Countryballs (Alternate Timeline)

This page is about an alternate timeline where Polandball (AKA Countryballs) was invented in a much different way.

## Polskakula

### Publisher

Niezależne Wydawnictwo Polskie Sp z o.o.

Polskakula (Polandball in English) is a comic strip series created by Polish cartoonist Filip Kaminski from 1934-1941. It focused on the life of a ball-shaped Polish flag and its adventures. Due to being a depiction of Poland, the comics often delved into politics and were somewhat criticized by certain people as it sometimes mocked Poland by making it seem immature or stupid. About 367 strips were invented for this comic series with the last few being made in the USA as Kaminski fled his homeland after the invasion of Nazi Germany and The Soviet Union.

### Notable Characters

Every character that appeared in the comics was a ball-shaped country, the vast majority of them coming from Europe. Sometimes, a person was depicted as a ball version of themselves, and the Polish leader at the time, Ignacy Mościcki, (Józef Klemens Piłsudski in the early comics) appeared most often as a Poland ball.

* Poland
* USSR
* Nazi Germany
* German Empire (as a ghost)
* France
* Czechoslovakia
* USA
* Austria
* Hungary
* Yugoslavia
* Japan

## Longevity

### Finale

October 16th, 1945

After escaping to the USA, Kaminski started making comics over there. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the USA started preparing the country for war, and that involved making pro-war animations to lift the spirits of the US citizens and soldiers. Kaminski was approached by Warner Bros. Entertainment inc. to have Polskakula become a cartoon series. He agreed, and Countryballs: World at War was created in May 1942 and made theatrical shorts until 1945.

This version is quite different from it's source, mainly that the main character was turned into the United States and had a much more heavy focus on warfare and defeating the evil Axis Powers. Poland was reduced to a side character that occasionally appeared as a ghost since it didn't exist at the time of when the cartoons were made. A total of sixteen (possibly 17) 5-minute shorts were made, but 2 of them are considered lost media, and a few others aren't available in their entirety. Back in the day these shorts were praised for their patriotism and clean animation, but nowadays these are frowned upon due to their racist depictions of the Japanese and insensitive jokes.

### Episode 17

There is a rumor that a 17th episode titled: Nazis in the Bunker was produced sometime after Allied Victory, but there is not enough evidence to prove that the episode actually exists. There is an image that is commonly spread online that claims to be a still frame from the animation, but that has been proven to be fabricated.

### Other Appearances

The Countryballs made cameo appearances in a few Looney Tunes cartoons but by 1948 they were completely fazed out of the reoccurring character lineup.

## Hiatus Era

This is the time period when Polandball/Countryballs were put to a standstill, as no new content was being made for it. Kaminski lost the rights to his comics after selling them to Warner Bros. so he could not legally continue them. He moved on to create a different comic strip called Kikimora Catalogue. The Countryballs: World at War was stored away in a vault somewhere, no longer needed as WWII was over, and that was the last time the cartoons Airborne Madness and Fight in the Savannah were ever seen.

## Longevity

### Finale

August 15th, 1969

It seemed like the little circular countries would never be used again, but that all changed when Hanna-Barbera Studios saw an opportunity. They decided to reboot Countryballs and turn it into a new cartoon about traveling the world with the United States returning as the protagonist and Poland as the deuteragonist. This iteration is a lot more like Kaminski's old comics, and that is partially due to the fact that he helped work on the show. The plot was mainly serialized and focused on the United States visiting a new country every episode. The show ran for 45 episodes from 1964-1969 and did reruns until 1976.

If you would like to see the list of Across the Globe episodes, follow this link here: List of Across the Globe Episodes

### Notable Characters

This is a list of Countries that made more than one episode appearance.

* United States
* Poland
* United Kingdom
* France
* Canada
* Mexico
* Soviet Union
* West Germany
* Japan
* China
* Brazil
* Egypt
* Reichtangle

## Hiatus Era 2

Not too long after Across the Globe stopped airing on TV, Kaminski got a heart attack and died at the age of 67 in 1978. With the original creator of Polandball gone, nobody knew what to do with the property and decided to shelve it as they did with Countryballs: World at War. For nearly 20 years it remained dormant, almost the same amount of time as the first hiatus, but then Warner Bros. decided to bring it back from the dead once again.

## Longevity

### Finale

May 28th, 2002

This cartoon reboot of Polandball/Countryballs was created in 1996 and aired alongside other Cartoon Network shows at the time like *Dexter's Lab* and reruns of *The Flintstones.* This cartoon had the United States once again returning as the main character and showcased what it did in its daily life, quite similar to Polskakula's story structure, although the plots were on par with Looney Tunes' wackiness. Despite having the United States as the main focus, some episodes centered around different countries like Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, and France. The show aired until 2002 and had 67 episodes, 2 specials, and 1 crossover. This iteration is also the first to depict Poland with an upside-down flag.

If you would like to see the list of Countryballs episodes, follow this link here: List of Countryballs Episodes

### Specials

The Countryballs series had two specials during its runtime, one in 1998, and the other in 2000. These specials were double the length of a regular episode (22 minutes).

* **Independence Day:** An entire special dedicated to the independence of the USA from Great Britain, but depicted in a humorous and wacky way.
* **The New Millennium:** Countries around the world celebrating the start of a new millennium.

### Crossover

Countryballs had one crossover with another Cartoon Network series, and that was with the Powerpuff Girls, airing in 1999. The plot of the crossover involved The USA, Great Britain, and France creating their own Powerpuff Girl-like team to stop the countryballs that have been hypnotized by Mojo Jojo.

### The 9/11 Short

There was one short made specifically for 9/11 that aired once in late September 2001 that honored the lives of the people who died that day. After its initial airing, it quickly became lost media and at the moment only a few screencaps from the episode have been found.

## Polandball

A few years after Countryballs finished airing, the cartoon was turned into a comic book series that was slightly altered to have more focus on Poland as a homage to its origins: Polskakula. These comics started production in 2009 and are still being made to this day with over 150 comics being made so far.

WORK IN PROGRESS