In 1996, Cartoon Network decided to create a Sunday morning block of preschool programs, comprising Big Bag, a live-action/puppet television program produced by the Children's Television Workshop (known for Sesame Street), and Small World, a block of animated preschool series from foreign countries.[4] The block moved to late weekday mornings in spring 1998 to accommodate Big Bag's second season, before moving to an earlier Sunday morning timeslot and lasting until 2002.[4]
In 2003, Cartoon Network's Indian counterpart introduced Tiny TV, a weekday morning block of acquired preschool cartoons such as Bob the Builder, Kipper, Noddy, and Oswald. By 2006, it had expanded to Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels in Australia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Each block carried its own lineup of programs, with only a few shared between feeds. Tiny TV was discontinued internationally in 2007, but was temporarily revived on POGO (a sister channel to Cartoon Network India) in 2010.[8]
The block came under fire by the CCFC, which criticized its marketing strategies.[11][12] After Tickle-U closed on 13 January 2006, some of its series still aired on Cartoon Network until 2007 and as part of the schedule of the British variation of Cartoonito. The promos for the shows featured on the block had Tickle-U branding and the mascot interstitials were replaced with shots of the main view of the City of Townsville from The Powerpuff Girls (part of Cartoon Network's on-air presentation from 2004 to 2007).[13][14] It was the last attempt at a preschool programming block until Cartoonito in 2021 on both Cartoon Network and HBO Max.
The first variation of the original logo was used from 2006 to 2018. The eye dots were originally a dark purple.
On 4 September 2006, Cartoon Network Too debuted a new programming block called Cartoonito, running from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily. The series featured in Cartoonito was acquired from countries worldwide and was available in both English and French. The block was later spun off into a separate channel on 24 May 2007, as Cartoonito expanded its broadcast hours by taking the whole daytime slot formerly given to Cartoon Network Too. In turn, Cartoon Network Too became a 24-hour channel replacing Toonami UK's former channel space. From September 2009 to March 2010, a morning Cartoonito block aired on Boomerang until its launch on Virgin Media.[citation needed]
Brand rollout (2011–2021)
The second variant of the original logo was used from 2018 to 2022. The eye dots were pitch black.
In May 2011, Turner Broadcasting System EMEA announced a rollout of the Cartoonito brand across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; under the arrangement, programming blocks would launch on Cartoon Network or Boomerang channels in that region.[15]
Cartoonito launched as a morning block on Cartoon Network Arabic in the Middle East on 4 September 2011, broadcasting seven days a week. Simultaneously, Cartoonito was also available in English in the Middle East via another morning block on the pan-European feed of Boomerang. Both blocks ended on 1 January 2014 (Boomerang) and on 1 April 2014 (Cartoon Network), but the Arabic Cartoon Network would reintroduce Cartoonito on 24 March 2019, now airing Sunday through Thursdays at 9:30 KSA Local Time.
In Italy, Cartoonito was launched as a 24-hour channel on 22 August 2011. In Spain, Cartoonito was launched as a 24-hour channel on 1 September 2011 replacing the Spanish version of Boomerang, as part of Turner Broadcasting System EMEA plans to roll out the brand across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The move also increased Cartoonito's distribution to 125 million homes in 112 territories.[16] On 30 June 2013, the channel was shut down alongside the Spanish feed of Cartoon Network.
In France, Cartoonito was launched as a block on Boing on 5 September 2011.[17] With low audiences and a reduction of its airtime in September 2012, it eventually retired from Boing on 5 July 2013.[18]
On 1 December 2012, Cartoonito launched in the Asia Pacific and the Philippines through SkyCable. Cartoonito is available as part of its Metropack and on an a la carte basis via Skycable Select.[19] Cartoonito was replaced by Boomerang on 1 January 2015.
On 15 January 2018, Cartoonito UK relaunched as a 24-hour channel.[20]
On 17 February 2021, it was announced that WarnerMedia's international preschool brand Cartoonito would launch in the United States on Cartoon Network[23] and streaming service HBO Max.[24] Over 20 series were expected to be featured at its launch.[25] A website for the block was launched in March 2021. Partnerships also encompassed acquired broadcasting rights to Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, a reboot of the original Thomas & Friends series.[26] The block officially launched on 13 September 2021, and initially ran for 8 hours (6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET/PT) on weekdays and 2 hours (6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. ET/PT) on weekends.[27] It ultimately settled with 4–5 hours only on weekdays (starting at 7:00 a.m. ET/PT).[28] On 13 March 2023, the schedule was reduced from a 4-hour block to a 90-minute block (starting at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 9:00 a.m. ET/PT) due to Warner Bros. Discovery reducing its investment in producing preschool content.
In October 2021, Sky Brasil announced that Cartoonito would be launching in Brazil on 1 December 2021, replacing Boomerang.[29] A few days later, the Argentine pay television service Telered announced the replacement of Boomerang to Cartoonito for the rest of Latin America on the same date.[30]
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa)
In May 2021, WarnerMedia UK and EMEA announced plans to relaunch Cartoonito within their region.[31][32]
Rebrand in the UK and Ireland
On 1 February 2022, the British and Irish Cartoonito channel adopted the worldwide rebrand.[33] Additionally, starting on 1 March 2022, a weekday hour-long Cartoonito block aired from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on sister channel Cartoon Network.[34] The block now runs from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on weekdays and does not air during the school holidays.
Rebrand in Italy
On 5 June 2022, the Italian Cartoonito channel adopted the worldwide rebrand, officially retiring the old mascots along the way, making it one of the last Cartoonito-branded channels to retire Cartoonito's original CGI mascots, The Cartoonitos.[35]
Other EMEA Regions
In the Nordics, Cartoonito launched as a programming block on Boomerang on 1 February 2022.[36][37] The channel later rebranded as Cartoonito on 4 September 2023, as did Boomerang's feeds in Turkey[38] and the MENA region.[39]
In Portugal, a morning and afternoon Cartoonito block launched on Boomerang on 21 February 2022.[42][43] The channel would fully rebrand as Cartoonito on 23 March 2023.[44]
In Africa, Boomerang relaunched its morning Cartoonito block on 4 April 2022.[45] On 8 February 2023, it was announced that Cartoonito would expand into a full-time channel in Boomerang's place on 25 March.[46]
In Central and Eastern Europe, Germany, and the Netherlands, Boomerang relaunched its morning Cartoonito block on 1 September 2022. In January 2023, it was announced that Boomerang CEE would be fully replaced with a standalone Cartoonito channel on 18 March 2023.[47]
In France, Boing was replaced by a Cartoonito channel on 3 April 2023.[48]
In Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, Cartoonito relaunched as a programming block on 28 March 2022 on Cartoon Network. It offers a modern approach to preschool programming, built to support each child's unique potential with its educational framework called "Humancentric Learning".[50][51]
On 2 May 2022, an additional Cartoonito block debuted on Boomerang Asia. Later, on 21 November, Cartoon Network discontinued its Cartoonito block, with the brand fully shifting to Boomerang. Cartoonito continues to air on Cartoon Network Philippines.[3]
On 28 June 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pacific announced that Boomerang Asia would be rebrand as Cartoonito; the switchover took place a month later on 28 July, marking the second time Cartoonito appeared as a linear channel in the region.[56]
From its initial launch, Cartoonito's original six CGI mascots included Cuba (a red cube), Lolly (a purple cylinder), Ringo (a green ring), Spike (a blue pyramid), Ting (a pink star), and Bubble (a yellow sphere). They were called The Cartoonitos. Maria Darling voiced Cuba, Lolly, and Ringo, while Shelley Longworth voiced Spike, Ting, and Bubble in the UK. Initially, in the UK, Bubble, Spike and Ting spoke French and taught French phrases to viewers.
The mascots were retired in the UK in February 2022, and later in Italy in June 2022, as they adopted the rebranding.
Rebrand (2021–present)
As part of Cartoonito's global reintroduction, the original CGI mascots were retired in favor of four 2D-animated ones. The new mascots are Nito (a cyan square), Glob (a multi-colored glob-like figure), Wedge (a magenta triangle), and Itty (a pink circle).
These characters were exclusive to the US and Latin American feeds in 2021, until the British and Italian feeds adopted them in 2022.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cartoonito.
^Tiny TV back on Pogo from 5 July, Tiny TV back on Pogo from 5 July (30 June 2010). "Tiny TV back on Pogo from 5 July". Indian Television Dot Com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
