Cartoon Network is gearing up for its upcoming contemporary animation, celebrating iconic series and original content.
If 2021 was a very good year for animation with Arcane or Les Mitchell vs. the Machines, then 2022 has started off rather mixed. There have been some great shows and great movies, but the industry is in the process of being shaken up to ensure a sustainable future and get more attention from the entertainment industry. Netflix also recently canceled several anime series yet to launch, including an anime adaptation of Jeff Smith’s graphic novel Bone, which raises questions about the current state of western animation. Cartoon Network wants to be a key player in the coming years.
Cartoon Network prepares for the future
In a recent interview with Vulture’s John Maher, Cartoon Network president Sam Register talked about his plans to make the Powerpuff Girls network, or Dexter’s Laboratory, a place where creators can thrive. And since he is also an animation director at Warner Bros. Animation studios were able to get the creators to sign “inter-studio agreements.”Simply put, if you have your own original series on Cartoon Network, you can work on a WB animated film project or vice versa. “Do you like Looney Tunes? You could. Do you have your own idea? We have a studio for that too. Having multiple studios allows us to come up with different strategies for interacting with talent.”
Modern animation dedicated to the cult series
And in a sense, we are already seeing this strategy in action: hits like Craig of the Creek and Bears for One and One for The Bears have or will soon have their own animated film, and The Amazing World of Gumball, which will soon There will be a movie and TV series for Cartoon Network and HBO Max. While the network had no problem with iconic licenses like Teen Titans Go! and Jellystone, the original series that has sold the most in the last ten years. Sam Register admits that he sincerely respects good WB animation, but feels that he has a responsibility to “the creators of the future.”
So, among the upcoming Cartoon Network animation projects we find Driftwood, the adventures of a mouse traveling in space, Victor Cortright, as well as the Invincible Fighting Girl series by Juston Gaudron-Montgomery, which tells the story of a young woman who decides to become a wrestler where everyone is an accountant. And we’re not talking about Genndy Tartakovsky’s Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, which is coming soon.
Driftwood and Invicible Fight Girl are just small pieces of Sam Register’s larger project, which includes reboots of the iconic cartoon series The Powerpuff Girls and Courage the Cowardly Dog. The president of CN hopes it will be about “celebrating animation with the greatest perspective possible,” as well as forging new partnerships and rewarding talent, whatever it may be, as is the case with Black Women Animate. Cartoon Network’s new slogan is “Everything is original,”and if everything goes according to Sam Register’s plans, it should be a success for viewers and creators alike.