An animated series is a set of animated television works with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either a finite number of episodes like a miniseries, a definite end, or be open-ended, without a predetermined number of episodes.[1] They can be broadcast on television, shown in movie theatres, released on the internet[1] or direct-to-video. Like other creative works, animated series can be of a wide variety of genres and can also have different target audiences: both males and females, both children and adults.[1]
The duration of an episode also varies. Traditionally, they are produced as complete half-hour or nearly half-hour programs; however, many are presented as animated shorts of 10 — 11 minutes, which can be combined for filling a set time period in "segments", including several such shorts. When advertising is taken into account, the cartoon itself may be only 15 — 20 minutes of the half hour, although Netflix and many other streaming companies do not show commercials. There are also series with a very short episodes lasting approximately five minutes; they have recently become more common in Japanese animation.
If a local station of a television network broadcasts an animated series as a part of its own programming, the time-slot will vary by region.
The 1980s and 1990s were a renaissance of the animated children and adult television series. Various broadcast networks and media companies began creating television channels and formats designed specifically for airing cartoon and anime series. Companies that already had these types of formats in place began to revamp their existing models during this time. Most of this animations were American-based or Japanese anime. Listed below are examples of television networks and channels that include animated programs.
Animated film theatrical series include all early animated series: Animated Weekly (1913),[4]The Newlyweds (1913 — 1915),[5]Travelaughs (1913, 1915 — 1918, 1921 — 1923),[6]Doc Yak (1913 — 1915),[7]Colonel Heeza Liar (1913 — 1917, 1922 — 1924),[8]Kapten Grogg [sv] (1916 — 1922),[9]Les Aventures des Pieds Nickelés (1917 — 1918),[10] the Tom and Jerry cartoon short films released in movie theatres from 1940 to 1967, and many others.[1]
Direct-to-video animated series include most Japanese original video animations (OVAs). The first OVA series (and also the first overall OVA) was Dallos (1983 — 1985). Almost all hentai (pornographic) anime series are released as OVAs.
^ abcdefghijklmnoФедюшин, Владислав Валерьевич (2023-10-06). "Анимационный сериал" [Animated series]. Научно-образовательный портал «Большая российская энциклопедия» [Great Russian Encyclopedia Online] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
^ abcШпоть, Василиса Виталиевна (2023-10-18). "Ситком" [Sitcom]. Научно-образовательный портал «Большая российская энциклопедия» [Great Russian Encyclopedia Online] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2024-12-07. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
^Hetherington, Janet L. "As Mainframe's technology reaches adolescence, there's a 'ReBoot' Renaissance". Animation Magazine #59. Vol. 11, Issue #8, September 1997.