The End of Cartoon Network
Aug. 23rd, 2009 07:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
furtechThe 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
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
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 09:29 am (UTC)This disgusting change makes my husband and I seriously consider cancelling our cable...CN is one of the only reasons we pay for it. But when Venture Bros season 4 starts, they will debut it on the internet and I won't have to turn my TV on. I wonder how this affects Adult Swim? Nevermind that half od Adult Swim is pretty stupid anyhow...
A channel geared towards the teenage boy? They already have one! It's called SPIKE TV. OH SNAP!
EDIT: I just now posted on the cartoon network's website comment page-
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/business/la-fi-ct-cartoon17-2009aug17,0,1625921.story
This makes me sick. Why would I want to watch this channel anymore? I want cartoons! I want the fun shows like Foster's, Chowder, and Flapjack. Even your Adult Swim lineup is slipping. You need more cartoons/shows like The Venture Bros and more talented folk on your team like Craig McCracken. This network's inability to see past profit potential is causing this INSANE change in programming. If your "viewers" want "reality" television, then they should watch the other seedy, boring, and mind-numbingly insipid channels...CN should not bow to that level!
no subject
Date: 2009-08-24 05:29 pm (UTC)