From Super Adventures to Toonami Midnight Run:
The History of Toonami
March 17, 1997. 4:00 PM EST
Where were you on this faithful day?
Many of us were just coming home from classes or just kicking back. Some of us were plotting bigger things while others were just in awe of what they were viewing. On this faithful day, Cartoon Network ventured into unknown territory. This was the day that Toonami, a block of action programming that predominately features anime, which is often scorned on television in general, was launched. The world was never the same. However, there were other action blocks before Toonami on Cartoon Network that were tame compared to Toonami. So how did we get from repeats of the Fantastic Four to new episodes of Dragon Ball Z? The history of Toonami is very interesting.
When Cartoon Network was launched on November 1, 1992, many people weren't sure if the network could make an impact. The network's owner, Ted Turner, had been successful with an all-news network, a "superstation," and a variety network. This endeavor, which was created for an outlet to broadcast shows from his recently acquired Hanna-Barbera division, was going to have to cater to many audiences. CN subdivided their lineup into sections. Boomerang was the Saturday-morning block of classic cartoons, mornings were filled with mystery shows like Clue Club, Buford, and The Chan Clan, and prime-times were filled with the keystone shows like Flintstones, The Jetsons, Bugs and Daffy, and Tom and Jerry. Of course, afternoons had to cater for a long-ignored segment in kids entertainment. Those who love action cartoons. Fox Kids had just began to penetrate this audience and the king of kids' entertainment, Nickelodeon, won't even target these viewers, so CN had to aim towards them. The inaugural block was called Super Adventures.
Featuring shows like Plastic Man, Classic Jonny Quest, Fantastic Four, Thundarr The Barbarian, and various Hanna-Barbera action shorts like Space Ghost, Birdman, and The Galaxy Trio, Super Adventures was a bona fide hit. It only got better with the return of G-Force, and The Centurions. Super Adventures spun-off into two versions: Super Adventures, which aired the classic shorts and a few HB/Ruby-Spears shows on the lineup both on Saturday mornings and late-night Saturdays, and Adventure Afternoons, which featured Captain Planet, Jonny Quest, James Bond, Jr., and the SWAT Kats. The format was totally revamped with Power Zone, which was one of the network's first noticeable changes. Power Zone was the new name of the Saturday late night Super Adventures as well as the new persona for Adventure Afternoons. The block lasted the entire afternoon and included Fantastic Four, Superfriends, Centurions, Speed Racer, SWAT Kats, and Space Ghost. The block was replaced in September 1996 with many the same old shows that already airs on the network like Tom and Jerry Kids, Scooby-Doo, and others.
The Revolution Begins
Then, out of the blue, or rather, out of cyberspace, fans started petitions to get shows like Voltron, Thundercats, Robotech, and others back on the airwaves. Somebody bright at Cartoon Network must have heard their replies and decided to give the lagging 4-6 PM EST broadcasting block a power boost. The block would hit the network like a tsunami, a powerful Japanese wave. Thus, on March 17, 1997, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (a show that had a popular run in prime time and has Japanese elements and roots), the wildly popular Thundercats, and another popular show Voltron launched the Japanese-influenced Toonami. Taking a cue from Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast (leaving many to believe that Ghost Planet Industries have something to do with the block), Moltar is at the controls of the block with Clyde 49 providing the images back to Ghost Planet HQ.
Over the next few months, the block matured adding various anime, like Robotech, dropped the live-action extreme sports vignettes, and an expanded Saturday evening showing in Fall 1997. Toonami was hot but CN didn't realize how popular it would become until a moon princess and an alien warrior entered into the realm of Toonami. Sailor Moon debuted on Toonami after a disappointing run in syndication, a heavily butchered run on the USA Network, and the valiant efforts of a successful on-line campaign which shall remain nameless (you know who you are, you just don't return my e-mails) on June 1, 1998. This show became the first show on the lineup gaining CN its highest ratings ever. On August 31, 1998, Dragon Ball Z entered the lineup kicking butt at the 5 PM slot.
Ups and Downs At Toonami
Then in October, 1998, Cartoon Network did the unthinkable. They cancelled three shows (Thundercats, Robotech, and Voltron) from weekdays, cancelled the Saturday showing of Toonami, and kept the dead-in-the-water Real Adventures of Jonny Quest on. To add insult to injury, CN placed its recently acquired Superman-Batman Adventures under the psuedonym Superfriends to confuse Superfriends fans who wanted the shows in its original formats. This show makes you miss the often-aired Challenge episodes immediately. Months later, the network started messing up the rotation of Dragon Ball Z nearly driving fans insane. Fortunately, things changed.
Toonami 1999 began with a BANG with the Friday Toonami Movies, which aired two Batman movies and three Dragon Ball Z movies, and the trimphant return of Thundercats to the lineup. Toonami is still the best block of programming on Cartoon Network featuring two of the best anime on the planet to boot, and with the addition of ReBoot on March 15, episodes of Dragon Ball Z every weeknight at 12:30, and new episodes of Dragon Ball Z premiering on September 6, as well as new shows unannounced, it can only get better. On July 10, 1999 at approximately 11:58 PM, it did.
A reintroduction of the Toonami format was unveiled on this night complete with a fresh new look, a new setting (the Ghost Planet spacedship Absolution), and, surprising many Toonami fans, a new host in TOM - Toonami Operating Module, who can be described as an upgraded Clyde 49 with the personality of Moltar. This was also the night that saw the debut of Toonami Midnight Run, a five-hour block that paired the current lineup of shows with shows from the first year of Toonami, which includes Thundercats, Robotech, and Voltron! For a lighter action-packed touch, the anime-inspired Powerpuff Girls are also in the mix. This is only the beginning of things to come. The future of Toonami is looking very bright!
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