History Analysis / CartoonNetwork

For some fans who were around in the Cohen era of 1992-2001, this was what made Cartoon Network the success it was: a network that provided them with what may have been their first chance to see cartoons that were new to them and were new to their parents or grandparents. This process paved the way for imports such as {{anime}} which helped fuel the [[UsefulNotes/TheJapaneseInvasion anime boom]] at the turn of the century (thanks to Creator/{{Toonami}} and Creator/AdultSwim). The earliest forms of Adult Swim itself came from the late-night corners of this era being allowed to experiment with stranger concepts welcomed into the lineup. By the beginning of the new millennium, the channel consisted of its [[Creator/CartoonCartoons original programming]], a waning but still prominent selection of Hanna-Barbera cartoons, thousands of shorts from the UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, dozens of reruns (and in rare cases new episodes) of shows from Creator/FoxKids and Creator/KidsWB, the aforementioned anime series, and an anthology series of animated shorts produced for the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada. \\

Creator/CartoonNetwork as entity has long been held by many (from fans to cable channels to critics) as a gold standard in what they set out to do. But what was that? It is an understatement to say that how one views what made Cartoon Network a hit heavily colors how one perceives its NetworkDecay. Let's look at several different perspectives on this.

Afterwards we will look at several other debates that have long come up within the Cartoon Network fandom. Which currently includes the importance of Boomerang, where live action belongs on the network and where the line between adult animation and kids animation is.

* The first perspective ties into the "animation library" aspect of the channel. When Cartoon Network first launched it was home to a enormous library of animation that was owned by UsefulNotes/TedTurner, including the classic Creator/HannaBarbera and [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Warner Brothers]] cartoons in addition to a few others. For its first few years the channel had a hard time convincing cable companies to pick it up so the idea began to give the network itself a serious identity. The network dubbed itself "The Cartoon Network" and built two slogans: "The best place for cartoons" and "a place where everybody gets their toons". In this period, year after year, the network aired cartoons, animations, and animated movies from at least nine different decades and multiple countries.\\

For some fans who were around in the Cohen era of 1992-2001. This was what made Cartoon Network the success it was. A network that provided them what may have been their first chance to see cartoons that were new to them and were new to their parents or grandparents. This process paved the way for imports such as {{anime}} which helped fuel the [[UsefulNotes/TheJapaneseInvasion anime boom]] at the turn of the century (thanks to Creator/{{Toonami}} and Creator/AdultSwim). The earliest forms of Adult Swim itself came from the late night corners of this era being allowed to experiment with stranger concepts welcomed into the lineup. By the beginning of the new millennium, the channel consisted of its [[Creator/CartoonCartoons original programming]], a waning but still prominent selection of Hanna-Barbera cartoons, thousands of shorts from the UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, dozens of reruns (and in rare cases new episodes) of shows from Creator/FoxKids and Creator/KidsWB, the aforementioned anime series, and an anthology series of animated shorts produced for the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada. \\

For these fans many place Cartoon Network's NetworkDecay heavily on the ExecutiveMeddling of Jamie Kellner when he was made head of Turner. The in-fighting between Kellner and CN president Cohen and WBA president [=MacCurdy=] lead to both leaving their positions. While Mike Lazzo tried to continue some of Cohen's vision but it was clear Cartoon Network was moving into a direction that put it's in-house content above showcasing as wide a variety of animation. Once Kellner was gone and Samples had Lazzo KickedUpstairs to only running Adult Swim, many found the old Cartoon Network was no longer the aim.\\

From a business metric there's a lot to bolster this perspective. While many know the story that the Network struggled in its early years to attract an audience, many are unaware the first time Cartoon Network scored a day as being the most watched channel on cable was back in 1993 during the first ever June Bugs marathon. This event proved to be a major help in convincing more cable providers to pick up the channel. The network didn't really pick up full steam until 1995 and was considered an overwhelming success from 1995-2001. Cartoon Network became a regular player to be top of cable in total viewers by 2000. It would lose that reputation somewhere along the controversies of 2002. While all of this is true there was always some criticism that this strategy was far more risk taking than a lot of channels usually are ran. It is also notable that during this period there was no one show that really soared above the others. On any given month any new show or high ranked older show might very well be the most watched.\\

The Legacy of the Cohen era under the "animation library" version set the stage for everything that came after it. But it still remains the period that it managed to beat many live action channels for total viewers.

* The second perspective argues that the in-house content was the real driving force for the channel's success. During the earlier days where they were still trying to sell the network to cable companies Cohen and the then-president of Creator/HannaBarbera Fred Seibert crafted the concept that became the WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow. As a way to supplement the back catalog with a series of new shorts that could SpinOff into a new series. The program proved to be a success and both the shorts and spinoff series were all a part of the animated library concept. The fans of this perspective argue these rose to being what made the channel the success.\\

At the time of Jaime Kellner's ascent to being head of Turner, the decision had been made to stop the merger of Hanna Barbera and Warner Bros Animation and have two animation houses under different corporate silos. Warner Bros. Animation was an animation studio with the WB, HB and MGM libraries under the Warner Bros. silo, and Cartoon Network Studios was an animation studio with the CN originals under the Turner silo. Kellner had imported his own philosophies from the WB into the culture of considering target demographics far more important than total household numbers. From then on with Jim Samples as president the channel took far more priority with building up their original content and having them dominate more of the schedule that used to be given to older back catalog shows. For these fans they tend to view the earlier stage before the Cartoon Cartoons rise was when the channel was mostly just a rerun farm. Without the identity the original content and Powerhouse era branding would provide it with. \\

These fans typically place the NetworkDecay on the ViralMarketing for the WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce movie lead to Jim Samples stepping down from being head of Cartoon Network, as they saw him as the person who helped the network grow out from being it's original status. They tend to view Stuart Snyder as taking the network too far away from the brand Samples had built up.\\

From the business perspective, Samples' era could not maintain the total household numbers his predecessor was capable of. It did however managed to earn records in certain demographics and create a sense of brand loyalty of its own that steered more towards the original content rather than the wider range of the Cohen's era. Another criticism of this era is that while Kellner's strategy was always a workable one Samples wasn't the best executor of it. As most of the time Cartoon Network was ranked the third "kids channel" against Disney and Nick. Which was seen as a far cry from being competing for top of cable.\\

The legacy of the Samples era is one that is very clear to see on the internet. But clearly was not without it's share of controversy. Many dedicated fans consider it the network's high point for them.

* The third perspective is one that veers mostly to the side of investors and executives and primarily focuses on the man who replaced Jim Samples. Stuart Snyder. Snyder like Samples before him was a man linked to Jamie Kellner who shared a lot of his ideals. On the internet a lot of people tend to paint Snyder as a devilish figure that wrecked what Samples gave the world. Ironically in business circles some people consider Snyder to be what Samples wanted to be but never could.\\

As recapped above, Samples era took the network into a different path than Cohen had but some criticized it for not being as successful as it could have been. Snyder's approach was a play much faster at trying to find the biggest success he could and make the most money off it. Snyder had a habit of launching many new shows aimed at specific demographics and if they didn't earn enough he would pull the rug out from under it. Examples such as ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' and ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' still remain heated memories. He did so at a far faster speed than Samples did which heavily damaged the brand loyalty to the Samples era fans but was seen as not much of a change to the Cohen era fans. One of Snyder's biggest sins to many though was the CN Real block that brought live action shows with no animation component into the regular schedule which they felt was a betrayal of the channels roots. (See below on a analysis of that).\\

While this was true from a business perspective though Cartoon Network was in much better shape than it had been for years. As Stuart Snyder is proud to brag about on his Linkedin resume this era made executives like him and investors a very good return on investment. This is the reason why some consider him a better successor to Jamie Kellner who before had left many employees and fans mad at the WB network but he did a great job at making himself money. The flip side however always pointed out such a strategy was very bad at long term survival. Snyder's practices did nothing to resolve the problems held by the Cohen era fans and speed up the problems of the Samples era while burning bridges with the brand loyalty Samples had built up.\\

But we would be remiss to mention that like the generations that came before many cartoons were introduced to people during this tenure as well. For as much flack as Stuart Snyder receives on the internet, shows he introduced to the world get plenty of praise.\\

* The above written paragraphs cover a lot of opinions on Cartoon Network from their historical and business stories. But for some people that's not what made Cartoon Network great. For some it's just about whether the shows CN helps produce are worth it. From this perspective some would argue CN may have changed with the years but this is one goal it never strayed from as each era featured young animators getting the chance to make a show they wanted to share with the world.

* Beyond the general eras of Cartoon Network, the decision to launch Creator/Boomerang is one that in itself is often accused or defended based on who you are talking to. As covered above Cartoon Network greatly grew the number of shows they were airing by making new ones and licensing imports. In 2000 it was clear many of the older programs that used to air a lot more frequently had to fight for less space. Betty Cohen has originally intended the spinoff Boomerang network was an addition to the bigger network. It was only programmed for eight hours a day which repeated three times during the day. Cohen intended the roster of shows that would air on CN or Boomerang to rotate with each month so that certain shows would in theory come and go to both every year. This however struggled at first due to the reluctance to take any of the highest viewed archive programs only to Boomerang or to sell the Boomerang network with only a roster of b-players at best.\\

The major elephant in the room that no one really considered in 2000 was the [=TV=] on [=DVD=] boom. [=VHS=] releases had been around, yes. But people really hadn't considered easily owning full seasons of television shows at affordable price on disc before. Before this the concept of if you wanted to see something not on the main channel, a side channel seemed like a smart option. But for every release that came to disc, Boomerang essentially lost episodes that could attract people. As a result Boomerang always felt like it got kneecapped before it ever picked up steam. Once Cohen was out, Kellner and Samples clearly started to treat the network like a retirement home for everything too old for the main channel. Cohen's idea shows would go to Boomerang and come back to the main channel was not desired by later presidents.\\

All in all Boomerang still to this day is one of the least carried channels in cable packages and many would argue one that has so much less value with so many things not on Cartoon Network legally and illegally available in much more convenient places. However some argue Boomerang itself was unneeded as early as the [=TV=] on [=DVD=] boom. As instead of a separate channel, making Boomerang a block that also promoted the [=DVD=] releases and tested which shows deserved more consistent reruns would have been a far more successful strategies.

* Let's analyze something else about Cartoon Network that stirs up a lot of controversy to this day. Where does "live action" fit in to Cartoon Network? Some would say never. Others would say where do we draw the line.\\

In truth of course some live action content had been featured on the network since the very beginning. Multiple theatrical shorts featured live action gags. Shows like ''WesternAnimation/MisterT'' and ''WesternAnimation/ChuckNorrisKarateKommandos'' featured live action people give their thoughts before and after the episode. On ''WesternAnimation/TheCompletelyMentalMisadventuresOfEdGrimley'' the cartoon characters watched live action people on television. The newly created ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' had its whole gimmick built around live action interviews. Many commercials for the network featured cartoons interacting with live actors or live action settings. One should note all of these still featured animation but the live action content was still a part of it.\\

We must also address the puppet in the room here as well. Puppetry has long remained an intersection of live action and animation. Some consider it live action because the object is being filmed moving in real life and this not a cartoon. Others consider it animation because we are animating a non moving object into appearing like it is moving. The various types of puppetry, Traditional (string, hand, rod), Stop motion and suitmation have all also been represented on Cartoon Network either in shows, movies or ads all along the way. Shows such as ''Series/TheBananaSplits'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}}'' and even the attempt to make live action Puppet Pals segments from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' serve as examples.\\

Then there's the question of CGI. As many live action movies today heavily rely on CGI made effects to create there films, is it accurate to consider them at least in part animation or not? Or for that matter is a CGI creation just a puppet in a computer?\\

While all the above will allow one to question where the line between animation and live action should be pressed one bit of history isn't as up for debate. Exactly when did Cartoon Network first air live action that had no relation to cartoons, puppetry or CGI? Some believe it was during CN Real but in truth it happened during the Samples era where a couple live action movies aired on the network for the first time. Another ironically forgotten stunt is the April Fools Day marathon in which the ''WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs'' hosted a marathon of the Danger Island segments from the Banana Splits. Even in the early 1990s, Cartoon Network was not afraid to play around with this.\\

What is often overlooked as well is during Creator/AdultSwim they have had no issue green-lighting shows that do similar things to many of the shows named above. Even to airing outright live action too.

* if there's another issue that divided the network it was always the issue of adult vs kids animation. Being a product of the 1990s and having an executive from Creator/{{MTV}} the early Cartoon Network was a very relativist in terms of animation exposure. But like most cable channels they had to contend with their own in house Bureau of Standards and Practices. What was remarkable was that many people at the network openly wanted to challenge these notions as they continued to expand their library. It didn't pass over their heads that there was ripe hypocrisy in how censorship tried to sneak its way into the roster. Episodes of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' had gotten them in trouble before. Other demands to censor and limit several older shorts such as ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' had also caused dissatisfaction. One specific character that Ted Turner himself wanted removed was WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales, but even then the programmers still didn't kick him off the air completely (at least not until Jim Samples came on board). When Turner merged with Warner Bros, the staff at Warner Bros Animation who had greatly feuded with Jamie Kellner at the WB Network on what was appropriate for kids, was a serious boost to this effort.\\

In WhatCouldHaveBeen history it was clear 2001 was the year Cartoon Network had intended to greatly push back to fight the BS&P for all they could get. One of the major pushes for this is what we now know as Creator/AdultSwim. Most of the first Adult Swim shows had already been green-lighted the year before as Cartoon Network knew they could expand the audience that was already enjoying ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast''. Cartoon Network had also slowly tried airing anime with less edits than they did in the daytime segments during the late night. With ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' being the only one to actually just air in its uncut format in the later hours the year before. People at the network desperately wanted ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' on the network but were concerned airing it on Toonami would still result in too much censoring, thus Bebop became the first anime on the Adult Swim lineup. Meanwhile ''Series/ToonHeads'' launched a longer form documentary on the War time cartoons in prime time. But while those experiments succeeded there were plans that didn't. They intended the June Bugs marathon to air one of the WesternAnimation/CensoredEleven (probably late at night) and was looking into gathering shorts to start a silent cartoon compilation show. But as mentioned above all this greatly changed when Jamie Kellner came along.\\

As covered above Kellner believed in strictly demographic terms. There were kids cartoons that if adults watched they didn't matter. There were adult cartoons that if kids watched they didn't matter. Before this Cartoon Network usually formatted its blocks to try and boost certain demographics in their total household numbers (Toonami was aimed at younger boys, Boomerang at older viewers, etc). However if you watched the advertising on any such blocks the network clearly still sold advertising to products for multiple demos. It was common to see board game commercials next to dish soap commercials. It was apparent though that the branding of Adult Swim was a major alteration to this by trying to tell off younger viewers. Even disclaimers on the Toonheads "wartime Cartoons" hadn't directly discouraged younger viewers only suggesting a warning of the content. Cohen clearly supported attempting to increase animation as a medium for any subject and any audience. Kellner on the other hand did not. And this was one of the major issues that helped Cohen leave the network.\\

Since then it's fair to say only the Adult Swim blocks have greatly increased what they are allowed to air but because those standards pretty much had no affect on the network as a whole or animation in general. As was later openly admitted on the Adult Swim podcast, the decision to split the network into two for ratings purposes was primarily to get around certain laws that prohibit channels with so many kid views from selling ad space for certain products. As people working on Adult Swim always knew plenty of kids were still watching during the so-called adults only hours. Despite this online forums erupted into endless debates on what was or wasn't "adult". With some declaring there is no way shows like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' or ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'' can be considered worthy of adult watching. While others lambasting the decision to air ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' on Adult Swim as being nothing but a kids show. People wanting to push animation for all subjects and all ages haven't really been welcome into the subject in many forums for a long time. [[note]]Let alone bringing up a discussion about what age that divide should even be.[[/note]]\\

Regular Cartoon Network on the other hand was rather slow to really open itself up to what it could show.[[note]]You might be confused by this if you are wondering why Toonami's and Miguzi's more controversial shows aren't being cited here, but those were still programmed by the Adult Swim sub-management.[[/note]] On CN many of the usual stereotypes about what is or isn't appropriate for kids shows were kept in strict order. One stigma that they only recently really opened themselves up to under Miller's leadership is whether LGBT characters are even allowed to exist in them. Which is probably one of the best progressive examples but from a relativist perspective Cartoon Network is still less diverse than the Adult Swim part of the day. And as a whole Cartoon Network is still less diverse than it used to be in its early years as for every step forward, something else got kicked under the rug.\\

There is also an argument that the network's strict lens of action vs comedy, the dramatic side of animation is sadly very hard to actually get onto the network. Since most western and eastern shows that this applies too don't really fit either the "kids animation" or "adult animation" stereotypes that the network tends to take on.

For some fans who were around in the Cohen era of 1992-2001. This was what made Cartoon Network the success it was. A network that provided them what may have been their first chance to see cartoons that were new to them and were new to their parents or grandparents. This process paved the way for imports such as {{anime}} which helped fuel the [[UsefulNotes/TheJapaneseInvasion anime boom]] at the turn of the century (thanks to Creator/{{Toonami}} and Creator/AdultSwim). The earliest forms of Adult Swim itself came from the late night corners of this era being allowed to experiment with stranger concepts welcomed into the lineup. \\

Since then it's fair to say only the Adult Swim blocks have greatly increased what they are allowed to air but because those standards pretty much had no affect on the network as a whole or animation in general. As was later openly admitted on the Adult Swim podcast, the decision to split the network into two for ratings purposes was primarily to get around certain laws that prohibit channels with so many kid views from selling ad space for certain products. As people working on Adult Swim always knew plenty of kids were still watching during the so-called adults only hours. Despite this online forums erupted into endless debates on what was or wasn't "adult". With some declaring there is no way shows like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' or ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'' can be considered worthy of adult watching. While others lambasting the decision to air ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' on Adult Swim as being nothing but a kids show. People wanting to push animation is for all subjects and all ages haven't really been welcome into the subject in many forums for a long time. [[note]]Let alone bringing up a discussion about what age that divide should even be.[[/note]]\\

There is is also an argument that the network's strict lens of action vs comedy, the dramatic side of animation is sadly very hard to actually get onto the network. Since most western and eastern shows that this applies too don't really fit either the "kids animation" or "adult animation" stereotypes that the network tends to take on.

While all the above will allow one to question where the line between animation and live action should be pressed one bit of history isn't as up for debate. Exactly when did Cartoon Network first air live action that had no relation to cartoons, puppetry or CGI? Some believe it was during CN Real but in truth it happened during the Samples era where a couple live action movies aired on the network for the first time. Another ironically forgotten stunt is the April Fools Day marathon in which the ''WesternAnimation/2StupidDogs'' hosted a marathon of the Danger Island segments from the Banana Splits. Even in the early 1990s, Cartoon Network was not afraid to play around with this.\\

What is often overlooked as well is during Creator/AdultSwim they have had no issue greenlighting shows that do similar things to many of the shows named above. Even to airing outright live action too.

* if there's another issue that divided the network it was always the issue of adult vs kids animation. Being a product of the 1990s and having an executive from Creator/{{MTV}} the early Cartoon Network was a very relativist in terms of animation exposure. But like most cable channels they had to contend with their own in house Bureau of Standards and Practices. What was remarkable was that many people at the network openly wanted to challenge these notions as they continued to expand their library. It didn't pass over their heads that there was ripe hypocrisy in how censorship tried to sneak its way into the roster. Episodes of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken had gotten them in trouble before. Other demands to censor and limit several older shorts such as ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' had also caused disastisfaction. One specific character that Ted Turner himself wanted removed was WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales, but even then the programmers still didn't kick him off the air completely (at least not until Jim Samples came on board). When Turner merged with Warner Bros, the staff at Warner Bros Animation who had greatly feuded with Jamie Kellner at the WB Network on what was appropriate for kids, was a serious boost to this effort.\\

In WhatCouldHaveBeen history it was clear 2001 was the year Cartoon Network had intended to greatly push back to fight the BS&P for all they could get. One of the major pushes for this is what we now know as Creator/AdultSwim. Most of the first Adult Swim shows had already been greenlit the year before as Cartoon Network knew they could expand the audience that was already enjoying ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast''. Cartoon Network had also slowly tried airing anime with less edits than they did in the daytime segments during the late night. With ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' being the only one to actually just air in its uncut format in the later hours the year before. People at the network desperatly wanted ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' on the network but were concerned airing it on Toonami would still result in too much censoring, thus Bebop became the first anime on the Adult Swim lineup. Meanwhile ''Series/ToonHeads'' launched a longer form documentary on the War time cartoons in prime time. But while those experiments succeeded there were plans that didn't. They intended the June Bugs marathon to air one of the WesternAnimation/CensoredEleven (probably late at night) and was looking into gathering shorts to start a silent cartoon compilation show. But as mentioned above all this greatly changed when Jamie Kellner came along.\\

Since then it's fair to say only the Adult Swim blocks have greatly increased what they are allowed to air but because those standards pretty much had no affect on the network as a whole or animation in general. As was later openly admitted on the Adult Swim podcast, the decision to split the network into two for ratings purposes was primarily to get around certain laws that prohibit channels with so many kid views from selling ad space for certain products. As people working on Adult Swim always knew plenty of kids were still watching during the so-called adults only hours. Despite this online forums erupted into endless debates on what was or wasn't "adult". With some declaring there is no way shows like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' or ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'' can be considered worthy of adult watching. While others lambasting the decision to air ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' on Adult Swim as being nothing but kidvid. People wanting to push animation is for all subjects and all ages haven't really been welcome into the subject in many forums for a long time. [[note]]Let alone bringing up a discussion about what age that divide should even be.[[/note]]\\

Afterwards we will look at two other debates that often spring up in how one views the network. Live action elements and the line between adult and kids animation.

For these fans many place Cartoon Network's NetworkDecay heavily on the ExecutiveMeddling of Jamie Kellner when he was made head of Turner. The in-fighting between Kellner and CN president Cohen and WBA president [=MacCurdy =] lead to both leaving their positions. While Mike Lazzo tried to continue some of Cohen's vision but it was clear Cartoon Network was moving into a direction that put it's in-house content above showcasing as wide a variety of animation. Once Kellner was gone and Samples had Lazzo KickedUpstairs to only running Adult Swim, many found the old Cartoon Network was no longer the aim.\\

[[folder: The Live Action Debate]]
* Let's analyze something else about Cartoon Network that stirs up a lot of controversy to this day. Where does "live action" fit in to Cartoon Network? Some would say never. Others would say where do we draw the line.\\

In truth of course some live action content had been featured on the network since the very beginning. Multiple theatrical shorts featured live action gags. Shows like ''WesternAnimation/MisterT'' and ''WesternAnimation/ChuckNorrisKarateKommandos'' featured live action people give their thoughts before and after the episode. The newly created ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' had its whole gimmick built around live action interviews. Many commercials for the network featured cartoons interacting with live actors or live action settings. One should note all of these still featured animation but the live action content was still a part of it.\\

We must also address the puppet in the room here as well. Puppetry has long remained an intersection. Some consider it live action because the object is being filmed moving in real life and this not a cartoon. Others consider it animation because we are animating a non moving object into appearing like it is moving. The various types of puppetry, Traditional (string, hand, rod), Stop motion and suitmation have all also been represented on Cartoon Network either in shows, movies or ads all along the way. Shows such as ''Series/BananaSplits'', ''WesternAnimation/Gumby'' and even the attempt to make live action Puppet Pals segments from ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' serve as examples.\\

Then there's the question of CGI. As many live action movies today heavily rely on CGI made effects to create there films, is it accurate to consider them at least in part animation or not? Or for that matter is a CGI creation just a puppet in a computer?\\

While all the above will allow one to question where the line between animation and live action should be pressed one bit of history isn't as up for debate. Exactly when did Cartoon Network first air live action that had no relation to cartoons, puppetry or CGI? Some believe it was during CN Real but in truth it happened during the Samples era where a couple live action movies aired on the network for the first time. Another ironically forgotten stunt is the April Fools Day marathon in which the ''WesternAnimation/2StupidDogs'' hosted a marathon of the Danger Island segments from the Banana Splits. Even in the early 1990s, Cartoon Network was not afraid to play around with this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The Adult vs Kiddie Debate]]
* if there's another issue that divided the network it was always the issue of adult vs kids animation. Being a product of the 1990s and having an executive from Creator/{{MTV}} the early Cartoon Network was a very relativist in terms of animation exposure. But like most cable channels they had to contend with their own in house Bureau of Standards and Practices. What was remarkable was that many people at the network openly wanted to challenge these notions as they continued to expand their library. It didn't pass over their heads that there was ripe hypocrisy in how censorship tried to sneak its way into the roster. Episodes of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken had gotten them in trouble before. Other demands to censor and limit several older shorts such as ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' had also caused disastisfaction. One specific character that Ted Turner himself wanted removed was WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales, but even then the programmers still didn't kick him off the air completely (at least not until Jim Samples came on board). When Turner merged with Warner Bros, the staff at Warner Bros Animation who had greatly feuded with Jamie Kellner at the WB Network on what was appropriate for kids, was a serious boost to this effort. But as mentioned above, Kellner would greatly take the network away from this.\\

In WhatCouldHaveBeen history it was clear 2001 was the year Cartoon Network had intended to greatly push back to fight the BS&P for all they could get. One of the major pushes for this is what we now know as Creator/AdultSwim. Most of the first Adult Swim shows had already been greenlit the year before as Cartoon Network knew they could expand the audience that was already enjoying ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast''. Cartoon Network had also slowly tried airing anime with less edits than they did in the daytime segments during the late night. With ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' being the only one to actually just air in its uncut format in the later hours. ''Series/ToonHeads'' launched a longer from documentary on the War time cartoons in prime time. But while those experiments succeeded there were plans that didn't. They intended the June Bugs marathon to air one of the WesternAnimation/CensoredEleven (probably late at night) and was looking into gathering shorts to start a silent cartoon compilation show. But as mentioned above all this greatly changed when Jamie Kellner came along.\\

As covered above Kellner believed in strictly demographic terms. There were kids cartoons that if adults watched they didn't matter. There were adult cartoons that if kids watched they didn't matter. Before this Cartoon Network usually formatted its blocks to try and boost certain demographics in their total household numbers (Toonami was aimed at younger boys, Boomerang at older viewers, etc). However if you watched the advertising on any such blocks the network clearly still sold advertising to products for multiple demos. It was common to see board game commercials next to dish soap commercials. It was apparent though that the branding of Adult Swim was a major alteration to this by trying to tell off younger viewers. Even disclaimers on the Toonheads "wartime Cartoons" hadn't directly discouraged younger viewers only suggesting a warning of the content. Cohen clearly supported attempting to increase animation as a medium for any subject and any audience. Kellner on the other hand did not. And this was one of the major issues that helped Cohen leave the network.\\

Since then it's fair to say only the Adult Swim blocks have greatly increased what they are allowed to air but because those standards pretty much had no affect on the network as a whole or animation in general. As was later openly admitted on the Adult Swim podcast, the decision to split the network into two for ratings purposes was primarily to get around certain laws that prohibit channels with so many kid views from selling ad space for certain products. As people working on Adult Swim always knew plenty of kids were still watching during the so-called adults only hours. Despite this online forums erupted into endless debates on what was or wasn't "adult". With some declaring there is no way shows like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' or ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'' can be considered worthy of adult watching. While others lambasting the decision to air ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' on Adult Swim as being nothing but kidvid. People wanting to push animation is for all subjects and all ages haven't really been welcome into the subject in many forums for a long time. [[note]]Let alone bringing up a discussion about what age that divide should even be.[[/note]]\\

Regular Cartoon Network on the other hand was rather slow to really open itself up to what it could show.[[note]]You might be confused by this if you are wondering why Toonami's and Miguzi's more controversial shows aren't being cited here, but those were still programmed by the Adult Swim sub-management.[[/note]] On CN many of the usual stereotypes about what is or isn't appropriate for kids shows were kept in strict order. One stigma that they only recently really opened themselves up to under Miller's leadership is whether LGBT characters are even allowed to exist in them. Which is probably one of the best progressive examples but from a relativist perspective Cartoon Network is still less diverse than the Adult Swim part of the day. And as a whole Cartoon Network is still less diverse than it used to be in its early years as for every step forward, something else got kicked under the rug.\\

For these fans many place Cartoon Network's NetworkDecay heavily on the ExecutiveMeddling of Jamie Kellner when he was made head of Turner. The in-fighting between Kellner and CN president Cohen and WBA president [=MacCurdy =] lead to both leaving their positions. While Mike Lazzo tried to continue some of Cohen's vision but it was clear Cartoon Network was moving into a direction that put it's in-house content above showcasing as wide a variety of animation.\\

As recapped above, Samples era took the network into a different path than Cohen had but some criticized it for not being as successful as it could have been. Snyder's approach was a play much faster at trying to find the biggest success he could and make the most money off it. Snyder had a habit of launching many new shows aimed at specific demographics and if they didn't earn enough he would pull the rug out from under it. He did so at a far faster speed than Samples did which heavily damaged the brand loyalty to the Samples era fans but was seen as not much of a change to the Cohen era fans. One of Snyder's biggest sins to many though was the CN Real block that brought live action shows with no animation component into the regular schedule which they felt was a betrayal of the channels roots. (See below on a analysis of that).\\

We must also address the puppet in the room here as well. Puppetry has long remained an intersection. Some consider it live action because the object is being filmed moving in real life and this not a cartoon. Others consider it animation because we are animating a non moving object into appearing like it is moving. The various types of puppetry, Traditional (string, hand, rod), Stop motion and suitmation have all also been represented on Cartoon Network either in shows, movies or ads all along the way.\\

While all the above will allow one to question where the line between animation and live action should be pressed one bit of history isn't as up for debate. Exactly when did Cartoon Network first air live action that had no relation to cartoons, puppetry or CGI? Some believe it was during CN Real but in truth it happened during the Samples era where a couple live action movies aired on the network for the first time.

* if there's another issue that divided the network it was always the issue of adult vs kids animation. Being a product of the 1990s and having an executive from Creator/{{MTV}} the early Cartoon Network was a very relativist in terms of animation exposure. But like most cable channels they had to contend with their own in house Bureau of Standards and Practices. What was remarkable was that many people at the network openly wanted to challenge these notions as they continued to expand their library. It didn't pass over their heads that there was ripe hypocrisy in how censorship tried to sneak its way into the roster. At first when Ted Turner wanted less WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales on the air, the programmers still snuck him on during the late night hours. When Turner merged with Warner Bros, the staff at Warner Bros Animation who had greatly feuded with Jamie Kellner at the WB Network on what was appropriate for kids, added to the network's attitude. Many of the network's blocks were designed with to add appeal to certain demos but a look at the advertising on any of them revealed the network sold ad space for multiple demos all day long.\\

As covered above Kellner believed in strictly demographic terms. There were kids cartoons that if adults watched they didn't matter. There were adult cartoons that if kids watched they didn't matter. There was always a bit of uncertainty over some of the earlier formation of what we now call Adult Swim, but it was pretty clear Betty Cohen approved of the shows themselves but was against the strict branding of the block. Given the network was pretty much spending their efforts to greatly expand animation as a medium that covers many things, it's easy to see why this helped cause her to want to leave the network.\\

Since then it's been hard to argue much of anything has been accomplished from a relativist stand point. Adult Swim has greatly increased what it is allowed to air but because those standards pretty much had no affect on the network as a whole or animation in general. As was later openly admitted on the Adult Swim podcast, the decision to split the network into two for ratings purposes was primarily to get around certain laws that prohibit channels with so many kid views from selling ad space for certain products. As people working on Adult Swim always knew plenty of kids were still watching during the so-called adults only hours. Despite this online forums erupted into endless debates on what was or wasn't "adult". With some declaring there is no way shows like "WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' or ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'' can be considered worthy of adult watching. While others lambasting the decision to air ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' on Adult Swim as being nothing but kidvid. People wanting to push animation is for all subjects and all ages haven't really been welcome into the subject in many forums for a long time. [[note]]Let alone bringing up a discussion about what age that divide should even be.[[/note]]\\

Regular Cartoon Network on the other hand was rather slow to really open itself up to what it could show. Most of what can be considered really challenging were on sub entities like Adult Swim, Toonami or Miguzi. On CN many of the usual stereotypes about what is or isn't appropriate for kids shows were kept in strict order. One stigma that they only recently really opened themselves up to is whether LGBT characters are even allowed to exist in them. Which is probably one of the best progressive examples but from a relativist perspective Cartoon Network is still less diverse than the Adult Swim part of the day. And as a whole Cartoon Network is still less diverse than it used to be in its early years as for every step forward, something else got kicked under the rug.\\

But we would be remiss to mention that like the generations that came before many cartoons were introduced to people during this tenure as well. For as much flack as Stuart Snyder receives on the internet, shows he introduced to the world get plenty of praise.

Since then it's been hard to argue much of anything has been accomplished from a relativist stand point. Adult Swim has greatly increased what it is allowed to air but because those standards pretty much had no affect on the network as a whole or animation in general. As was later openly admitted on the Adult Swim podcast, the decision to split the network into two for ratings purposes was primarily to get around certain laws that prohibit channels with so many kid views from selling ad space for certain products. As people working on Adult Swim always knew plenty of kids were still watching during the so-called adults only hours. Despite this online forums erupted into endless debates on what was or wasn't "adult". With some declaring there is no way shows like "WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' or ''Anime/{{Inuyasha}}'' can be considered worthy of adult watching. While others lambasting the decision to air ''WesternAnimation/Popeye'' on Adult Swim as being nothing but kidvid. People wanting to push animation is for all subjects and all ages haven't really been welcome into the subject in many forums for a long time. [[note]]Let alone bringing up a discussion about what age that divide should even be.[[/note]]\\

Regular Cartoon Network on the other hand was rather slow to really open itself up to what it could show. With many of the usual stereotypes about what is or isn't appropriate for kids shows kept in strict order. One stigma that they only recently really opened themselves up to is whether LGBT characters are even allowed to exist in them. Which is probably one of the best progressive examples but from a relativist perspective Cartoon Network is still less diverse than the Adult Swim part of the day. And as a whole Cartoon Network is still less diverse than it used to be in its early years as for every step forward, something else got kicked under the rug.\\

* if there's another issue that divided the network it was always the issue of adult vs kids animation. Being a product of the 1990s and having an executive from Creator/MTV the early Cartoon Network was a very relativist in terms of animation exposure. But like most cable channels they had to contend with their own in house Bureau of Standards and Practices. What was remarkable was that many people at the network openly wanted to challenge these notions as they continued to expand their library. It didn't pass over their heads that there was ripe hypocrisy in how censorship tried to sneak its way into the roster. At first when Ted Turner wanted less WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales on the air, the programmers still snuck him on during the late night hours. When Turner merged with Warner Bros, the staff at Warner Bros Animation who had greatly feuded with Jamie Kellner at the WB Network on what was appropriate for kids, added to the network's attitude.\\

In WhatCouldHaveBeen history it was clear 2001 was the year Cartoon Network had intended to greatly push back to fight the BS&P for all they could get. One of the major pushes for this is what we now know as Creator/AdultSwim. Most of the first Adult Swim shows had already been greenlit the year before as Cartoon Network knew they could expand the audience that was already enjoying ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast''. Cartoon Network had also slowly tried airing anime with less edits than they did in the daytime segments during the late night. With ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' being the only one to actually just air in its uncut format in the later hours. ''WesternAnimation/ToonHeads'' launched a longer from documentary on the War time cartoons in prime time. But while those experiments succeeded there were plans that didn't. They intended the June Bugs marathon to air one of the WesternAnimation/CensoredEleven (probably late at night) and was looking into gathering shorts to start a silent cartoon compilation show. But as mentioned above all this greatly changed when Jamie Kellner came along.\\

Since then it's been hard to argue much of anything has been accomplished from a relativist stand point. Adult Swim has greatly increased what it is allowed to air but because those standards pretty much had no affect on the network as a whole or animation in general. Regular Cartoon Network also found itself rather slow to grow even from a progrssive standpoint with only more recently even able to grow past the stigma that LGBT characters can't be in "kids animation". But of course for progressive casues this means many things that the network used to air are probably now off limits, which from a relativist stand point means nothing has really improved.\\

There is is also an argument that the network's strict lense of action vs comedy, the dramatic side of animation is sadly very hard to actually get onto the network. Since most western and eastern shows that this applies too don't really fit either the "kids animation" or "adult animation" stereotypes that the network tends to take on.

[[folder: The Live Action debate]]
* Let's analyse something else about Cartoon Network that stirs up a lot of controversy to this day. Where does "live action" fit in to Cartoon Network? Some would say never. Others would say where do we draw the line.\\

[[/folder]]

Creator/CartoonNetwork as entity has long been held by many (from fans to cable channels to critics) as a gold standard in what they set out to do. But what was that? It is an understatement to say that how one views what made Cartoon Network a hit heavily colors how one perceives its NetworkDecay. Let's look at several different perspectives on this.

For some fans who were around in the Cohen era of 1992-2001. This was what made Cartoon Network the success it was. A network that provided them what may have been their first chance to see cartoons that were new to them and were new to their parents or grandparents. This process paved the way for imports such as {{anime}} which helped fuel the [[UsefulNotes/TheJapaneseInvasion anime boom]] at the turn of the century (thanks to Creator/{{Toonami}} and Creator/AdultSwim). The earliest forms of Adult Swim itself came from the late night corners of this era being allowed to experiment with stranger concepts welcomed into the lineup.. \\

For these fans many place Cartoon Network's NetworkDecay heavily on the ExecutiveMeddling of Jamie Kellner when he was made head of Turner. The in-fighting between Kellner and CN president Cohen and WBA president [=MacCurdy =] lead to both leaving their positions. While Mike Lazzo tried to continue some of Cohen's vision but it was clear Cartoon Network was moving into a direction that put it's in-house content above showcasing as wide a variety of animation.

At the time of Jaime Kellner's ascent to being head of Turner, the decision had been made to stop the merger of Hanna Barbera and Warner Bros Animation and have two animation houses under different corporate silos. Warner Bros. Animation was an animation studio with the WB, HB and MGM libraries under the Warner Bros. silo, and Cartoon Network Studios was an animation studio with the CN originals under the Turner silo. From then on with Jim Samples as president the channel took far more priority with building up their original content and having them dominate more of the schedule that used to be given to older back catalog shows.\\

For these fans they tend to view the earlier stage before the Cartoon Cartoons rise was when the channel was mostly just a rerun farm. Without the identity the original content and Powerhouse era branding would provide it with. These fans typically place the NetworkDecay on the ViralMarketing for the WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce movie lead to Jim Samples stepping down from being head of Cartoon Network, as they saw him as the person who helped the network grow out from being it's original status.

[[folder: Business Perspective]]
While the fans have their own opinions about what the network was to them, the business world itself also has a perspective to offer. And in a way it bolsters both perspectives. While many know the story that the Network struggled in it's early years to attract an audience, many are unaware the first time Cartoon Network scored a day as being the most watched channel on cable was back in 1994 during the June Bugs marathon. The network didn't really pick up full steam until 1995 and was considered an overwhelming success from 1995-2001. Cartoon Network became a regular player to be top of cable in total viewers by 2000. It would lose that reputation somewhere along the controversies of 2002. This is often used as validation of the first perspective because when the network prided itself as an "animation library" it managed to beat many live action channels for total viewers.\\

While one might see that as an open and shut case however it is fair to say that Cartoon Network did manage to exist without being in that top cable channel hunt. And that was what Kellner and Samples wanted at the time. Cartoon Network still managed to attract good ratings once abandoning the original intention of the network. It just is fair to remember most of which were success in certain demographics rather than total viewers. Cartoon Network would over its history manage to break it's own viewership records for individual programs but not enough to ever put them back on the level it was at 2000-2001.

From a strictly business worldview it's fair to say Cohen and Samples had very different ideas of how to measure your channel's success. From Cohen's perspective it's easy to see Sample's perspective as a poor follow up. From Sample's perspective it's easy to see Cohen's perspective as less focused. The only definitive mark that anyone in the business perspective would have to give is obviously Cohen's vision gave the Network it's more diverse viewership in total viewers. Whether that was the important metric for the network is still in the eye of the beholder.

For some fans who were around in the Cohen era of 1992-2001. This was what made Cartoon Network the success it was. A network that provided them what may have been their first chance to see cartoons that were new to them and were new to their parents or grandparents. This process paved the way for imports such as{{anime}} which helped fuel the [[UsefulNotes/TheJapaneseInvasion anime boom]] at the turn of the century (thanks to Creator/{{Toonami}} and Creator/AdultSwim). The earliest forms of Adult Swim itself came from the late night corners of this era. \\

For these fans many place Cartoon Network's NetworkDecay heavily on the ExecutiveMeddling of Jamie Kellner when he was made head of Turner. The in-fighting between Kellner and CN president Cohen and WBA president[=MacCurdy =] lead to both leaving their positions. While Mike Lazzo tried to continue some of Cohen's vision but it was clear Cartoon Network was moving into a direction that put it's in-house content above showcasing as wide a variety of animation.

At the time of Jaime Kellner's accent to being head of Turner, the decision had been made to stop the merger of Hanna Barbera and Warner Bros Animation and have two animation houses under different corporate silos. Warner Bros. Animation was an animation studio with the WB, HB and MGM libraries under the Warner Bros. silo, and Cartoon Network Studios was an animation studio with the CN originals under the Turner silo. From then on with Jim Samples as president the channel took far more priority with building up their original content and having them dominate more of the schedule that used to be given to older back catalog shows.\\

For these fans they tend to view the earlier stage before the WesternAnimation/CartoonCartoons rise was when the channel was mostly just a rerun farm. Without the identity the original content and Powerhouse era branding would provide it with. These fans typically place the NetworkDecay on the ViralMarketing for the WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce movie lead to Jim Samples stepping down from being head of Cartoon Network, as they saw him as the person who helped the network grow out from being just a rerun channel.

For these fans many place Cartoon Network's NetworkDecay heavily on the ExecutiveMeddling of Jamie Kellner when he was made head of Turner. The in-fighting between Kellner and CN president Cohen and WBA president McCurdy lead to both leaving their positions. While Mike Lazzo tried to continue some of Cohen's vision but it was clear Cartoon Network was moving into a direction that put it's in-house content above showcasing as wide a variety of animation.

The second perspective argues that the in-house content was the real driving force for the channel's success. During the earlier days where they were still trying to sell the network to cable companies Cohen and the then-president of Creator/HannaBarbera Fred Seibert crafted the concept that became the WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow. As a way to supplement the back catalog with a series of new shorts that could SpinOff into a new series. The program proved to be a success and both the shorts and spinoff series were all a part of the animated library concept. The fans of this perspective argue these rose to being what made the channel the success.\\

For these fans they tend to view the earlier stage before the WesternAnimation/CartoonCartoons rise was when the channel was mostly just a rerun farm. Without the indentity the original content and Powerhouse era branding would provide it with. These fans typically place the NetworkDecay on the ViralMarketing for the WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce movie lead to Jim Samples stepping down from being head of Cartoon Network, as they saw him as the person who helped the network grow out from being just a rerun channel.