Timeline | Reflections | Comments

I was a fan of Toon Zone before Toon Zone even existed.

Maybe I should explain.

Back in late nineties, when I was struggling to polish off a graduate studies program, I struggled to keep my sanity by throwing myself into cartoons and computer games. My prime web resource for the former was Brian Cruz's WB site, which had the latest news, rumors, schedules and whatnot. Sat at the top of my bookmarks and there was rarely a day when I didn't log on breathlessly to see what was happening. Imagine my chagrin when one day it just stopped being updated.

And imagine my delight when I found that it had merged and morphed into the larger, more comprehensive, more professional, and altogether cooler place called "Toon Zone." It wasn't just one guy with a computer and a clutch of news releases anymore. It was a whole community. A community of people who were like me. Actually, it was kind of scary.

That's only half the story, actually.

The other half was my discovery, a year or so later, of "World's Finest," a Batman-Superman site run by a clever and passionate chap calling himself "Dick Grayson." (That's the inestimable Jim Harvey, in case you don't know.) Batman: The Animated Series was my own little obsession—what Batman fan doesn't find himself a little obsessive, like his hero—and it had far and away the best discussion boards I had ever come across. Fans who were smart, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and polite. Lurking soon turned into posting.

And then chocolate collided with peanut butter (I am showing my age, aren't I?): Toon Zone invited World's Finest into the fold. So neatly did the two blend that I've never seen any point in looking for any other homes. I've been at Toon Zone ever since, helping out in any way I could.

It's funny that I should have started out as a reader of Brian's news, hanging off of every update, and now I'm actually helping put it out. Actually, it's not really funny as it is humble-making. Toon Zone has been good to me for so long that it's a tremendous honor to try to give some of it back. If you knew what I was going through back before Toon Zone was actually "Toon Zone," you'd understand that I will never feel like I have adequately repaid Brian and Jim and the rest of the crew here.

Jay Allman
Toon Zone News Editor
Webmaster, The Animated Batman

I remember first meeting Brian Cruz when he was bluejayway1 on the AOL Kids' WB! message boards. He was talking about new shows coming to the network and got me intrigued. The year was 1997 and I was only 11. So, obviously intrigued about how he knew this type of stuff, I contacted him via e-mail. He was very polite and told me that he ran a website, Brian Cruz's WB Cartoons Page.

The site was hosted on NYU's server, I think. The design was simplistic, but I was certainly hooked on it. Brian had been so friendly to me before that I started sending him "news" that I found around the web. Soon thereafter in the summer of 1998, Brian's site merged with Harley's WBC Club and Comics sites, and Colin's schedules website. They called it Toon Zone.

At 12 years old, I became a part of something that I could have never imagined would become so big. As mentioned, I would send in news whenever I found anything and Brian was very kind enough to post everything and put a credit to myself. I also found the WBC Club board, which included the likes of Craig, Siren, Gookie, Sharklady, Loud Kiddington, PennyCat, Dick Grayson, among others. I finally felt part of something as I posted first as 'Vincent,' then later as 'Rembrant' and 'Rembrandt.'

It was quite an experience and I got to know the owners, particularly Brian and Eileen very well. Eventually, I joined the site full time and helped out with their old news division with Craig. In the summer of 2002, I took over their new news division and later departed in the fall of that year.

I will never forget meeting Brian and Eileen in person last summer at Anime Expo New York. We got to see the premiere of the Cowboy Bebop movie. It was certainly something that I will never forget.

Though I am no longer with the site, I will never forget my experiences at Toon Zone. Toon Zone was more than just a cartoon website to me. It was an extended family. Everyone had their own personality and was a character in their own right. I was 11 going on 12 when I was met Brian online and now I am 17 going on 18.

Whereas cartoons were my concern before, looking at colleges and such take up most of my time -- when not running my own animation website. Toon Zone offered something that I wanted to continue.

The experiences there have helped to make sites like my own become what they are today. The passion, the love and the care that was put into making a site like Toon Zone have helped me and other webmasters at sites such as Animated Bliss and DVD Toons continue pushing on. Make no mistake, no one can ever emulate what Toon Zone has done. Toon Zone will always remain the first, one of the lone pioneers in the online animation community.

It's a testament to the love and dedication of the owners to be celebrating this special occasion. I would personally like to thank Brian Cruz, Eileen Delgadillo and Colin Feder, as well as the entire Toon Zone staff for giving me the opportunity to be a part of one of the best communities around. You have inspired me to do much more than I ever thought possible.

Happy Birthday Toon Zone!

Best always,
Vincent Benenati aka Rembrandt ;)
Webmaster, Animation Insider

Wow, five years of Toon Zone already. I feel old. I've pretty much been here since the beginning (or it at least feels that way). A lot has happened in five years. My Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies site has expanded to cover almost every topic imaginable (notice how I said "almost"... I'm sure I'll continue to find obscure LT stuff to devote webspace too for years to come!). Without Toon Zone I would never have met all the great folks I know from the Termite Terrace Trading Post and I would have never been able to learn so much about the cartoons and characters of Walter Lantz. I look forward to hanging around Toon Zone for a long time, and look forward to continue meeting new people and learning new things about the greatest cartoons ever made.

Jon Cooke
Webmaster, The Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Page

I've been a fan of cartoons since I was barely old enough to be propped up in front of the TV. And if I could remember back that far, I'm sure I filled many a diaper laughing hysterically at the animated antics of Bugs & Daffy and the rest of the Looney Tunes cast.

So it was only a matter of time before The Great Anvil of Destiny fell and I was introduced to what would become Toon Zone.

It was August, '97 -- I'd had to drop out of college for various reasons and was working a lot just to pay the bills. I had few to no friends. My social life revolved around watching cable TV -- lots of it, but mostly cartoons. But since I was working so much, I videotaped everything. And to avoid taping duplicates of the same episodes, I went online looking for TV schedules and discovered "The Warner Bros Club".

Up until that time, I'd never really had any friends who shared my interest in cartoons. So quite naturally, the WBC became a haven for me (and the friends I made there have been some of the dearest friends I have made in all my life). I became very active in the forum, and soon afterwards began submitting news items as well.

The next year, Toon Zone launched. And the year after that, I was asked the join the staff. My volunteer duties have been various -- sometimes forum moderator (I'm proud to say it was my suggestion that gave "The Story Board" its title), researcher, archivist, web marketing and promotions guy, design and content consultant, but mostly as news reporter, editor and TZ's resident "pseudo-authority" on voice actors.

I've spent many happy hours at Toon Zone: discussing obscure pop culture references in WB cartoons; writing epic-length essays that started as reviews of a single episode; meeting other rabid collectors of 'Animaniacs' and 'Pinky & The Brain' memorabilia; spending two hours editing a one-paragraph news article; wreaking havoc in the chat room masquerading as 'The Incredible Hulk'; and having long-into-the-night deep conversations with other TZ staffers about cartoons and the meaning of life.

Toon Zone and the friends I've made here mean a great deal to me. Some of my favorite memories and accomplishments from the past six years are thanks to Toon Zone. There was that time I wrote an April Fool's Gag about Mark Hamill and a year later it came back and bit me in the butt at the San Diego Comic Con. Oh, and after writing a tribute article in memory of Lorenzo Music (published here at TZ) I was contacted by Garfield's PR dept who asked if I would add a quote from Garfield creator Jim Davis. (And for a while, my article was also linked on the official Garfield.com website.)

And it's all thanks to Toon Zone.

It has always been my pleasure to be a part of Toon Zone, and to contribute in what meager ways that I have. If I had any desire to be rich, I would only wish for it in order to have more free time to contribute here.

But it's been my greatest honor to serve as a staff member, but especially to have the privilege of calling Brian and Eileen my friends. If you two published logs of all the time and money you've invested in Toon Zone, it would utterly astonish and give us all an incredible appreciation for all your efforts (even more than I already have). A world of thanks to you both for all your hard work. (And I'm still waiting for that wedding invitation... ;^)

I'd also like to thank all of the following current and former TZ staffers for their friendship: Colin, Craig Marinaro (the "other" Craig), Romey, Siren (fellow P&TB collector junkie), Jon Cooke, Vince, Jim Harvey, Jay, and the rest of you guys I've gotten to know here over the years whose names my short-term memory can't recall at the moment (you know who you are though).

Furthermore, I'd like to offer a special thanks the production team and cast of 'Freakazoid' for a brilliant and very funny show that helped me to laugh through a horribly difficult year of my life, and to my friends at the WBC that same year whose friendship kept my spirits up (and they never even knew what I was going through).

And in closing, a haiku:

Toon Zone -- haven for
fans of all things cartoony
We all cry, "Huggbees!"

Craig Crumpton
AKA "Gookie" (and "Voiceroy" to you online voice actor fans)
Toon Zone Reporter
Host: The Voice Actor Appreciation Group

This is now my third year with Toon Zone (but it feels like forever) and I have to say I'm loving every minute of it. For me Toon Zone is more than a website about cartoons or a forum, it's more of a family unit. It was December 2001 when I joined and I was pretty much just a lurker back then. I would go on different forums and look at certain topics and then call it a night. I didn't pay much attention to the site after that and moved on with life. How I came across Toon Zone again was by accident. I was looking for Superman:TAS pictures and AOL sent me to The World's Finest website. At the time I didn't know that WF was a hosted website by Toon Zone. I was impressed by WF and once again I stepped into the entry way of animation called Toon Zone.

I was a major fanatic of the DC boards. Back then Justice League had their own forum. My very first thread was "Who would win in a fight: Justice League or X-Men (Evolution version). I couldn't believe all the negative messages I got, lol. After that experience I became a lurker again. I soon came out of my shell and started to post again. I couldn't believe there was actually a website about cartoons and I couldn't believe people liked the same things I did. It was unbelievable. All of my friends would have thought I was immature for still liking cartoons and comics. I remember coming from school I would do my homework and after that I would log on Toon Zone and talk about what was knew in cartoons and comics everyday. This was definitely heaven for all of us "nerds" who still had a thing for animation. I'm happy I took the "Toon Zone Journey" because I met some friends along the way. I have to say Jim Harvey, Barb Gordon, and Amazing Spidey (back then was known as Red Bird) were my first friends on Toon Zone then I met other kind and friendly TZers like Chris Sanders MSX, CaptainInfinity, SJJ, Emerald Archer, and a list of other cool cats. 2001 was a great year for animation and also a great year for me too because I was good as hooked.

2002 was another great year for me. I became a moderator. I don't know how I just did. I was very surprised because I do have a big mouth and hold strong opinions. My Mom cause me a lawyer cause I just have to debate about everything. At that time I was very active in the world of TZ and I was really active in the Comic Book Forum (now called Comic Book Culture). At the time it was the "dream team"... Jim Harvey, Clayface, Delia97, and Dub. Jim was (and still is) just a great guy and him and I would talk on AIM. I always called him the "Giles to my Buffy". One day he asked me would I like to be a moderator at the Comic Book Culture. I've been doing tons of stuff at the forum and when he offered me that position I was ecstatic and shocked. I immediately said "YES!". That was before the responsibility came knocking, haha. I was welcomed into a brand new world and family unit. So I cut the "1288" out of my user's name and became Storm: Toon Zone Moderator.

Over the years this website has evolved in so many ways. I still call myself a newbie because I learning something new everyday. If I meeting new friends, replying to a fun topic, or having the endless "Halle Berry Debate" I'm still having fun. Toon Zone has just began it's journey through icon status. It's just not a website about cartoons anymore it has built on various features of different genres. You can talk about movies, comics and politics on the forums but it still has that one major thing that makes this place rock.... animation. I wish Toon Zone the best of luck in the future and I hope this website expands in so many levels and will finally get the props it deserves. I can't wait to share the next five years with this great website. I would like to thank Brian Cruz, Harley, Romey, Jon Cooke, and Colin (if I'm missing any of the head bosses please forgive me) for giving me and all of the another "nerds" for this great experience we call Toon Zone. Thanks for the memories!

Save me some cake!

Storm a.k.a. Angel Hardy
Toon Zone Moderator
Creator & writer of the upcoming online comic The Diary of Amber Quinnman

Once upon a time when I was an internet newbie, there were three sites I used to check out on a regular basis, Another Universe's Daily Buzz, CybertOOn's Cartoon Campaign, and The Warner Bros. Cartoon Club board. I discovered the WBCC after reading the WB newsgroups, and everybody their in unison agreed that this was the place to be. At first I was just a lurker, reading what others were talking about and kind of shy about what I felt. Then I got active on the boards. And I realized that I could have fun talking about what I liked as well as find people who liked what I enjoyed. Well, Another Universe is a memory (and elements of The Daily Buzz are now seen as Newsarama), CybertOOn's is still around on GeoCities, and The WBCC evolved into Toon Zone about the same time I was getting my feet wet in my own little corner of the net, CN2: Toonami Realm, which launched in July of '98.

I've seen Toon Zone evolve from an all-WB Cartoon site (a rare site that not only celebrated the classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts but also lauded the studios then-modern comedic and action productions) to more diverse showcase of WB/CN-related outlets to a popular animation news and information outlet and meeting place, the largest animation news site outside of the west coast I believe. My site also evolved over the years from the more campaign-oriented CN2 to the Toonami news and information-oriented CNX to its current incarnation, the action-animation-oriented The Bridge, and in September 2000, the destinies of my site and Toon Zone crossed paths as CNX became a part of the Toon Zone family, allowing me to grow and become a little more opinionated. Because of the added room for growth, I experimented a little at the site. In 2000, I created a 'zine-like section dedicated to action outside of Toonami called Absolution Station, and in 2002, I expanded my Toonami coverage to a new section called Toonami Satellite. Both sections inspired me (and actions by Cartoon Network convienced me) to break away from the CNX brand and towards The Bridge, where I break down and combine elements to what I hope will become an action-animation commentary site, doing what others are doing for comedic animation. In 2002, the Toonami Forum became THE ultimate destination for Toonami fanatics and became the home of the next generation of revolutionaries, soldiers willing to spread to vision of the Alliance.

It's an honor to be a part of collective that includes great sites like Matthew and Jon's Looney Tunes pages, Jim's World's Finest sites, and the Animated Diversions comics, among others. The saying is almost becoming cliche, but man, it's been a long, strange trip these last five years at Toon Zone. Happy 5th anniversary, and if the fates allow, we'll celebrate the next five years.

Jeff Harris
Webmaster, The Bridge

I guess you could say I came for the schedules, but stayed for the friends. I first pursued Toon Zone to find out when new episodes of Batman would air, and ghosted the message board. The Warner Bros. Club intruiged me, and I was quickly sucked in. I remember my first conversation was with "Gookie" about Animaniacs that went on for about twenty posts before we both caved. I was hooked. I found a great group of people who loved cartoons, just like me. Since they were so open and friendly, I decided I'd stick around.

Cut to five years later. Toon Zone now hosts my The World's Finestwebsite and message boards and I'm still friends with people I met five years ago. It was Toon Zone that inspired me to start my own website, and it's a huge success thanks to the backing that Brian, Eileen, and Colin have given over the years. Toon Zone is a true haven for animation fans. I honestly haven't found a better site on the net. I know that sounds biased because of my involvement of the site, but it's true. Ask anyone who visits Toon Zone, and they'll say just that.

Toon Zone is a huge part of my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Jim Harvey
Webmaster, The World's Finest

At that time I first discovered Toon Zone, around 1998, the site was mostly a hub for fans of 1990's Warner animation, such as Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain and Batman. It had a message board section for fans of these cartoons, and because of my love of the "Pinky and the Brain" and "Batman" animated series, then airing on Kid's WB!, I joined and went by the username "beepbeep", a nod to the Road Runner.

Matthew Hunter's Unofficial Looney Tunes Page began as a fan tribute to the classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts in June of 1999. The original page was hosted by GeoCities, and it was my idea to create a fan site that had a more historically accurate and informative approach to the cartoons. Others at the time were merely single page Tweety tributes or sites with cut-and-paste information from books or from other sites. I was encouraged to do my own site by members of the Termite Terrace Trading Post internet forum, including Jon Cooke, creator of the forum and its host site, the Unofficial Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Page.

Over the next year I added pages with information on Claude Cat, Speedy Gonzales, and other characters that were given little or no internet attention at the time. Various and sundry other characters followed.

In 2001 I moved the page to the webspace provided by my internet service, which offered more bandwidth and file storage. By that time the site was getting noticed, including by past and current creative talents involved with the classic Warner Bros. cartoon characters. I have had the privilege of conducting online interviews with many of them since. About the same time, I was elected a moderator of the Termite Terrace Trading Post, which had joined Toon Zone around 2000.

The Termite Terrace forum in itself has been a great experience. Without it I might have never started a website on Looney Tunes or stayed with Toon Zone as long as I have. I joined thinking I knew about these cartoons, and soon learned that I had no idea. Through the forum I have learned and shared information and discussed my love of classic animation, as well as collected and traded films on tape with its members.

Early in 2002 my site was invited to Toon Zone as well, and I revamped and expanded it for the move. With the help of Brian Cruz, Colin, and Jon Cooke, Matthew Hunter's Unofficial Looney Tunes Page became the second Toon Zone-hosted site devoted to Looney Tunes, and now shares the Termite Terrace Trading Post discussion forum with the others. The domain name, toolooney.toonzone.net, and slogan "Too Looney!" was a play on words thought up by a long time member of the Toon Zone News staff, in an effort to distinguish it from the addresses of "The Unofficial Looney tunes and Merrie Melodies Page" and "Looney Tunes: The Early Years".

The site now boasts one of the largest image libraries of the Looney Tunes characters on the internet, thanks to the help of many Toon Zone members and internet friends over the years. Among the site's growing number of features are a monthly cartoon synopsis, interviews with creative talents, character articles, and a question and answer page.

In addition to comoderating the Termite Terrace forum and maintaining the site, I also cover much of the classic cartoon news for Toon Zone's news team, co-moderate the Toon Zone "Fun and Games" forum, and have collaborated with Jon Cooke, Pietro Shakarian, Thad Komorowski and Jack Tatay on a project about the odds and ends of Warner Bros. cartoon history, "Misce-Looney-us".

Matthew Hunter
Webmaster, Matthew Hunter's Unofficial Looney Tunes Page

Jon Kavalos
Toon Zone's Lead Graphic Designer

Once upon a time long ago, at a URL far, far away...

The date was 1996. I had just gotten my first taste of the internet and went searching for stuff - and for anyone that knows me at all, I'm one of the biggest Batman fans out there. In my searches I stumbled across a now-defunct site known simply as "The Bat-Board", a simple message board and not much else. This is where I first ran into the likes of Brian, Harley, and Jim Harvey in early 1997.

No, I am in no way saying that I had a part in creating the site that became known as Toon Zone a year and a half later, but I was there for its origin. I wasn't a member of the Toon Zone message boards until quite some time afterwards, but I knew of its potential. Five years later, you can see where that's gotten the site - it's frickin' huge, and a force to be reckoned with in the animation community. This would have never been possible if it weren't for all the hard workers putting in so much time behind the scenes - the owners, admins, and the mods - and of course, without the general public and all of our Toon Zone members, this place would cease to exist in an instant.

Toon Zone quickly became the best net-community I'd ever known. Seriously, everyone knows someone or knows someone that knows everyone. It's that tight. I've seen other message boards and fan-sites out there, and not many appear this professional - and are this friendly towards its fellow members. It's a fun, happy place to relax and work at. I've met a whole bunch of new friends - far too many to list here - and reacquainted with a few old ones at this site, and truly feel like I'm a part of something big and special.

And lastly, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Toon Zone for hosting the back issues of my BATMAN: THE ANIMATED NEWSLETTER, which I edited (with a lot of help in the earlier years from Jim Harvey) from July 1998 to 2002. That's well over 100 issues - it's all text, so it's nothing snazzy to look at, but the folks at Toon Zone have always been supportive of my Bat-hobby and very accomodating in hosting my newsletter's back issue bin.

Thanks a million for being such a great place, and such great people to be with.

Tim "Two-Face" Leighton
Toon Zone Forums Moderator

It was Christmas 1997 when my family got its first Internet-ready computer. I was an odd child, and there was one and only one thing I was really interested in—any and all cartoon information. A few months previously I’d been on my dad’s laptop for a school project, and, to save myself from complete mind-numbing boredom, I ran a search for "animaniacs." One of the first sites that popped up was Ron O’Dell’s excellent Animaniacs Handy Episode Manual, and I was enthralled. I’d always tried to keep track of the episodes and airing order of my favorite shows, ever since I was a seven-year-old watching Darkwing Duck and Garfield & Friends, writing the episode titles by hand on looseleaf. But these people kept track of production numbers, airdates, writers—they were truly gods among nerds!

As a semi-semiregular on alt.tv.animaniacs, I became increasingly aware of the aptly-named Brian Cruz’s WB Cartoons Page as the place to get the upcoming episode lists long before the official Kids’ WB(!) website bothered to get ’em up. It taught me that a straightforward website with bargain-basement design usually does its job a lot better than a glitzy, colorful site full of pictures and flash. It also became the first website that I ever contributed to, filling in some of the blanks when Brian decided to start archiving old schedules for each show. I still have a hard copy of that page with the credit "Craig Marinaro for numerous corrections and additions" (which was later upgraded to "Incredible thanks to Craig Marinaro for his invaluable contributions of information for this page"). Finally, I was contributing to a worthy cause!

I was never one of the well-known forefathers of the Toon Zone community, but perhaps I’ve achieved some sort of notoriety for taking more oddjobs than almost anyone else. I reviewed comic books from "Animaniacs" to "Batman Beyond" (well, actually, just those two titles), and wrote quizzes, show descriptions, and fanfics. I was in charge of updating the WBC for awhile, and edited the news for two separate stints. The highpoint of my association with TZ was probably getting to interview David X. Cohen, executive producer of one of the best shows on TV, Futurama.

Then again, there were so many highpoints, especially on the WBC board. Back in the old old days, the message boards could afford to be uncivilized and disorderly, because trolls were virtually unheard-of. Now that our charming little oasis has evolved into a bustling city, much more law-enforcement is necessary, and even the earliest members can’t have the fun that they used to. It’s a necessary part of evolution, but it’s rather sad. We had fun, not just discussing cartoons, but having marvelous off-topic discussions that reflected the spirit of the cartoons we loved. I wrote some stuff at a level of wackiness I’ll probably never reach again, and I’m prouder of some of that stuff than anything else I’ve ever written (this from an English lit major!). I remember one in particular that was basically a WBC fanfic—a spoof of It’s a Wonderful Life showing that if Danielle had never been born, the various members of our board would have been drunks, gamblers, and mental patients. And even though I was the most common perpetrator, everyone wrote this kind of self-mocking stuff fairly regularly. We had something really special, and it’s one of my most treasured memories. When I first stumbled onto the boards, it was the summer after eighth grade, and I’m now going into sophomore year of college. That should give you some idea of how much influence this place has had over my impressionable psyche and outlook.

Yes, I’ve drifted away somewhat lately, as most of us old-timers have. Don’t get me wrong, cartoons are still a huge part of my life. One of my first gifts to my girlfriend was a Donald Duck doll; my friends and I can still find a Simpsons quote for any occasion; and the "TZ" is still a proud part of my AIM screenname. Still, the friendships I’ve made here give me much more pleasure than any twenty-four frames a second can give.

There’s Brainatra, Sharklady, and the numerous other creative minds who strove to write fanfics true to the cartoons’ wacky satiric nature, rather than the stereotypical "characters curse and get married" fanfics we were sick of seeing. There’s James Topp and Dot, who haven’t posted at TZ in years, but still remain my loyal confidantes (it’s easier to tell people things when you’ll never meet them). There’s Romey and Gookie, my first WBC friends, and two of the most creative, kind-hearted, romantic, all-around wonderful guys I ever met (and I did actually meet them both in person, by a bizarre coincidence). There’s Rand, who helped me to laugh even during the most stressful times of news-editing. There’s Colin, who…well, there’s Colin. And of course, there’s Brian & Eileen. Brian has taken me to work with him, lent me half his DVD collection, and told me enough that I could write his biography; in return, I’ve told him whatever he wants to know about my life, and did his homework for him on one occasion. Eileen gives great advice, pushes me to work and write when I’m procrastinating, and gave me a drawing of Gary Coleman that I will cherish forever.

So even though I’ll be away on vacation without Internet access come the 24th, wherever I am, you can bet I’ll throw some baloney down my slacks for old time’s sake. I guess some of us never really grow up. We’re the lucky ones.

Craig Marinaro

Five years of Toon Zone...

All at once, my time here has felt like both an eternity and a mere instant. When I look back, it's sometimes hard to believe that so much has happened in what is ultimately not much time at all. I really feel that I've had enough experiences to fill a couple extra lifetimes as a direct result of Toon Zone. This feeling extends far into the physical world, when I consider all the friends here that I've met face to face and the strange adventures we've had on-line and off-line. Toon Zone has affected me on a deeper, personal level as well. When a group of people manage to influence the choices you make in your life from day to day, you can't deny that they've helped shape you in some way.

The story of how I got here is a long, complex thing that could easily fill several pages, but for the sake of not boring anyone to death... I'll skip most of it. I was scouring the net for information on the Animaniacs and Pinky & the Brain comic book series when I chanced upon an complete archive of every A! and P&tB comic book cover to date. I promptly downloaded the full version of every last scan. Wondering what else there might be, I checked out other links on the page and wound up at a forum called the WBC. I registered as ByZWay and made myself right at home.

There wasn't much to the web branch of the WBC back then... Harley, Brian, Colin, Craig, Gookie, Dick Grayson, Penny, and myself were the primary residents for what felt like quite some time. The memory of those days has something of a mythical quality, like the ancient dawn of a new world, shrouded in primordial mists. Small as the community may have been, it was something like a family. Good times were had.

Over the next few months, I made myself useful by contributing a couple WBC banners of my own design. They were relatively simple things, in hindsight, but I put my heart into them. I was quite giddy when Harley actually put them up on the WBC page. =) She helped teach me the basics of HTML, along with a number of design tips and Photoshop tricks. Simple days, simple pleasures. It was around here when Harley, Brian, and Colin got together to buy a server. I remember everyone trying to think of a name for the new site. I love nostalgia...

It wasn't long after the birth of Toon Zone that new people began to flow in. By the late fall of that year, we had quite an extended family. Siren, Sharklady, Brainatra, Dot, Cutie, DanielleB, Captain Caps, Nftnat, Jon Cooke, BeepBeep (Matthew Hunter), Dr. Belch, don Jaime, Flaminchicken, Elizabeth Penrose, Gerard Motola, and a lot of others who I hope will forgive me for not remembering on the spot. A lot of these names should hopefully still be familiar to members in 2003, and the rest... May we meet again, some day. =)

Still others I've met through Toon Zone, directly and indirectly, through the years... James Topp, Danielle, NrfPinky, Keeper, Federica, Aggie, VPG, Meemerz, Sarah, Hallie, Jenna, and many more. Of course, I can't forget all the folks I've met more recently, far too numerous to list. You'll all get your spotlights for the 10th anniversary. ^_-

The days I'll remember best were when we invented the WBC Chain-Link Fanfic. Begun by Siren with Chaos of Characters, the WBC Chain-Link established itself as something... different. The sort of different you can only truly understand by reading the fanfics it led to. Through these, we fulfilled our need for new material based on our favorite Silver Age Warner Bros. Cartoons, while finding an outlet for our own individual quirks. It helped earn me a reputation as Toon Zone's resident "Billie Blatherer" and the notoriety for me to quite deservingly give myself the position of "President of Billie Fan Club" (Billie being an occassional guest character on Pinky & the Brain, for those who don't know). The fanfics became so popular that they had to be spun off into their own forum, "The Story Board". Before long, I was asked to join the Toon Zone staff, and the rest is history, as they say. A whooole lot of history, at that.

Over the years, I've been through heck and back several times with the Toon Zone gang... Harley, Brian, Colin, and Craig in particular. I don't know how I would have made it through countless ordeals without their support. What's really great is having people there who can even help with the minor bumps in life too, just by being able to relate to the weird stuff that no one else would understand.

Who else could I turn to when the blasted Sea Monkeys rise to destroy civilization as we know it, or when the Lawn Gnomes can't seem to figure out whose side they're on? Who else can help fend off the Legion of Bob, guard the Tribble Closet for me on a bad night, or keep me updated on the status of the Boys Down at the Lab? Some things can never be repaid, even if they do try to claim that I owe them a year's supply of Fuzzy Doritos (plus interest), now and then. Next time they try to pull that, I'm reminding them that they owe me full control over several countries when our plans are completed. ;-)

Romey
Toon Zone Forums Administrator

Growing up in Burbank, California, I’ve always been close to the animation industry. My friends aspired to be animators, and I thrilled to the amazing work coming out of those studio doors. Compared to the others on this page, I discovered TZ relatively late. It was almost two years ago that I joined as a member. The site and, more than that, the people immediately impressed me. What a lot of friendly people, all here to talk about cartoons! It was the ultimate escape and helped me through some of the rougher parts of my undergraduate freshman year. Over the summer I drifted away from TZ as real life intervened.

And so it was at the beginning of this year that The Harley appeared to me in a vision and told me she had been watching over me, and that it was my destiny to participate in the birth of the Anime Forum. Thus, she waved her magic wand, and I found myself with strange new powers. Fortunately, I found a group of people like myself and they taught me to control my new abilities and use them to help humankind enjoy their cartoons in peace. Well, something like that. In the span of a few months I was a moderator, reviewer, news reporter, and an editor for the new News Ticker.

The forum at Toon Zone is a unique place on the Net. I am proud to be able to recommend TZ to my friends’ children, because our members are friendly, reasonable and understanding, and our moderators are diligent and committed to keeping TZ a site friendly enough for children and challenging enough for adults. It is a joy to help maintain that community.

Toon Zone’s news coverage is equally impressive. To write about absolutely everything animated is becoming a more and more ambitious job, but Jay and the rest of the staff have proved themselves equal to the task. Our articles and references on the Ticker are diverse and interesting, coming from places like Saudi Arabia, France, and of course Japan. They have expanded my view of animation far beyond the American studios in my hometown.

When I first arrived on staff, Brian Cruz urged me to look around TZ, to probe its every nook and cranny. Well, I still haven’t run out of nooks, and I have a healthy supply of crannies left to investigate. So, as I scurry off to Japan for the year, I can only say, thank you. I’ve met great people and awesome artists here at TZ. Brian and Jay, thank you for your kindness and receptiveness to my every crazy scheme. Thanks to the other Anime mods: Mynd Hed, Machina, and JustJack, and all the moderators, reviewers, reporters, and site administrators. And most of all, Eileen, thanks for pulling me back into this great community. I hope I can help continue the proud tradition all of you have established for many years after today.

Twage
Chief Moderator, The Anime Forum

I remember the first time I visited Toon Zone... Oh, wait...

I love animation. I love comics. They've been a part of my life since I was a wee lass, and I don't see them ever not being a part of my life. You just don't get tired of that moment when you find yourself completely engrossed in an awesome comic or toon. Moments of awe are fun.

Toon Zone, equally engrossing, has also been a huge part of my life. So much so, that I'd even go so far as to say that it is a part of who I am. Really, if find yourself asking, "Wow. How different would my life be if this or that never happened?", then it's a part of who you are today ...That and I've spent the past five years working on it until the wee hours of the mornin' regularly. But who's counting? ;)

Let's face it. Between TZ and the WBC, they've been pretty good to me. They've given me the opportunity to hone my skills in drawing, designing (web and otherwise), management skills (who'da thunk it?), writing and co-writing reference documents for incoming crew as the place grew larger and larger. Let me tell you, coordinating and staying organized on a site that has 40+ people helping out was *quite* interesting! I had the pleasure of being one of the people running a site staffed with some of the most talented and dedicated people I have ever met... and they all mostly love the same toons I do. Who knew?

On a more personal level, I probably wouldn't have met Brian without the WBC. Nor would I have the honor of being... the maid of honor at Linda's wedding. And Colin wouldn't still owe me that beer. Heeeeeey...

...And now, the thanks! Me, I'm just a small part of TZ, and was just a third of it's leadership. There's still everyone else behind the scenes, the toon fans and those in the comics and animation industry who visit everyday! Romey, Craig, Jay (TZ's very brave News Editor), Barb, SJJ, Rand, EVERYONE on the TZ crew... thank you so much. Not just for helping out with the site, but for also being like a second family. That's always meant a great deal to me. That, and you've all just done a fantastic job with helping keep this place moving and alive. Brian, Colin and I could not have done that without you.

In particular, I'd like to thank Romey and Craig, for often staying up with me til the wee hours of the morning and for being on the same creative wavelength. It must've been all those evenings of improv-ing on those nonsensical conversations we used to have. Whatever it is, it just makes it a pleasure working on projects cause we can just count on each other to have a sense of what the other is thinking. It's just very cool to put a pencil to paper or blurt out an idea, and when done, have you guys say, "Wow. That's almost exactly what I was thinking!"

Hosted Site guys, you rock! Thank you for kicking so much bootie... and doing it consistently! You've been a large part of TZ's growth, and hopefully in turn, TZ has been a part of yours. Thanks for bringing so much to the site. To all the folks in the industry and the fans, thanks so much for visiting. It fills me with great happiness that so many people actually got something out of this place, and not only that, but they keep coming back! So many people who love comics and cartoons in one place... Wow! That's just so incredibly cool. Fills me with child-like glee! ::Harley does a happy jig::

I bow to everyone and how cool y'all are.

Before I go back to designing the page this is going to appear on, I'd like to impart some sound advice to you. Well, it's not so much advice as it is a series of warnings... Beware the Sea Monkeys. The invasion is still coming. They're just very slow about it. Lawn Gnomes are your friends, they're not just a stylish statement anymore. Legends of Ingkmar, the King of the Gnomes and his glorious battles against their natural enemies (hint. sea monkeys) still live on, but only in my mind. *Never* forget the fuzzy Doritos. They're great at any party. I think there's some by the couch. And you see that box there? The one down the hall? Yeah. That's Colin's office. Don't kick it. That just makes him grumpy. And then there's always that one warning that comes just a little bit too late... Out of the million plus people that visited this month, you will probably not be one of the five people that just laughed their behinds off at this paragraph. If it doesn't make sense, don't worry about it! That's just because it never made any sense to begin with! ...and that's the fun of it.

Huggbees.

Eileen "Harley" Delgadillo
Toon Zone Founder

Timeline | Reflections | Comments