Cartoon Network Nostalgia Thread

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Been watching some Courage on Netflix. Man, I really love this kind of stuff. I wish there were more cartoons that went all out with zany-freaky imagery. It wasn't enough to be scary, but the images still stay in your head.

Also, the computer is my favorite character on the show.

[Avaitor]

They actually traded in older seasons for newer ones?

That's... hmm. I don't think that's a step forward or backward, actually. That seems square in the middle.

[Avaitor]

Some more newer seasons were added onto Netflix, without bringing back the ones they lost the contract for. That includes

Ed, Edd n' Eddy Seasons 3 and 4 (Great! That's when the show started getting REALLY good. I do wish that they added in the last season as well. Might as well, right?)
Samurai Jack Season 2 (I recall this being up to par with the first, if not a little better, so also good)
The Powerpuff Girls Season 4 (This is when the show started being painted digitally, around the time the movie came out, and for some reason most of the episodes were double length. There were some good ones here, but when they went back to the 2-short format, the show started to lose itself...)
Dexter's Laboratory Seasons 3 and 4 (The post-revival years. Yikes, idk about you, but I'd rather have the first 2 back)

Edit: I also found the second seasons of Johnny Bravo, Cow & Chicken, and Chowder. You know, the year when Chowder started going south rapidly. But JB and C&C are welcome.

[Avaitor]

Also, here's the first CCF lineup.

I remember this! I wanted one of those Double D caps and the EEnE chair

[Commode]

I watched the whole clip, but I have one little nitpick for accuracy's sake(although I'm not sure this was implemented on the very first CCF or started later so there is some benefit of the doubt); at the beginning of each show the wrong Cartoon Cartoon logo is used.  During Cartoon Cartoon Fridays each show would have the logo play and the character pop out and say "Cartoon Cartoons", but it was longer and it used a black background to go along the main CCF theme.  The Cartoon Cartoon logos in this video were the ones used for normal airings throughout the week that took place outside of CCF.

[Avaitor]

Well the person used the copies of the episodes that he could. I'm not even sure if these were the right episodes, aside from the new EEnE.

[Avaitor]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread, since there's some new stuff in here as well, but holy crap check this out. The piece of Bill, Joe, and the newer guys has been making the rounds online recently, but the rest is new to me, and looks great!

[Avaitor]

So this happened, and we didn't know.

[LumRanmaYasha]

So this happened, and we didn't know.

Uh, speak for yourself. I watched that the day it aired. 1.5 years ago. 

[Avaitor]

This isn't really nostalgic, but I couldn't think of another place to post this. But I heard a while ago that Thailand was getting a CN theme park, and I guess it's a water park. It's worth posting here, since there's a few older series represented.

[Avaitor]

Here's one that I don't remember. it's a cute one, though. They made similar ones for the Cartoon Cartoons a couple of years later, but this is a rare one for an older character.

[Avaitor]

I posted this nostalgia dump elsewhere, being in a massive CN mood and all. I hope you don't mind if I share it here as well.

-Catching Toonami back when Moltar was the host. At the end of the day, TOM will always be the face of the block, but I remember enjoying the earlier days of Toonami, with Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Thundercats, and Voltron, before the era started to integrate and change things with Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. I honestly don't think these shows hold up much anymore, but it was a fun block to catch after coming home from school.
-It definitely became even better after TOM and Sara took over, though. The Intruder was a classic arc that helped to keep my memories of Toonami beyond it just being another block, while I loved the original Dragon Ball, Outlaw Star, and repeats of Batman: The Animated Series.
-Then there was when [adult swim] started its original Saturday night anime block. I was anticipating staying up to see "uncut" episodes of Outlaw Star and Tenchi along with some Gundam series that likely weren't coming to Toonami proper anytime soon, but my mother would only let me stay up for the first our. That's how I became exposed to Yu Yu Hakusho and InuYasha, which both became series that I loved. While I grew out of the latter by the time the original series ended, I absolutely loved the first arc of YYH, to the point that when Toonami picked the show up, I gladly watched it all over again. Little did I know that it would only get better from there, and it still stands among my very favorite anime.
-I was excited for Giant Robot Week, until it actually came and I lost interest fast. I distinctly remember watching a little bit of this one series they were showing, Neon Genesis Evangelion, which just wasn't doing anything for me. Years later, I gave it another chance, and the show became another favorite anime of mine. I also later became a fan of Martian Successor Nadesico and Macross, the first and most remembered arc from Robotech, which somehow eluded me during both Giant Robot Week and its earlier run on the block.
-Hamtaro is another series that I remember watching, although its airing was and still is controversial. In hindsight, the show didn't belong on Toonami at all (neither did The Powerpuff Girls for that matter, and some thoughts on that series is coming), but I still thought it was a cute show.
-It wasn't actually Toonami, but I remember the original Saturday night action block that aired. I would often try to sneak in to catch repeats of Batman: TAS at 2 am, but the big deal at the time was that Samurai Jack and Justice League started their runs on there. I liked Jack, but I remember being disappointed with Justice League's first few episodes, to the point that I dropped it around 3 or 4 hour-long episodes in. It wasn't until later that I saw bits and pieces of the show that I realized that it was rising up in quality after I dropped ship, to the point that I started collecting it on DVD. Those first few episodes are still pretty rough, and there are even weaker episodes later on in the first season, but it has enough good ones for me to completely justify my purchase. Now I really like the show.
-Later on, they did actually move the block to Saturday nights, and I wasn't crazy about it. A lot of the series they were running were long-running shonen, which fit better on a weekly basis for American audiences. If they had more 13 or 26 episode series like Toonami used to air, the move would have been better, but I was never that hot on it.
-Toonami's end days were becoming increasingly pitiful, in fact. In its last few weeks, it only consisted of- an hour of Naruto fillers, a series whose canon episodes already did little for me; rebroadcasts of the previous night's Ben 10: Alien Force premieres, which I wasn't interested in catching them as they aired; and repeats of Samurai Jack, which admittedly was a welcome return, but since I owned the first season, I saw little point in watching its airings.
-Although they did get into the second season near the block's end, which I still haven't bought (I only own the first and fourth season). I definitely came over to watch the last airing of Jack that Toonami had, in 2008. I just needed to see how the block ended, and it appropriately closed with a bang.
But who could forget the surprise return of Toonami on Saturday, April 1st 2012? I didn't find out it was happening until a few minutes into the Dragon Ball Z repeat (fair enough, since I don't care for Bleach anyway, which still had its premiere episode alongside TOM), but I stayed up until about 10 minutes into Blue Submarine No 6. I still haven't seen that in full, honestly.  But they really did pull out the works for that night- an episode from the third Ryo-Ohki Tenchi Muyo! story arc, the original episode of Big O (a big deal, since [as] only owns the second season, partly funding it and all), an HD remaster of Yu Yu Hakusho, there was much to enjoy that night. I'm not a huge fan of the block as is right now, but I'll always keep that one night in my mind no matter what happens.
-Wow, a lot of Toonami memories as a starter. But when did I start watching Cartoon Network in general, and what was my first show on there? I can't tell you exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was some time in 1996, maybe 97 at the latest, and I have strong memories of Huckleberry Hound cartoons early on. So check those estimations out.
-I was already fairly well versed into the worlds of Fred Flintstone, George Jetson, that great dane, and above all else, the world-famous rabbit and duck. I instantly became thankful that this channel was a place to keep all of them, and many more characters that I would fall for, together. My favorite cartoons will always be the original Looney Tunes and Tex Avery's work for MGM, but my personal favorite Hanna-Barbera series is never not going to be the original Jonny Quest. I'll never tire of any of those.
-Dexter's Laboratory was already a bit into its run when I started watching, and I don't recall anything about the premiere of Johnny Bravo or Cow & Chicken. I definitely remember being there for the first episode of The Powerpuff Girls, though. As soon as the initial airing of "Monkey See, Doggie Do"/"Mommy Fearest", I said to myself that this was going to become the next big thing. Lo and behold, I was right. Instantly, I felt a bond between the girls, and wanted to see more of their adventures. Clearly, I wasn't the only one.
-And while I wasn't the only other Ed, Edd n' Eddy fan either, I didn't think it was possible that I could find someone who could like the show as much as I did, and still do. Even just seeing the original teaser that was shown around mid-1998, I just knew that that this was going to become my show. More than fifteen years after the show's premiere, and I still find new things to love about the show almost every day. And the series wasn't nearly as good then as it was about to become!
-The debut of Cartoon Cartoon Fridays was a big deal, since back then, the CN originals all had their premieres on separate nights. I remember Monday night was for the Eds, and Thursday for Powerpuff, but I sadly forget where Johnny and Cow & Chicken's were. Dexter had already finished its initial 52 episode run by that point, though. This block brought these 5 shows, plus I Am Weasel's introduction as a separate series, together on one awesome night.
-The original CCF block during the summer of 1999, was a little different from the most remembered one, from later in 99 to around 02 or 03. This had live-action hosts, similar to the later Fridays and Fried Dynamite blocks, but it was set up more like a telethon than a variety show, ala those. The other big deal of the earliest CCF broadcasts were that they gave out prizes all summer. I remember the very first one had Ed, Edd n' Eddy pool chairs, along with a bigger supply of Double D caps that they were giving out, but sadly I never got either one. Other prizes from that summer included an I Am Weasel chess set and a Supercow kite.
-Just before they started integrating the characters into the block as hosts, they showed these bumpers of a marching band with characters from the shows appearing in costumes. They were cute, but nothing can top seeing Mojo Jojo, Courage, and Blossom fighting about who was supposed to host that night!
-I remember that they were still using the marching band material when the next two CN originals premiered, Mike, Lu, & Og (which I mention first since it actually did air first, even though some people forget this) and Courage the Cowardly Dog, on the same night. I remember finding ML&O to be a cute series, and a welcome addition to the block, while Courage didn't do much for me, although I ended up seeing every episode of both as they aired on the network. Nowadays, my opinion has flipped, since I really appreciate Courage, but I'm surprised that I ever liked Mike, Lu, & Og.
-One cartoon that my opinion hasn't changed much on though, is Sheep in the Big City. I remember seeing the pilot during the Big Pick summer (which I'll get to in just a moment), but I missed the actual premiere, as that came out the same night as Rugrats in Paris, which I went to a screening of instead. Yes, I watched a little bit of Nickelodeon, too.  But wow, when I did start watching Sheep regularly, I loved it to bits. I'm still hoping for a DVD release of it.
-Now while I wasn't there for the original What-a-Cartoon shorts, I was definitely watching CN during The Big Pick events. For the first one, I could just tell that this "Meet the Reaper" short would be the start of something big, so it didn't surprise me in the slightest that it was picked as the winner, and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (originally Grim & Evil, but who's counting ) would become a fan favorite for the network in the years to come. I voted for "A Kitty Bobo Show" the following year, but that only came in second to "No P in the OOL", the pilot to the future Codename: Kids Next Door. I wasn't a fan of the final outcome of the series, but I was always a fan of its pilot. And I remember that there wasn't any actual voting for 2002's Big Pick, but my favorite short was "Bagboy!". The winner ended up being "Lowbrow", aka Megas XLR, which was never a personal favorite, but I know many who were much more favorable towards the show, including a few people I'm especially close to.
-There are way too many ads, bumpers and promos to talk about or share during the Powerhouse era, but this is one I have to share, despite not being very exciting. The grand variety of shows that used to air during primetime on CN, originals and classics of all sorts, is something I miss greatly today. I used to get in trouble for it, but I just HAD to stay up for the Bugs & Daffy slot at 9 PM.
-Then there was the 2000 Cartoon Election, where people voted for their favorite cartoons on the network. Scooby, who basically dominated the channel around the point, took the #1 slot, while The Powerpff Girls was second, and Bugs Bunny third. I'm pretty sure that Dexter's Laboratory was fourth, while The Flintstones, Ed, Edd n' Eddy (which I voted for), and Daffy Duck (which I should have also voted for, or only for in hindsight) made their way into the top 10 as well to my recollection.
-More voting came for the 2001 Fancy Anvil Awards, which I loved as a parody of award shows that actually did allow for people to vote and watch cartoons as a result, along with more character interaction ala CCF. I mostly stuck to the Ed boys and the Looneys for my votes.
-June Bugs! I miss their yearly celebration of Bugs Bunny. I'd watch a lot of it if they tried it again.
-Cartoon Network aired plenty of movies back in the day. A lot were based on some of their classics, with plenty of Scooby, Flintstone, Yogi, Looney, Jetson etc movies making their way, but there were some other good stuff to air. I remember liking Balto and Cats Don't Dance, but the important one for me was The Iron Giant, which I'm still kicking myself for not seeing in theaters. To be fair, I think the film flew past everyone's radar at the time, but CN seemed to have won a lot of people over. Around the time The Powerpuff Girls Movie was coming out (I didn't see that in theaters either, btw, but when I finally saw it... I thought it was okay), they aired marathon showing of the film for at least 24 hours straight. I must have seen it 2 or 3 times during that block. I'm still waiting for the Blu-Ray, now.
-Space Ghost Coast to Coast was a show that I kind of liked when I sneaked up to watch late at night, but it's one that I appreciate and enjoy a lot more now that I'm older. That said, I had to see this [adult swim] thing when I heard about it. Space Ghost was nice, but I wanted to watch these new shows, Harvey Birdman, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021, and The Brak Show, as well as this one series that apparently wasn't new, Home Movies. I liked them all, probably because they were "naughty", but seeing them now, compared to the block's later shows and on their own, and I still enjoy them all, give or take Aqua Teen.
-Tex Avery's Screwy Squirrel cartoons were classics, but I'll never forget the day that they aired one particular short for hours on end. I may or may not have watched it a few times in a row, heh. Easily one of their best April Fools Day pranks.
-I was a bit older when Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends started its run, just about to start middle school, but I was there, and I liked it. I cooled down on the series since then, but as I was losing interest in CN's newer series as the years went by, Foster's was still a highlight. Still, that beginning movie is a good one, and I had a feeling that this would be a follow-up success for Craig McCracken.
-I missed CCF, but I still watched Fridays when it was on. My shows were leaving and I wasn't feeling all of their newer ones, but I had to be there for new EEnE, as well as the last seasons of Johnny Bravo and Powerpuff, and newer episodes of Billy & Mandy, Foster's, and Duck Dodgers. To be fair, Tommy and the girls were good hosts, too.
-The only thing I especially liked about Teen Titans was the theme song, which introduced me to J-Pop. It isn't really my thing, but I like Puffy, who were the biggest act at the time. A year later, they got their own show and it was... not very memorable. But I did like their soundtrack CD.  I actually got it along with the first season of Samurai Jack as a gift from my aunt, but I couldn't tell you where it is.
-As much as I loved the Powerhouse era, I wasn't saddened when it phased into the City era. True, the bumpers weren't the same, and almost all of the classics had left for Boomerang by then, but there were plenty of brilliant bumpers and ads from that period, and I still liked enough of the shows to keep on watching.
-As the years went by though, my interest was waning, although Ed, Edd n' Eddy, Billy & Mandy, and Foster's still kept me happy. Class of 3000 and Juniper Lee were decent, and I saw enough of Camp Lazlo and My Gym Partner's a Monkey to know that they had some bearable material, but there was little in most of these and the other shows to keep older people interested, I'm sorry to say.
-But things were looking up again around 2008-09. Chowder caught me right away, while it took me a little to get into Flapjack, but before the first season was done, it won me over. I also thought that The Secret Saturdays was one of their best original action shows, and I got into the first couple of Total Drama cycles as well. All but Total Drama wouldn't make it too far past the start of the coming decade, though. Blame on the CN Real phase if you want, I guess.
-My main 3 shows from that period had even less time to go, though. Billy & Mandy ended its run with the Spider Queen movie in 2007, while Ed, Edd n' Eddy had to wait a while for its final episode and finale movie to make its way to the network, finally doing so in 2009. Foster's also wrapped up before the movie finally aired here.
-Ah, the Best Day Edder. CN aired every episode of the show before the season five finale, the show's penultimate episode, made its way to the screens. I watched that whole thing. It didn't hit me that my childhood favorite was ending until the unbearable wait for the movie to come hit. The "lost episode" which aired a year later, and was actually a leftover from the planned season 6 that was too far in production to wrap up, was strong, but the pain was still there. When it finally did air, Ed, Edd n' Eddy's Big Picture Show did not disappoint, however. My childhood officially ended when it came.
-But good things still happened to the kid at heart for me. Looney Tunes marathons! The shorts came back to CN proper! So did the odd repeats of Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, and even The Flintstones and Jetsons! The 20th anniversary events! Heck, even 2 Stupid Dogs was brought back for a little while! Those were fun days.
-And just for the heck of it, I can tell you where and when I saw my first episode of Adventure Time- early in the summer of 2010, when I was in a hotel room in Orlando. My mother was away, so I had the TV to myself, and decided to finally try this thing out. "The Enchiridion!" was on, and while I've only recently become a bigger fan of the show, I started to understand why it was gaining popularity with seemingly all ages.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Dang, Avaitor. That is one pretty detailed retrospective on your history with the network, what it means to you, and all the fond memories you have about it! I enjoyed reading it. 

Trying to organize my own memories on CN myself would take a bit of time, but you've made me want to try, so I might do it sometime later this weekend.

[Avaitor]

Another CN release is happening!

But it's for a show that I don't care for anymore. Although I actually still have the first season at home, somewhere. If the sales for this would give potential for more releases, like the rest of EEnE, Johnny, Dexter, and Billy & Mandy, I'd consider it, however.

[gunswordfist]

that was an amazing retrospecive. you know i've always hated mike, lu and og and i have always loved courage. i believe i watched the pilot with my brothers and uncle. it was wonderfully creepy and is probably still my favorite episode. i am glad someone agrees with me about anime being shown every weekday. i had no clue megas had a pre-series pilot.