An Introduction

Back in late 1994, Cartoon Network started advertising a new series of cartoons made by themselves. I remember being quite shocked by this when I first saw those ads, as Cartoon Network was my most watched channel back then, mostly for classic Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera stuff, but new cartoons made by them was an entirely different thing. It was definitely something I had to watch.

Months passed, the ads became more and more prominent, until finally, in Febraury 20, 1995, the very first short aired. A pilot short that eventually lead to a popular Cartoon Network original called The Powerpuff Girls. Several other shows, such as Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow & Chicken, and several others originated from this series of shorts.

I remember watching these shorts, specially the early ones, numerous times. I probably saw the Dexter's Lab pilot around ten times in the first week alone, as CN would put the short at the beginning of every short-compilation series they had at the time, such as Bugs & Daffy and Tom & Jerry. They certainly didn't want viewers to miss these shorts.

Since each short was done by a different cartoonist, watching a new one every week felt like an entirely different experience. Some shorts would focus on slapstick, violent humor in a Tex Avery-esque fashion, others will be focused on pantomime, silent humor, and others will have a cuter, more down-to-Earth style. Some will even feel more like experiments in animation, including one of the earliest attempts at a TV cartoon done entirely in CGI.

Rewatching some of these shorts as of late has really brought me back, in both a good and a bad way. Some of these shorts still feel as great as I remember them, while others haven't aged all that well. There are even some I don't remember liking as much back then, and what do you know, they're still terrible.

So in this blog, I'll be rewatching the original 48 shorts and provide a detailed review for each, as well as screenshots, credits, tidbits & quotes, and any inside info I may find. Also, since the majority of these shorts don't have official DVD releases, my source for screenshots will be for the most part Youtube videos. I apologize in advance for the low-quality screenshots that will likely cover several entries.

Hope you guys can join me on this trip down memory lane, in an attempt to relive my childhood but instead end up ruining it. We'll see.