100 Fun Facts About Cartoon Network

Which cartoon dog was the official host of Cartoon Network when it signed on in October 1992?

Droopy. The mournful MGM hound fronted an hour-long guide to the new channel at noon on 1 October 1992, and the first cartoon it showed was Bugs Bunny's Rhapsody Rabbit.

In 1991 Ted Turner bought the library of which animation studio, home of Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones?

Hanna-Barbera. The $320 million deal topped up a vault that already held Tom and Jerry and the early Bugs Bunny cartoons, and a year later Turner launched Cartoon Network to show them.

Cartoon Network launched in 1992 from the headquarters of Ted Turner's broadcasting empire in which US city?

Atlanta. Turner's company was based there, but the channel's own cartoons came to be made on the other side of the country, at a studio in Burbank.

Which 1994 parody talk show made from recycled 1960s superhero footage was an early Cartoon Network original?

Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Short of money, its makers re-edited clips of a 1966 superhero cartoon into a chat show whose host quizzed real celebrities on a monitor; it later helped launch Adult Swim.

Which 1995 anthology of shorts launched many of Cartoon Network's first original series?

What a Cartoon! Its creator promised the network 48 shorts as 48 chances 'to succeed or fail', and the hits, from Johnny Bravo to Courage the Cowardly Dog, were ordered as full series.

Which animator created both Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack for Cartoon Network?

Genndy Tartakovsky. Dexter grew out of his student films at CalArts, and the boy genius's thick accent echoes the one he was teased for as a child immigrant in Chicago.

In Dexter's Laboratory, what is the name of the older sister who keeps wrecking Dexter's experiments?

Dee Dee. She came first: the show's creator drew a tall ballerina for a student film, then invented a short, boxy scientist brother to be her opposite.

What was the original title of Craig McCracken's student film that became The Powerpuff Girls?

Whoopass Stew! Its heroines were the Whoopass Girls, powered by a can of Whoopass; Cartoon Network would not sell a children's show with that word in it, so the girls and their secret ingredient were renamed.

The Powerpuff Girls' arch-enemy Mojo Jojo is what kind of animal?

A chimpanzee. As Jojo he was Professor Utonium's unruly lab assistant, and it was his shove that tipped Chemical X into the mix; the blast that made the girls also swelled his brain.

In which fictional city do the Powerpuff Girls fight crime?

Townsville. Its helpless Mayor keeps a hotline to the girls and rings it for every emergency, while his far cleverer secretary, Ms. Bellum, does the real thinking.

Johnny Bravo's home, Aron City, is named after the middle name of which singer he is modelled on?

Elvis Presley. Creator Van Partible first drew the character as an Elvis impersonator for his college thesis film, Mess O' Blues, and later mixed in the looks of James Dean.

Who voiced Cow, Chicken and the villainous Red Guy in the 1997 series Cow and Chicken?

Charlie Adler. He played the squabbling brother and sister and their tormentor alike; the Red Guy is a comic Devil who turns up in a new disguise to scam them.

In Ed, Edd n Eddy, the boys' endless scams are all aimed at buying which sweet?

Jawbreakers. Creator Danny Antonucci, known for adult cartoons, made the series on a dare to prove he could write for children, and it ran for more than ten years.

In Ed, Edd n Eddy, what surname do the sisters Lee, Marie and May share?

Kanker. Lee, Marie and May live in a nearby trailer park and have decided that the three Eds are their boyfriends, which makes them the one thing every kid in the cul-de-sac fears.

Courage the Cowardly Dog lives in the fictional town of Nowhere, in which state?

Kansas. Muriel Bagge found the abandoned puppy and took him home to the farm there; her husband Eustace has resented the dog ever since.

Which Oscar-nominated 1996 short was the pilot for Courage the Cowardly Dog?

The Chicken from Outer Space. John R. Dilworth's short lost the Oscar to Wallace & Gromit's A Close Shave, but it earned Courage a full series three years later.

Which villain from a 1960s superhero cartoon was the first host of Toonami in 1997?

Moltar. The helmeted lava man introduced the block's shows for two years, then handed over in 1999 to TOM, a robot voiced for most of his run by Steve Blum.

Which two anime were among the first Toonami brought to American afternoons in the late 1990s?

Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. Both arrived in 1998 as reruns of English dubs first shown elsewhere, and new episodes of each were ordered once they had settled into the after-school slot.

Which anime series was the first shown on Adult Swim, on the block's opening night in September 2001?

Cowboy Bebop. It went out at midnight, two hours after the block opened with an episode of Home Movies that its original network had shelved.

Samurai Jack pits a samurai flung into the future against which shape-shifting demon?

Aku. Mako voiced the demon until his death in 2006, so when the series returned for a final season in 2017 the part passed to Greg Baldwin.

In Codename: Kids Next Door, Sector V fights 'adult and teenage tyranny' from what kind of base?

A treehouse. The series owes its existence to viewers: in 2001 its pilot won a Cartoon Network poll in which the audience chose which of several pilots would become a full show.

Which Japanese band performed the English and Japanese Teen Titans (2003) theme songs?

Puffy AmiYumi. The pop duo recorded the theme in English and in Japanese, and a year later Cartoon Network gave them a cartoon of their own, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi.

In Teen Titans, Starfire is an alien princess from which planet?

Tamaran. Starfire is heir to the planet's throne, and her sunny puzzlement at Earth customs hides one of the team's fiercest fighters.

Which software was mainly used to animate Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (2004)?

Adobe Flash. Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust dreamed up the series after adopting dogs from a shelter and imagining a similar home for imaginary friends that children had outgrown.

In Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, what is the name of Mac's blue imaginary friend?

Bloo, short for Blooregard Q. Kazoo. Mac's mother decided he was too old for an imaginary friend, so Bloo moved into Foster's, where he stays safe from adoption as long as Mac visits every day.

In Ben 10 (2005), what is the alien device on ten-year-old Ben Tennyson's wrist?

The Omnitrix. It turns up in a crashed alien pod on the first night of a summer road trip, clamps onto Ben's wrist and lets him turn into ten different aliens.

Ben 10 was created by which collective of four comic-book writers, who went on to make Generator Rex?

Man of Action. Its writers had earlier created a Marvel comics team, Big Hero 6, which Disney later turned into an Oscar-winning animated film.

Billy and Mandy win the Grim Reaper as their 'best friend forever' after beating him at what?

A limbo contest. Grim had come for Billy's pet hamster, and the children played him for its life; losing left the Reaper bound to them as a most unwilling best friend.

In Cartoon Network's Chowder, the young hero is an apprentice at whose catering company?

Mung Daal's. Chowder's appetite and haste wreck most of the orders, yet the old chef keeps teaching him, while rival chef Endive's apprentice Panini insists that Chowder is her boyfriend.

In The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, what kind of animal is Bubbie, who raised Flapjack?

A whale. Bubbie found Flapjack adrift as a baby and raised him as her own, and he and the old sea captain K'nuckles still live inside her mouth.

Adventure Time began as a short made for which Frederator anthology series?

Random! Cartoons. Nickelodeon, which had commissioned the short, passed on a full series even after it went viral online, so its makers took it to Cartoon Network instead.

In Adventure Time, Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of what?

Ooo. The magical land is what remains of Earth a thousand years after the Mushroom War, a nuclear conflict that wiped out civilisation.

In Regular Show, Mordecai is a blue jay; what animal is Rigby?

A raccoon. Mordecai dates from the creator's student days, but Rigby began as a Post-it doodle of a raccoon hula-hooping and grew into the irresponsible one of the pair.

In Cartoon Network's Regular Show, what kind of creature is the immortal handyman Skips?

A yeti. He is voiced by Mark Hamill, and he skips everywhere, never walking, in memory of a girlfriend he lost centuries ago.

In The Amazing World of Gumball, blue cat Gumball Watterson's adoptive brother Darwin is what kind of animal?

A goldfish. Darwin was the family pet until he sprouted legs, and the Wattersons simply took him in as one of their children.

In Cartoon Network's Regular Show, what kind of object is Benson, the short-tempered boss?

A gumball machine. Benson runs the park for its owner and spends most episodes on the verge of firing Mordecai and Rigby for dodging their work.

Which Powerpuff Girl is the trio's self-appointed 'commander and leader'?

Blossom. The level-headed redhead plans the trio's battles and looks after their public image, leaving the temper to Buttercup and the sweetness to Bubbles.

Which British singer voices Garnet, leader of the Crystal Gems, in Rebecca Sugar's 2013 series?

Estelle. Best known for the hit American Boy, she plays the team's cool-headed leader, later revealed to be two smaller Gems, Ruby and Sapphire, fused by love.

Which Lord of the Rings actor voiced Wirt in Cartoon Network's 2014 miniseries Over the Garden Wall?

Elijah Wood. The series was Cartoon Network's first miniseries: its creator pitched it in 2006 and waited eight years to see its ten short chapters air in a single week.

We Bare Bears' Grizz, Panda and Ice Bear live around which West Coast city?

San Francisco. The three brothers, who began in Daniel Chong's webcomic The Three Bare Bears, cross the city in their trademark 'bear stack', one on top of another.

Craig of the Creek's creators had previously written for which Cartoon Network show set in Beach City?

Steven Universe. Matt Burnett and Ben Levin were writers its creator asked for by name; they later left to make Craig of the Creek, which ran for six seasons.

Which media conglomerate took ownership of Cartoon Network in a 2022 merger?

Warner Bros. Discovery. AT&T spun off WarnerMedia, the company that had absorbed Ted Turner's cable networks, and merged it with Discovery in April 2022.

Which sister channel began in December 1992 as a Cartoon Network weekend block of vintage cartoons?

Boomerang. As Cartoon Network filled up with its own originals, the vintage library was moved out, and in April 2000 the weekend block became a full channel for the oldies.

In Ed, Edd n Eddy, which cul-de-sac kid's best friend is a wooden board called Plank?

Jonny. The show's creator insisted that Plank stay an ordinary board and nothing more, so he never says a word on screen and Jonny has to report whatever 'Plank says'.

Which TNT executive did Ted Turner pick to create Cartoon Network and serve as its first president?

Betty Cohen. At the launch she argued that nearly half the audience for cartoons was adult, and she warned that the channel would lose more than $20 million before it turned a profit.

Which rock musician hosted Destroy Build Destroy, the demolition game show Cartoon Network launched in 2009?

Andrew W.K. The 'Party Hard' singer presided as two teams of teenagers wrecked a vehicle, built machines from the debris and, if they won, blew up their rivals' creation.

Which Saturday-morning Cartoon Network block, launched in 2012, was devoted to series based on DC Comics heroes?

DC Nation. Announced in 2011, it reached the air the following March with Green Lantern and Young Justice, and one set of its comic shorts grew into Teen Titans Go!

The Amazing World of Gumball was made at Cartoon Network's European animation studio in which city?

London. The studio opened there in 2007, and Gumball became its calling card: a series that deliberately mixes drawn, puppet, computer and live-action images, often within one scene.

What Sunday-evening family-film block did Cartoon Network introduce in September 2021?

ACME Night. It was named after the fictional company whose gadgets fill the Road Runner cartoons, and it opened on 19 September 2021 with the superhero film Shazam!

Which organisation produced Big Bag, Cartoon Network's 1996 preschool puppet show?

Children's Television Workshop, the makers of Sesame Street. The show's host was Chelli, a Muppet dog built by the Jim Henson Company, who ran a general store with his friend Bag.

Powerpuff Girls Z, a 2006 remake about three ordinary teenage girls, was made in which country?

Japan's Toei Animation made the series to mark its own 50th anniversary. Cartoon Network helped plan it and owns the rights, yet it never aired on the channel in the United States.

Roger L. Jackson, Mojo Jojo in The Powerpuff Girls, also voices the killer in which horror series?

Scream's killer, Ghostface, has spoken with Roger L. Jackson's voice since the franchise began in 1996. He voices the taunting phone calls whichever character turns out to be behind the mask.

Christine Cavanaugh, Dexter's first voice in Dexter's Laboratory, also voiced which 1995 film pig?

Babe, the farm pig who wants to do a sheepdog's job, spoke with Christine Cavanaugh's voice in the 1995 film. She was also the original Chuckie Finster in Rugrats.

Which future creator of a hit animated series was a writer on Johnny Bravo in the late 1990s?

Seth MacFarlane wrote for Johnny Bravo before creating Family Guy, which reached Fox in 1999. Butch Hartman, later the creator of The Fairly OddParents, worked on the same first season.

Cancelled in 2008, Toonami returned in 2012 after a surprise one-night revival on which date?

April Fools' Day 2012 brought Toonami back as Adult Swim's yearly prank, in place of the cult film The Room. The block came back as a weekly fixture that May, four years after its cancellation.

Sunny Bridges, the music teacher in Class of 3000, was voiced by a member of which hip-hop duo?

Outkast's André 3000 co-created the series and voiced Sunny Bridges, a jazz and blues star who teaches at a performing arts school. He co-wrote its theme song too.

Which Futurama cast member voices Jake the Dog, the shape-shifting sidekick of Adventure Time?

John DiMaggio is also the voice of Bender, the robot in Futurama, and of the villain Dr. Drakken in Kim Possible. His Jake can stretch, shrink or mould his body into almost any shape.

Courage the Cowardly Dog, Cartoon Network's easily frightened beagle, has fur of which colour?

Pink fur marks out Courage, a beagle who was abandoned as a puppy after his parents were sent into outer space.

Joe Murray, creator of Cartoon Network's Camp Lazlo, earlier made which 1990s Nickelodeon cartoon?

Rocko's Modern Life ended production in 1996, and Joe Murray brought many of its crew back for Camp Lazlo. He joked that his main tactic for recruiting them was coercion.

In Adventure Time, which sentient video game console-shaped robot lives with Finn and Jake?

BMO is voiced by Niki Yang, a former storyboard artist on the series. She also plays Jake's girlfriend Lady Rainicorn, speaking those lines in Korean.

In Ben 10, which alien warlord exiled from his home world is Ben Tennyson's recurring arch-nemesis?

Vilgax was injured early on and spent most of the first season in a regeneration chamber, emerging for the season finale. He was exiled from his own planet for being ruthless and power hungry.

In The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, the Grim Reaper speaks with which distinctive accent?

Jamaican-accented Grim is voiced by Greg Eagles. The Reaper is the pair's best friend by obligation, and serves them only grudgingly.

In Regular Show, which lollipop-shaped gentleman is the son of park owner Mr. Maellard?

Pops shares a voice with the boss: Sam Marin, a college classmate of the series creator, plays Pops, Benson and Muscle Man alike.

In Teen Titans (2003), which mysterious supervillain schemes to turn Robin into his apprentice?

Slade is the comics assassin Deathstroke, referred to on the series only by his first name. Hellboy star Ron Perlman provided the voice.

Which voice actress played Bubbles in The Powerpuff Girls, Raven in Teen Titans and Ben in Ben 10?

Tara Strong was also Timmy Turner in The Fairly OddParents and Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. She began voicing Ben Tennyson in 2005.

Which spin-off about a brilliant hero and a dim baboon began as a segment of Cow and Chicken?

I Am Weasel ran as the third segment of Cow and Chicken episodes from 1997 to 1999, then became a series of its own. The Red Guy crossed over to antagonise both casts.

In My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Adam is sent to a zoo school when his surname is misspelled as what?

Lion is what the paperwork said, though the boy's real surname is Lyon. The 12-year-old human ends up at a middle school for zoo animals, paired in gym class with a spider monkey.

Which 2001 Cartoon Network series teamed Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and three others?

Justice League ran for two seasons and was the first of its line of superhero cartoons made fully with digital ink and paint. A follow-up with a far larger roster arrived in 2004.

Cartoon Network's first logo, used from 1992, set its name on what black-and-white pattern?

A checkerboard of black and white squares carried the name until 2004. Later redesigns kept the motif as a tribute to that first logo.

Which original Mad TV cast member voices the title hero of Samurai Jack?

Phil LaMarr spent five seasons on Mad TV and decided to become a voice actor after joining it. He is also Hermes Conrad in Futurama and the teen superhero Static in Static Shock.

Which creator of Regular Show also provides the voices of Mordecai and Hi-Five Ghost?

J. G. Quintel voices both characters himself. Before Regular Show he was a writer on Camp Lazlo and creative director of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.

In Adventure Time, which thousand-year-old vampire and rock music fan is voiced by Olivia Olson?

Marceline the Vampire Queen was given a miniseries of her own, Stakes, in 2015. Its opening puts her at the centre and has the theme song sung by her voice actress.

Which Cartoon Network series stars a crime lord reduced to a brain and stomach attached to a bear?

Evil Con Carne began in 2001 as half of the show Grim & Evil, usually sandwiched between two Billy & Mandy shorts. Both segments were later spun off into series of their own.

In Over the Garden Wall, half-brothers Wirt and Greg get lost in a strange forest with what name?

The Unknown is where the boys meet Beatrice, an irritable bluebird who travels with them, and an elderly Woodsman voiced by Christopher Lloyd.

Which Emmy-winning 2003 Cartoon Network micro-series followed Jedi in chapters only minutes long?

Clone Wars told its Star Wars story in episodes of just two to three minutes at first. Both of its volumes won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program.

The heroes of Teen Titans (2003) guard which West Coast metropolis from their T-shaped tower?

Jump City lies just across the water from Titans Tower, which stands on an island offshore and holds the team's living quarters, command center and training facilities.

In Codename: Kids Next Door, which fire-wielding villain in a silhouetted suit is the organisation's arch-nemesis?

Father is the adoptive parent of the Delightful Children From Down the Lane. They were once the missing operatives of Sector Z, whom he kidnapped and brainwashed.

In Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, which strict rule follower is the house's business manager?

Mr. Herriman is an elderly lop-eared rabbit, dreamed up long ago by Madame Foster herself. Her granddaughter handles the day-to-day running of the home.

Which Cartoon Network series follows a magical man who turns up in an RV to help children with their problems?

Uncle Grandpa claims to be the uncle and grandpa of everyone in the world. His companions include Pizza Steve, a loud, arrogant slice of pizza who believes he is extremely cool.

On Total Drama Island, which host puts twenty-two campers through eight weeks at Camp Wawanakwa?

Chris McLean closely resembles Jeff Probst, long-time host of Survivor, the reality show the whole series parodies. His assistant, the camp's cook, is his best friend despite being mistreated at times.

Which comedian voices Ice Bear, the stoic, monotone member of the trio in We Bare Bears?

Demetri Martin plays Ice Bear opposite Eric Edelstein's Grizzly and Bobby Moynihan's Panda. Patton Oswalt voices their rival Nom Nom, a koala who is an internet sensation.

Which Cartoon Network series follows a boy and his best friends Jeff and Sumo in Aberdale, Arizona?

Clarence Wendle lives with his divorced mother Mary and her boyfriend Chad. Some episodes leave him aside to follow his classmates and the other citizens of the town.

Which trio did Mojo Jojo create as evil male counterparts to the Powerpuff Girls?

Rowdyruff Boys are what you get from the nursery-rhyme ingredients for little boys plus radioactive toilet water. Their self-proclaimed leader is called Brick.

Which voice actress plays Mandy in Billy & Mandy and Frankie in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?

Grey DeLisle is also the long-serving voice of Daphne Blake in the Scooby-Doo franchise, a role she inherited from her friend and teacher Mary Kay Bergman.

Ed, Edd n Eddy was produced by a.k.a. Cartoon, an animation studio located in which Canadian city?

Vancouver is home to a.k.a. Cartoon, the studio Danny Antonucci founded in 1994. He drew on his own childhood in an Italian immigrant family in Canada when writing the cul-de-sac kids.

Which 1999 Dexter's Laboratory TV film sends Dexter through time to meet his future selves?

Ego Trip was made as the intended series finale, before the show was revived. Robots arrive through a time machine, and Dexter sets off to discover how cool he becomes.

In The Amazing World of Gumball, which of the Wattersons is Gumball's intellectual younger sister?

Anais and her stay-at-home dad are both rabbits, while Gumball takes after their workaholic mother, a cat.

Ben Bocquelet built The Amazing World of Gumball's cast from characters rejected in which industry?

Advertising had left Ben Bocquelet with a stock of rejected characters. When his studio asked every employee to pitch a show, he combined them into one family-and-school concept.

In Generator Rex, which microscopic machines infected all life on Earth after an explosion?

Nanites mutate their hosts into creatures known as E.V.O.s when they activate. Rex can control his own, and can switch off those inside others to cure them.

In Samurai Jack, which ally of Jack fights with an enchanted sword and has a machine gun for a leg?

The Scotsman's blade is an enchanted claymore. He turns up beside Jack as a playable fighter in the crossover game Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion.

In Infinity Train, each passenger's unresolved problems are tracked by a glowing what on their hand?

A number glows on every passenger's hand and goes down as they face their emotional problems. When it reaches zero, a portal opens and they can leave the train and go home.

Which voice actor plays both the alien hero of Invader Zim and dim-witted Billy in Billy & Mandy?

Richard Horvitz also voices Billy's dad, Harold, in the same series. Earlier he was the original Alpha 5 in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

In Megas XLR, mechanic Coop finds a giant robot from the future in a junkyard in which US state?

New Jersey gets the robot by accident. Its head is blown off in a future battle, its time drive is damaged, and it lands in a Jersey City junkyard in the 1930s.

Which star of the Bill & Ted films directed the 2007 live-action film Ben 10: Race Against Time?

Alex Winter, Bill to Keanu Reeves's Ted, directed it as a Cartoon Network original film. He also gave himself a part on screen, as Constantine Jacobs.

Which short-lived 2009 Cartoon Network block replaced scripted shows stalled by the writers' strike?

CN Real was a block of live-action reality shows on a channel built on animation. Ratings were low, and most of its lineup was removed later the same year.

Which Cartoon Network series has General Specific chasing its title character to power a ray gun?

Sheep in the Big City runs on wordplay like that: General Specific is assisted by a henchman named Private Public, and his weapon has a sheep-shaped hole in it.

Which 2009 finale to Ed, Edd n Eddy sends the Eds on the road to find Eddy's elder brother?

Big Picture Show gave the long-running series an 89-minute finale. Eddy's brother, who goes unnamed, is voiced in it by the show's own voice director, Terry Klassen.

In Camp Lazlo, the Bean Scouts' poorly run summer camp is named after which organ?

Kidney is the name on the camp's sign. Just across the lake sits Acorn Flats, the campsite of the all-female Squirrel Scouts.

In Chowder, the young apprentice's pet, a living stink cloud, is named after which Korean dish?

Kimchi the pet is a gassy cloud named for the dish's odour, and lives in a cage beside his owner's bed. His vocal effects were supplied by the show's creator, C. H. Greenblatt.

In Cow and Chicken, the siblings' human parents, Mom and Dad, are only ever seen in what way?

From the waist down is all viewers ever see of Mom and Dad. The show implies there is nothing more to them: no torsos, heads or arms.