Cartoon Cartoons

Credits

Descriptions by
wolfie14, Shadeed A. Kelly and rjsmith09

Captures by
PrimalScreenAtlanta, rksexy2finger1991, ccffreak, rocktowers and FanCentralNetwork

Editions by
BenIsRandom and TheRealMarcel2000

Background

Cartoon Cartoons is a collective name used by Cartoon Network for its fifteen original animated television series that premiered between 1996 and 2003. They were produced by Hanna-Barbera and/or Cartoon Network Studios, with smaller studios like A.K.A. Cartoon, Kinofilm, Stretch Films, and Curious Pictures focusing on individual projects. The Cartoon Cartoon moniker was first introduced in 1997, and then phased out in 2003.

1st Logo (July 17, 1997-November 5, 1998)

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Logo: The 1992-2004 Cartoon Network logo takes place on a green swirly background with beaming turquoise circles, shows characters, explodes, and the words "CARTOON CARTOON" are shown. Later, someone would say the phrase. The voice is not from a Cartoon Cartoon character. An iris out is seen after the explosion, which closes like an eye.

Variants:

• There was a outro with no explosion and irising out quickly. Also, there is only the logo zooming out.
• There is an alternate version of the intro in which the logo proceeds as normal, except when the logo zooms in, the word "NETWORK" changes into the word "CARTOON", letter by letter. The logo then zooms out slowly with an iris out as normal.
• On Cartoon Cartoon Weekend in November 1997, the word "WEEKEND" in white appears below the Cartoon Cartoon logo.
• On a Netflix print of a Dexter's Laboratory episode, this logo appears with "A Time Warner Company" under it.

Technique: Digital 2D animation. This and next logos were designed by Primal Screen, who created some of the PBS Kids logos.

Music/Sounds: A silly cartoony jazz sounder with "Boing!" sounds in the middle, with drums at the end with a strange male voice-over saying "Cartoon Cartoon!". Composed by Stephen Mank.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• In the end of each Cartoon Cartoon, we hear the last 7 notes of the Cartoon Cartoon theme followed by a combined voice-over of all voice-overs saying "Cartoon Cartoon!".
• There's also every variant where each, different voice-over saying "Cartoon Cartoon!", sometimes also combining.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The last 7 notes of the theme (but without the voice over) are also used on the 1999-2017; 2019 Cartoon Network Productions logo.

Availability: Extinct. The outro was still retained on the Cow and Chicken episode "Meet Lance Sackless" and the Dexter's Laboratory episode "Dexter and Computress Get Mandark/The Justice Friends: Pain in the Mouth/Dexter Vs. Santa's Claws" on Boomerang, with it appearing on the latter show's episode as late as 2018.

2nd Logo (November 6, 1998-September 2005)

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Logo: Same as before, but there are differences. The background is spirally blue with beaming turquoise circles, and rays. After a few seconds, the CN logo zooms itself forward, extruding letters when it thrusts forward. This is followed by red and yellow ribbons curling to form a cursive "Cartoon", followed by the letters in "CARTOONS" zooming out one by one (the "OO" zooms out together). A character from the next show pops out of the first "O" in "CARTOONS" and says, "Cartoon Cartoons!".

Character Variants: A different character appears depends on each show that says the phrase, "Cartoon Cartoons".

• Dexter (Dexter's Laboratory)
• Johnny (Johnny Bravo)
• Chicken (Cow and Chicken)
• Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls), who pops out of both "O"s in "CARTOONS"
• Eddy (Ed, Edd n' Eddy)
• I.M. Weasel (I Am Weasel)
• Mike (Mike, Lu & Og)
• Courage (Courage the Cowardly Dog)
• Sheep (Sheep in the Big City)
• Otto (Time Squad)
• Grim and Hector Con Carne (Grim & Evil)
• Robot Jones (Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?)
• Numbuh Five (Codename: Kids Next Door)

Other Variants:

• On VHS tapes, the then-current Cartoon Network logo stays put till it thrusts itself forward. The swirly background is still moving. Plus, only Bubbles (from The Powerpuff Girls) can be seen, even when it's not that show.
• Another variant was used in which no characters pop out at all. Instead, the four "o"s in the logo pop themselves. Also, there is a combined voice-over of all voice-overs saying "Cartoon Cartoons!". This variant was first shown before all shows on November 6, 1998 as part of the 1998 Cartoon Cartoons Weekend. It was also shown before Courage and Mike, Lu & Og, for a single month in November 1999, until their custom variants debuted the next month, and in Japan as well as on some promos in Latin America and some U.S. promos for the Saturday Morning Block and Cartoon Cartoon Fridays in 1999.
• There is an ending variant where the Cartoon Network logo zooming out.
• There is also a special KND variant where Numbuh Two interrupts the Cartoon Cartoons opening.

Technique: Same as the previous logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as above. It also includes the character's dialogue at the end.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• When Time Squad, Grim & Evil and Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? aired on the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays block, the characters say "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays!". The Time Squad and Robot Jones versions of this variant ran in the CCF block until Summer 2002, when they got the special Cartoon Cartoon Fridays bumpers.
• On Sheep In The Big City, Sheep (voiced by Kevin Seal) says "Baa! Baa!" since he doesn't speak.
• In the end of each Cartoon Cartoon, a male voice-over says "Cartoon Cartoons!".
• Sometimes, a whoosh sound can be heard when the CN logo zooms in.

Availability: Rare. The Powerpuff Girls variant can find on VHS releases of said series as well as Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie. As for the other variants, they're extinct. So check your VHS tapes for them. Although this logo ended in America in June 2004, this logo still continued usage in Latin America until the end of 2004 and in Asia and Australia until September 2005.

3rd Logo (early 1999-June 13, 2004)

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Logo: Over a white background, the Powerpuff Girls float on the top right, while a red worm-like object creeps in from the left. Blossom charges towards it, and gets stuck, with Buttercup following suit a second later. Bubbles frees them by kicking the space between where they are stuck, and the screen zooms out, revealing the red "worm" to be part of a cursive "Cartoon", except the "n" is not completely formed (which Bubbles easily fixes by punching it). From the bottom, Blossom flies up with the word "CART", and Buttercup does the same with "OONS". Blossom and Buttercup slam the two segments together, with the same background as the previous logo when the logo is formed.

Technique: Same as the previous two logos.

Music/Sounds: The Cartoon Cartoons theme mixed with squeeze and punch sounds.

Availability: Extinct. This was seen on The Powerpuff Girls. It was also probably only used on rare occasions, even if it's not the previously mentioned show.

4th Logo (August 20, 1999-May 16, 2003)

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Logo: On a black background, the Cartoon Network logo zooms out with blue circles coming from the center of the screen. Then, the letters that make up the Cartoon Network logo flashing by rapidly one by one. Colored squares with Cartoon Cartoon characters in them spiral out followed by four squares filling the four corners of the screen (this may or may not feature characters from the upcoming show). The ribbons from the 2nd logo (except they're two different shades of blue) then curve and spiral until passing the screen to reveal colored squares moving up and down like a soundbar (with characters inside them). The boxes then disappear and the Cartoon Cartoons (singular logo) logo on a dark blue oval and a light blue circle with an "f" and "FRIDAYS" (or a "w" and "WEEKEND") in it merge from the left and right respectively. Blue circles emerge once they merge and a character from the next show pops out of the second "O" in "CARTOON" and says "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays!" or "Cartoon Cartoon Weekend!".

Character Variants: Same as above that says the phrase, "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays!" or "Cartoon Cartoon Weekend!".

• Dexter (Dexter's Laboratory)
• Johnny (Johnny Bravo)
• Chicken (Cow and Chicken)
• Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls), who pops out of both "O"s in "CARTOON"
• Eddy (Ed, Edd n' Eddy)
• Mike (Mike, Lu & Og)
• Courage (Courage the Cowardly Dog)
• Sheep (Sheep in the Big City) who pops out of the first "O" in "CARTOON"
• Otto (Time Squad)
• I.M. Weasel (I Am Weasel)
• Robot Jones (Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?)
• Numbuh Five (Codename: Kids Next Door)

Other Variants:

• On all shows starting with with Time Squad in Summer 2002, the second "CARTOON" is changed to "CARTOONS". Also, all the shows had characters from Dexter's Laboratory in the four squares.
• There is an ending variant where the logo starts off similarly before a trail of Cartoon Cartoon characters appear and spin around the logo before disappearing into the distance before the logo quickly forms up and 3 blue circles zoom out.
• The logo was used in Latin America for the main intro, but the circle has a "C" with the Cartoon Network logo in it. The second "CARTOON" is also changed to "CARTOONS", with the Cartoon Cartoon characters simply saying "Cartoon Cartoons!", just like the 2nd logo.

Technique: Same as the previous three logos.

Music/Sounds: A fast-paced techno remix version of the Cartoon Cartoons theme followed by the character's dialogue. Composed by Michael Kohler.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• On the first airing of Mike, Lu & Og (November 12, 1999), an announcer (voiced by Frank Welker) says "And now, the premiere of Mike, Lu & Og" when the ribbons appear. The premiere of Courage the Cowardly Dog that same night got a similar treatment.
• Starting with Sheep in the Big City, the music was slightly remixed, adding snare drums.
• On Sheep in the Big City, Sheep (voiced by Kevin Seal) says "Baa! Baa!" since he doesn't speak. A similar thing happens with Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? where Robot Jones rarely says nothing due to an error.

Availability: Extinct. Was seen on Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory, Ed, Edd n' Eddy, Mike, Lu & Og, The Powerpuff Girls, I Am Weasel, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Sheep in the Big City during Cartoon Cartoon Fridays, as well as Cartoon Cartoon Weekend in 1999 and 2000. Grim & Evil was the only series who didn't use this logo and used the 2nd logo instead.

5th Logo (September 12, 2005-late 2007)

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Logo: At the CN City, we see a yellow 3D ribbon and a red 3D ribbon drawing a CGI version of the Cartoon Cartoons (singular) logo.

Technique: CGI animation designed by Animal Logic, who worked for Cartoon Network's "CN City" branding from 2004-2006.

Music/Sounds: A remixed version of the Cartoon Cartoon theme, followed by a female announcer (Nicole Vicius) saying "Cartoon Cartoon!". Starting in 2006, a male announcer (Johnny Lancaster) says the phrase. Composed by Elias Arts.

Availability: Extinct. Only appeared when the 2005 revival of The Cartoon Cartoon Show was shown. Check your old tapes.

Final Note: In 2007, Cartoon Network's fall branding allegedly had no intro of The Cartoon Cartoon Show and cut straight to the cartoons while the block continued to air until June 21, 2008.