Cartoonito

**Cartoonito** is a brand name used by AT&T's WarnerMedia for a collection of television networks and programming blocks that target preschool-age children.

As of 2019, Cartoonito channels exist in the United Kingdom (its flagship service) and Italy, while branded blocks are currently broadcast on localized feeds of Cartoon Network in the Middle East and Turkey.

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## Background

### Educational block (1996–2001)

In 1996, Cartoon Network decided to create a Sunday morning block of preschool programs. The series featured included *Big Bag*, a live-action/puppet television program created by the Children's Television Workshop (known for *Sesame Street*), *Small World*, a children's animated anthology show/variety show, and *Cave Kids* (a Hanna-Barbera cartoon produced spinoff starring Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm).

*Small World* aired in several countries (except Japan, China, and Korea) and syndicated many of their respective shows. *Cave Kids* only ran from September to November of that year. However, *Big Bag* ran until 1998, while Small World ran until c. 2002

### Early investments in preschool programming (2001–2005)

#### Creating original series

In 1997 (just the year after the merger of Turner Broadcasting System with Time Warner), Warner Bros. Animation announced *Baby Looney Tunes*, an original preschool series inspired by a line of pre-existing merchandise. Production had finished by January 2001, and the pilot aired on June 3 of that year. Once the pilot proved a success, work on *Baby Looney Tunes* resumed, and it officially premiered on July 28, 2001. The series also ran on the Kids' WB block from 2002 to 2005 while continuing its original run on Cartoon Network until October 16, 2006.

#### Tiny TV (International branding)

In 2003, Cartoon Network's Indian counterpart introduced Tiny TV, a weekday morning block of acquired preschool cartoons such as *Bob the Builder*, *Kipper*, *Noddy*, and *Oswald*. By 2006, the block had expanded to Cartoon Network channels Australia and Southeast Asia, as well as on Boomerang in the latter region and Latin America (where it was known as *Mini TV*). Each block carried their own lineup of programs, with only a few shared between feeds.

Tiny TV was discontinued in 2007, but was temporarily revived on POGO (a sister channel to Cartoon Network India) in 2010.

#### *Tickle-U* programming block (2005)

*Tickle-U* was Cartoon Network's first attempt at official weekday-morning preschool programming block, debuting on 22 August 2005 and airing from 9 to 11 a.m. Programs on the lineup included original series *Gerald McBoing-Boing* and *Firehouse Tales*, along with acquired fare such as *Gordon the Garden Gnome*, *Little Robots*, and *Peppa Pig*; the last three series were all of British origin, and were re-dubbed for American audiences. The block also featured two CGI characters as hosts: Pipoca (voiced by Ariel Winter) and Henderson (voiced by Tom Kenny).

However, Tickle-U came under fire by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, who criticized Cartoon Network for advertising the block as a way to develop a child's sense of humor. As a result, the block was axed in January 2006, though the shows continued to air on the channel until 2007.

## History

On 4 September 2006, Cartoon Network Too debuted a new programming block called Cartoonito, running from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily. Series featured in Cartoonito were acquired from countries around the world, and were available in both English and French. The block was later given its own channel on 24 May 2007.

In May 2011, Turner Broadcasting System Europe announced a rollout of the Cartoonito brand across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; under the arrangement, programming blocks would launch on Cartoon Network or Boomerang channels in that region. Additional 24-hour channels were launched in Italy and Spain, while a third (this time for Southeast Asia) launched the following year.

In May 2021, WarnerMedia EMEA confirmed in an interview with C21 that there are plans to launch Cartoonito within that region.

## Versions & Possible Expansion

### Central and Eastern Europe

In Central and Eastern Europe, Cartoonito was launched as a morning/afternoon block for the Central and Eastern European feed of Boomerang, broadcasting 7 days a week starting from 12 October 2011. It was cancelled in January 2014.

### France

Cartoonito was launched as a morning block on Boing on 5 September 2011. The block last aired on 5 July 2013.

### India and Pakistan

In India and Pakistan, Cartoonito was launched as a morning block for the Indian version of Cartoon Network, broadcasting seven days a week starting from 7 August 2013.

### Italy

The Italian version of Cartoonito was launched on 22 August 2011. Unlike other versions of the channel, which are directly controlled by Turner/Warner, the Italian version is operated by Boing S.p.A., a joint venture between RTI (part of Fininvest's Mediaset) and Turner Broadcasting System Italia.

The channel is available on Italian digital terrestrial television on channel 46, as carried by Mediaset's Mediaset 2 DVB-T multiplex. It is also available on Tivùsat on channel 41.

### Middle East

In the Middle East, Cartoonito was launched as a morning block for Cartoon Network Arabic, broadcasting seven days a week beginning on 4 September 2011. Simultaneously, Cartoonito was also available in English in the Middle East via another morning block on the pan-European feed of Boomerang. Both blocks ended on 1 January 2014 (Boomerang) and on 1 April 2014 (Cartoon Network), though the Arabic Cartoon Network would re-introduce Cartoonito on 24 March 2019, now airing Sunday through Thursdays at 9:30 KSA Local Time.

### Africa

In Africa, Cartoonito was launched as a morning block for the pan-European feed of Boomerang, broadcasting for seven days a week beginning on 12 October 2011. The block ended on 1 January 2014.

### Southeast Asia

On 1 December 2012, Cartoonito launched in Asia Pacific in conjunction with its localized website. A key market upon launch is the Philippines, which began transmission initially in SD on the country's largest cable provider, SkyCable. Cartoonito is available as part of its Metropack and on an a la carte basis via Skycable Select. Cartoonito was replaced by Boomerang on 1 January 2015.

### Spain

In Spain, Cartoonito was launched as a 24-hour channel on 1 September 2011, as part of Turner Broadcasting System EMEA plans to roll out the brand across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The move also increased Cartoonito's distribution to 125 million homes in 112 territories. On 30 June 2013, the channel was shut down alongside the Spanish feed of Cartoon Network.

### Turkey

During the summer of 2019, Cartoonito was launched as an afternoon block on the Turkish feed of Cartoon Network, airing every day from 12:00 to 3:30 PM local time.

### United Kingdom and Ireland

Main article: Cartoonito (British and Irish TV channel)

Cartoonito originally began on 4 September 2006 as a programming block on Cartoon Network Too, which timeshare with Turner Classic Movies 2. On 24 May 2007, Cartoonito expanded its broadcast hours by taking the whole daytime slot formerly given to Cartoon Network Too; Cartoon Network Too became a full 24-hour channel by taking over Toonami UK's former channel space. From September 2009 to March 2010, a morning Cartoonito block aired on Boomerang, until its launch on Virgin Media.

Cartoonito became a 24-hour channel on 15 January 2018.

### United States

Main article: Cartoonito (American programming block)

With the announcement of *Batwheels* on 6 October 2020, Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults, and Classics president Tom Ascheim implied about plans for Cartoon Network to jump into preschool.

In a 5 February 2021 interview with *Kidscreen*, Ascheim revealed that Cartoon Network would be expanding its programming offerings to include series aimed at families, girls, and preschool children. The interview coincided with the acquisition of broadcast rights to *Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!*, a reboot of the original *Thomas & Friends* series.

On 17 February, WarnerMedia announced that an official Cartoonito block would launch on Cartoon Network in the fall, with an additional streaming component for HBO Max. Launch programming includes 20 new series, including *Batwheels*, *Bugs Bunny Builders*, *Little Ellen* and *Tom and Jerry Junior* from Warner Bros. Animation; *Bea's Block* and *Mecha Builders* from Sesame Workshop; *Jessica's Big Little World*, a spin-off of the Cartoon Network original series *Craig of the Creek*; and acquired series *Ladybird Lu*, *Lucas the Spider*, and *Mush-Mush & The Mushables*.

## Current programming

### Original programming

 *MeteoHeroes* | 6 July 2020 (Italy only)

## Former Programming

### Original Programming

#### Reran shows

* Baby Looney Tunes
* Firehouse Tales
* Krypto the Superdog

#### First-aired shows

* LazyTown (March 13, 2013 – October 13, 2014)
* The Happos Family (November 5, 2016 – March 25, 2018)

## Meteoheroes

The highly anticipated Italian animation series **“MeteoHeroes”** arrives on TV. Starting next Monday, July 6, six very young superheroes will face a thousand exciting adventures, telling in a simple, instructive and fun way the themes of respect for nature, the importance of ecology and the dangers of climate change. The series will make its debut on ****Cartoonito**** (channel 46 of DTT) and will air from Saturday to Thursday at 8.20 pm. Conceived by Luigi Latini and born from the collaboration between **Meteo Expert-IconaMeteo** and **Mondo** TV, it features Pluvia, Nubess, Nix, Fulmen, Ventum and Thermo, a very close-knit team that will teach children what it means to take care of their planet, also dealing with current issues such as global warming, deforestation and the fight against pollution. Ahead of the launch, the series was presented this morning at a live streaming press conference on the official Facebook page @MeteoHeroes.

The adventures of “MeteoHeroes” begin on their tenth birthday, when they discover they have special powers to unleash the weather. Each one comes from a different corner of the planet and has a specific superpower: Pluvia is from Seattle (USA) and is able to make rain fall, Nubess comes from Buenos Aires (Argentina) and can control clouds, Ventum is from Cape Town (South Africa) and can unleash winds, Nix is from Harbin (China) and can make snow fall, Thermo comes from Rome and has temperature control, while Fulmen comes from Sydney (Australia) and is able to make powerful lightning fall from the sky. These six little superheroes will have to fight the most terrible of enemies: they are the Maculans, led by Dr. Makina, who represent the pollution caused by bad habits and harmful behavior of human beings.

The headquarters of the “MeteoHeroes” is the CEM (Centro Esperti Meteo Meteo), an international futuristic centre where the Tempus artificial intelligence, led by scientists and meteorologists, will train them to control their powers. The CEM is located near the Gran Sasso mountain in Abruzzo and is directed by the scientist Margherita Rita, a name that intends to pay homage to two great women of science of the calibre of Margherita Hack and Rita Levi Montalcini. Thanks to the Jet Stream, the young superheroes will be teleported around the world to courageously carry out a very important mission: saving the Earth from climate change, promoting respect for nature and the environment.

On the occasion of the preview on Cartoonito last April, “MeteoHeroes” was also a great success on social media, in particular on the official pages on Facebook and Instagram. The project received in 2017 the patronage of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Education, then in 2019 also from the Air Force and Legambiente. The exceptional ambassador of the project is Andrea Giuliacci, considered the face of Italian meteorology, who has been working on video forecasts for Meteo Expert since 2002 on Mediaset networks. But the surprises do not end there: the theme song of “MeteoHeroes” is sung by Francesco Facchinetti, popular deejay, producer, singer, musician and radio and television presenter, in collaboration with the group Raggi Fotonici.

See the promo here: https://youtu.be/WMg7yx0smWU