Bonzai Toons

Bonzai Toons
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 Picture format
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 Launched
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 Former names
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 Available on most cable systems

**Bonzai Toons** (commonly shortened to **B-Toons**) is an American pay television channel owned by The Bonzai Group, a subsidiary of BritCan Entertainment through its networks unit.

It originally launched on June 8, 2002 as **Bonzai Retro**, a spin-off of Bonzai Network's programming block of the same name, which had aired since 2000. On September 1, 2014, Bonzai Retro was relaunched as Bonzai Toons, featuring a mix of original cartoons and animated programming previously and concurrently aired on Bonzai Network.

As of January 2023, Bonzai Toons is received by approximately 42.3 million households in the United States.

## History

### As Bonzai Retro (2000–2014)

Bonzai Retro debuted as a weeknight programming block on October 16, 2000, airing from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time and concentrating on classic animated television series and theatrical shorts from the Golden Age of American animation.

After Bonzai Network shifted its demographic in 2002, older series from its program library were added to the block's schedule, concurrent with its move from weeknights to Saturday evenings. Eventually, Bonzai Retro was spun-off its own standalone cable channel on June 1, 2002; the original block would continue to air until August 7, 2004.

The channel was commercial-free at first, with breaks between programs featuring promotions for series airing on Bonzai Network, alongside creative interstitials such as animated shorts, music videos, and trivia bumpers themed after game shows. By September 2005, as Bonzai Retro‘s subscriber base neared 35 million households, the channel switched over to an advertiser-supported format.

### Channel drift and rebrand as Bonzai Toons (2014–present)

Much of Bonzai Retro’s classic animation had vanished by the early 2010s, replaced with either half-hour or hour-long blocks of regular programming. More first-run series from Bonzai began to appear on the channel as time went on, forcing older content into primetime and early morning slots.

This shift towards modern content became clear in July 2013, when a spokesman for Bonzai Television Networks revealed that executives had been exploring ideas for a potential relaunch of the channel. *Broadcasting & Cable* reported that all the options considered included an emphasis on family-co viewing, from “the addition of legacy brands to expansions into original programming efforts.”

## Programming

*Main article: List of programs broadcast by Bonzai Toons*
## Related services

 **BritCan Premium** | The streaming service of BritCan Entertainment, BritCan Premium houses much of The Bonzai Group's back catalog of programs.

## International versions

*Main article: List of international Bonzai Network channels*
* UK and Ireland – launched on August 26, 2002
* Latin America – launched on September 8, 2003
* France – launched on January 1, 2018
* Africa, Greece, and Middle East – launched on January 10, 2018

## See also

* **Past revisions of this page**:
	+ Early 2000s version
	+ Early 2010s version
* **Other**:
	+ List of programs broadcast by Bonzai Toons
	+ Bonzai Network

## References

1. ↑ Bridge, Gavin. “Was 2022 the Death Knell for Kids TV? .” *Variety*, Penske Media Corporation, 4 Jan. 2023, https://variety.com/vip/was-2022-the-death-knell-for-kids-tv-1235478975/.
2. ↑ "BritCan Media Readies 24-Hour Throwback Channel BONZAI Retro For Summer 2002 Launch" (Press release). BritCan Entertainment. November 21, 2001.