The Complete History of What a Cartoon! 

Yes, I’m aware that the editor used a picture of Bill and Joe instead of Fred. Also, I didn’t claim that this was the first animation showcase ever. I said that this was the first one that was meant to fill a mostly rerun network with new content. We clear? Ok. Good.

Without What a Cartoon, Family Guy wouldn't exist.

I still can’t get over how Family Guy started as a zany G-rated “What a Cartoon” short. The designs and even the premise are completely different, but Larry and Steve are basically prototypes of Peter and Brian, and nobody can un-hear it.

If memory serves, J. G. Quintel had mentioned that the Cartoonstitute would have featured his pitch for what eventually became "Regular Show."

Fun fact: The pilot for Courage the Cowardly Dog was actually nominated for best original short at the 1996 Oscars, but it lost it to a different dog of "A Close Shave"

So Powerpuff Girls and technically even Fairly Oddparents, two shows I hold near and dear, were created from these anthology styled shows. I owe them a lot.

Hard To Believe Larry and Steve Would Become Family Guy which CN would acquire for Adult Swim making It a game changer for both parties

7:47 Pat Ventura was one of the creators that never got a show picked up and I hope you made a video of him and his pilots. He has such a unique and weird sense of humor.

That fanfare with the saxophone at the beginning never gets old.

WHAT........ A......... CARTOON-TOON-TOON-TOON-TOON-TOON. Somehow I still remember that guitar riff years later.

I hate to be one of those “Fun Fact” or “Erm… you didn’t mention this” comment but John K had a hand in creating The What a Cartoon Show. While Fred liked cartoons, he didn’t know what made theme work. John said that it came from leaving the cartoonist alone and giving them creative control in the same vain as the 1940s cartoon studio system. Nice video as always!

It wasn't the first animation showcase. That goes to Liquid Television. But it was the first that was very popular and brought in alot of iconic crew members.

You gotta give credit to Cartoon Network for seeking out original programming only a couple of years on television.

CN actually is using the "Cartoon Cartoon" name again, back in 2021. I saw from the creator of Mouthwash Madness her short was already completed in late 2022 but there hasn't been much news of them since other than more being put into production.

Whatever Happened to Robot Jones is so underrated ITS A CRIME! 😭

The heavy rock intro bumper on what a cartoon Kicked ass. It complimented the action and psycho madness in some of those shorts... especially Pat Ventura's shorts 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Awesome video, Trevor! My favorite cartoons that got picked up are The Powerpuff Girls, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Cow & Chicken! Gramps is my favorite unpicked short.

I feel so old remembering when What A Cartoon premiered. This was the true golden age of animated shows for those of you who missed out. I doubt we'll get anything like that again in a long time if any. Also my personal fave is the cartoon that Seth MacFarlane made that is basically a prototype for Family Guy

The guy you keep pointing to be Fred Seibert is actually Bill Hanna. And also the Adventure Time pilot showed up on Random Cartoons, not Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Just thought i should point that out.

Swat Kats was screwed over by Ted Turner and his unhealthy obsession with Captain Planet. Basically axed Swat Kats for being "too dark and violent" in favor for showing more of a green haired weirdo, who flies around killing factory workers and truck drivers, while his crew of former UNICEF kids yell "gO pLaNeT!" I know a bit off topic, but i cant hear someone mention Swat Kats without chiming in. It was my favorite cartoon, and i was livid when it got cancelled and replaced for more Captain Recycle and the Eco Dorks.

Good video as always, Trevor! I'd say my favorite What a Cartoon! pilot that never got picked up was Yoink! of the Yukon. No real reason why. I just really liked it.

I was so excited as kid watching this show!

1:13 That is a picture of Bill and Joe not Fred Seibert.

My favourite unpicked shorts: O'Ratz, Bloo's Gang, Phish &Chip, Jeffrey Cat, Captin Buzz Cheeply and Fat Cats.

Robot Jones is fun when voiced by actual text to speech software, not much fun when voiced by a human with reverb overlaid.

I do wanna share 2 Stupid Digs did get future greats like Genddy Tartetosky onboard and Swat Kats was getting cancelled by Ted Turner himself, who said " We Have the Flintsones and Huckleberry Hound! We don't need a violent cartoon like The Swat Kats!" So the show was unplugged after its 2nd season due to one mans ego. Another fantastic cancelled series was The Pirates of Dark Water...due to turmoil from within' and budget cuts.

Oh gosh 4:30 we really gotta bring that back. I feel like this is a huge reason why pitch pilots are becoming a obsolete concept.

If most channels did this video it'd be an hour long. This one is concise, like they all should be

I think RU-vid has sort-of taken over as a platform for cartoon pilot episodes that eventually become full series if they catch on well enough. I can think of at least a dozen that have a lot of potential, and one very obvious one that made it big to the point that streaming platforms were vying for it.

Without What a Cartoon, we won't have stuff like Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Ed Edd n Eddy!

But... Swat KATS was cool!

Its amazing to me how revolutionary that time was because as a kid i assumed getting so many new creative series was the norm

But, what ever happened to Robot Jones?

Nice video, my favorite pilot that never became a series would have to be the Pizza Boy short

I used to watch a lot of Cartoon Network shows back when they were on Netflix in 2014-15. My favorites were Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Cow and Chicken/I Am Weasel (Roping these two together), and Camp Lazlo. (I'm aware the latter isn't in What a Cartoon)

Actually, Hanna-Barbera was bought by Ten Turner, in 1991, and merged with Time Warner in 1996. Also, that's A picture of Bill Hanna, and Joe Barbera. Not Fred Seibert. There are plenty of Fred Seibert photos you could easily fine on the internet that you could've used.

Good vid, but I’m gonna point out some inaccuracies. 1-you used the wrong picture for Fred Seibert. That is NOT what he looks like. 2- 2:50-3:05 This concept HAS been done before. MTV’s Liquid Television premiered in 1991, and ended its run literally a month before What a Cartoon! began in February of 1995. 3- 6:03-6:11 The Powerpuff Girls were the first show to air, but not the last to be picked up. That would go to Courage the Cowardly Dog, since that showed began in 1999 while PPG was ‘98. 4- 7:29-7:41 no love for ChalkZone and My Life As A Teenage Robot? That’s sad. Also, Adventure Time’s pilot aired as part of So Random! Cartoons in 2007, long after Oh Yeah! Cartoons had ended.

1:11 thats william hanna

I actually liked the f tales from oh yeah! cartoons, not related to what a cartoon but you did mention oh yeah! cartoon.

6:06 correction: courage the cowardly dog was the last one to get picked up, as it premiered along side with mike, lu & og on November 13th, 1999

I really liked the pilot of the Kitty Bobo show, it's a pity that it never developed into a full-fledged series.

I remember I was about 9 years old when these shorts aired. And I remember them saying something about a contest. I believed until today that the cartoons that aired was because they won a spot through the contest. (At this age I wanted to be a cartoonist myself). But I was checking out wikipedia and just learned now that it was a "mock" contest. My childhood brain is so disapointed lol

I'm relieved that every series from what a cartoon ended not to become immortal

I actually made a brochure type of thing in Photoshop talking about Cartoon Network’s history, and while doing some research on it, I did come across learning about the _What a Cartoon!_ show.

Now I have to wait for you to do a video on Robot Jones, I hope it comes out sooner or later any time soon?

Can you do a video talking/reviewing of all the What a Cartoon pilots?

Great vid!

My favorite cartoon shows are Johnny Bravo and Courage the Cowardly Dog.

I didnt know you like jack stauber and robot jones!

The one thing I diffinately remember about all of this is at one point they would choose a short debute it on like Monday or something then proceed to play the ever living hell out of it before other shows for the remainder of the week until the next short aired. I remember always been pretty sick of the short by the end of the week.

Swat Kats was awesome! Cartoon Network was playing the heck out of them in the late 90s. Them, 2 Stupid Dogs, and Road Rovers were some of my favorite shows airing on CN back then. I was aware even then that different studios were producing them all, but it didn't matter since CN at that point was just this huge melting pot of Hanna-Barbera, Kids' WB, and their own original content.

Of the pilots that hadn't picked up, I love Yuckie Duck, George and Junior and Mina and the Count and they definetly deserved more than some pilots (I love Pat Ventura's slapstick and Rob Renzetti's charming plot). Tales of Worm Paranoia was such a trip of a short and Malcom and Melvin....I don't know why it was produced for cartoon network.

You forgot about cartoon network Wedgies, if memory serves it's where regular show and uncle grandpa started

so the other night i was thinking about watching powerpuff girls so i turned on HBA max and saw space ghost and decided to watch that instead, i had just finished seson one and started up the first episode of season 2 which i had no idea was the powerpuff pilot but it shook me to my core.

I was glad that chalkzone, my life as a teenage robot and fairly oddparents the longest running series ended that belonged to oh yeah! cartoons

SWAT Kats was part of Hanna Barbera?!

My favorite cartoons are: Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, Cow & Chicken, Johnny Bravo and I am Weasel. I love cartoons. 😊

I grew up with Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Dexter's Lab's and Johnny Bravo and PowerPuff Girls

I have to ask; did the audience get to vote on the most popular short? I have this vivid memory about calling some number to vote for Dexter and Power Puff Girls, but I cannot seem to find anyone else who remembers this. Starting to think it was just a vivid dream! 😅

I love cartoon network. Cow and Chicken was always my fave

I don’t know if it’s redundant to say; My Life as a Teenage Robot came from the Oh-Yeah! Cartoons show, as well. The magician short from that show is my favourite pilot.

The first person to post a comment on this specific video wins! Looks like I win!

courage i rewatched in the hbo max. And it was worth.

Yuckie Duck would have been a bonkers show. Pat Ventura seemed to be earnestly trying to out gross-out Ren & Stimpy

0:19 You have a small, teeny tiny hand there, Trevor..

Where'd you find that It's my life 8-bit version during the credits?

So we’ve done wedgies and what a cartoon come back next time when the masters of fate make Trevor discuss Disney’s Shorty mcshots

You sound familiar. Are you Kenny Lauderdale?

Hey... i got a question... who made the "Coffee" from "Shop, a pop opera" 8-bit cover you used for the intro?

Wish I could’ve starred on that.

Your not the only one who's love that show too 0:12-0:19

You know Let's be happy that nickelodeon didn't pick adventure time because cartoon network would've been dead thanks to CN real

Bring this back

The losers in charge of CN these days are idiots who don't care about past success or testing their shows with piolets just making worthless garbage reboots for their unbalanced schedule. All they need to do is bring back the What A Cartoon Show with whole new set of characters that will become the next big stars of Cartoon Network

You’re using a pic of Bill Hanna for Fred Seibert bro

Yucky duck sledgehammer possum pondum possum yoink of the youkon no tip and boid and woim George and junior

sleg hammer o possom