Cartoons that networks wanted to be "the next big thing", but wound up flopping

[CassieTheDragon]

Yeah, Catdog was one of the more successful NickToons of the era. They were starting to get diminishing returns from the concept (they had not had another hit like Ren And Stimpy or Rugrats since either of those shows) but Catdog was their second most successful show after those two before SpongeBob came along. The Fairly Oddparents, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and The Loud House wound up more successful than Catdog. But all those shows I mentioned were probably the only Nicktoons that actually were. And yes, I'm aware both The Wild Thornberrys and Hey Arnold got movies. I still think it's true.

Weren't Jimmy Neutron (02) and Danny Phantom (04) pretty big hits too?

 

[Fone Bone]

Weren't Jimmy Neutron (02) and Danny Phantom (04) pretty big hits too?

Jimmy Neutron was never QUITE as big as CatDog. Danny Phantom was only a monster hit in Butch Hartman's bathroom mirror. He thought if he repeated it enough it would be true.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Jimmy Neutron was never QUITE as big as CatDog. Danny Phantom was only a monster hit in Butch Hartman's bathroom mirror. He thought if he repeated it enough it would be true.

Jimmy Neutron (02) had a movie, multiple tie-ins and merch and about the same number of episodes that CatDog (98) did. That movie was a hit and grossed more than 3x it's budget; The Wild Thornberrys Movie (02) wasn't as successful at the box office and while Hey Arnold: The Movie (02) grossed almost 4x the budget, it was very poorly reviewed.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Jeez, did I miss the big CatDog fandom? I guess I did.

Never liked that show BTW.

 

[Fone Bone]

Jimmy Neutron (02) had a movie, multiple tie-ins and merch and about the same number of episodes that CatDog (98) did. That movie was a hit and grossed more than 3x it's budget; The Wild Thornberrys Movie (02) wasn't as successful at the box office and while Hey Arnold: The Movie (02) grossed almost 4x the budget, it was very poorly reviewed.

Jimmy Neutron was more known for the movie than the series.

Here's a good metric: Catdog has been referenced on Family Guy. Jimmy Neutron has not.

 

[Classic Speedy]

^ Hey, where does the poop go?... In a, in a CatDog?

 

[Fone Bone]

^ Hey, where does the poop go?... In a, in a CatDog?

Yeah, the show made... an impression. All I'm saying.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Here's a good metric: Catdog has been referenced on Family Guy. Jimmy Neutron has not.

I don't know how good a metric that really is. Fairly Oddparents is a much bigger hit then Catdog ever was yet FOP was never mentioned on Family Guy, despite the fact that Seth MacFarlane and Butch Hartman were good friends (thus why Dr. Hartman is a character on FG but that's not an FOP reference) plus sometimes Family Guy just references really obscure things. I mean "And Then There's Fraud" referenced The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show and I don't think anyone would consider that done because it's a series everyone or even anyone knew about.

Here's one I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned yet: Milo Murphy's Law. After the massive MASSIVE success of Phineas and Ferb, Disney were adamant at least at the beginning of ensuring the next Dan Povenmire and Jeff Swampy Marsh series was a big hit and over marketed the series which honestly made sense as Phineas and Ferb also got a lot of high marketing buzz and that worked. However the buzz did drain as the first season went along and it was clear it wasn't clicking with kids the same way P&F did and by the time season 2 rolled around, MML was quietly shipped off to Disney XD and ended very undignified honestly. Nowadays despite how much P&F still gets played and talked about and Hamster and Gretel getting some airtime MML pretty much is either a Disney Plus exclusive or only gets vague mentions and shorts and playing the holiday specials around halloween/Christmas and that's about it but yeah it was pushed hard at the time. Now it's so obscure Dan Povenmire even had to make a youtube short admitting some fans didn't even know he worked with Weird Al on a cartoon and had to mention "yeah he starred in Milo Murphy's Law which a lot of people sadly don't know about now."

 

[Fone Bone]

The Hudson Brothers thing was Deep Cut. Nobody ever having heard of it was why it was funny. Catdog was one of those relatable jokes Family Guy knew the audience would understand and find funny because we knew what Catdog was.

Context exists, friend.

Also, you pointing out that The Fairly Oddparents hasn't been referenced on Family Guy isn't the argument you think it is. What I think it means is that Catdog was a more memorable and funny show than Oddparents was.

You REALLY want to get into a flamewar over this, point out Ren and Stimpy and Rugrats haven't had Family Guy references either. I'll cackle evilly when you do.

 

[[classic swim]]

Family Guy just references whatever the writer happens to find convenient for them. It’s not always exactly what’s in the nim.

When the show started, the pop culture stuff was often input from Seth and the older guys. Mila Kunis would make fun of it in the ancient commentaries because she was a teenager and didn’t understand Peter’s gig at the Electric Company.

One of the newer episodes (with newer writers) has Peter singing Blue’s Clues, which the OG staff would have next to no connection to besides their kids watching it.

 

[Fone Bone]

Can't blame me for winding him up though, can you? Cackles evilly.

Edit:

All right. I'll cease and desist now. Love you both.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Here's one I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned yet: Milo Murphy's Law. After the massive MASSIVE success of Phineas and Ferb, Disney were adamant at least at the beginning of ensuring the next Dan Povenmire and Jeff Swampy Marsh series was a big hit and over marketed the series which honestly made sense as Phineas and Ferb also got a lot of high marketing buzz and that worked. However the buzz did drain as the first season went along and it was clear it wasn't clicking with kids the same way P&F did and by the time season 2 rolled around, MML was quietly shipped off to Disney XD and ended very undignified honestly. Nowadays despite how much P&F still gets played and talked about and Hamster and Gretel getting some airtime MML pretty much is either a Disney Plus exclusive or only gets vague mentions and shorts and playing the holiday specials around halloween/Christmas and that's about it but yeah it was pushed hard at the time. Now it's so obscure Dan Povenmire even had to make a youtube short admitting some fans didn't even know he worked with Weird Al on a cartoon and had to mention "yeah he starred in Milo Murphy's Law which a lot of people sadly don't know about now."

I honestly forgot this show existed. That should tell you something about how obscure it is. I do remember the theme song but that's it. And it's only been like 5 years

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Also, pretty much everything on The Hub was this, except for G4 My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop and maybe Transformers Prime.

 

[Vuxovich]

Here's one I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned yet: Milo Murphy's Law. After the massive MASSIVE success of Phineas and Ferb, Disney were adamant at least at the beginning of ensuring the next Dan Povenmire and Jeff Swampy Marsh series was a big hit and over marketed the series which honestly made sense as Phineas and Ferb also got a lot of high marketing buzz and that worked. However the buzz did drain as the first season went along and it was clear it wasn't clicking with kids the same way P&F did and by the time season 2 rolled around, MML was quietly shipped off to Disney XD and ended very undignified honestly. Nowadays despite how much P&F still gets played and talked about and Hamster and Gretel getting some airtime MML pretty much is either a Disney Plus exclusive or only gets vague mentions and shorts and playing the holiday specials around halloween/Christmas and that's about it but yeah it was pushed hard at the time. Now it's so obscure Dan Povenmire even had to make a youtube short admitting some fans didn't even know he worked with Weird Al on a cartoon and had to mention "yeah he starred in Milo Murphy's Law which a lot of people sadly don't know about now."

According to TV Tropes, Milo Murphy's Law ended prematurely because the showrunners deduced that if Disney wanted more episodes they would have ordered them within a shorter timeframe.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

Blues Clues and Dora are both very fondly remembered though.

I'll be honest, this was all a little after my time as a part of the preschool audience, but I recall these two being much more popular than Dragon Tales and they do have the benefit of Nickelodeon's connection, who have come closest to matching Disney's cult-like fervor for nostalgia. PBS Kids doesn't quite have that level of intense fandom that Nick or even Cartoon Network have.

 

[Goldstar!]

According to TV Tropes, Milo Murphy's Law ended prematurely because the showrunners deduced that if Disney wanted more episodes they would have ordered them within a shorter timeframe.

Well, yeah, that's basically what @Neo Ultra Mike was saying; the show didn't do as well as Disney had hoped. Why these shows were canceled isn't what's being discussed here, though.

Not that Disney didn't try to make Milo Murphy's Law a thing, especially during the show's last season when the show's writers went out their way to remind the audience that MML took place in the same world as Phineas & Ferb. P&F and their supporting characters would make several appearances in episodes including a patch of episodes where Dr. Doofenshmirtz was crashing at the Murphy's house for no reason.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

I'll be honest, this was all a little after my time as a part of the preschool audience, but I recall these two being much more popular than Dragon Tales and they do have the benefit of Nickelodeon's connection, who have come closest to matching Disney's cult-like fervor for nostalgia. PBS Kids doesn't quite have that level of intense fandom that Nick or even Cartoon Network have.

I mean, considering Dragon Tales had a Macy's balloon in 2000, i'm not sure how much more popular the other two shows were. It was about as popular back in the first half of the 2000s as the huge Nick Jr. cartoons. They wound up far more successful and better known in the long-run, though.

Also, at one point Dragon Tales actually beat both shows in the 2-5 age demographic in ratings.

It's hard to see but if you look closely you'll see that Dragon Tales (which had a 7.9 rating) actually beat Dora and Blue's Clues in the main 2-5 demographic.

(source: ViewFinder | Made Here | Season 1 | Episode 9 | PBS)

It also beat SpongeBob and The Fairly Odd Parents as well, although that's probably to be expected as 2-5 isn't really in the age group for those shows, those are more 6-11 shows.

 

[Asa]

Here's a good metric: CatDog has been referenced on Family Guy. Jimmy Neutron has not.

And so has SpongeBob.

It’s pretty rare for Family Guy to poke fun at Nicktoons.

 

[Vuxovich]

Ojamajo Doremi flopped so hard they have to finish the dub of the first series online only.

It has been rumored that 4Kids Entertainment was going to dub all the seasons of Ojamajo Doremi. But I believe it was 4Kids' intention from beginning to acquire and dub the first season only (and nothing more) for some reason. What's more important is that the first season of Ojamajo Doremi was initially going to be a single show. What do you think?

 

[Ace]

Weren't Jimmy Neutron (02) and Danny Phantom (04) pretty big hits too?

From what I remember Jimmy Neutron yes... around the same or a bit less Fairly Odd Parents but still a success in it's own right. Merch. Had several of the video games. (Maybe even more games than FOP had at it's time) It's success lasted until the very end. One of the last Jimmy Neutron things ever made was animation done for a car commercial of all things. It ended because of financial problems with the studio that produced it not because it itself was a failure.

Danny Phantom. It wasn't quite on par with the trifecta of Spongebob Squarepants, FOP and Jimmy Neutron. Not even close. It seemed decent enough for the network to keep on the channel for some time but I guess it didn't live up to everything else.