The Cat & Birdy Warneroonie Pinky Brainy Big Cartoonie Show (renamed The Cat & Bunny Warneroonie SuperLooney Big Cartoonie Show during its second season, also known as The Big Cartoonie Show for short), is a compilation program that aired on Kids' WB! from January 16, 1999, to October 23, 1999. It followed a theme similar to previous Saturday morning cartoons featuring Looney Tunes shorts (an example being The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show, which was still airing on ABC at the time).
Format and History[]
Originally running for an hour and a half in length, the first four episodes featured Looney Tunes shorts alongside short segments originally featured on Animaniacs, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Pinky and the Brain, and Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain.
After the first four episodes, when Kids WB! began airing Pokémon on February 13, 1999, The Big Cartoonie Show was reduced to a half-hour format and showed only Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain segments. Notably, it was through The Big Cartoonie Show that most episodes of the latter program were first shown, as the episodes had already been paid for prior to its removal from the network's schedule. The ending to the first season of The Big Cartoonie Show would mark the last time that Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain would air on the network.
Despite the fact that most of the show was made up of old material, the show was popular enough to garner a second season. In its second season, the show's full name was changed to The Cat & Bunny Warneroonie SuperLooney Big Cartoonie Show and featured shorts from Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and Pinky and the Brain on Saturday mornings. In this season, the show was given wrap-around segments hosted by two cartoon kids named Karen and Kirby; who were voiced by Cheryl Chase and Richard Horvitz. These segments were co-created, co-produced, and co-written by animation-historian Jerry Beck and animator/author George Maestri.[1][2] The Big Cartoonie Show had also gained a spot on Kids' WB!'s weekday afternoon block, where the Looney Tunes shorts were also featured.
The show was cancelled on October 23, 1999, with reruns continuing until August 24, 2000. This program marked that last time that Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain and the Looney Tunes shorts would be shown on Kids' WB! in most markets.[note 1]
In 2023, the series made an unexpected resurgence, airing on Nova TV in Croatia (albeit cropped to widescreen), including the elusive second season (first twenty-seven episodes only). The series was reran from July - August.
Episodes[]
See Episode Guide (The Big Cartoonie Show)
|
Season |
# of Episodes |
Original Airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 19 | 1999 | |
| Season 2 | 27 (Found, final four episodes count unknown) | 1999 | |
Trivia[]
- Animaniacs creator Tom Ruegger was not fond of this format, he liked to refer to it as "the end times".
- The Amblin Entertainment logo appears in the program's closing logos (which was actually reused in the end credits of Animaniacs) despite having no involvement.
- The compilation program was popular enough to warrant a tie-in toyline at Wendy's in 2000, consisting of Animaniacs/Pinky and the Brain and Tiny Toon Adventures-themed toys.
Gallery[]
Logos[]
Footage[]
See Also[]
- "Big Cartoonie Show Theme"- The theme song to this program
Notes[]
- ↑ There are disputed reports of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain in particular airing for a very short time in some WB markets after The Big Cartoonie Show ended, and having their final Kids' WB! reruns under their standard series listings.
References[]
- ↑ About Cartoon Research and Jerry Beck. Cartoon Research. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ↑ Amid Amidi - "It's Show Time! The Fall TV Preview." Animation World. Published September 1, 1999. Retrieved August 11, 2023.