"Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre was a tradition from broadly the mid-1960s to mid-2010s; over time its popularity declined, in the face of changing cultural norms, increased competition from formats available at all times, and heavier media regulations. In the last years of the genre's existence, Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were primarily created and aired on major networks to meet "educational and informational" (E/I) requirements. Minor television networks, in addition to the non-commercial PBS in some markets, continued to air animated programming on Saturday and Sunday while partially meeting those mandates.
Count Duckula is a British children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Productions and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off of Danger Mouse, a series in which an early version of the Count Duckula character was a recurring villain. Count Duckula aired from 6 September 1988 to 16 February 1993 across four series; in all, 65 episodes were made, each about 22 minutes long. All have been released on DVD in the UK, while only the first series has been released in North America.
The Ripping Friends: The World's Most Manly Men! is an animated television series created by John Kricfalusi, creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show on Nickelodeon. The series aired for one season on Fox Kids, premiering on September 22, 2001 and ending on January 26, 2002. The show was subsequently picked up for syndication by Adult Swim, where it reran from 2002 to 2004. The show occasionally airs in Canada on Teletoon. The show also aired briefly in the United Kingdom on the CNX channel and on ABC in Australia.
Little Shop is a 1991 animated fantasy comedy television series that aired on Saturday mornings on the Fox Kids TV network, about a teenage boy and his giant talking plant. Based on Roger Corman's 1960 comedy horror film The Little Shop of Horrors, the concept is credited to Ellen Levy and Mark Edward Edens, and the series was produced by Tom Tataranowicz, with Corman as a consultant. The horror elements in previous versions of the story, in which characters are eaten by the plant, are toned down for children in this series.
SilverHawks is an American animated television series developed by Rankin/Bass Productions and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1986. The animation was provided by Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation. In total, 65 episodes were made. It was created as a space-based equivalent of their previous series ThunderCats.
Drak Pack is a 1980 animated television series about the classic Universal Monsters villains fighting for good. It aired in the United States on CBS Saturday Morning from September 6 to December 20, 1980. It was produced by the Australian division of Hanna-Barbera.
Budgie the Little Helicopter is a British animated television series, relating to a fictional helicopter and his friends, based on a series of children's books. The characters were based on the books by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. The show was co-produced by Fred Wolf Films Dublin, The Sleepy Kids Company and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York for HTV West and Scottish Television, and originally aired on British television in 1994 on CITV, where it ran for 39 episodes. A range of videos, books, and toys were released under the Budgie label.
The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police is an animated television series, based on the Sam & Max comic series by Steve Purcell. The series follows vigilante private investigators Sam, an anthropomorphic dog, and Max, a lagomorph or "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing", as they investigate strange and bizarre cases and confront the criminals responsible.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is an American animated television series based on the 1978 film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and its 1988 sequel Return of the Killer Tomatoes. The series aired on Fox Kids from 8 September 1990 to 23 November 1991. Repeats aired on Fox in 1992 and 1996, and on Fox Family from 1998 to 2000.
Toonsylvania is an American animated television series, which ran for two seasons in 1998 on the Fox Kids Network block in its first season, then was moved to Monday afternoons from September 14, 1998 until January 18, 1999, when it was cancelled. It was executive produced in part by Steven Spielberg, as DreamWorks' first animated series.
Mina and the Count is an American animated television series created by Rob Renzetti, which was never brought into development as a full-fledged series. Instead, animated shorts of this series aired on both of Fred Seibert's animation anthology showcases, Cartoon Network's What a Cartoon! and Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons.
Stickin' Around is a Canadian animated children's television series produced by Nelvana and created by Robin Steele and Brianne Leary. The series originally aired from August 14, 1996, until April 13, 1998. Stickin' Around, originating as a series of one-minute interstitials on CBS in 1994, centered on two best friends named Stacy and Bradley; their hand-drawn adventures with their friends and family; and their fantasies, both encountering many problems they must face as they continue to grow up – with school, bullies, friends, and parents – and always coming up with imaginative ideas to eliminate these obstacles, such as becoming a superhero and putting themselves in a different environment where they have no trouble in defeating their enemies.
Stuart Little, also known as Stuart Little: The Animated Series, is an American animated television series, loosely based on the 1945 E. B. White children's book Stuart Little, as well as the live-action / animated film adaptations. It was produced by Red Wagon Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television for the HBO Family digital cable television channel and aired for one season of 13 episodes.
The New Woody Woodpecker Show is an American animated comedy television series based on the animated short film series created by cartoonist and animator Walter Lantz. It was co-developed by animators Bob Jaques and Kelly Armstrong, was produced by Universal Cartoon Studios and aired from May 8, 1999 to July 27, 2002 on Fox's Fox Kids programming block.
The Comic Strip is an American animated series that features four rotating cartoon segments: The Mini-Monsters, Street Frogs, Karate Kat and TigerSharks. The 90-minute series ran in first-run syndication during the 1987 season.
The Tick is an American animated television series adaptation of the New England Comics satirical superhero the Tick. The series aired for three seasons from 1994 to 1996 on the Fox network's Fox Kids block, which introduced the character to a mainstream audience. The Tick has been syndicated by various networks, further increasing the show's cult following, and has been released on both VHS and DVD. A live-action series aired in 2001, with Amazon launching a second live-action series in 2016. The Tick was also shown on Teletoon in Canada and on Fox Kids/Jetix in the United States, Europe, and Middle East. The show was aired in the UK on BBC2 at various time slots between 1995 and 1996. Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide.
Swamp Thing is an animated television series based on the Vertigo/DC Comics superhero character Swamp Thing. The series is short-lived, with the pilot episode airing on October 31, 1990 followed by four additional episodes airing weekly from April 20 to May 11, 1991. It aired on YTV from 1991 to 1993 in Canada. Produced by DIC Animation City, the series corresponded with Kenner's Swamp Thing action figure collection released in 1990. Despite the animated series' brief run, various merchandise was also produced in 1991 resulting in the only significant marketing platform ever created for the character. This is the final animated series from DC Comics to not be produced by Warner Bros. Animation.
Little Dracula is a British series of children's books and an American animated television series that originally aired on Fox. Little Dracula revolves around a green-skinned child vampire who aspires to be like his father, Big Dracula, yet also enjoys rock 'n roll and surfing. Little Dracula also has a monstrous friend named Werebunny, and his Transylvanian family of strange characters is often threatened by the villainous Garlic Man.
The Littles is an American animated television series originally produced between 1983 and 1985. It is based on the characters from The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John Peterson, the first of which was published in 1967. The series was produced for the American broadcast network ABC by the French/American studio DIC Audiovisuel. It was post-produced by a Canadian animation studio, Animation City Editorial Services.
Hotel Transylvania: The Series is an animated comedy television series produced by Sony Pictures Animation and Nelvana in association with Corus Entertainment. It is based on and serves as a prequel to the film Hotel Transylvania (2012), taking place before the events of the first film, focusing on the activities of 114/115-year-old Mavis and her best friends at the Hotel Transylvania while Dracula is away at the Vampire Council.
