Pick marathon (2000). Robot Jones (voice provided by MacInTalk Junior ) learns that he has been put into
2950-512: A weekly program from the second season until the end of its run in 1956. Ida Lupino was brought on board as the de facto fourth star, though unlike Powell, Boyer, and Niven, she owned no stock in the company. American television networks would sometimes run summer anthology series which consisted of unsold television pilots . Beginning in 1971, the long-run Masterpiece Theatre drama anthology series brought British productions to American television. In 2011, American Horror Story debuted
3068-475: A wider influence on the future of animation. Mike Judge credits the success of Ren & Stimpy reruns on MTV for the network's willingness to commission Beavis and Butt-Head . Writer Larry Brody credits Ren & Stimpy for leading a new golden age of animation, as other networks followed Nickelodeon and invested in new cartoons, opening the way for more adult-oriented satirical shows like Beavis and Butt-Head . David Feiss , an animation director of
3186-432: A year after the original Nickelodeon run ended. The Ren & Stimpy Show received widespread critical acclaim. Matt Groening , creator of The Simpsons , praised the show for its outrageousness and called it "the only good cartoon on TV" other than The Simpsons ; he was later critical of Kricfalusi's firing. Terry Thoren, former CEO and president of Klasky Csupo , said that Kricfalusi "tapped into an audience that
3304-413: Is an American comedy animated television series created by John Kricfalusi and developed by Kricfalusi, Bob Camp , Jim Smith and Lynne Naylor for Nickelodeon . Originally produced by Spümcø , the series aired on Nickelodeon from August 11, 1991, to December 16, 1995, with its last episode airing on MTV on October 20, 1996, spanning for a total of five seasons and 52 episodes. The series follows
3422-469: Is particularly known for directing several Dexter episodes. Ralph Bakshi's series ( Malcom and Melvin ) was considered too risqué to be shown. It has been rumored that John Kricfalusi was slated to direct several new What a Cartoon! shorts of his own (produced by his production company, Spümcø ). However, both Yogi Bear -influenced cartoons were commissioned separately by Seibert , and instead premiered as their own: Boo Boo Runs Wild and A Day in
3540-497: The Golden Age of Television of the 1950s with series such as The United States Steel Hour and The Philco Television Playhouse . Dick Powell came up with an idea for an anthology series, Four Star Playhouse , with a rotation of established stars every week, four stars in all. The stars would own the studio and the program, as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had done successfully with Desilu studio. Powell had intended for
3658-480: The Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes DVD. In February 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that characters from Ren & Stimpy were scheduled to appear in an upcoming Nicktoons feature-length film. Three months later, Variety reported that Nickelodeon was in negotiations with Kricfalusi about another revival of the characters. Bob Camp and William Wray revealed in an April 2016 panel discussion that Kricfalusi
What a Cartoon! - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-517: The What a Cartoon! project, a Cartoon Network project titled The Cartoonstitute , was announced on April 3, 2008. Created by the channel executive Rob Sorcher and headed by The Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken and My Life as a Teenage Robot creator Rob Renzetti , the project was to "establish a think tank and create an environment in which animators can create characters and stories", and also create new possible Cartoon Network series. However,
3894-587: The sitcom trends were, what Nickelodeon was doing, what the sales departments wanted. [...] We wanted cartoons." The What a Cartoon! staff had creators from Europe ( Bruno Bozzetto ), Asia (Achiu So), and the United States (Jerry Reynolds and colleague Seth MacFarlane ). The crew also contained young series first-timers (like Genndy Tartakovsky , Craig McCracken , Rob Renzetti , Butch Hartman , and John R. Dilworth ), but veterans as well (like Don Jurwich, Jerry Eisenberg , and Ralph Bakshi ). In addition to
4012-468: The 48 slots. The diversity in the filmmakers included those from various nationalities, race, and gender. Seibert later described his hope for an idealistic diversity as "The wider the palette of creative influences, the wider and bigger the audiences." Seibert's idea for the project was influenced heavily by Looney Tunes . Hanna-Barbera founders and chairmen William Hanna and Joseph Barbera , as well as veteran animator Friz Freleng , taught Seibert how
4130-455: The Chimp , both of which were produced by outside studios and produced after Time Warner 's acquisition of Turner Broadcasting in 1996. The two pilots were later compiled into The Cartoon Cartoon Show , while both shorts eventually garnered their own series, Mike, Lu & Og in 1999 and Codename: Kids Next Door in 2002. One pilot entitled King Crab: Space Crustacean , which released in 1999,
4248-524: The Cowardly Dog , Samurai Jack , The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy , Codename: Kids Next Door , The Fairly OddParents , My Life as a Teenage Robot , Nite Fite , The Mighty B! , Fanboy & Chum Chum , Adventure Time , Regular Show , Bravest Warriors , Secret Mountain Fort Awesome , Gravity Falls , Bee and PuppyCat , and Uncle Grandpa . Dexter's Laboratory
4366-1008: The End of the World by Rachel Liu, Off the Menu by Shavonne Cherry (of Ren and Stimpy and The Looney Tunes Show ), Harmony in Despair by Andrew Dickman (of Looney Tunes Cartoons ), Unravel by Alexis Sugden, Mouthwash Madness by Lisa Vandenberg (of Animaniacs ), and Scaredy Cat by J.J. Villard (of King Star King ). On June 7, 2022, more Cartoon Cartoons were announced. The next seven shorts include The All-Nimal by Nick Edwards (of Apple & Onion and The Fungies! ), Buttons' Gamezone by Fernando Puig (of The Cuphead Show! , Middlemost Post and Tig n' Seek ), Tib Tub, We Need You by Sean Godsey and Mike Rosenthal, I Love You Jocelyn by Tracey Laguerre (Art and Animation Director for brands like Google , DreamWorks Animation , BuzzFeed , etc.) , Pig in
4484-510: The Help Me Disease Hotline if he gets infected with any of his diseases. A castaway girl named Mike (voiced by Nika Futterman ) asks for native inventor Og (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker ) to build a car to get across the island. He also builds a specially improved model for princess Lu (voiced by Nancy Cartwright ), which runs too fast for her. Billy (voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz ) and Mandy (voiced by Grey DeLisle ) are paid
4602-525: The Life of Ranger Smith both premiered in 1999. Inspired by Seibert's interest in the modern rock posters of Frank Kozik , each of the shows' creators worked with the internal Hanna-Barbera Creative Corps creative director Bill Burnett , and senior art director Jesse Stagg , to craft a series of high quality, limited edition, fluorescent art posters. The Corps launched a prolonged guerrilla mailing campaign, targeting animation heavyweights and critics leading up to
4720-460: The Top 5, though there was also some overlap with shows that already had regular half-hour slots outside the series. In 2006, the programming was expanded to also include non-Cartoon Cartoons that were regularly shown on the network, such as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends , Camp Lazlo , My Gym Partner's a Monkey , and Squirrel Boy . The show ended on June 21, 2008. In 2007, reruns of What
4838-628: The adult swimtime to extreme lengths at the neighborhood pool during their lifeguard gig, the Kids Next Door members Numbuh 1 (voiced by Benjamin Diskin ), Numbuh 2 (Benjamin Diskin), Numbuh 3 (voiced by Lauren Tom ), Numbuh 4 (Dee Bradley Baker), and Numbuh 5 (voiced by Cree Summer ) plan to strike back with vengeance. Note 1 : Winner of Cartoon Network's Big Pick marathon (2001). Kitty Bobo (voiced by Dante Basco ) wants to prove that he's cool by getting
What a Cartoon! - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-483: The animation would feature sponsored products to tie in with the cartoon, but in lieu of real advertisements, it featured fake commercial breaks advertising nonexistent products, most notably "Log". Kricfalusi cited Carbunkle Cartoons, an animation studio headed by Bob Jaques and Kelly Armstrong, for beautifully animating the show's best episodes, improving the acting with subtle nuances and wild animation that could not be done with overseas animation studios . Some of
5074-440: The anthology. The show continued to air until October 16, 2003, when it was temporarily dropped from the network's schedule. On September 12, 2005, The Cartoon Cartoon Show was revived, this time as a half-hour program featuring segments of older Cartoon Cartoons that were no longer shown regularly on the network, such as Cow and Chicken , I Am Weasel , and others. Some Cartoon Cartoons were moved exclusively to this show and
5192-498: The atmospheres that spawned the iconic cartoon characters of the mid-20th century. Each of the shorts mirrored the structure of a theatrical cartoon, with each film being based on an original storyboard drawn and written by its artist or creator. Three of the cartoons were paired together into a half-hour episode. What a Cartoon! premiered under the World Premiere Toons title on February 20, 1995. The premiere aired alongside
5310-701: The best cartoons of the '90s and cartoons for adults. In 2003, a reboot of the series helmed by John Kricfalusi, titled Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" , was launched on a late night programming block on Spike TV and was rated TV-MA . The new series is more adult-oriented than the original, and features an explicitly homosexual relationship between the main characters, strong profanity, graphic violence and female nudity. Billy West declined to participate in Adult Party Cartoon , saying that it "wasn't funny" and joining it would have damaged his career. Eric Bauza subsequently replaced West as
5428-454: The block: Anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio , television , film , or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode , season , segment, or short . These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse , employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in
5546-506: The cable operators distributing the struggling network, they were more interested in promising new programs. With Turner Broadcasting CEO Ted Turner and Seibert's boss Scott Sassa on board, the studio fanned out across the world to spread the word that the studio was in an "unprecedented phase", in which animators had a better idea what cartoons should be than executives and Hanna-Barbera supported them. The company started taking pitches in earnest in 1993 and received over 5,000 pitches for
5664-414: The cartoons were compiled into one program which was used the name World Premiere Toons: The Show until the summer of 1996 when it started bearing the name of the original project: The What a Cartoon! Show . The show's initial premieres for each short preceded Cartoon Network's Sunday night movie block, Mr. Spim's Cartoon Theatre . The shorts continued to air on Sundays until 1997, when the network moved
5782-419: The character George Liquor was removed, being changed to "George American". Many other episodes included someone smoking a cigar, pipe, or a cigarette. Several episodes had violent, gruesome, or suggestive scenes shortened or removed, including a sequence involving a severed head, a close-up of Ren's face being grated against a man's stubble, and a scene that was shortened where Ren receives multiple punches to
5900-610: The earliest such programs was The Collier Hour , broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932. As radio's first major dramatic anthology, it adapted stories and serials from Collier's Weekly in a calculated move to increase subscriptions and compete with The Saturday Evening Post . Airing on the Wednesday prior to each week's distribution of the magazine, the program soon moved to Sundays in order to avoid spoilers with dramatizations of stories simultaneously appearing in
6018-484: The early 20th century, where a director supervised the entire process. These methods are in contrast with animation production methods in the 1980s, where there was one director for animation and a different director for voice actors, and the cartoons were created with a "top-down" approach to tie in with toy production. Animator Vincent Waller compared working on Ren & Stimpy and SpongeBob SquarePants in an interview: "Working on Ren and Stimpy and SpongeBob
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#17329301976046136-427: The episode. Years later on Spike TV, the show's revival, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" , debuted with this banned episode as their unofficial pilot, even receiving a TV-MA rating. Games Animation, however, was allowed to include more risqué content and even occasional graphic violence , despite "Man's Best Friend" not featuring any of both. The series ran for five seasons, spanning 52 episodes. The show
6254-431: The episodes from the second season, "Svën Höek", did have footage reinserted from a work-in-progress VHS tape, but with an editing machine timecode visible on-screen; the scene was later restored by fans. Three other episodes ("Powdered Toast Man", "Dog Show", and " Big House Blues ") contain extra footage that was not originally broadcast on Nickelodeon. The DVD set even includes the banned episode " Man's Best Friend " as
6372-404: The final Cartoon Cartoon shorts before the brand name was dropped. One short, LowBrow , was given its own series under the name Megas XLR . A boy named Kenny (voiced by Tom Kenny ) and his pet chimpanzee Chimpy must watch the disease laboratory run by Professor XXXL (voiced by Frank Welker ) while he's away. However, Chimpy causes trouble for Kenny as he follows Professor XXXL's advice to use
6490-400: The final shorts aired on August 23, 2002. The series is influential for helping to revive television animation in the 1990s and serving as a launching point for the Cartoon Network animated television series Dexter's Laboratory , Johnny Bravo , Courage the Cowardly Dog , Cow and Chicken , I Am Weasel , and The Powerpuff Girls . Once it had several original shorts, those became
6608-588: The final spin-off in 1999. In addition, the Cow and Chicken short I Am Weasel eventually was also spun off into a separate series: in all, six cartoon series were ultimately launched by the What a Cartoon! project, any one of which earned enough money for the company to pay for the whole program. In addition to the eventual spin-offs, the What a Cartoon! short Larry and Steve by Seth MacFarlane featured prototypes of characters that would later go on to become MacFarlane's massively successful Family Guy . The What
6726-419: The first Cartoon Cartoons . From 2005 to 2008, The Cartoon Cartoon Show was revived as a block for reruns of older Cartoon Cartoons that had been phased out by the network. Fred Seibert became president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons in 1992 and helped guide the struggling animation studio into its greatest output in years with shows like 2 Stupid Dogs and SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron . Seibert wanted
6844-425: The first season of the show holds a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews from critics, though the remaining seasons have not been rated. The show came to garner high ratings for Nickelodeon, having double the viewership of the other Nickelodeon cartoons for its first season and later averaging three times their viewership. Due to the first season's high ratings, Nickelodeon renewed
6962-570: The format. Time Life released several episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show in a "Best of" set in September 2003. This set is now out of print . On October 12, 2004, Paramount Home Entertainment released the first two complete seasons in a three-disc box set; although the cover art and press materials said the episodes were "uncut", a handful of episodes were edited, due to the use of Spike TV masters where Spike TV would cut some scenes from episodes to make room for longer commercial breaks. One of
7080-469: The full-series Cartoon Cartoons (which were introduced in 2002 for the primetime hours), interspersed with premieres and reruns of the Cartoon Cartoon pilot shorts (some of which were retconned WAC! shorts). From 2005 to 2008, the block was revived, this time dropping the pilot shorts. Episodes from each show were anthologized into 7 and 11-minute segments. This is a list of shows that were presented on
7198-568: The horror genre to have a franchise with an anthology format, such as with the Halloween franchise where the third film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch , was meant to be the beginning of a series of anthology horror films, but due to negative reception that plan was shelved. Anthology video games have been very rare since the 1980s. The Ren %26 Stimpy Show The Ren & Stimpy Show , commonly referred to as simply Ren & Stimpy ,
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#17329301976047316-550: The launch of World Premiere Toons . The first poster campaign of its kind introduced the world to the groundbreaking new stable of characters. The first cartoon from the What a Cartoon! project broadcast in its entirety was The Powerpuff Girls in "Meat Fuzzy Lumkins" , which made its world premiere on Monday, February 20, 1995, during a television special called the World Premiere Toon-In (termed "President's Day Nightmare" by its producers, Williams Street ). The special
7434-495: The magazine. Radio anthology series provided for science fiction , horror , suspense, and mystery genres (all produced in the US, unless noted): The final episode of Suspense was broadcast on September 30, 1962, a date that has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the old-time radio era. However, genre series produced since 1962 include: In the history of television, live anthology dramas were especially popular during
7552-606: The material particularly funny; they were merely doing what was expected". The series ended its original run on Nickelodeon on December 16, 1995, with "A Scooter for Yaksmas", and had a total of five seasons and 51 episodes, although one episode from the final season, "Sammy and Me/The Last Temptation", remained unaired. Almost a year later, the episode aired on Nickelodeon's sister network, MTV , on October 20, 1996. The animation production methods used in The Ren & Stimpy Show were similar to those found in Golden Age cartoons of
7670-408: The meaning of "safe" as "spend a third of what they spend now per picture, hire proven creative talent, and let them entertain." He estimated Spümcø's run of The Ren & Stimpy Show cost around $ 6 million to produce. The relationship between Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon deteriorated to the point where Kricfalusi would communicate with Nickelodeon only through his lawyer. News outlets and several of
7788-664: The misadventures of Ren Höek , an emotionally unstable and psychotic chihuahua dog; and Stimpy , a good-natured and dimwitted Manx cat . It is the third to be aired of the original three Nickelodeon animated series known as " Nicktoons ", alongside Doug and Rugrats , and is considered to be one of the progenitor series of the brand. The Ren & Stimpy Show has received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise going to its visuals, animation, and surreal nature. However, it has also generated significant controversy for its dark humor , adult humor , violence, and shock value . This controversy contributed to
7906-500: The newest Cartoon Cartoon. The shorts premiered on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays in the weeks leading up to "The Big Pick" and the winner was revealed during the actual 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. They did not compete against one another. These were
8024-442: The original series, Kricfalusi showed apparent disregard for meeting production deadlines, with only three out of the ordered nine episodes being completed on time. After the first three episodes aired, Spike's entire animation block was removed from its programming schedule and three more episodes, already in production and completed by the time Adult Party Cartoon was canceled, were subsequently released three years later in 2006 on
8142-471: The production of the new reboot nor will he receive any compensation from it. Originally set to be produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio , production on the reboot has been moved to Awesome Inc in October 2021, while Snipple Animation announced their involvement in September 2022. According to West, development was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States , contrary to earlier rumors that
8260-540: The production staff's altercations with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department, in addition to Spümcø's failure to deliver episodes on time, all of which led to Kricfalusi's termination from the show in 1992. Games Animation would produce the remaining three seasons of the series. One episode was initially left unaired in North America until it was broadcast on MTV on October 20, 1996. A reboot for adult audiences, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" ,
8378-437: The program to feature himself, Charles Boyer , Joel McCrea , and Rosalind Russell . When Russell and McCrea backed out, David Niven came on board as the third star. The fourth star was initially a guest star. CBS liked the idea, and Four Star Playhouse made its debut in fall of 1952. It ran on alternate weeks only during the first season, alternating with Amos 'n' Andy . It was successful enough to be renewed and became
8496-523: The project had been canceled. Paramount Global (at the time operating as ViacomCBS), the parent company of Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, has not responded to requests for a comment about the status of the show, though West reiterated that it was still in production. On September 14, 2021, West confirmed that he was reprising his roles as Ren and Stimpy. Other returning crew members from the original series include Bob Jaques , Chris Sauve and former Spümcø alumni Robyn Byrd, who previously advocated to get
8614-406: The project was eventually scrapped as a result of the late 2000s recession and only 14 of the 39 planned were completed. Nevertheless, J. G. Quintel 's Regular Show short and Peter Browngardt 's Secret Mountain Fort Awesome were greenlit to become full series. A recurring character on the show, Uncle Grandpa, would get his own series two years later. The Big Cartoon DataBase cites What
8732-680: The reboot canceled. Series regular Bob Camp was also assigned to return for the reboot, but was dismissed from the project due to creative differences. The reboot was originally supposed to premiere on July 12, 2024 on Comedy Central in Latin America, but has since been delayed for unknown reasons. The reboot made its debut on Comedy Central in France on July 1, 2024. Sony Wonder initially distributed collections of episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show on VHS , which were not grouped by air dates or season. For instance, The Classics Volume 1 VHS
8850-401: The rightful Hanna-Barbera successor to produce original programming for the network and future projects. Two What a Cartoon! shorts, Wind-Up Wolf and Hard Luck Duck , were the last cartoon shorts directed and produced by co-founder and co-chairman William Hanna. In addition, What a Cartoon! and spin-offs were the final original productions released by Hanna-Barbera. Creator of The What
8968-479: The rights for Nickelodeon's programming on home video transferred from Sony to Paramount Home Video. Paramount only released one video of The Ren & Stimpy Show , "Have Yourself a Stinky Little Christmas", which was a re-release of a Sony video from 1993. In 2005, Paramount released The First Ten Cartoons on UMD , only for playback on Sony's PSP portable video game system. Presumably due to poor sales of UMD movies and shows, no further episodes were released on
9086-505: The second disc were not completely uncensored, Turbine Classics offered to send everybody proof of purchase of an uncensored disc. The set comprises a mix of the known US airings and the German TV airings which included some exclusive scenes of various episodes. Since the set is the first to include all scenes ever broadcast worldwide, it is considered the first truly uncensored DVD release of the series. Seven action games based directly on
9204-481: The series for twenty additional episodes in November 1991, alongside the second season of Rugrats and the second and third season of Doug . The show for a time was the most popular cable TV show, with several airings being the most-watched scripted cable TV show in 1993 in the United States. The show quickly developed a cult following in college campuses, and was included in the launch of Nickelodeon's SNICK ,
9322-467: The series' staff ascribe the tension to episodes not being delivered promptly. Author Andy Mangels , writing for Wizard magazine, commented that "Kricfalusi's lax treatment of deadlines angered not only the networks, but his loyal viewers as well." However, some of the delays were attributed to Nickelodeon's prolonged approval process and withdrawal of approval from scenes and episodes that had been previously approved. Another point of contention
9440-450: The short was announced as being completed. The shorts were showcased in a screening on April 25, 2024. The following is a list of the original shorts produced under Fred Seibert 's management for What a Cartoon! by Hanna-Barbera . The shorts are listed in the order that they originally aired. After What a Cartoon! ended its run in 1997, Fred Seibert left Hanna-Barbera in 1997 to launch Frederator Studios . In 1998, Sam Register , who
9558-460: The shorts of the Golden Age of American animation were produced. John Kricfalusi , creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show , became a teacher of sorts for Seibert and was the first person Seibert called while looking for new talent for the project. As was the custom in live action film and television, the company did not pay each creator for the storyboard submitted and pitched. For the first time in
9676-536: The shorts to Wednesdays at 9pm. Following the premiere of Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken as full series in July 1997, the series shifted to Thursday nights, where it remained. The What a Cartoon! Show continued airing new episodes on Thursdays until November 28, 1997, when the final short of the 48 contracted during Seibert's era aired. In 1998, Cartoon Network debuted two new short pilots and advertised them as World Premiere Toons : Mike, Lu & Og and Kenny and
9794-526: The show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department. The show was known for its lack of early merchandising; according to Wray, the initial lack of merchandise was "the unique and radical thing" about The Ren & Stimpy Show , as no toy company planned for any merchandise for the show, and Nickelodeon did not want to use "over-exploitive" merchandising. Kricfalusi described his early period with Nickelodeon as being "simple", as he got along with Coffey,
9912-488: The show was sometimes set in the present day, the show's crew tended to avoid "contemporary" jokes about current events. The show extensively features off-color and absurdist humor , as well as slapstick akin to animated shorts of the 1950s. The show features a host of supporting characters. Due to the nature of the show, they do not have consistent appearances or even designs; those who do appear repeatedly have different roles in each appearance. They may either be part of
10030-439: The show were Frank Zappa (in his final public performance before his death), Jack Carter , Stan Freberg , Tommy Davidson , Randy Quaid , Gilbert Gottfried , Rosie O'Donnell , Dom DeLuise , Phil Hartman , Mark Hamill and Soleil Moon Frye . The Ren & Stimpy Show features a wide variety of music, spanning rockabilly , folk , pop , jazz , classical music , jingles , and more. The opening theme, "Dog Pound Hop",
10148-514: The show were altered to exclude references to religion, politics, alcohol, violence, and tobacco. The episode "Powdered Toast Man" had a cross removed from the Pope 's hat and the credit was changed to "the man with the pointy hat". The same episode had a segment featuring the burning of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights that was removed, while in "Dog Show", the last name of
10266-460: The show's earlier episodes were rough to the point Kricfalusi felt the need to patch up the animation with sound effects and "music bandaids", helping the segments "play better, even though much of the animation and timing weren't working on their own". KJ Dell'Antonia of Common Sense Media describes the show's style as changing "from intentionally rough to much more polished and plushie-toy ready." Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren, styled after
10384-510: The show's most notable visual trademarks is the detailed paintings of gruesome close-ups, along with the blotchy ink stains that on occasion replace the standard backgrounds, reminiscent of "holes in reality or the vision of a person in a deep state of dementia". This style was developed from Clampett's Baby Bottleneck , which features several scenes with color-cards for backgrounds. The show incorporated norms from "the old system in TV and radio" where
10502-428: The show, went on to create Cartoon Network 's Cow and Chicken . John Kricfalusi became a teacher of sorts for Fred Seibert , and was the first person Seibert called while looking for new talent for the project What A Cartoon! . Writer/animator Allan Neuwirth writes that Ren & Stimpy "broke the mold" and started several trends in TV animation, chiefly the revival of credits at the beginning of each episode,
10620-415: The sole executive of the program. When another executive was added, they wanted to alter or discard some of the Ren & Stimpy episodes, but Kricfalusi says the episodes stayed intact since he did a "trade" with Coffey: he would have some "really crazy" episodes in exchange for some "heart-warming" episodes. Kricfalusi also said that the program was the "safest project [he] ever worked on" while explaining
10738-447: The stomach from a baby. In the second-season episode " Sven Höek ", during the scene where Ren fantasizes about Stimpy and his cousin Sven's deaths after they break all of his prized possessions, his line "Then...I'm going to gouge your eyes out...yeah..." was cut. One infamous episode, " Man's Best Friend ", was banned by Nickelodeon for its violent content. Neither Nickelodeon nor MTV would air
10856-572: The storyline or make cameo appearances with little bearing on the plot. Some, such as Mr. Horse , are exclusively cameo-based, spontaneously appearing as a running gag. George Liquor makes his first appearances in the show through cameos or as a supporting character, as demonstrated in " Dog Show " and " Man's Best Friend ". According to animator William Wray , John Kricfalusi created the characters Ren and Stimpy in 1978 for "personal amusement" while studying at Sheridan College in Ontario , Canada. He
10974-587: The studio to produce short cartoons, in the vein of the Golden age of American animation . Although a project consisting of 48 shorts would cost twice as much as a normal series, Seibert's pitch to Cartoon Network involved promising 48 chances to "succeed or fail", opened up possibilities for new original programming, and offered several new shorts to the thousands already present in the Turner Entertainment library. According to Seibert, quality did not matter much to
11092-428: The studio's history, individual creators could retain their rights, and earn royalties on their creations. While most in the industry scoffed at the idea, encouragement, according to Seibert, came from the cartoonists who flocked to Hanna-Barbera with original ideas. The format for What a Cartoon! was ambitious, as no one had ever attempted anything similar in the television animation era . The shorts produced would be
11210-439: The summer of 1989 after Kricfalusi pitched and sold The Ren & Stimpy Show to Nickelodeon. The pilot was produced by Kricfalusi's Los Angeles-based animation company, Spümcø , and screened at film festivals for several months before the show was announced in Nickelodeon's 1991 cartoons line-up. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, alongside Doug and Rugrats as the original Nicktoons . Spümcø continued to produce
11328-545: The television series were released between 1992 and 1995. Aside from these dedicated titles, Ren, Stimpy, and other characters from the series make appearances in the Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker , Nicktoons Racing , Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots , Nicktoons MLB , Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix , Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl , Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway , and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 . A Ren & Stimpy game by Acclaim Entertainment
11446-403: The use of grotesque close-ups, and a shift in cartoon color palettes to richer, more harmonious colors. A direct influence can be seen in the series SpongeBob SquarePants with the physically extreme drawings that contrast with the characters' usual appearance, the "grotesque close-ups". Series veteran Vincent Waller currently serves as a showrunner on SpongeBob . The characters became
11564-484: The veterans, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera each produced two shorts each for What a Cartoon! . Many of the key crew members from previous Hanna-Barbera series 2 Stupid Dogs joined the team of What a Cartoon! as well. Many of its crew members later went on to write and direct for Dexter's Laboratory , Johnny Bravo , Cow and Chicken , I Am Weasel , and The Powerpuff Girls , including those named above. The Kitchen Casanova director John McIntyre
11682-402: The voice of Stimpy in the series, while Kricfalusi reprised his roles as both Ren and Mr. Horse. The series premiered with the banned Nickelodeon episode " Man's Best Friend ", before debuting new episodes thereafter. From the first episode, fans and critics alike were put off by this revival, which featured the consumption of bodily fluids such as nasal mucus , saliva and vomit . Much like
11800-515: The work on inventing the wheel. Sheep (vocal effects provided by Kevin Seal ) leaves the farm of Farmer John (voiced by James Godwin) in pursuit of a happy life in the city while being pursued by General Specific (Kevin Seal). It's the first day of school for Nadine (voiced by Kath Soucie ), a significant historical event considered by her mother to be one of many "milestone days", which must be documented with
11918-455: Was Cartoon Network's vice president at the time, took over What a Cartoon! , and two years later, turned them into The Cartoon Cartoon Show . Register would later create Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi for Cartoon Network in 2004. Two Cartoon Cartoon shorts were produced in 1998 and one in 1999. All Cartoon Cartoon shorts produced between 2000 and 2001 were entered in The Big Pick , a contest to choose
12036-400: Was a lot hipper than anybody thought. He went where no man wanted to go before – the caca, booger humor ". Jonathan Valania of The Morning Call called it "high voltage yuks and industrial-strength weirdness", John Lyttle of The Independent described it as "a gooey media meltdown, absolutely grotesque and instantly recognisable" and did not consider it a children's cartoon. As of 2024,
12154-469: Was a turning point in the show, with the new episodes being a considerable step down from the standard of those that preceded them. Ted Drozdowski, resident critic of The Boston Phoenix , stated that "the bloom faded" on Ren & Stimpy . Animation historian Michael Barrier writes that while the creators of the Games episodes used crude jokes that were similar to those used by Kricfalusi, they did not "find
12272-465: Was also granted a LaserDisc set (the only ever LaserDisc release from Sony Wonder, and the only LaserDisc of a Nickelodeon original series), The Ren & Stimpy Show -- The Essential Collection: Classics I & II , was released in 1995. This included all the episodes previously released on VHS from the Classics I and Classics II volumes, as well as the shorts included on said VHS releases. Eventually,
12390-544: Was also retconned into The Cartoon Cartoon Show anthology. On June 9, 2000, The What a Cartoon! Show was relaunched as The Cartoon Cartoon Show . In this new format, it aired reruns and new episodes of the full-series Cartoon Cartoons , as well as new Cartoon Cartoon shorts and old WAC! shorts. From 2000 to 2001, the pilot shorts appearing on the network's viewer's poll that lost to The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Codename: Kids Next Door (except for Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? ) were added to
12508-442: Was composed by Chris Reccardi and written by Charlie Brissette and John Kricfalusi. A cover of this song, performed by Wax , is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits , produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records . The program's staff did not want to create an "educational" series, a stance that bothered Nickelodeon , leading to the series being criticized by parent groups. Some segments of
12626-461: Was developing a new Ren & Stimpy short that would be shown in theaters with the third SpongeBob SquarePants film , and later said that they were "not invited to that party" and would not be involved with the short's production. However, Kricfalusi later denied making such a cartoon on Twitter . Despite this, an animatic of the short that was originally made as a promotion for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water before being cancelled
12744-606: Was hosted by Space Ghost and the cast of Space Ghost Coast to Coast , 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 . To promote the shorts, Cartoon Network's marketing department came up with the concept of "Dive-In Theater" in 1995 to showcase the 48 cartoon shorts. The cartoons were shown at water parks and large municipal swimming pools, treating kids and their parents to exclusive poolside screenings on 9' x 12' movie screens. Beginning February 26, 1995, each What
12862-429: Was inspired to create Ren by an Elliott Erwitt photograph, printed on a postcard, called "New York City, 1946", showing a sweatered chihuahua at a woman's feet. Stimpy's design was inspired by a Tweety cartoon called A Gruesome Twosome , where the cats in the animation had big noses. When Nickelodeon approached Kricfalusi, he presented three shows, among them a variety show titled Your Gang or Our Gang with
12980-469: Was performed by a group of Spümcø employees under the name "Die Screaming Leiderhôsens"; they include developer Jim Smith , animator Chris Reccardi and production assistant Scott Huml. Three Ren & Stimpy albums have been released. In 1993 a compilation album, You Eediot! , was released as a soundtrack album. The album's front cover is a parody of The Beatles ' 11th studio album Abbey Road . Stimpy's rousing anthem titled "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy"
13098-437: Was produced by Kricfalusi and Spümcø and aired in 2003 on Spike TV . Only three episodes were aired before the series was canceled due to both production delays and negative critical reception from both critics and fans of the original series, with three additional episodes (all incomplete at the time of the cancellation) being released straight to DVD in 2006. On August 5, 2020, Comedy Central announced that they had ordered
13216-404: Was produced by Kricfalusi's animation studio Spümcø for the first two seasons. Beginning with season three (1993–94), the show was produced by Nickelodeon's Games Animation. The episode "Man's Best Friend" was produced for season two, but the episode was shelved and debuted with the show's 2003 reboot . Another episode, "Sammy and Me / The Last Temptation", aired on MTV on October 20, 1996, almost
13334-605: Was released as a bonus feature on the Cans Without Labels DVD in May 2019. On August 5, 2020, it was announced that a new Ren & Stimpy reboot has been greenlit by Comedy Central , along with Daria and Beavis and Butt-Head . Though a new creative staff has been employed, Billy West was expected to return along with a few of the original series' writers. Due to the sexual abuse allegations surrounding him , it has been confirmed that Kricfalusi will not be involved in
13452-456: Was released in 1993 and included three episodes from Season 1 ("Space Madness", "Untamed World" and "Stimpy's Invention"), as well as the short segment "Breakfast Tips" and a "Log" commercial. Other Nickelodeon compilation tapes, including two themed after the SNICK programming block, were also released containing individual Ren and Stimpy cartoons. Perhaps because of the show's adult following, it
13570-492: Was released on July 17, 2006, featuring both the aired and unaired episodes from "Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon". Paramount released "The Almost Complete Series" 9-disc set that combines the individual season discs into a single package, on February 6, 2018, and was re-released on January 11, 2022. The original series was released entirely as a 9-disc set in Germany on October 4, 2013. After people said that two episodes on
13688-793: Was the direction of the series. Kricfalusi cites the episode " Man's Best Friend " as the primary reason for his dismissal; the character George Liquor is depicted in the episode as an abusive father figure, and Nickelodeon did not want the show to be so frightening and dramatic. Nickelodeon terminated Kricfalusi's contract in late September 1992 and offered him the position of consultant for Ren & Stimpy , but he refused to " sell out ". The network moved production from Spümcø to its newly founded animation studio, Games Animation , which later became Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Bob Camp replaced Kricfalusi as director, while West, having refused Kricfalusi's request to leave along with him, voiced Ren in addition to Stimpy. Fans and critics felt this
13806-464: Was the most popular short series according to a vote held in 1995 and eventually became the first spin-off of What a Cartoon! in 1996. Two more series based on shorts, Johnny Bravo and Cow and Chicken , premiered in 1997, and The Powerpuff Girls became a weekly half-hour show in 1998. Courage the Cowardly Dog (spun off from the Oscar -nominated short The Chicken from Outer Space ) followed as
13924-538: Was very similar. They're both storyboard-driven shows, which means they give us an outline from a premise after the premise has been approved. We take the outline and expand on it, writing the dialogue and gags. That was very familiar." The show's aesthetics draw on Golden Age cartoons, particularly those of animator Bob Clampett from the 1940s in the way the characters' emotions powerfully distort their bodies. The show's style emphasizes unique expressions, intense and specific acting and strong character poses. One of
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