Miguzi was a programming block from Cartoon Network that ran during the weekday after-school slot from 2004 to 2007. Created by the network’s Williams Street division, the folks that are responsible for Toonami and [adult swim], it was created to be a lighter-toned successor to the former as Toonami itself was moved to Saturday nights.
Like Toonami, Miguzi had an animated hostess named Erin, a young girl with black hair and a yellow jumpsuit. At the start of the block, she was transported underwater and into a sunken alien spaceship by an enormous red fish. There, she chills out and watches the shows along with a group of mutant sea creatures and robots, none of whom speaks but all of whom have rudimentary personalities.
Despite the block's short lifespan, Erin was one of many cameos seen in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes "Crossover Nexus" special.
Featured Shows
- Ben 10
- Code Lyoko
- Codename: Kids Next Door
- Krypto The Super Dog
- The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
- Megas XLR
- ¡Mucha Lucha!
- Naruto
- One Piece (4Kids dub)
- Pokémon: The Series
- Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire (Advanced Challenge through Battle Frontier)
- Pokémon Chronicles
- Rave Master
- Static Shock
- Team Galaxy
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
- Teen Titans
- Totally Spies!
- Transformers: Energon
- Winx Club (4Kids dub)
- Xiaolin Showdown
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
- Zatch Bell!
Tropes
- All-CGI Cartoon: Like Toonami, the block's wraparound content was also animated in CGI.
- Animesque: In addition to anime, the block aired many anime-influenced shows.
- Ascended Fanboy: The kid who created Yoke, having won the Make a Monsterpiece mail-in contest.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Erin who, in the final days of the program, mysteriously disappeared without a trace. The opening which featured her coming to the ship to play with her friends was changed to just the aliens spelling out the word "Miguzi". According to the Toonami Tumblr, this was due to budget cuts.
- Credits Pushback: Unlike its predecessor, Miguzi made full use of this. These were usually used to promote Miguzi programs and Toonami programs, though Cartoon Network's programs would sometimes be promoted here.
- Edutainment Show: On a few rare occasions, an old diver would join the gang and give short lessons on various marine life, complete with live-action footage.
- Lighter and Softer: But just as rich in
periphery demographics as the rest of the network. - Official Fan-Submitted Content: Yoke was designed by a young fan as apart of the “Make a Monsterpiece” contest held from November 2004 to January 2005 where the best fan created monster would be turned into an official Miguzi character. That fan, Kyler Spears, would grow up to become a storyboard artist on Clarence and We Bare Bears.
- Screwed by the Network: A year and a half before Toonami had the same fate. Unfortunately, unlike Toonami, there hasn't been any revival.
- Under the Sea: The block's segments take place underwater.
- What Could Have Been:
- Erin was supposed to gradually age up over the course of the block.
- The block was originally going to have live-action bumps starring Selma Blair interacting with Surge.
- Erin was supposed to gradually age up over the course of the block.
