Saturday morning cartoons were the one thing that motivated me into getting up early in the morning because I wanted to catch them all. The cartoons would air from six o’clock in the morning until twelve-thirty in the afternoon. There were plenty of great cartoons that motivated me to get up in the morning. I was only a mere child during that time and didn’t even fathom the evolution of cartoons let alone Saturday morning cartoons. There were plenty of cartoons I have kept track of in the past.
There were all sorts of examples of cartoons in the past: “California Raisins,” “Captain Planet and the Planeteers,” “Batman: The Animated Series,” “Tiny Toons,” “Woody Wood Pecker,” “Captain N,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” and many other great cartoons in the past. I was very much happy with the Saturday and Sunday morning cartoons. As children, we really do not fathom the possibility of cartoons making it to primetime. I wasn’t that familiar with Japanese anime during that time as it was still underground in North America.
One of the TV channels would air Japanese anime which was dubbed “Japanimation” in the afternoons. These weren’t series but they were full-length feature films. At first, I was somewhat turned off as a kid because there were all sorts of violence. But, there was more to Japanese anime than met the eye as they showed stuff like “Dragonball Z” and many others. I wouldn’t get that much into Japanese anime until my senior year of high school where we got DirecTV.
I remembered that they had “Cartoon Network” on a separate time block. However, Cartoon Network would be a full TV series. There were all sorts of cartoons you could watch during the daytime. But my main focus was on Japanese anime watching stuff like “Gundam Wing” and “Tenchi Muyo.” Still, Japanese anime hadn’t made it to mainstream North America yet.
At the same time, cartoons were progressing to primetime television. As a result we have “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” and “American Dad.” Family Guy and The Simpsons are two of the most popular cartoons in primetime television. Cartoons didn’t just appeal to children anymore as it appealed more to adults. The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad appealed to just about everybody.
As a result, more networks were launching channels solely dedicated to cartoons. Cartoon Network had launched “Boomerang” that airs the classic cartoons. Disney launched “Toon Disney.” Nickelodeon launched “Nick Toons.” Cartoon Network started to focus on more Japanese anime as its Toonami block had become very popular then it was placed on Saturday nights from 7-11 PM.
At the same time, Cartoon Network launched its “Adult Swim” block. They aired popular cartoons such as “Trigun” and “Cowboy Bebop.” If it wasn’t for Adult Swim, I wouldn’t be immersed in Cowboy Bebop which is one of my favorite anime series.
IFC, Spike TV, and Sci-Fi Channel had also started to air Japanese anime late at night. Sci-Fi Channel broadcasted the third sequel “Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex” called “Solid State Society.” G4TV used to have the “Anime Unleashed” block. At the same time, domestic cartoons started to gain popularity such as “Static Shock,” “Justice League Unlimited,” “Batman Beyond,” “Zeta Project,” and many other titles.
The Saturday morning cartoon block on certain channels mix domestic and anime titles together. Saban Studios purchased the North American license for anime targeted towards children such as “Digimon” and “BeyBlade.” However, Disney purchased the studio and has ownership of the licenses. As cartoons evolve, Japanese anime has become mainstream in North America.
Even Nickelodeon airs “Avatar: The Last Airbender” which is a popular anime series.
“Pokemon” has spawned several full-length movies that have sold very well. The Simpsons recently had a full-length feature. When tracking the last two decades, the evolution of cartoons from Saturday morning to prime time is very apparent.
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