Alaina Gleen

***Alaina Gleen*** is an American animated television series originally created by Thalia Ward for CBS. The first television series produced by ClearWorld Entertainment, it centers on a young girl named Alaina Gleen, her sister Leila, and her twin brother and sister, Lucian and Lana, living in the fictional town of Forstford. Thalia Ward created the title character for an unpublished comic book series in the late 1970s, and later reluctantly pitched the series to CBS as a Saturday morning cartoon. The network gave the staff a large amount of creative freedom, with the writers targeting both children and adults.

The series originally premiered on CBS on March 18, 1989, and was later moved to Fox Kids on September 12, 1992, then to Jumper Channel on May 22, 1999. It has been commercially successful, establishing the title character as the mascot of ClearWorld; it has spawned a successful franchise and adaptations into other media, such as comics and video games. The series ended on February 15, 2003, tying *Alaina Gleen* as the seventh longest-running American animated television series. As a result of the show's popularity, a feature-length film, titled *The Alaina Gleen Movie*, was released into theaters on April 25, 2003, a month after the series finale.

On February 5, 2016, Warner Animation Group released a computer-animated reboot film under the same name as a new incarnation of the original series; it was followed by a sequel *Alaina Gleen 2* in 2020. Eventually in November 2016, ClearWorld announced that JWToons had picked up the original series for 17 new half-hour episodes airing on September 9, 2017.

## Production

### Animation

The series' first three season was produced by Klasky-Csupo. However, by season 5, co-founder Gabor Csupo wanted to have one producer to oversee the animation; Thalia refused; and production was switched to Film Roman for the remainder of the series run.

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### Broadcast

#### United States

* CBS (1989-92)
* Fox Kids (1992-99)
* Fox Family (1998-99)
* Jumper Channel (1999-2003)
* Hub Network (2010-14)
* Cartoon Network (2014-16)
* JWToons (2017-present)

#### Canada

* YTV (English) (1989-2007)
* Teletoon (English/French, 1998-2005, 2017-present)
* Teletoon Retro (English/French, 2007-2015)

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### Original cancellation

Ward stated in September 2002 that if the then-upcoming 2003 film were successful, she hoped to produce more episodes of *Alaina Gleen* throughout the years. However, *The Alaina Gleen Movie* was a critical and commercial failure, resulting in plans for further episodes being scrapped or even on hold. Despite this, reruns of the series soon began airing shortly after due to its ongoing popularity. As a result, the series' merchandise and other media also continued after its cancellation.

On an August 2005 interview with Ward regarding the future of the *Alaina* series, she said, "I don't have anything official to announce, but I can speak as an individual, I really love Alania Gleen every since I created her, as well as other guys I created. And there find a way to bring her back if we could." Series co-developer Tianna Hopes has said that he would love to see a revival of the *Alaina* television series or even a full-blown reboot. Cathy Cavadini, the voice of Alaina Gleen, said she is hopeful that ClearWorld will "bring the show back to their glory days and that the character is still very dear to fans between 18–49 years".

In May 2007, ClearWorld revealed through an IGN interview the possibility that they may revive both series of *Alaina Gleen* as well as *Charity the Wicked Witch*. In September 2007, however, Ward and Hopes stated in an interview with Ain't It Cool News that the studio does not miss working on either series and has no intention of bringing them back to life. Despite this, Kyler Fischer stated that the network would love to return to *Alaina Gleen* but doesn't see it as viable. In May 2008, it was announced that JeremyWorks Entertainment may "seek to experiment with retooled versions of classics" that could include *Alaina Gleen*. In November 2008, it was revealed that JeremyWorks was in talks with ClearWorld Entertainment about a possible revival of the series.

In September 2010, Ward stated that she would be willing to work on a revival of the series. In March 2011, rumors began circulating that Ward was still working on the revival. Speculations were fueled after the release of the teaser trailer of Warner Bros.' computer-animated feature film *Fairy Tale Times* directed by *Alaina* creator Ward, featuring an fairy tale book with a silhouette of *Alaina*. Publications such as *Variety* reported that *Alaina* was listed on ClearWorld's upcoming projects on the company's official website, which seemed to add further credibility to the rumor. However, shortly after, this was proven false.

Regarding on his other projects, Ward stated in an interview in December 2012 that he still had high hopes for a *Alaina Gleen* revival. By April 2013, Tara Strong, the voice actor for Averi, stated that believed the *Alaina* revival was still being made while hinting that she was asked to reprise her role. Rumors arose that *Alaina* was picked up for a thirteenth season with 20 episodes and slated to air in fall 2014. However, shortly after, the rumors and speculations were derailed when Strong clarified that he was not teasing a *Alaina Gleen* revival, and that he had not been asked to return to the series, but would be open to potentially lending her voice to new *Alaina* episodes in the future.

### JWToons revival

On November 2016, after years of rumors, speculation and outcry, ClearWorld announced that JWToons had picked up the show for 17 new half-hour episodes that begin airing on September 9, 2017. A smaller writing crew will return. Thaila Ward announced that the original cast (Catherine Cavadini, E.G. Daily, Kath Soucie, Anndi McAfee, Billy West, Tress MacNeille, Cree Summer and Tara Strong) would be returning for the new episodes.

When the revival of *Alaina Gleen* aired September 9, 2017, on JWToons, it helped the network to its highest-rated day in 2017 and its highest-rated Friday nighttime in the network's history. The revival aired on HubShake! the next day.

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## Episodes

*Main article: List of Alaina Gleen episodes*

## Home media

CBS/Fox Video released fifteenth videos of *Alaina Gleen* between 1993 and 1998. From 1999 to 2003, Warner Home Video released several VHS tapes of the series, each containing four episodes of the series.

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