Animated series

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An animated series is a set of animated television works with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either a finite number of episodes like a miniseries, a definite end, or be open-ended, without a predetermined number of episodes. [1] They can be broadcast on television, shown in movie theatres, released on the internet [1] or direct-to-video. Like other creative works, animated series can be of a wide variety of genres and can also have different target audiences: both males and females, both children and adults. [1]

Contents

Television

Animated television series are presented daily or on certain days of the week during a prescribed time slot, including for example saturday-morning cartoons, prime time cartoons, late night anime, and weekday cartoons; series broadcast only on weekends. [1]

The duration of an episode also varies. Traditionally, they are produced as complete half-hour or nearly half-hour programs; however, many are presented as animated shorts of 10 — 11 minutes, which can be combined for filling a set time period in "segments", including several such shorts. When advertising is taken into account, the cartoon itself may be only 15 — 20 minutes of the half hour, although Netflix and many other streaming companies do not show commercials. There are also series with a very short episodes lasting approximately five minutes; they have recently become more common in Japanese animation.

If a local station of a television network broadcasts an animated series as a part of its own programming, the time-slot will vary by region.

All early animated television series, the first being Crusader Rabbit (1950 — 1959), are comic cartoon series. However, later series include sports [1] ( Speed Racer , Captain Tsubasa , Slam Dunk ), action ( Hajime no Ippo , [1] G.I. Joe ), science fiction ( Mobile Suit Gundam , Tenchi Muyo ), drama ( Neon Genesis Evangelion ), adventure ( Dragon Ball ), martial arts ( Baki the Grappler ), and other genres. [1]

The first animated sitcom was The Flintstones [1] (1960 — 1966), [2] produced by Hanna-Barbera. It was followed by other sitcoms of this studio: Top Cat (1961 — 1962), Jonny Quest (1964 — 1965), The Jetsons [1] (1962 — 1963, 1985, 1987) and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1972 — 1974), an adult-oriented animated series [2] in the style of All in the Family . The Alvin Show from Ross Bagdasarian Sr. and Beany and Cecil from Bob Clampett are also sitcoms. [1]

Broadcast network

The 1980s and 1990s were a renaissance of the animated children and adult television series. Various broadcast networks and media companies began creating television channels and formats designed specifically for airing cartoon and anime series. Companies that already had these types of formats in place began to revamp their existing models during this time. Most of this animations were American-based or Japanese anime. Listed below are examples of television networks and channels that include animated programs.

Examples of animation-focused networks and channels are listed below; but some of them aired live-action programs occasionally.

During the 1990s, more mature content than those of traditional cartoon series began to appear more widely, extending beyond a primary audience of children. These cartoon series included The Simpsons , South Park , Family Guy , [2] Futurama , [1] The Ren & Stimpy Show , Rocko's Modern Life , Beavis and Butt-Head , King of the Hill , and Duckman . Canadian computer-animated series ReBoot , which began as a child-friendly show, shifted its target group to ages 12 and up, resulting in a darker and more mature storyline. [3]

Film theatrical

Animated film theatrical series include all early animated series: Animated Weekly (1913), [4] The Newlyweds (1913 — 1915), [5] Travelaughs (1913, 1915 — 1918, 1921 — 1923), [6] Doc Yak (1913 — 1915), [7] Colonel Heeza Liar (1913 — 1917, 1922 — 1924), [8] Kapten Grogg  [ sv ] (1916 — 1922), [9] Les Aventures des Pieds Nickelés (1917 — 1918), [10] the Tom and Jerry cartoon short films released in movie theatres from 1940 to 1967, and many others. [1]

Direct-to-video

Direct-to-video animated series include most Japanese original video animations (OVAs). The first OVA series (and also the first overall OVA) was Dallos (1983 — 1985). Almost all hentai (pornographic) anime series are released as OVAs.

Web series

Animated web series are designed and produced for streaming services. Examples include Happy Tree Friends (1999 — 2023) and Eddsworld (2003 — present).

They can also be released on YouTube, such as Asdfmovie, which debuted in 2008.

Related Research Articles

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The history of animation, the method for creating moving pictures from still images, has an early history and a modern history that began with the advent of celluloid film in 1888. Between 1895 and 1920, during the rise of the cinematic industry, several different animation techniques were developed or re-invented, including stop-motion with objects, puppets, clay or cutouts, and drawn or painted animation. Hand-drawn animation, which mostly consisted of a succession of still images painted on cels, was the dominant technique of the 20th century and became known as traditional animation.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bray Productions</span> American animation studio

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<i>Spike and Tyke</i> 1957 shorts films

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<i>The Wizard of Oz</i> (TV series) Animated television series based on the 1939 movie

The Wizard of Oz is a 1990 American animated television series produced by DIC Animation City to capitalize on the popularity of the 1939 film version, to which DiC had acquired the rights from Turner Entertainment, Co. The series aired for thirteen episodes and premiered on ABC, starting on September 8, 1990. The show presented a number of stories and characters from L. Frank Baum's original Oz series.

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<i>The Land Before Time</i> (TV series) 2007 American TV series or program

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonel Heeza Liar</span> Series of animated films produced by J. R. Bray Studios

Colonel Heeza Liar is the star of the second animated series featuring a recurring character and the first featuring a recurring character created specifically for an animated film. Sidney Smith's Old Doc Yak appeared in 3 lost films in 1913 before Colonel Heeza Liar appeared. Smith's series though was based on his Old Doc Yak comic strip. Smith did 13 additional cartoons in 1914 and 2 in 1915. Colonel Heeza Liar was created by J. R. Bray and is mainly based on Theodore Roosevelt and the general stereotype of the 19th and early 20th century former adventurer and lion hunter. The series ran from 1913 to 1917 and restarted in 1922 until 1924. It was produced by Bray Productions and directed by Vernon Stallings. The series was animated by Walter Lantz from 1922 to 1924 and featured live-action segments interacting with the animation, much like the popular contemporary series Out of the Inkwell.

Nanny and the Professor is a 1972 American animated comedy TV movie based on the sitcom by the same name. The series' original cast reprised their roles from the live action series. Unlike in the television series, Nanny openly performs magic, while in the TV series it was only implied. The film was broadcast on September 30, 1972, as part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.

References

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  2. 1 2 3 Шпоть, Василиса Виталиевна (2023-10-18). "Ситком" [Sitcom]. Научно-образовательный портал «Большая российская энциклопедия»[Great Russian Encyclopedia Online] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2024-12-07. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
  3. Hetherington, Janet L. "As Mainframe's technology reaches adolescence, there's a 'ReBoot' Renaissance". Animation Magazine #59. Vol. 11, Issue #8, September 1997.
  4. Bastide, Bernard (2007). "Des cabarets de Montmartre aux studios de Fort Lee: Émile Cohl et Étienne Arnaud, une amitié fertile". OpenEdition Journals (in French). 53. 1895. Mille huit cent quatre-vingt-quinze: 194–209. doi:10.4000/1895.2473. Archived from the original on 2024-12-15. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
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  6. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Facts On File. p.  48. ISBN   978-0-8160-6599-8 . Retrieved 2024-08-24.
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  9. Giannalberto, Bendazzi (2015). Animation. Vol. 1. Burlington, MA: Focal Press. p. 67. ISBN   9781138854529.
  10. Loné, Éric (2007). "Les Aventures des Pieds Nickelés". OpenEdition Journals (in French). 53. 1895. Mille huit cent quatre-vingt-quinze: 324–325. doi:10.4000/1895.2593. Archived from the original on 2024-12-04. Retrieved 2024-07-09.