A to Z of Animation Studios: Cartoon Network Studios
(Or: How One Studio Shaped Our Childhoods and Also Gave Us Caillou’s Evil Twin)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we take a deep dive into the animation industry while simultaneously ruining our own career prospects! If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, it’s literally free, unlike the therapy bill you’ll rack up from reliving some of these animated nightmares. Click it. Now. Before I start ranting about Caillou.
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🔥 C is for Cartoon Network Studios
Cartoon Network Studios isn’t just a studio—it’s a cultural institution. If you grew up watching TV and weren’t raised by wolves, you’ve seen something from Cartoon Network Studios. They’re responsible for some of the greatest animated shows of all time… and also a few that make you wonder if they were created as part of a tax write-off.
Founded in 1994, Cartoon Network Studios was where mad science met animation and somehow resulted in pure gold. For a glorious period, they were unstoppable, creating some of the weirdest, funniest, and most influential cartoons ever made.
Their Hits? Absolute Bangers.
• Dexter’s Laboratory – A show about a child genius with a secret lab who somehow never invented a lock for his door. Also gave us the greatest superhero parody ever (Dial M for Monkey).
• The Powerpuff Girls – A scientist creates three superpowered kindergarteners, and no one calls child services. The fight scenes still hold up better than 90% of modern action films.
• Courage the Cowardly Dog – A horror show for kids disguised as a comedy. If you say “Return the slab” in a dark room, you will hear crying in the distance.
• Ed, Edd n Eddy – Three scam artists in an endless suburban purgatory try to con jawbreakers out of people. If you grew up watching this show, you’re either an entrepreneur now or in federal prison.
• Johnny Bravo – A dude who got rejected by women for six seasons straight, yet somehow, he was still more charming than most rom-com leads today.
• Samurai Jack – A show that said, “What if we made a minimalist action masterpiece?” and then actually pulled it off.
• Adventure Time – A show that started as a goofy kid’s cartoon and evolved into a deeply emotional existential crisis. It made us laugh. It made us cry. It made us question reality.
• Regular Show – Two slackers refuse to do their jobs, and somehow that’s the least insane part of the show. Features a sentient gumball machine as a boss, which is pretty much how corporate America works anyway.
Their Lows? We Don’t Talk About Those.
• The Problem Solverz – A show that looked like it was animated by someone who fell asleep on a keyboard and accidentally made a cartoon.
• Mike, Lu & Og – Did anyone actually watch this? Be honest.
Cartoon Network’s Legacy
For years, Cartoon Network Studios was the gold standard. They didn’t just push boundaries—they drop-kicked them into another dimension. Their original programming was so strong that every other studio tried to copy their weirdness and failed miserably.
Then… things changed.
• Live-action shows started creeping in.
• Executives made bad decisions.
• The golden age ended.
But Cartoon Network’s legacy? Untouchable. They revolutionized animation, raised a generation, and left an undeniable mark on pop culture.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Cinar (Now WildBrain) (Caillou and Other Childhood Fever Dreams)
Now, let’s talk about Cinar, the fever-dream factory responsible for some of the most bizarre and unintentionally terrifying children’s content ever produced.
Caillou: The Bald Menace
Listen. I don’t want to be the person who publicly slanders a four-year-old, but Caillou is the whiniest little gremlin to ever be animated.
• He’s bald, but not because of any tragic backstory—he’s just bald for no reason.
• He throws constant tantrums, teaching an entire generation of kids how to be absolute nightmares.
• His parents have the patience of actual saints, which proves they are not real humans.
This kid had zero personality, zero ambition, and negative charisma—and yet, somehow, PBS kept him on the air for TWO DECADES. That’s longer than most actual careers.
And it doesn’t stop there. Cinar gave us some of the weirdest children’s shows ever.
• Arthur – A show about an aardvark who looks nothing like an aardvark.
• Mona the Vampire – A fever dream of a show that no one remembers, yet somehow, everyone remembers.
• Zoboomafoo – A show that was equal parts educational and nightmare fuel.
Eventually, Cinar rebranded into WildBrain, which sounds like a knockoff extreme sports brand but is actually the company responsible for rebooting half of our childhoods.
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If this post didn’t make you want to subscribe to the YouTube channel, then you are beyond saving. Click subscribe before Caillou shows up at your door and throws a tantrum in your living room.
Next up? D for DreamWorks Animation, the studio that gave us both Shrek and some of the most aggressively mid animated films ever made.
(Spoiler: We will talk about “Shrek.” A lot.) 🚀
