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

Original video animation, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV, are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA series may be broadcast for promotional purposes. OVA titles were originally made available on VHS, later becoming more popular on LaserDisc and eventually DVD. Starting in 2008, the term OAD began to refer to DVD releases published bundled with their source-material manga.

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

Terrytoons was an American animation studio headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973. It was founded by Paul Terry, Frank Moser, and Joseph Coffman, and operated out of the "K" Building in downtown New Rochelle. The studio created many cartoon characters including Fanny Zilch, Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Little Roquefort, the Terry Bears, Dimwit, and Luno; Terry's pre-existing character Farmer Al Falfa was also featured often in the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goofy Gophers</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

The Goofy Gophers are animated cartoon characters in Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The gophers are small and brown with tan bellies and buck teeth. They both have British accents. Unnamed in the theatrical cartoons, they were given the names Mac and Tosh in the 1960s TV show The Bugs Bunny Show. The names are a pun on the surname "Macintosh". They are characterized by an abnormally high level of politeness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Antony and Pussyfoot</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon characters

Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot are animated characters in four Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts. Three cartoons focus on the dog and kitten pair: Feed the Kitty (1952), Kiss Me Cat (1953) and Cat Feud (1958). They also appear in one Claude Cat cartoon, Feline Frame-Up (1954).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goopy Geer</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Goopy Geer is an animated cartoon character created in 1932 for the Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. He is a singing, dancing, piano-playing dog who is considered to be "the first Merrie Melodies star", although he only starred in three cartoons.

Barré Studio was among the first film studios dedicated to animation and founded by Raoul Barré and William Nolan in 1914. The studio pioneered some early animation processes, including mechanical perforation of cels and animating special effects on glass.

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

Bray Productions was a pioneering American animation studio that produced several popular cartoons during the years of World War I and the early interwar era, becoming a springboard for several key animators of the 20th century, including the Fleischer brothers, Walter Lantz, Paul Terry, Shamus Culhane and Grim Natwick among others.

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

Spike and Tyke is a short-lived theatrical animated short subject series, based upon the English bulldog father-and-son team from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Tom and Jerry cartoons. The characters first appeared in the Tom and Jerry series in the 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Events Productions</span> American entertainment company

WEP LLC, doing business as World Events Productions, is an American-based animation and distribution company in St. Louis, Missouri, best known for releasing the anime titles Voltron, Defender of the Universe and Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, as well as producing the original animated series Denver, the Last Dinosaur.

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

The Land Before Time is an American animated musical television series, based on The Land Before Time film series created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. It was developed for television by Ford Riley for Cartoon Network and was produced by Universal Animation Studios and Amblin Entertainment, and animated by Wang Film Productions in Taiwan and Toon City in the Philippines. It premiered on YTV in Canada for a test on January 5, 2007 and premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on March 5.

<i>WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3</i> 2001 film

WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3 is a 2002 Japanese animated science fiction thriller film directed by Fumihiko Takayama and written by Miki Tori. The third and final installment of the Patlabor film trilogy, it takes place in between Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor 2: The Movie and serves as a side story, focusing on two police detectives and SV2 as they investigate a series of mysterious acts of deadly destruction occurring in and around Tokyo Bay that may be connected to a genetic experiment gone wrong. It was animated by Madhouse and produced by Bandai Visual and Tohokushinsha.

The Impractical Joker is a 1937 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop. Jack Mercer provides the voice for Irving.

Hemo the Magnificent is a one-hour Technicolor made-for-television educational film, released in 1957 by Bell Laboratories and directed by Frank Capra, and first telecast by CBS. It details the workings of the circulatory system. It is one program in The Bell System Science Series, a series of nine Bell Telephone science specials telecast in prime time on commercial network television from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s. All but one of these specials starred Prof. Frank C. Baxter; the last of them starred Walt Disney.

This is a listing of all the animated shorts released by Warner Bros. under the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies banners between 1930 and 1939, plus the pilot film from 1929 which was used to sell the Looney Tunes series to Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. A total of 270 shorts were released during the 1930s.

This is a listing of all the animated shorts released by Warner Bros. under the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies banners between 1940 and 1949.

<i>Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge</i> (anime) Original video animated series

Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge, originally titled Vampire Hunter: The Animated Series in Japan, is a four-episode original video animation (OVA) series by Madhouse Studios under license from Capcom, directed by Masashi Ikeda, originally released in 1997–1998. It is an adaptation of Capcom's Darkstalkers video game series.

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

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Федюшин, Владислав Валерьевич (2023-10-06). "Анимационный сериал" [Animated series]. Научно-образовательный портал «Большая российская энциклопедия»[Great Russian Encyclopedia Online] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2024-06-15. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  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 2024-06-16. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  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 2024-06-15. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  5. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Facts On File. p.  38. ISBN   0-8160-6599-3 . Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  6. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Facts On File. p.  48. ISBN   0-8160-6599-3 . Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  7. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Facts On File. p.  23. ISBN   0-8160-6599-3 . Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  8. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Facts On File. pp.  22—23. ISBN   0-8160-6599-3 . Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  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 2024-07-08. Retrieved 2024-07-09.