O Canada (TV series)

Last updated
O Canada
O Canada title card.jpg
Created byBob Jaques
Kelly Armstrong
Glen Kennedy
Starring Sally Grace
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production companies Cartoon Network Productions
National Film Board of Canada
Original release
Network Cartoon Network
Release1997 (1997) 
2002 (2002)

O Canadais a Canadian animated television anthology series, broadcast in the United States, and all across the Asia-Pacific region on Cartoon Network. [1] O Canada was the first Canadian cartoon series to air on Cartoon Network. The show also frequently aired in Canada on Teletoon, but not as much as it did in the United States on Cartoon Network.

Contents

Shown mainly on Sunday nights (early Monday mornings) at 12:00 midnight ET, O Canada featured a selection of animated shorts from Canada, mostly from the archives of the National Film Board of Canada. Some of the animated shorts featured were part of the NFB's Canada Vignettes collection of shorts first produced for CBC Television.

The title of the series originated from the name of Canada's national anthem, "O Canada".

One of the notable shorts featured in this series was Bob's Birthday, which would later serve as the basis for Comedy Central / Global Television Network's Bob and Margaret series, which would debut the following year. Despite its time slot, Bob's Birthday was censored with one scene, that featured Bob nude from the waist down, edited with a maple leaf electronically superimposed over his genitalia while other mature themes remain uncensored.

In 1997, Charles Solomon of TV Guide added this packaged series on the adult animated shows list and described it "a must for animation aficionados".[ citation needed ] Cartoon Network’s deal with NFB had since expired in 2002 in favor of Adult Swim. [2]

Shorts shown on O Canada

Notes

  1. This short aired once on Labor Day in 1997.
  2. This short originally contains nudity, which was superimposed for television airings.

Related Research Articles

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. They can be broadcast on television, shown in movie theatres, released on the internet 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.

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

Spümcø, Inc. was an American animation studio that was active from 1989 to 2005 and based in Los Angeles, California. The studio was best known for working on the first two seasons of The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon and for various commercials. The studio won several awards, including an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject for the music video of the song "I Miss You" by Björk.

<i>Oh Yeah! Cartoons</i> American animation showcase series on Nickelodeon

Oh Yeah! Cartoons is an American animated anthology series that aired on Nickelodeon. Created by Fred Seibert, it was produced by Frederator Incorporated and Nickelodeon Animation Studio, running as part of Nickelodeon's Nicktoons lineup. In the show's first season, it was hosted by a variety of schoolchildren, and the second season was hosted by Kenan Thompson of All That and Kenan & Kel, and later Josh Server of All That in the third and final season. Bill Burnett composed the show's theme music.

<i>Liquid Television</i> Animation showcase

Liquid Television is an animation showcase on MTV from 1991 to 1995. It launched several high-profile original cartoons, including Beavis and Butt-Head and Æon Flux. Other recurring segments include "The Art School Girls of Doom", The Specialists, and Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective. Independent animators and artists created most of the material specifically for the show, and some previously produced segments were compiled from festivals such as Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation.

<i>Johnny Bravo</i> American animated television series

Johnny Bravo is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. The second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, it aired from July 14, 1997, to August 27, 2004. The titular Johnny Bravo, who is loosely based on Elvis Presley and James Dean, is a blonde-haired sunglasses-wearing, muscular, and dimwitted young man who lives with his mother and attempts to get women to date him, though he always falls short because of his actions. He ends up in bizarre situations and predicaments, often accompanied by celebrity guest characters such as Donny Osmond or Adam West. Throughout its run, the show was known for its adult humor and pop culture references.

The History of Canadian animation involves a considerable element of the realities of a country neighbouring the United States and both competitiveness and co-operation across the border.

Tom and Jerry is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the rivalry between the titular characters of a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Many shorts also feature several recurring characters.

<i>KaBlam!</i> American animated sketch comedy television series programming block

KaBlam! is an American animated sketch comedy anthology television series that ran on Nickelodeon from October 11, 1996 to January 22, 2000, with repeats until November 2, 2001. The series was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Chris Viscardi. The show was developed as a fully animated showcase for alternative forms of animation that were more common in indie films and commercials. Each episode thus features a collection of short films in different innovative styles of animation, bridged by the characters Henry and June, who introduce the short animations and have zany hijinks of their own in between.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Bros. Animation</span> American animation studio owned by Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation division and label of Warner Bros.

<i>What a Cartoon!</i> American animated anthology series

What a Cartoon! is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by the end of the run, a Cartoon Network Studios production tag was added to some shorts to signal they were original to the network. The project consisted of 48 cartoons, intended to return creative power to animators and artists, by recreating the atmospheres that spawned the iconic cartoon characters of the mid-20th century. Each of the shorts mirrored the structure of a theatrical cartoon, with each film being based on an original storyboard drawn and written by its artist or creator. Three of the cartoons were paired together into a half-hour episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoon Cartoons</span> Collective name used by Cartoon Network for original animated series

Cartoon Cartoons is a collective name used by Cartoon Network for their original animated television series originally aired from April 28, 1996, to November 8, 2009, and produced in majority by Hanna-Barbera and/or Cartoon Network Studios. The collective name includes the Cartoon Network original series What a Cartoon!, Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Mike, Lu & Og, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Sheep in the Big City, Time Squad, Grim & Evil, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, Codename: Kids Next Door, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Evil Con Carne.

<i>The Bob Clampett Show</i> American animation anthology television series

The Bob Clampett Show is an animated anthology television series which ran from 2000 to 2001. The show features animated theatrical shorts from the Warner Bros. library that were animated or directed by Bob Clampett, as well as a selection of shorts from the Beany and Cecil animated television series. It originally was produced by and aired on Cartoon Network, with reruns airing at the tail end of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in the mid-2000s. Twenty-six episodes were made in all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John R. Dilworth</span> Creator of Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999-2002)

John Russell Dilworth is an American animator, actor, writer, director, storyboard artist, producer and the creator of the animated television series Courage the Cowardly Dog. Dilworth's works have appeared on PBS, CBS, Showtime, HBO, Fox, ABC, NBC, Arte, CBC Television, YTV, Teletoon, BBC Two, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV, among others.

<i>Family Dog</i> (TV series) American-Canadian adult animated series and sitcom

Family Dog is an adult animated sitcom created by Brad Bird for CBS. It is based on a 1987 episode of Amazing Stories. It originally aired for a single season with ten episodes, from June 23 to July 28, 1993. The series was about an average suburban family, the Binsfords, as told through the eyes of their dog named Jonah. The series was the first collaboration between executive producers Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton. It was also the first adult animated series produced by Nelvana, predating Bob and Margaret.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoon Network</span> American cable television channel

Cartoon Network is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is the flagship property of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also oversees Boomerang, Cartoonito, Discovery Family, Adult Swim, and Toonami. The channel is headquartered at 1050 Techwood Drive NW in Atlanta, Georgia.

Canada Vignettes are a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), some of which aired on CBC Television and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depiction of Canada, and because they represented its changing state, such as the vignette Faces which was made to represent the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity of Canada. The Log Driver's Waltz directed by John Weldon set to the recording of the song by Kate & Anna McGarrigle with, and as part of, The Mountain City Four is one of the most-requested items contained in the collection by the National Film Board of Canada. A similar series was later produced in the 1990s, however the name was changed to Heritage Minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Perlman</span> Canadian animator, animation teacher, and author

Janet Laurie Perlman is a Canadian animator and children's book author and illustrator whose work includes the short film The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 54th Academy Awards and received a Parents' Choice Award. Her 13 short films have received 60 awards to date. She was married to the late animation producer Derek Lamb. After working with Lamb at the National Film Board of Canada in the 1980s, they formed their own production company, Lamb-Perlman Productions. She is currently a partner in Hulascope Studio, based in Montreal. Perlman has produced animation segments for Sesame Street and NOVA. Working with Lamb, she produced title sequences for the PBS series Mystery!, based on the artwork of Edward Gorey, and was one of the animators for R. O. Blechman's adaptation of The Soldier's Tale for PBS's Great Performances. She has also taught animation at Harvard University, the Rhode Island School of Design and Concordia University. She and Lamb were divorced but remained creative and business partners until his death in 2005.

Every Dog's Guide to Complete Home Safety is a Canadian animated short film, directed by Les Drew for the National Film Board of Canada and released in 1986. The film's central character is Wally, a dog who is frantically trying to protect his new family from their own careless actions as they prepare for a dinner party.

Every Dog's Guide to the Playground is a Canadian animated short film, directed by Les Drew for the National Film Board of Canada and released in 1991. A sequel to his Genie Award-nominated 1986 short Every Dog's Guide to Complete Home Safety, the film revisits Wally as he deals with new safety challenges when Bernard and Honey are training him in the local playground for an "iron dog" competition.

References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 434. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. Simensky, Linda (1997). "O Canada: Canadian animators". TAKE ONE. Archived from the original on November 27, 2004. Retrieved August 30, 2006.