Cartoonstitute Strangled in the Crib

[Frank J. Lhota]

Cartoon Network has canceled one of its most promising new series before
it even had the chance to air. The series was "Cartoonstitute", the
brainchild of Craig McCracken, creator of "The Powerpuff Girls" and
"Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends". Like "The Cartoon Cartoon Show"
show, "Cartoonstitute" would showcase new cartoons, mostly from up and
coming artists.

The original "Cartoon Cartoon Show" (A.K.A. "What A Cartoon Show" or
"World Premiere Cartoons") was a valuable proving ground for the Cartoon
Network. Many of the shows that made CN one of the most watched cable
network of the late 90's grew out of cartoons from this series: "Cow and
Chicken", "Dexter's Lab", "Johnny Bravo", "Courage the Cowardly Dog",
and of course McCracken's own "Powerpuff Girls".

As we all know, Cartoon Network's ratings in recent years have been in
the sewer. The only bright spot has been "Adult Swim", and even there
they aren't getting the audience that they used to. Part of this can be
blamed on competition and changes in viewing habits, but the main
problem is their lackluster programming. Shows such as "My Gym Partner's
a Monkey" and "Squirrel Boy" look like they were culled from an
encyclopedia of animation clich�s.

So given that current Cartoon Network fare clearly isn't working, why
not experiment a bit with "Cartoonstitute", and shake things up a bit?
After all, the last time CN tried something like this, it created the
network's golden era. Even if these new cartoons are not quite up to the
quality of "The Powerpuff Girls", certainly they would be fresher than
the current CN prime time.

This is pure speculation on my part, but I suspect that "Cartoonstitute"
might have been canceled because of hubris: the executives did not want
to bring in a bunch of new people who would show them up. And so they
rationalize that the problem is not that their cartoons are dull and
unimaginative; the problem is that people don't want to see cartoons!
Live action -- that's the ticket!

It is truly disheartening to hear this form of reasoning from those that
now run a network founded to be a showcase for animation. Cartoon
Network appears to be content with being a cheap Nickelodeon knock-off.
And with this attitude, they will lose what little audience they have
left. After all, if we wanted to see a Nickelodeon knock-off, we'd watch
Nickelodeon.

--
"All things extant in this world,
Gods of Heaven, gods of Earth,
Let everything be as it should be;
Thus shall it be!"
- Magical chant from "Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi"

"Drizzle, Drazzle, Drozzle, Drome,
Time for this one to come home!"
- Mr. Wizard from "Tooter Turtle"