BY AMID AMIDI
Cartoon Network Has Arrived
You may not know this, but August 24, 2000 was a very important day for anybody who enjoys cartoons -- real cartoons that is. This was the day that the new Cartoon Network Studios had their official grand opening. Now studios come and go as frequently as holiday sales at department stores, but Cartoon Network has the potential of going down in history as one of cartoondom's seminal studios alongside Disney, Warner Bros, UPA and Hanna Barbera. In fact, the latter studio started by Bill and Joe was the incubator for Cartoon Network Studios. Hanna Barbera produced many of the network's shows throughout the '90s including DEXTER'S LABORATORY, THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, JOHNNY BRAVO and COW & CHICKEN. However, with ever-climbing ratings and a solid outlook on the future, the network decided to welcome in the new century with their very own production studio.
What makes Cartoon Network so unique is their commitment to creator-driven cartoons, a buzzword frequently misused by other modern studios and one that I've always found rather ridiculous. After all, shouldn't any artistic endeavor be "creator-driven"? That's like calling a Picasso painting "artist-painted" or a Duke Ellington piece "musician-composed." Duh! But while shows on Fox Kids, Kids WB!, ABC, Nickelodeon and elsewhere continue heading straight down the toilet, Cartoon Network has been headed in the right "creator-driven" direction since premiering in 1992, and remains one of the few beacons of quality in today's otherwise miserable TV animation scene.
I was lucky enough to attend the studio's opening party on August 24, and can happily report that the vibe at the studio is incredibly upbeat and energetic. The studio itself is a three-story building located in the heart of Burbank's Media Center district, right across from the police station (definitely handy for when animation artists go on their murderous rampages). The building's architectural style can best be described as industrial-chic with lots of exposed wood, cement, pipes and plastic.
Unlike Nickelodeon Studios, which resides only a mile away, Cartoon Network's setup doesn't reek of superficial wacky, cooky fun. Sure, the Nick building may have lots of crazy cartoon characters hanging off the side of their building, and garish colors meant to suggest fun, but their cartoons rarely reflect the same sense of free-spirited fun. Conversely, the Cartoon Network building is subdued and cool, perfectly mirroring the hip, adult sensibility of the network's shows. On the roof of the Cartoon Network building there's a little patio for outdoor lunchs and parties, and if you look straight up, you'll see an ominous black office building with the words DIC on the side. Yep, the kings of animated schlock loom large only a block away, serving as a grim reminder about what happens when your studio puts producers and writers before artists.
What follows is a little album of opening night photos I took highlighting just a few of the many talents who are working at the new studio, as well as some party guests.
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Genndy Tartakovsky
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Craig McCracken
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The next project for DEXTER'S LAB creator Genndy Tartakovsky is the stylish action-adventure series SAMURAI JACK. As for POWERPUFF GIRLS creator Craig McCracken, he's busy working on the upcoming big screen POWERPUFF feature.
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Jerry Beck & Bob Camp
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Phil Stapleton & Expectant Wife
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Historian Jerry Beck recently completed a "Lost WB Cartoons" TOONHEADS special for Cartoon Network, and he's got another special in the works. Bob Camp created the short LUCKY LYDIA which aired this past summer on the network. Phil Stapleton is the creator of a promising forthcoming short, DA SLIMBONES.
Bigtime Cartoon Network exec Linda Simensky,
and talented husband-and-wife team Chris Reccardi
and Lynne Naylor, both working on SAMURAI JACK.
(And can you recognize the magazine Lynne is holding?)
It's Jerry Beck again, along with historian Harvey Deneroff
and the amazing Paul Dini, of animated BATMAN fame.
COMING UP: A review of THE BRIDE OF MONKEYSUIT, a graphic anthology produced by East Coast animators, and a holiday shopping guide for cartoon fanatics.
Copyright © 1996-2001 Amid Amidi. All rights reserved.
The drawing in the ANIMATION BLAST View header
is a self-caricature by Freddie Moore.
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