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Creator / Teletoon

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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/teletoonlogosthroughtheages.png
It's Unreal! / Imagine!note 

Teletoon was a Canadian animation network, debuting in 1997 alongside The Comedy Network and Space Channel, when cable channel options opened up in the country during the late Nineties. Originally owned as a joint venture between Family Channel (then a joint venture between Astral Media and WIC), the two big Canadian animation studios Cinar and Nelvana, and Shaw, as of 2013, it is wholly owned by Corus Entertainment, who also own YTV and Treehouse TV among other kids networks.

Teletoon was a bilingual service, with two separate networks serving the English- and French-speaking populations of Canada. A spin-off channel, Teletoon Retronote , was launched in 2007 to provide nostalgic viewers with older cartoons. Though that channel closed in September 2015, Teletoon would continue to air classic cartoons in graveyard slots. Its late night block, Teletoon at Night, featured adult animated series, including Canadian-produced shows such as Undergrads and Clone High. The majority of Canadian shows aired in the block were Short Runners and because of this, and Canadian content laws, they are often shown endlessly in repetition. While the English channel's block ended in April 2019, its French counterpart, Télétoon la nuit, continues to run on the French channel to this day.

Part of Teletoon's license dictates they have to use a portion of their revenue to help create Canadian content. Teletoon has commissioned and funded many series from adaptations of Redwall, Silverwing and For Better or for Worse, to more general shows aimed at international audiences. While the English and French channels started out with exactly the same programming, their schedules started to differ overtime. The French network would go on to produce and receive dubs of shows otherwise shown on other networks like The Simpsons (which did use to air on English Teletoon in the channel’s early years) and South Park (until 2018; Much now handles that show in Anglophone Canada).

American viewers will recognize Teletoon as Canada's answer to Cartoon Network, with Teletoon at Night formerly being the go-to network for [adult swim] shows. Just as Teletoon has aired almost every Cartoon Network show in existence, with a few exceptions, Cartoon Network has also aired a handful of Teletoon shows.

Aside from this, the one thing anyone living in the United States will probably notice when looking at the list of Teletoon shows would be the almost complete absence of any anime. YTV was the primary source for anime series in its early years, while Teletoon would occasionally air anime movies and OVAs. Both versions have shown Pokémon: The Seriesnote , Cardcaptors, Bakugan, and Spider Riders at some point, with the French network also having shown Digimon, Bakuten Shoot Beyblade and Naruto.

On July 4, 2012, Teletoon launched a Canadian version of Cartoon Network, complete with a localized Adult Swim block. In the years since the channel's launch, Teletoon had relied more on original programming and other acquired shows. By September of 2015, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim's original shows would air exclusively on the Canadian version. note  Teletoon would resume airing Cartoon Network's shows by January of 2017, while Adult Swim shows would return to Teletoon at Night by the Fall of 2017. Ultimately, Corus would announce the launch of a 24-hour Adult Swim channel (the first of its kind), subsequently discontinuing both the Canadian Adult Swim block and Teletoon at Night on March 4th and April 1st, 2019, respectively.

On March 27, 2023, Teletoon was rebranded as a new incarnation of Cartoon Network, thus no longer being treated as a secondary channel and ending the Teletoon brand's presence on linear television in English-speaking Canada after over 25 years. As for the existing Canadian Cartoon Network channel, it became a Canadian version of CN's own sister brand Boomerang. The Teletoon brand name continues to be used for the French channel, as well as the Teletoon+ streaming service (which houses content from the Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Animation, and Nelvana libraries).

Teletoon was somewhat notorious for airing live-action movies, and the network has produced a few live-action shows of its own. Canadian broadcast regulations have prevented this from leading to total Network Decay, at least for the most part.

Teletoon Canada should not be confused with Télétoon+, a cable TV network in France owned by Vivendi's Canal+ group.

The following series were originally produced for Teletoon:

    open/close all folders 

    Series produced for Teletoon from 1997- 2006 

1997 (inaugural series)

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

    Series produced for Teletoon from 2007- 2023 

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

  • Mudpit (produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment)
  • Knuckleheads (produced by Salambo Productions for Teletoon at Night/Télétoon la nuit, premiered on Adult Swim Canada in English)
  • Fugget About It (produced by 9 Story Media Group for Teletoon at Night/Télétoon la nuit)
  • Matt Hatter Chronicles (produced by Platinum Films)
  • Splatalot! (Season 2) (produced by Marblemedia; shown on YTV in English)

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

  • D.N. Ace (produced by Nelvana)
  • The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi (produced by Salambo Productions for Télétoon la nuit; shown on Adult Swim Canada in English in 2021)

2020

  • Doomsday Brothers (produced by Portfolio Entertainment and N12 Productions for Télétoon la nuit; shown on Adult Swim Canada in English )
  • Le Télétoon Show (produced by 21g.media for Télétoon la nuit)

Associated tropes

  • Adored by the Network: The Simpsons is practically Télétoon's flagship show since it airs at least three times a day (usually at 6pm, 9pm and 11pm). Since Fall 2011, they wouldn't even change its timeslot during a marathon of another show, special event or whenever a genre-oriented programming block was on. However, since Fall 2020, they dialed down a bit by moving the 11pm airing to another time. Leaving space for any other shows and movies to run in its place.
    • While this was likely due to CanCon requirements note  some of Teletoon's older original programming, such as Johnny Test or Totally Spies!, frequently aired in reruns years after they initially ended. Johnny Test and Totally Spies are two of the network's longest-running series, while other shows, like Jimmy Two-Shoes and Detentionaire, only lasted at least 52 episodes. note 
    • As a result of the CRTC's new broadcast rules taking effect in Fall 2017, Teletoon began airing more imported programming during the day. Much to the chagrin of its critics, Teletoon took advantage of this to air 3 hours of Teen Titans Go! daily, when the most airtime that other shows have gotten was an hour or two. Unlike what happened with Cartoon Network in the U.S, the show didn't completely take over the schedule, but for Teletoon as a whole, Canadian programming was downplayed significantly. Thankfully, this trend has somewhat been reversed since January 2018, when Teletoon added more reruns of their current original shows.
  • Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: Ever since Corus Entertainment gained full control of Teletoon, the network has really dropped the ball when it comes to properly promoting its programs. For example; the second season of Power Rangers Dino Charge was incorrectly called Super Dino Charge, instead of Dino Supercharge; the final season of Ultimate Spider-Man was promoted as a new series, and then there's this promo for Counterfeit Cat which refers to Gark as a she.
    • Later on, Teletoon and the original Canadian incarnation of Cartoon Network promoted the Ben 10 reboot as the fifth season of the original series, while the former channel advertised the second season of Power Rangers Ninja Steel as a new series on their website. note 
      • In the case of the Ben 10 reboot, Télétoon not only followed its English counterpart's promotion but used images from the original series to promote it.
  • Creator's Oddball: Any of the live-action series they funded, such as My Babysitter's a Vampire, Majority Rules!, and Mudpit.
  • International Coproduction: Teletoon has produced series in association with broadcasters and production companies from many other countries, with U.S., U.K., France, and Australia being the most common.
  • Only So Many Canadian Actors: Many of their original productions use the same pool of voice actors from either Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal. The few that don't, such as Chaotic or their British co-productions, pull their own version of the trope with their respective voice pools in New York and England.
  • Production Posse: Many of their shows were originally created by Nelvana and Cinar (and later Cookie Jar Entertainment), which isn't that unusual when one considers that both studios had a major hand in the establishment of the network. They're also pretty tight with Fresh TV, with all of that studio's animated shows being among Teletoon's best-known original series.
  • Screwed by the Network: After Corus gained full ownership of Teletoon, incidents involving original and acquired programming have become very frequent.
    • An entire network was screwed over in Fall 2015, when Teletoon Retro (despite having a very large subscriber base with its French counterpart) was shut down to make room for the newly launched Disney Channel and its siblings, as well as to increase distribution for Cartoon Network and [adult swim]. However, as a result, Teletoon briefly returned to airing classic cartoons and introduced modern versions of classics (like Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, and ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks). Plus, Teletoon at Night was pushed back to a shorter run-time on Mondays-Thursdays, allowing Teletoon to air more action cartoons, some of which have previously been screwed over. Though they ended up screwing over Teen Titans Go!, Teletoon would start airing the original Teen Titans animated series (which had originally aired on YTV in its heyday) in reruns.
      • Corus Entertainment would begin airing all of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim's shows exclusively on their Canadian counterparts. However, for some reason, reruns for Cartoon Cartoons and other contemporary shows from CN were removed from Cartoon Network Canada's schedule for a whole yearnote . Instead, Corus used the channel to burn off recent Teletoon programming (to fulfill CanCon requirements). Even worse, for months after the switch, the channel never aired one single episode of Adventure Time nor Regular Show.
      • Another downside to the switch was that, while Cartoon Network now has wider carriage, it was still a higher-tier network on some providers. This means that if CN wasn't in their current package, subscribers would have to pay extra. Plus, whereas [adult swim] launched their own SVOD app in Canada to allow Canadians to legally watch their original programming, including shows that weren't being aired on the Canadian version nor Teletoon at Night, Cartoon Network programming couldn't be streamed anywhere at the time. Perhaps realizing this, Corus would slowly phase Cartoon Network programming back to Teletoon over the next year.
    • Since 2013, shows produced by Cartoon Network Studios on Télétoon have caught plenty of flack, especially Regular Show (Announced premieres for new episodes have been pulled twice). The only new CN Studios-produced shows to air on the channel since then are the Ben 10 reboot and the HBO Max originals The Fungies! and Adventure Time: Distant Lands.
    • Pirate Express was only on the air for a single week in April 2015, in which Teletoon dumped the entire series in episode blocks aired in the middle of the day, and they haven't aired it again since.
      • The same thing happened to the second season of Oh No! It's An Alien Invasion, after its Channel Hop from YTV, and several episodes of Endangered Species; dumping multiple episodes of both shows in the afternoon. While Teletoon kept Endangered Species on the schedule, neither the dumped episodes nor Oh No! have aired again since.
      • Freaktown suffered the same fate. After airing the show on Mondays during the Summer of 2016, Teletoon suddenly aired multiple episodes of the show on the last Saturday of August before going on hiatus. The rest of the season was dumped onto Saturday afternoons in October 2016, appropriately enough, with the last episodes being aired on a lone Sunday afternoon.
    • Any Marvel show from Disney XD that aired on Teletoon may qualify. Those looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy enjoyed being able to watch new episodes on Disney XD Canada day-and-date with the American channel. Meanwhile, season four of Ultimate Spider-Man debuted on Teletoon seven months after its U.S premiere, while season three of Avengers Assemble premiered in November. While this is common for international broadcasts, what really makes this jarring is the fact that Corus Entertainment owns both channels.
      • Especially after Ultimate Spider-Man came to an end, and season four of Avengers premiered, it seems new Marvel programming now only airs on Disney XD Canada, while Teletoon focuses more on DC Comics-related fare.
    • Teletoon's broadcast of Young Justice was Cut Short after the first half of season one. The rest of the series did air on Cartoon Network Canada but, at the time, the network was only available on certain providers. Ironically, when Cartoon Network gained its wider coverage in Fall 2015, reruns of this show and older original programming were removed. At the very least, the complete series was available for streaming on Netflix in Canada. The show would get vindicated when Outsiders begin airing on Teletoon in 2019, and was made available to stream on StackTV via Amazon Prime Video Channels.
    • Knuckleheads originally had an eight-episode sneak peak on Télétoon la nuit. When the series officially premiered in Fall 2012, it was moved to the daytime schedule. It has since moved back to the nighttime block, or rather, the block itself moved to the time the series was airing.
    • Their run of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin in 1999 was broadcast at 10:00AM, when the target demographic was in school.
  • While all the other Cartoon Network shows were treated well on the channel, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? was only aired on the channel for a month....and aired on weekend mornings at 7AM, where almost no kid would be awake to see it.
  • Short Run in Peru: Thanks to their poor treatment by Nickelodeon in the United States, Power Rangers and Yu-Gi-Oh! became this, with new episodes premiering in Canada (and other countries) first.
    • In the case of the former, the first season of Power Rangers Beast Morphers finished its run in the Summer of 2019, long before Nick even put out a promo for their mid-season return in the fall.
    • Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V would premiere on Teletoon on July 24, 2015. Nicktoons, which aired reruns of previous installments, wouldn't premiere the series until seven months later, and they even resorted to skipping the second season just to catch up.

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