The End of Cartoon Network

The end of an era...it's a shame that this will happen with little fanfare or notice. The new head of Cartoon Network has dismantled the animation department in Burbank and will now "outsource" animation to Canada (ie, work-for-hire job-shops). The directors and creators responsible for such unique and wonderful shows like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Chowder are gone.

Rob Sorcher, the new head honcho of CN wants to focus on live-action programming, as characterized by the spate of reality shows (basically rip-offs of adult reality shows) the channel is now airing (ghost hunters, quiz shows, survivor-type shows). The animation department has essentially been dissolved.

The reason for this? Cartoon Network is making a healthy profit, but not as healthy as Nickelodeon or The Disney Channel. Bottom-line stuff. Sorcher believes that live-action original programming during primetime is the answer. Talk is that they might even drop "Cartoon" from the network's name-- thus potentially taking "SyFy Channel" off the hook for "Most Stupid Name Change in Marketing History".

Cartoon Network was a place with few peers: the creative freedom there was legendary. The shows ranged from edgy (Death as a comedic foil?) to base and idiotic ("Ed, Edd and Eddie") and worlds in-between. Directors would post their story-boards in the commons areas, inviting feedback from fellow artists and anyone who cared to comment. The kind of openly creative openness last seen in art school. There was a family-atmosphere, where fun-projects included a "high-school yearbook" created one year about the staff at Cartoon Network.

No more. Gone. Poof.

Here's the Los Angeles Times article that spells it out

Thanks for the heads-up, Wayne

The End of Cartoon Network

The end of an era...it's a shame that this will happen with little fanfare or notice. The new head of Cartoon Network has dismantled the animation department in Burbank and will now "outsource" animation to Canada (ie, work-for-hire job-shops). The directors and creators responsible for such unique and wonderful shows like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Chowder are gone.

Rob Sorcher, the new head honcho of CN wants to focus on live-action programming, as characterized by the spate of reality shows (basically rip-offs of adult reality shows) the channel is now airing (ghost hunters, quiz shows, survivor-type shows). The animation department has essentially been dissolved.

The reason for this? Cartoon Network is making a healthy profit, but not as healthy as Nickelodeon or The Disney Channel. Bottom-line stuff. Sorcher believes that live-action original programming during primetime is the answer. Talk is that they might even drop "Cartoon" from the network's name-- thus potentially taking "SyFy Channel" off the hook for "Most Stupid Name Change in Marketing History".

Cartoon Network was a place with few peers: the creative freedom there was legendary. The shows ranged from edgy (Death as a comedic foil?) to base and idiotic ("Ed, Edd and Eddie") and worlds in-between. Directors would post their story-boards in the commons areas, inviting feedback from fellow artists and anyone who cared to comment. The kind of openly creative openness last seen in art school. There was a family-atmosphere, where fun-projects included a "high-school yearbook" created one year about the staff at Cartoon Network.

No more. Gone. Poof.

Here's the Los Angeles Times article that spells it out

Thanks for the heads-up, Wayne

The End of Cartoon Network

The end of an era...it's a shame that this will happen with little fanfare or notice. The new head of Cartoon Network has dismantled the animation department in Burbank and will now "outsource" animation to Canada (ie, work-for-hire job-shops). The directors and creators responsible for such unique and wonderful shows like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Chowder are gone.

Rob Sorcher, the new head honcho of CN wants to focus on live-action programming, as characterized by the spate of reality shows (basically rip-offs of adult reality shows) the channel is now airing (ghost hunters, quiz shows, survivor-type shows). The animation department has essentially been dissolved.

The reason for this? Cartoon Network is making a healthy profit, but not as healthy as Nickelodeon or The Disney Channel. Bottom-line stuff. Sorcher believes that live-action original programming during primetime is the answer. Talk is that they might even drop "Cartoon" from the network's name-- thus potentially taking "SyFy Channel" off the hook for "Most Stupid Name Change in Marketing History".

Cartoon Network was a place with few peers: the creative freedom there was legendary. The shows ranged from edgy (Death as a comedic foil?) to base and idiotic ("Ed, Edd and Eddie") and worlds in-between. Directors would post their story-boards in the commons areas, inviting feedback from fellow artists and anyone who cared to comment. The kind of openly creative openness last seen in art school. There was a family-atmosphere, where fun-projects included a "high-school yearbook" created one year about the staff at Cartoon Network.

No more. Gone. Poof.

Here's the Los Angeles Times article that spells it out

Thanks for the heads-up, Wayne