''ToonHeads'' is an American

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

anthology series consisting of

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, and ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

s and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

s of the shorts. ''ToonHeads'' was originally broadcast on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

from October 2, 1992, until November 23, 2003. The series was first announced on the Cartoon Network Special "Droopy's Guide to the Cartoon Network" as part of a promotion advertising the various blocks that would appear on the channel and what order they would be shown in. This special was the first broadcast on the Cartoon Network's launch on October 1, 1992, and was re-aired throughout October 1992. The series includes more than 102 episodes (many undocumented), when including five specials: four one-hour specials and one half-hour special, two of which ("The Best of the Worst Cartoons Ever" and "The Twelve Missing Hares") were never aired, but were uploaded to YouTube years later.

Format

Early seasons feature an announcer stating each episode's theme and three cartoons to be showcased. Then the show underwent two format changes. The first happened in late 1995 when Don Kennedy was added as the

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

and would tell the history and facts of each cartoon shown (Don Kennedy would also have narration duties on '' The Tex Avery Show'' around that same time). The second format change came in 1998 when George A. Klein took over as producer and writer of the show. He wanted the show to be a "

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

" type of weekly documentary on specific cartoon history. Creating specific "themed" episodes utilizing the Warner Bros. cartoons. Three basic concepts used for these episodes are directors (e.g. Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng), characters (e.g. "Evolution of Tweety" and "The Year Elmer Fudd Got Fat"), and themes. Episodes include themes like cartoons that lampooned Hollywood celebrities and movies; cartoons where the humor comes from a character trying to get some sleep and being interrupted; cartoons that make fun of sports; obscure and rare works from Warner Bros.; and a look at the allegations of plagiarism between '' The Cat Concerto'' and '' Rhapsody Rabbit''. Trivia questions were also added about the related cartoons used in each episode's theme. From 1998 to 2003, Leslie Fram did the narration for each episode's final tracks and George A. Klein narrated the rough-cut scratch tracks.

Episodes

''ToonHeads'' is notable for showing cartoons that were rarely seen on television, such as on "The Wartime Cartoons" special, "The Lost Cartoons" special, and one series of episodes in January 1996 featuring the long-unseen '' Nudnik'' shorts. There was also a special that aired on October 20, 1996, titled "A Night of Independent Animation", which featured independent student films, such as ''Another Bad Day for Philip Jenkins'' by

Mo Willems Mo Willems (born February 11, 1968) is an American writer, animator, voice actor, and children's book author. His work includes creating the animated television series '' Sheep in the Big City'' for Cartoon Network, working on '' Sesame Stre ...

, and ''The Wire'' by Aaron Augenblick. As of August 2022, the two unaired episodes "The Best of the Worst Cartoons Ever" and "The Twelve Missing Hares" have been found. These episodes were preserved on tape by episode writer

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...

and transferred through media loan by Jerico Dvorak who made them available.

Season 1 (1992–94)

Season 2 (1996)

Season 3 (1998–99)

Season 4 (1999)

Season 5 (1999–2001)

Season 6 (2001)

Season 7 (2002)

Season 8 (2003)

References

External links

* * on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...