Implementation:Overall, Disney cartoons were more sentimental, with a whimsical tone and picturesque animation meant to appeal to the viewers' inner child. Looney Tunes was a lot more raw, fast-paced, and Fourth WallBreaking in its animation and humor, meaning to appeal to the common man.
Capsule Pitch Description: A wise mouse outwits a dimwitted cat.
Implementation:Tom and Jerry won seven Oscars and was nominated for eight others. Herman and Katnip was essentially a more brutal version of T&J, while Little Roquefort was Tom & Jerry lite.
Capsule Pitch Description: Two cartoons centered on racing.
Implementation:Tom Slick, a segment of George of the Jungle, was not dissimilar to Wacky Races in that it featured auto races in bizarre cars and featured a villain who tries to cheat his way to victory (Baron Otto Matic, Dick Dastardly).
Capsule Pitch Description: Both series depicted a team of youths solving mysteries.
Implementation:The Hardy Boys, from Filmation, was based on a series of books by Franklin Dixon; here they double as a bubblegum pop group. It aired on ABC at the same time period that Hanna-Barbera's Scooby Doo occupied on CBS. Scooby Doo borrowed from numerous inspirations, from old radio mysteries to the Archie series (which debuted the prior season). An unused concept for Scooby had the kids as a rock group.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both series, with sharks as lead characters, were created as responses to the box-office success of Jaws.
Implementation: Jabberjaw is in a rock 'n' roll band with four human teenagers. Misterjaw, created for the 90-minute Pink Panther show, would rather scare humans than befriend them.
Capsule Pitch Description: Short stories told by a narrator who also voices the characters based on old British children's books that teach morals to preschoolers.
Implementation: Both series are produced by Britt Allcroft, but it's also important to know that the Mumfie books predated The Railway Series by ten years. They also appeared together on Fox Family and Nick Jr. UK at one point.
Capsule Pitch Description: Short stories about a fleet of anthropomorphic train engines and their daily working lives on the railway targeted at young children. The stories often contain An Aesop for the target audience to learn. Expect to hear lots of train-themed puns.
Implementation:Thomas & Friends was initially filmed using real railway models in live-action and the episodes were presented as if someone was reading them from a storybook; a storyteller would narrate the stories and do all the character voices. Later seasons use CGI models and gave each character their own voice actor (though the storyteller was still present). Chuggington used CGI models from the start and doesn't have a narrator; the episodes rely purely on dialogue. The characters in Chuggington are animated in a much more lively manner, showing lots of body language even if it defies the laws of physics, safety and engineering. The body language for the engines in Thomas & Friends is largely restricted to facial expressions, though starting Season 22, the engines can move their frames to a small extent.
Capsule Pitch Description: Western-produced shows with Transforming Mecha.
Implementation:Challenge Of The Go Bots seems to be the obvious pale knockoff... so it comes as a surprise to many that the GoBots toys actually predatedTransformers by two years. Nonetheless, the cartoon Transformers beat the Go Bots to TV by a month. Hasbro would eventually come to also own the Go Bots trademarks through their acquisition of Tonka Toys, which they then completely removed all traces of existence of the franchise to ensure that The Transformers stay in the spotlight.
Implementation:Saber Rider was the first of these shows; its original Japanese version, Sei Juushi Bismarck,note "Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs" is a heavily Macekred version of the show. aired in 1984. In America, Galaxy Rangers came first in 1986, with the other two shows following in 1987. Galaxy Rangers was slightly Darker and Edgier than its competitors and seems to have the biggest fan following today, although none of the series did very well in America.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated series about dinosaurs having adventures and a Green Aesop or two.
Implementation: Denver had a one-year head start, aired in syndication and was set in modern-day while Dink came a year later (inspired partly by The Land Before Time, released in between the two shows), was aired by CBS and took place in the Stone Age.
Capsule Pitch Description: Comedic multiple-segmentSaturday-Morning Cartoon about a wisecracking fat cat who lives with an annoying owner, has lots of misadventures, and dislikes dogs with a passion.
Implementation: Both cartoons have the same art design for some characters, and they even have a second segment that has very different characters,note Garfield had U.S. Acres, while Eek! had The Terrible Thunderlizards, but Eek! The Cat seems a bit Darker and Edgier than Garfield and Friends.
Capsule Pitch Description: A regular teenager who loves video games leads a team of video game characters against the forces of evil.
Implementation:Captain N featured characters from numerous NES games, and had the main character, Kevin Keene, transported into a realm of video games. The Power Team was a segment of a show called Video Power, featured characters from games published by Acclaim, and had the video game characters coming out of the games into the real world, while the character Johnny Arcade watched everything on his console, giving advice to the Power Team.
The Simpsons (1989) / ¡Qué bello es sobrevivir! (2001)
Capsule Pitch Description: Adult animated series about an ordinary American/Spanish family, featuring a bald, overweight father (Homer Simpson/Óscar Balor), a mother with an impossibly long hairdo (Marge/Silvia) and a smart little girl (Lisa/Inés)
Implementation: Telecinco hyped ¡Qué bello es sobrevivir! as Spain's response to The Simpsons, which aired on rival station Antena 3.
Capsule Pitch Description: Saving the environment through use of superpowers.
Implementation: In Captain Planet, the spirit of the Earth summons five teenagers from around the world and gives them magic rings to stop "Eco-villains" from destroying the environment. Widget is about a shape-shifting alien who comes to Earth and befriends three human children.
Capsule Pitch Description: Cartoons taking place at a high school involving teenagers from a new generation based on classic characters from the Golden Age of Hollywood (movie monsters/theatrical cartoon characters).
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated Detective/Noir shows set in an underwater city of fish that involves crime-fighting.
Implementation:Sharky & George is a Canadian-French co-production, while Fish Police was a co-production between the American-based DIC Entertainment and Hanna Barbera Productions, and was based on the eponymous comic book series.
Implementation: Back in the 1990s, Ren & Stimpy revitalized the concept of deranged and dangerous animation that could be for both adults and kids, leading to many imitations of its style. Rocko's Modern Life was one such imitator that was dismissed as a rip-off with no redeeming value. Also, Ren & Stimpy focused more on creepy and gross humor, while Rocko focused more on wacky and zany humor.
Implementation:TaleSpin was aimed at a slightly younger audience, and took place in a Diesel PunkWorld of Funny Animals. SWAT Kats was aimed at older children, and took place in the futuristic Mega Kat City, which was inhabited by a cat-like species known as "Kats". The Sea Duck in TaleSpin was a customized cargo plane, while the TurboKat from SWAT Kats was a jet fighter.
Capsule Pitch Description: Comic Books adaptations that brought darker, more complex storylines to children's animation.
Implementation: In 1992, Comic Book rivals, DC and Marvel, in about of a month of each other, released a show based on one of their most popular licenses onto Fox Kids. Both became not only popular, but are noted as being the start of bringing darker and more complex stories to comic book programming, and children's programming in general.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated adaptations of the enormously popular Sega videogame series.
Implementation: The former has more of an epic, dramatic "clash of good and evil" feel than the games with a little humor sprinkled in and a large emphasis on its expanded cast of Canon Foreigner characters. The latter focuses on the two main heroes Sonic and Tails and aims for more zany, Looney Tunes-style humor with an occasional bit of high-stakes action. Since neither is necessarily more faithful to the contemporary source material than the other, which is "better" generally comes down to whether the viewer prefers a more dramatic or comedic tone.
Capsule Pitch Description: Collections of cartoon shorts in half-hour kid shows.
Implementation:Tex Avery is alleged to be an homage to old Tex Avery cartoons while Animaniacs is original itself, but has a lot of the classic Looney Tunes-style humor remade for the 1990s.
Implementation:Bonkers is more of a Buddy Cop Show for kids, with the humor revolving around Bonkers' interactions with his human partner(s). Animaniacs is more of a broad satire of pop culture in general.
Capsule Pitch Description: Ancient monsters awaken in the modern day.
Implementation:Gargoyles was a major departure from much of what was happening in western animation, with arcing story lines, an expansive mythology, and emphasis on character development. Mummies Alive! tried to mimic many of these elements, but was less than successful in doing so.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated retellings of famous stories using an All-Star Cast.
Implementation:Happily Ever After retold classic fairly tales and folk stories but with changes to make them reimaginings of the original tale set in different countries, like Little Red Riding Hood taking place in China or a re-telling of The Happy Prince set in a New York City park. Adventures From The Book Of Virtues, however, used the stories as a Framing Device that Talking Animal characters tell two kids named Zack and Annie.
Capsule Pitch Description: Nickelodeon animated sketch comedies that presented about four shorts an episode.
Implementation:KaBlam! normally had the same shorts per episode, with a few one-shots in there to mix things up. Oh Yeah! featured different shorts every episode.
Capsule Pitch Description:Science Fiction cartoons in which a Child Prodigy uses his Improbably High I.Q. to invent all sorts of things to improve his life (with a tendency to backfire), travel through space, and battle evil.
Implementation: The lead of Dexter's Lab was characterized as a EuropeanMad Scientist stuck in the role of a boy in a suburban Nuclear Family, the show being something of a Fish out of Water comedy of errors. Jimmy Neutron, however, was about a typical boy with a super-genius intellect who had a circle of friends and approached problems like a preteen boy would, acting as more of an adventurous Escapist Character. One thing both leads had in common is that for all their intelligence, they didn't have much in the way of common sense.
Capsule Pitch Description: A group of fourth grade kids and their usual and unusual adventures with their friends
Implementation:Hey Arnold! didn't have school as its main focus (while a bunch of episodes focused on school, it wasn't the main point of the show), while Recess focuses more on the kids at school.
Capsule Pitch Description:Slice of Life Animated series based on a series of children's books about a young bald-headed boy and his family and friends experiencing daily situations and also teaching aesops.
Implementation: While Caillou focused on the white Canadian experience and was accompanied by live-action puppet segments, Little Bill focused on the Black American experience and had the distinction of its main character being a fictionalized child version of Bill Cosby.
Capsule Pitch Description: Shows that satirizes certain current topics around plots of a community of idiots, while the children turn out to usually be the only ones with common sense.
Implementation: Both shows are cable cartoons that are much more obscene and satirical than The Simpsons, and often go after taboo and rarely mocked social issues. While South Park goes after everything and anything that may be bothering Trey Parker and Matt Stone this week, The Boondocks tends to stick with issues about African-American culture and modern-day racial issues between white people and black people.
Capsule Pitch Description: Shows that feature a clandestine organization dedicated to protecting the planet from aliens, and keeping the existence of those aliens a secret from the general public.
Implementation: While Men in Black did have a recurring primary antagonist and there was a story arc in the final season, most episodes were a standalone affair. Roswell however featured a very strong central myth arc, as well as several other story arcs that all concluded in the final set of episodes.
Implementation: The big difference, though, was that the Powerpuff Girls were superpowered sisters born as the result of a lab accident. Teamo, on the other hand, were a trio of no blood relation who instead used supertools.
Capsule Pitch Description: An animated series based off a movie in which scientists save the world from monsters.
Implementation:Godzilla had to balance the exploits of the human team with Godzilla's epic battles with other monsters. Of the two shows, Alienators seems to have been geared towards a younger audience.
Capsule Pitch Description: Late 90's Adult Animated series about the bizarre city life.
Implementation: Both shows were released in 1999, they were well animated following artistic styles of Alternative comics. They were so unique and strange, too strange for their own good. They both had strange characters and stranger settings. They had many sexual jokes and nerdy pop culture jokes.
Capsule Pitch Description: An eternally cheerful super-optimist in a nautical-themed world of anthropomorphic sea creatures/fruit annoys his fussbudget neighbor while having wacky adventures with his dim-witted best friend.
Implementation:Fred premiered on Kids' WB! at the height of SpongeBob's popularity, and the main characters of both shows act and sound extremely similar. The main difference was that Fred was a talking coconut who lived on an island with other talking fruit.
Capsule Pitch Description: Cartoon about underwater creatures living human lives.
Implementation:SpongeBob is set in an ocean and stars a sponge working in a fast-food restaurant, while Fish Hooks is set in a pet store/TV repair shop and stars a group of fish going to high school. Fish Hooks is also much more realistic in plot, fish locomotion, food, and scale, while SpongeBob is more cartoony.
Capsule Pitch Description: Two 2D animated shows on the early 2000's Kids WB block, both of which have inspirations from the Indiana Jones series, both of which concern some ancient culture, both of which have globe-bouncing MacGuffin story arcs, and both have allusions to cinema.
Implementation:The Mummy is a bit Lighter and Softer than the two films before it (as well as the original 1932 Mummy, which was a horror film classic). Sony/Columbia/Tristar distributed JCA while Universal, who is the copyright holders of The Mummy Trilogy, are behind the animated version.
Capsule Pitch Description: Girl-oriented preschooler shows about a cheerful girl who goes on adventures with assistance from cartoon characters.
Implementation: Both shows were cash cow franchises in the little girl market, with Dora's success propelling her into the mainstream. Sofia benefits from being an extension of the Disney Princess franchise, with several of the princesses making occasional guest appearances. It's worth noting the Dora was somewhat tomboyish, but slowly underwent a Girliness Upgrade as it went on. Sofia, however, was girly from the get-go.
Capsule Pitch Description: Massive crossover series that parodies the characters in them.
Implementation: While House of Mouse uses different voice actors to voice various Disney characters, Harvey Birdman has Maurice LaMarche voice half of the entire Hanna-Barbera guest cast.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated comedies featuring historical figures acting in very different ways to their Real Life counterparts. Both also feature a Robot Buddy who has Ho Yay with a human character.
Implementation:Time Squad features a trio of characters (a robot and A time cop from the future, plus a Kid Hero from the present day) travelling through time and interacting with the actual historical figures in different time periods, whereas Clone High is about teenage clones of historical figures in the the Present Day. Time Squad is also aimed at kids (despite some What Do You Mean, It's for Kids? moments) while Clone High is an Animated Sitcom aimed at teens and adults.
Implementation: While Totally Spies did have a recurring villain here and there Kim Possible had a much stronger Rogues Gallery in that they would appear more frequently. Said rogues gallery also got much more screen time than any of the villains in Totally Spies!
Capsule Pitch Description: A shy little brunette boy and his outgoing, scrappy blue Imaginary Friend have adventures with other made-up beings.
Implementation: The titular ChalkZone took place in Another Dimension and was more adventure / fantasy based, while Foster's Home was in the real world, was more focused around comedy, and didn't have ChalkZone's adventure elements.
Capsule Pitch Description:Villain of the Week science-fiction action-comedies about an adorable Astro Boy-esque protagonist who have human best friends that aires on rival networks Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network respectively.
Implementation:Teenage Robot premiered as a short on Oh Yeah! Cartoons in 1999 and green-lighted as a full series from 2002 and was cancelled in 2005 (ceasing production in 2006), the same year Robotboy premiered. Teenage Robot's protagonist is built as a teenage Action Girl who sees her creator as her mother and deals with typical teenage drama, while Robotboy's protagonist was more child-like and he deals with him saving the day from his current owner and his friends.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated Science Fantasyactioncomedies about a White Male Lead schoolyard reject who gains the ability to transform into a super powered form from a Freak Lab Accident / Imported Alien Phlebotinum that was connected to one of their family members, decides to fight crime and creatures like what he can become in secret, is the main combatant in a Power Trio (two guys and one girl), have a know-it all red-headed relative, uses a catchphrase that was "Going [Blank]", and is from a family that hunts/hunted the creature he can become.
Implementation:Danny Phantom was around well before Ben 10, and can be said to have started the craze of secret teen/child heroes that would come in the following years. While there are a number of differences, Ben 10 gave Danny Phantom its greatest competition of all of the shows. The rivalry between the show's parent channels only upped the rivalry.
Capsule Pitch Description: Plot-driven animated series inspired by Asian culture, about a group of pre-teens and teenagers who fight evil by using elemental powers.
Implementation:Xiaolin is a kid-centric series about the heroes collecting powerful artifacts and trying to keep them out of the villains' grasp. Avatar is a more mature series about a child who has the power of all four elements, which he must use to defeat an evil army. Xiaolin's four protagonists have power over one of the four elements. Xiaolin is set in modern times, while Avatars setting is a fantasy world with heavy inspiration from eastern cultures. Xiaolin is more action focused, while Avatar is more plot and character driven. But while Xiaolin aired first, Avatar had been conceived in 2001.
Capsule Pitch Description:Animesquesentai shows originating from Italy about a group of Magical Girls who travel between Earth and a magical realm.
Implementation: Somewhat similar shows that both originated in Italy, except W.I.T.C.H. has a bigger budget and scripts with less filler. Many of the similarities were introduced through the adaptations. The Winx Club animated series came out before the W.I.T.C.H. animated series, though the comics that the W.I.T.C.H. series is based on pre-date Winx Club.
Capsule Pitch Description:Slice of Life animated preschool shows focusing on a young female Funny Animal character who lives with her parents and Annoying Younger Sibling, and also have a circle of friends.
Implementation:Peppa Pig is produced in the United Kingdom, while Bluey is produced in Australia.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated Urban Fantasy shows in which a young American kid of Chinese descent inherits the mystical mantle of a wise Old Master grandparent and gains supernatural powers, and along with an Annoying Younger Sibling and a magical talking pug dog, is tasked with protecting and mediating the Masquerade between the human and magic worlds.
Implementation: Apart from all of the main characters (except for the talking dog) being Gender Flipped, there are moderate differences in how the supernatural elements function.
Implementation: In both, the worlds are either torn apart by war or broken and the hero deals with the gravity of it. Skyland is a Canadian/French/Luxembourgish co-production known for its gorgeous scenery while Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American ''anime'' from Nickelodeon which became known for challenging what it meant to be an anime and a cartoon.
Capsule Pitch Description: Science Fiction cartoons in which young boy protagonists use all sorts of gadgets to improve their life or just to have simple fun and have obnoxious older sisters who dream over a pretty boy, and they also have an anthropomorphic pet. Additionally, both have a formulaic plot structure.
Implementation:Phineas and Ferb actually has two plots (one with Phineas and Ferb, and one with their pet, Perry), while Johnny Test just focused on 1 plot (being just about Johnny and Dukey). Both were also Cartoon Network and Disney's respective darling shows until 2014.
Capsule Pitch Description: Mashup of sketches and parodies of games, films, animations and everything else in media.
Implementation:Robot Chicken is fully in stop motion while MAD, based on the cult magazine of the same name combines traditional animation, stop motion and CG. Both air on the same channel.
Capsule Pitch Description:Grossout Shows from Commonwealth countries based on children's books.
Implementation:Grossology is a 2D-animated action/adventure-focused Edutainment show based on a 90s non-fiction book series written by science author Sylvia Branzei and was produced by Nelvana in Canada; the show itself is about a brother-sister duo who works as secret agents thwarting villains that weaponize gross stuff (insects, farts, bad hygiene, zits, etc.) for their schemes. Fleabag Monkeyface is a comedy-driven All-CGI Cartoon based on a 2000s series of Follow the Leader kids novels to Captain Underpants written by author duo Knife & Packer and was produced by Sparky Animation in Britain; the show itself is about two male best friends who create a superhero with gross powers (farts, burps, earwax, pee, etc.) and film their adventures together while also being antagonized by a Mad Scientist.
Capsule Pitch Description: Preschool Edutainment Shows focusing on a group of characters traveling the world on a flying object. Music also plays a major part in both series.
Implementation: The Wonder Pets, as the name implies, are classroom pets, while Little Einsteins has 4 human protagonists.
Capsule Pitch Description: Silver Age-esque kiddy-shows with a focus on lighthearted fun.
Implementation:Brave and the Bold is still quite close to the comics in characterization, except much more far-out in its storylines, whereas Super Hero Squad Show is extremely OTT and wacky in everything that happens. Also, BTBATB focuses almost exclusively on A Day in the Limelight, prioritizing characters like Clock King and Green Arrow over The Joker and Robin.
Capsule Pitch Description: Canadian shows often compared to Spongebob Squarepants about a group of wacky-looking animals having misadventures in a tropical setting.
Implementation:Spliced features a cast of Mix-and-Match Critters created by a Mad Scientist living on an isolated island in the South Pacific, while Almost Naked Animals is about shaved non-hybrid animals wearing nothing but underwear who run a tropical beach resort.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated series about a group of six friends with an unique theme (monsters and skateboarding).
Implementation: Obviously, Monster High is a girl-targeted monster show designed to be somewhat educational while Wild Grinders is a boy-targeted skateboard show designed to be silly and somewhat stupid.
Capsule Pitch Description: Insanely popular shows that focus largely on humor and (mostly) episodic character building. Both have a large Periphery Demographic despite a cutesy, lighthearted exterior, and both take place in a Fantasy setting that is still filled with modern elements.
Implementation:Friendship is Magic mostly consists of Slice of Life episodes (which later episodes dumped to focus on more adventure type episodes) while Adventure Time is known for being a little on the weird side.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010) / Filly Funtasia (2019note While Friendship Is Magic ended in late 2019, and Filly Funtasia started earlier that year, these two were still both produced near the same time, and the latter was announced back in 2012.)
Implementation:Filly Funtasia is based on the Filly toy brand made in 2006, and was stuck in Development Hell for yearsnote Announced once in 2012 and again in 2013 for an early 2014 release before it finally premiered in 2019 on an Italian channel, Frisbee. Friendship Is Magic is the fourth incarnation in the My Little Pony franchise that premiered on The Hub (now Discovery Family). Filly Funtasia takes place in a Wizarding School setting, while the majority of FIM does not.
Implementation: Halfway through the show, it's revealed that the shady, money-grubbing father figure is secretly involved in the greater mystery, and the show climaxes with a battle against the Ancient EvilEldritch Abomination who's responsible for the town's spooky phenomena.
Capsule Pitch Description: Action cartoons about superhero teams from the Marvel Universe and DC Universe respectively, fighting against various villains of their respective universes and dealing with team-base drama.
Implementation:The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes focuses more on the primary hero team of its universe, where as Young Justice focused on a younger team operating under and with their universes premiere team. Both also underwent a storytelling change in their second seasons, which Earth's Mightiest Heroes focusing on standalone episodes halfway through its second season due to interference on the production end while Young Justice had a darker focus in its second season.
Implementation:Crash Canyon featured the Wendells, who have become trapped in a community at the bottom of a canyon. Fugget About It is about a mobster who is forced to go into Witness Protection with his family after betraying his associates.
Capsule Pitch Description:HighScience Fantasyin aWorld of Funny Animals with the most important kingdom being that of the lions. The adolescent prince of the lions,note who just so happens to be a Primary-Color Champion with a red mane and blue armor, thought of as an immature fool, must rise to the occasion and prove himself then the world's animal tribes fall into disarray. Early on, The Hero's main adversaries were Lizard Folk, though he believed (and was right) that they could and should be allies.
Capsule Pitch Description: Action cartoons about teenage superheroes from the DC Universe and Marvel Universe respectively, training under the world's greatest superheroes while dealing with everyday teenage problems.
Implementation:Young Justice is the more serious and serialized of the two, especially in its second season. Ultimate Spider-Man is more jokey, frequently featuring cutaway gags and slapstick comedy. It is also known for working An Aesop into most episodes. Young Justice airs on Cartoon Network, while Ultimate Spider-Man airs on Disney XD.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both are action agree with a blend of science fiction and fantasy that involve a team of heroes traveling across the universe. Lisa Schaffer is the voice director for both shows, and thus both use many of the same actors.
Implementation: The former cartoon is based on the Green Lantern mythos of DC Comics while the latter is based on a Marvel comic inspired by the MCU.
Capsule Pitch Description: A group of kids find that the place they're staying over the summer has strange, paranormal events happening near them.
Implementation: Both shows air on Disney networks in America, but Camp Lakebottom is not an official Disney production, and it's produced in Canada instead of America.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated TV shows revolving around an eccentric con-man, his two grand kids, two other adults and a house pet and their misadventures of weird oddities including brainwashing, uplifted animals, false memories, dimensional travel, missing relatives, little people, time cops and friends and foes who are more than they seem...
Implementation: Each show's respective creators are close friends and frequently collaborate with each other on both shows, even to the point of having minor inter-continuity between them.
Capsule Pitch Description:Continuity Reboots of classic television shows that star imaginative, toddler-aged protagonists.
Implementation:Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is a spin-off of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood's "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" segments, starring the toddler-aged children of the puppets who lived in that place and teaches kids how to solve their emotional and social problems like the original series. Muppet Babies is a remake of the Saturday-Morning Cartoon series of the same name from 1984 and focuses on toddlers who go on adventures using their imagination.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated shorts about the children of famous fairy tale and fantasy characters going to High School. The protagonist of both is the daughter of an evil sorceress who decides to follow a different path than her mother.
Implementation:Ever After High is a spin-off of the Monster High franchise which follows a similar premise with famous movie monsters. Descendants: Wicked World is the continuation of the Descendants film, which follows a similar premise to Ever After High, but with the Disney versions of these fairy tale characters.
Capsule Pitch Description: A young girl with a magical necklace that can summon human beings uses its' powers to help her through everyday situations.
Implementation: While Sofia the First is about a princess who meets other princesses on occasion, Shimmer and Shine has an ordinary girl who owns the necklace and genies living inside.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both are comedy shorts shows based on iconic characters that attempt to bring them back to their roots while still retaining a modern edge.
Implementation: The former series is based on characters from the Classic Disney Shorts while the latter is based on classic Looney Tunes characters.
Capsule Pitch Description: Talking dogs use special skills to help the people in their hometown.
Implementation: While both shows are of the Talking Animal type, PAW Patrol is a superhero show, while Puppy Dog Pals puts the dogs in a detective/spy role. Also, while the humans in PAW Patrol know about what the dogs do, Puppy Dog Pals centers around what happens when the dogs' owners leave them behind.
Capsule Pitch Description: Flash-animated Canadian Grossout Shows about two Funny Animal brothers who wreak havoc as they try to be heroes despite their stupidity and incompetence.
Implementation:Rocket Monkeys is set in outer space, with the title brothers (a pair of monkeys) being astronauts carrying out missions for a space exploration institute. Numb Chucks stars a pair of woodchucks living in a small town who are obsessed with becoming martial artists after watching a kung fu training video.
Capsule Pitch Description:Spinoffs of the flagship shows of preschool channels aimed at an older audience than their predecessor that place the characters in a new setting.
Implementation: Both shows were also released to the public in some form before they aired on TV. Dora and Friends: Into The City! began as a line of dolls called Dora's Explorer Girls, which got a spin-off special in 2011 before it became a show. Two episodes of Mickey and the Roadster Racers were shown in theaters a few months before the series aired on TV.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both are DreamWorks series on Netflix that focus on an Ensemble Dark Horse and both act as prequels to their respective movie franchises.
Implementation:All Hail King Julien focuses on King Julien from the Madagascar franchise, and takes place before the first movie. The Adventures Of Puss In Boots focuses on Puss In Boots and takes place before his movie.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both are Disney shows about plucky, blond haired princesses that are known for being rather dark at times.
Implementation: Star is a storyboard driven show with 11 minute runtime, while Tangled is script driven and has 22 minute episodes. In addition, Star is an original show while Tangled is based on a movie.
Capsule Pitch Description: French CGI animation about teen (or younger) superheroes who battle to protect their cities and secret identities
Implementation:Miraculous Ladybug (or Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir) is a French-Japanese-Korean production dubbed and airing on Nickelodeon in the US; PJ Masks is entirely commissioned by Disney Junior as per all their shows. While both have superficial similarities (including both having male cat-themed superheroes - very early promotional work for the Miraculous Ladybug dub listed her partner in crime-fighting as CatBoy ala PJ Masks) PJ Masks is clearly aiming for a younger audience with Disney Junior, while Miraculous used to air on Nickelodeon's main network and NickToons towards older tweens and young teens before eventually moving to Netflix.
Capsule Pitch Description: Shows about crime-fighting Parisian girls with similar names and appearances with shared colors who are accompanied by a cat-based partner. The best friend of the lead has reddish hair and does media and/or journalism work.
Implementation:Miraculous Ladybug is a CGI Magical Girl / Superhero show that was announced circa 2010. Mirette Investigates is a 2D mystery/comedy/action show featuring global travel rather than only taking place in The City Of Light, with its roots traced to a series of picture books that began in early 2008. However, the Miraculous character was created in 2005. The partner in Miraculous is one that wears a cat-themed outfit, while in Mirette it's an actual cat. Both shows are French co-productions that have aired on TF1's TFOU in France.
Capsule Pitch Description: CGI animated preschool series that focus on a group of people exploring space.
Implementation:Ready Jet Go focuses on a group of friends exploring space, while Miles focuses on a family exploring space. Miles and his family are humans, while Jet and his family are aliens.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated series that aired on Disney XD about characters from a fantasy dimension living in our world and befriending an ordinary kid who helps them fight monsters.
Implementation:Star vs. the Forces of Evil stars a Magical Girl princess as the protagonist while Fangbone!'s protagonist is a kid Barbarian Hero. Additionally, the latter is the Animated Adaptation of the 2012 children's graphic novel series Fangbone! Third Grade Barbarian, with its pilot being shown on the Canadian Disney XD in 2014 (a year before Star vs. debuted).
Capsule Pitch Description:Jim Henson-related productions created in The New '10s that focus on a group of babies.
Implementation:Word Party tends to focus on educational lessons, with vocabulary being a key focus of the show. Muppet Babies, on the other hand, doesn't focus on any educational themes and is a Slice of Life show.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both are shows based on horror themed children's books. Kristi Reed is the voice director for both shows, and both shows have Dee Bradley Baker and Kari Wahlgren
Implementation:Bunnicula aims for older kids and went from Cartoon Network and Boomerang to just Boomerang. Vampirina is a preschool show that airs on Disney Junior. Plus, Vampirina is based on a 2010s children's book while Bunnicula is based on both a 1979 book and a 1983 tv special.
Implementation:Milo Murphy shows us that you should be always optimistic when you're cursed, while Cloudy shows us you should always be crabby when you're cursed.
Capsule Pitch Description: Shows that focus on two headstrong princesses that go on adventures
Implementation: Despite different mediums (Elena is CGI, while Tangled the Series ironically enough is 2D), Elena focuses more on a princess (or "Crowned Princess" in this case) learning to run a kingdom whereas Tangled is more about Rapunzel re-adjusting back into life of her kingdom after having been locked away from society for so long.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both are 2017 serialized shows about a tight knit group of close friends/family who live in a regal establishment. Sam Riegel is the primary voice director for both series.
Implementation:Welcome To The Wayne is an original show based on a web series while Ducktales is based on both the 1987 series and the comics.
Capsule Pitch Description:Christmas specials based on girl-oriented Cash-Cow Franchise movies in which several of the main characters set off to find a holiday tradition after finding out that they don't have one.
Implementation: Despite both specials originally being intended for TV, Olaf's Frozen Adventure was changed into a double feature with Pixar's Coco in theaters sixth months prior to its' slated TV airing.
Capsule Pitch Description: Girl-oriented preschool cartoons where a young girl helps her friends at her job and has a secondary focus on the main character and her friends being part of a band.
Implementation: In Sunny Day, the titular character works at a hair salon, while the titular character in Vampirina runs a bed and breakfast.
Capsule Pitch Description: A Canadian Fairly OddParents-inspired show where the main character is an orange-haired teen that has the power to alter reality, although not always to his wishes.
Implementation: In Wishfart, the main character is a leprechaun who can grant wishes FOP-style when someone near him wishes for something, while in Chuck's Choice, the main character is a human who is given choices by his alien friend as The Decider.
Capsule Pitch Description:Continuity Reboots of popular animated shows from 2016 and 2017.
Implementation:Voltron: Legendary Defender and DuckTales 2017 are reboots of popular Eighties cartoons Voltron and DuckTales (1987), while the 2016 versions of Ben 10 and The Powerpuff Girls are reboots of the popular Cartoon Network shows of the same name.
Capsule Pitch Description: Marvel cartoons with a heavy focus on science and teamwork, and both involve a school for gifted kids
Implementation: Marvel's Spiderman is another cartoon based on Marvel's most profitable character, while Big Hero 6: The Series is based on Big Hero 6, which is loosely based on the comic of the same name.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both insanely cute but wacky Merchandise-Driven shows about unicorn-cat hybrids having adventures with their friends, one of which is a blue dog.
Implementation:Unikitty! is based on the title character from The LEGO Movie, and airs on Cartoon Network, while Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty is a new property from Saban Brands (later acquired by Funrise Toys), and aired on Nickelodeon/Nicktoons.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both are 2018 shows about younger versions of iconic characters hanging out in a daycare. Both shows use the 11 minute format compared to their predecessors.
Implementation:Muppet Babies is based on the 1984 cartoon of the same name involving baby versions of Muppet characters, and airs on Disney Junior. Total DramaRama is based on the Total Drama franchise, and airs on Cartoon Network.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both of them are slice of life shows with a focus on kid empowerment.
Implementation:Craig Of The Creek is an original show designed for Cartoon Network while Harvey Street Kids is a DreamWorks Animation series designed for Netflix based on the titular comic strips of the 1940s.
Capsule Pitch Description: Both shows focus on some kind of bird group trying to help others in some way.
Implementation:Top Wing is a Nick Jr. show about a group of birds who go around performing rescue missions. TOTS is a Disney Junior show about a penguin and flamingo team at the titular organization, a normally all-stork group that delivers baby animals to loving animals.
Capsule Pitch Description: A young girl and her non-human best friend help cute animal-esque characters in their neighborhood.
Implementation: Esme and Roy is flash-animated and Abby Hatcher is an All-CGI Cartoon. Interestingly, both shows are also Canadian(or Canadian-American in the case of Esme and Roy).
Capsule Pitch Description: Western Humongous Mecha-themed animated series that deliberately imitate the aesthetics and tropes of anime.
Implementation:Gen:LOCK is an original Rooster Teeth series about teenagers piloting giant robots in a war between two major factions for control of the world. Pacific Rim: The Black is based on the films of the same name, and like them features humanity using giant robots called Jaegers to battle monsters called Kaiju.
Capsule Pitch Description: French animated series about an egotistical celebrity who is transformed into an Animate Inanimate Object and ends up forming a partnership with a kid fan.
Implementation: In Coach Me If You Can, the celebrity is a famous soccer player, and he is transformed into a soccer ball. In Atomic Puppet, he is instead a superhero turned into a sock puppet. Additionally, in the latter series, our transformed character is able to reacquire his powers when the kid places him on his hand, transforming them both into a superhero. It's also worth noting that whereas Coach Me If You Can is a wholly French series (made by Xilam), Atomic Puppet is an International Coproduction between France's Alphanim and Canada's Mercury Filmworks.note We can also throw a third cartoon into the mix with the Chinese animated series Kung Fu Wa, from Tencent and UYoung Media, which instead has a kung fu master turned into a talking sock. Like Atomic Puppet, his kid partner can put him on to gain superpowers, although unlike the other two shows, the kid is a girl instead of a boy.
Capsule Pitch Description: Irreverent adult-oriented animated adaptations of centered on popular or cult-favorite comic book villains, both debuting on streaming services and featuring name talent in the lead roles. Neither are straight-up parodies, but both are heavily comedic and play fast and loose with the source material. Both are among the first explicitly adult-oriented animated series produced by theirrespective source companies.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated preschool shows focusing on a young dark-haired girl, whom, with the assistance of her grandfather, becomes a superhero.
Implementation:The Rocketeer airs on Disney Junior and is based on the Comic Book and 1991 film of the same name, while Starbeam is an original idea and streams on Netflix.
Capsule Pitch Description: Preschool cartoons about young superheroes attending school. Power Pedro is similar to Sara Snap because they're both small yet strong. Blockbuster is similar to Benny Bubbles because they're both the chubby, emotional ones. Sticky looks similar to AJ Gadgets. They also both have pet hamsters - Fur Blur for Hero Elementary and Hammy for Superhero Kindergarten.
Implementation:Hero Elementary is very loosely based on a 2009 book called Super Hero School. Stan Lee conceived Superhero Kindergarten before he died and it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Capsule Pitch Description: Original adult-oriented animated series that were developed by creators of already-successful adult-oriented animated series (and featuring distinctively similar art styles to said shows) for the Fox Broadcasting Company, only to see both of them be shelved, then picked up by streaming services and premiere in May 2020. Both shows are among the first adult-oriented original animated series to be distributed by their respective streaming service.
Implementation:Solar Opposites was created by Justin Roiland; the show was picked up by Hulu and heavily marketed as "from the co-creator of Rick and Morty". Meanwhile, Central Park was co-created by Loren Bouchard, picked up by Apple TV+ and marketed as "from the creator of Bob's Burgers". In both cases, the new shows bear a very close visual resemblance to the associated older series, strengthening their connection.
Implementation:Barbapapa: One Big Happy Family! is based on the 1970's French book series, and the animated series that was released in the same year, while The Casagrandes is based on The Loud House, an original 2016 animated series. The Casagrandes is a Nickelodeon-produced show, while BOBHF was just acquired and aired by them. The Casagrandes is about a girl moving in with the other side of her family, while all of the Barbapapas come from one family.
Capsule Pitch Description: 2D animated series focusing on characters running a delivery service.
Implementation:Pikwik Pack airs in Disney Junior and is aimed at preschoolers, while Middlemost Post airs on Nickelodeon and is aimed at older children. Middlemost Post is an in-house show, while Pikwik is a Canadian acquired show.
Capsule Pitch Description: Reboots of popular 90's animated cartoons.
Implementation: While Ducktales is a Disney animated series and follows an action-adventure story arc, Animaniacs is a satire sitcom about Yakko, Wakko, and Dot going on fun adventures and it also adds a story arc about the Warners getting used to their new time. While Ducktales airs once a week, Animaniacs streams on Hulu by airing all of the episodes.
Capsule Pitch Description: CG Animated preschool series focusing on a young girl running an eatery with her friends.
Implementation: The former is an original idea, while the latter is based on the 1951 animated film Alice in Wonderland (1951), which in turn was based on the story of the same name by Lewis Carroll.
Capsule Pitch Description:Horror Comedy about three kids who take up apprenticeship under an elderly Hunter of Monsters. Both shows also feature an unusual Team Pet and have captured monsters sealed away in the hunter's basement.
Implementation:The Strange Chores was created by Australia's Ludo Studio, with the three kids being two male friends and a ghost girl; the Team Pet is said ghost's pet monster and captured monsters are miniaturized in People Jars with specialized firearms. Monster Loving Maniacs, produced by Denmark's Ja Film, features three siblings (two girls and a boy), with the monster hunter being their grandfather; the Team Pet is a talking cat, while monsters are trapped in suspended animation with a special slime. Additionally, in Monster Loving Maniacs, the kids choose to train as monster experts and help monsters coexist with humans (to their grandfather's chagrin), with the show also featuring some story-driven elements; in contrast, The Strange Chores is entirely episodic and the kids go along with their mentor's methods.
Capsule Pitch Description: Two 2D animated tv series aimed at older audiences based on mythologies.
Implementation:Onyx Equinox is based on the mythologies of Mesoamerica, generally rarely shown in fiction, and follows a storytelling formart and visuals akin to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Blood of Zeus is based on a somewhat artistic licenced take on Greek Mythology and resembles Castlevania in terms of aesthetics.
Capsule Pitch Description: Revivals of cartoons from the 90's that had a lot of impact.
Implementation: While Animaniacs features the Animaniacs, Beavis and Butthead features Beavis and Butthead. Animaniacs streams on Hulu, while Beavis and Butthead will stream on Paramount+. The Animaniacs also do not make fun of popular music videos of the time. Finally, there are three Animaniacs while there are only two of Beavis and Butthead..
Capsule Pitch Description: Preschool shows revolving around the life of a girl in the city.
Implementation: While Little Ellen is based on the childhood of Ellen DeGeneres, Alma's Way is an original idea created by Sonia Manzano, well-known for playing Maria on Sesame Street.
Capsule Pitch Description: Animated science fiction stories focusing on African American protagonists.
Implementation:My Dad is a serialized, 3D, space-faring story based around an original premise, while Moon Girl is a more episodic, Earth-based superhero story based upon Marvel characters.
