Cartoonito (also known as Cartoonito on Cartoon Network) was an American weekday morning programming block on

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and a content hub within the

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

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that launched on September 13, 2021 and ended on May 23, 2025. It aired series aimed at children aged 2 through 6, and was the first dedicated preschool block to air on Cartoon Network in over fifteen years.

History

Background

In 1996,

created a Sunday morning block of preschool programs, consisting of ''

Big Bag ''Big Bag'' is an American live-action/animated puppet children's television series created by Nina Elias-Bamberger for Cartoon Network and Children's Television Workshop. It was targeted at preschool viewers. The show was co-produced by Carto ...

,'' a live-action/puppet television program by the

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...

, and '' Small World'', an anthology of foreign children's shows. ''Big Bag'' and ''Small World'' moved to the 11:00 a.m. ET hour on weekday mornings in 1998 before moving back to Sunday mornings later that year. After ''Big Bag'' and ''Small World'' left Cartoon Network's lineup in 2001 and 2002 respectively, an unbranded preschool block on weekday mornings consisting of '' Baby Looney Tunes'', ''

Pecola ''Pecola'' (, ) is an animated children's television series that features cube-shaped anthropomorphic animals in a place named Cube Town. The series is based on a series of children's picture books by Naomi Iwata. It was first aired on Teletoon ...

'', '' Sitting Ducks'', and '' Hamtaro'' was created during the 2002-03 television season. On August 22, 2005, Cartoon Network debuted '' Tickle-U'', the network's first official attempt at weekday-morning preschool

programming block Block programming (also known as a strand in British broadcasting) is the arrangement of programs on radio or television so that those of a particular genre, theme, or target audience are united. Overview Block programming involves scheduling a ...

. The block aired from 9 to 11 a.m. and featured a mix of domestic and foreign-imported series, with interstitial segments hosted by two CGI characters: a red

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

-like creature named Pipoca (voiced by

Ariel Winter Ariel Winter Workman (born January 28, 1998) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Alex Dunphy in the ABC sitcom '' Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she and her several costars won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Ou ...

) and a yellow

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

-like creature named Henderson (voiced by

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

). Programs on Tickle-U included

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's '' Firehouse Tales'' (its sole original series), Canadian co-productions '' Gerald McBoing-Boing'' and '' Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs'' (with

Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...

and

Treehouse TV Treehouse TV (commonly known as Treehouse) is a Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary specialty channel that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from sister network YTV (Canadian TV channel), YTV's former programming b ...

), and British series '' Gordon the Garden Gnome'', '' Little Robots'', ''

Peppa Pig ''Peppa Pig'' is a British preschool animated television series created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker. Produced by Hasbro Entertainment and Karrot Animation and formerly produced by Astley Baker Davies, the show follows Peppa, an anthro ...

'' and '' Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!'', some of which were re-dubbed for American audiences. The block was criticized by the CCFC, for its marketing strategies. Tickle-U ended on January 13, 2006; some of its programs still aired on Cartoon Network until 2007 and in the United Kingdom on the native Cartoonito channel.

Launch

On June 14, 2021, Cartoonito's

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channel uploaded videos featuring new

idents Station identification (ident, network ID, channel ID or bumper (broadcasting), bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand na ...

of the block's programs (which included '' Esme & Roy'', ''Mush-Mush & the Mushables'', '' Care Bears: Unlock the Magic'', and '' Love Monster''), and a newsletter was announced, with a new banner and avatar on the Cartoonito YouTube Channel in July. A trailer for the block was released on July 29, 2021.

Scheduling

The block, originally eight hours in length between 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET/ PT weekdays and two hours (6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. ET/PT) on weekends, premiered on September 13, 2021 with an episode of '' Baby Looney Tunes''. From there, the block would lose time due to viewer and ratings feedback, with the 1:00 p.m. hour returning to Cartoon Network on November 16 of the same year, then the noon hour on December 20. The weekend schedule was entirely discontinued on January 29, 2022, followed by the 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon block two days later. Through the summer of 2022, the block ended at 11:00 a.m. until the resumption of the academic year on September 5. A month later on October 3, the 6:00 a.m. hour was abandoned for Cartoon Network content, leaving it as a four-hour block going into 2023. It underwent two additional cuts, with 2½ hours removed on March 13 with a new 9:00 a.m. endtime, then another half-hour cut on February 19, 2024, resulting in the block airing for only an hour between 7:30 a.m.–8:30 a.m. until its end on May 23, 2025.

Programming

Cartoonito featured co-productions and acquired programming, in addition to original series exclusive to the program block on Cartoon Network. Cartoonito's lineup included '' Bugs Bunny Builders'', ''

Batwheels ''Batwheels'' is an American animated Superhero fiction, superhero children's television series that premiered on September 17, 2022, on Max (streaming service), HBO Max. It made its linear premiere on October 17, 2022, on Cartoon Network's presc ...

'', and '' Jessica's Big Little World''; with ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' exclusive to Max.

Related services

International

Since its inception in the United States, Cartoonito rebranded across European territories through various nations and regional feeds. Following its global reintroduction in 2021, the brand has expanded to regions such as Latin America, Africa, and several Asia-Pacific countries.

References

External links

* {{Former KidsTVBlocksUSA

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

2021 establishments in the United States 2025 disestablishments in the United States Cartoon Network programming blocks Preschool education television networks Television programming blocks in the United States Television networks in the United States Cartoon Network Warner Bros. Discovery networks Companies based in Atlanta