I'm going to use a phrase that Turner Broadcasting President and CEO Philip Kent said in Wednesday's Atlanta Journal and Constitution that basically sums up my feelings about this week's events:
"I think there is a lot of energy in the hallways here."
What he was referring to is this week's announcement of the total restructuring of Turner Broadcasting into three different units, Entertainment, News, and Animation (Cartoons). Everybody who has reported the story, including Animation World News, Reuters, the Associated Press, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, and, of course, AOL Time Warner's main page has reported that this restructuring is a full-fledged effort not limited to just sales. After over ten years of existance, Cartoon Network is finally going to be treated with the respect it deserves. Not only is it separating from the rest of the Entertainment division, it's a major part of the new Animation division of the company. Is it setting the stage for Cartoon Network to completely absorb Kids' WB's programming block? It's not that unfantomable, especially since Cartoon Network runs every other aspect of the block except for the actual programming, but that could change at a turn of a hat, or a departure of a beast, whichever comes first. It's a new horizon for Cartoon Network and the beginning of an even more fruitful decade.
Speaking of new horizons, the new look for Toonami is coming this Monday. This you probably knew, unless you've been in an isolation tank for over a month. If you're new to the game or just reading this from a foreign land, Monday is also Toonami's sixth anniversary. It's been a while since St. Patrick's Day was celebrated on a Monday, and this is actually going to be the first year in a while that they're actually going to do something HUGE to celebrate it. Sure, last year we got a reairing of Blue Submarine No. Six and the year before that, we got a graphics celebration with the WRONG anniversary date (est'd 1996? So, that means Toonami premiered on a Sunday?), nothing at all in 2000 (the new lineup premiered a couple of weeks earlier), and in '99, we got the birthday cannon, the Toonami premiere of ReBoot, and a microsite on the official Cartoon Network page. In 1998, Toonami was an afterthought in the rest of the programming, but guys like me were dedicated to the block, creating some of the net's first Toonami-based sites. Gosh, that seem like ages ago. Anyway, this is the first year we're getting an advanced word about a brand new look for the block with a barrage of promos, the first time that happened since, well, the last time March 17 fell on a Monday, back in 1997.
It's celebration time. Stick around. The Next Chapter in Toonami history begins on Monday!
Until we are one, later.
Jeff Harris
CNX Creator/Webmaster
March 14, 2003
