Old-School CN Nostalgia Thread (1990s)

[Ace Goodheart]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-5RXXOV9n4[/URL]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f06Xh8EPIoo

CN India:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G22p59vo0Wc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbvLZSe4lhM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxmwNue_fi0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHbVSx8fW2E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLBAzDfVg5Q

Thanks I know they are kind of familiar voices, but i cant figure out the names lol... Now we have something to chat about

According to HulkieD of YouTube, the guy who did the voiceover for the "Centurions" bumpers (along with many other action show bumpers and commercials, such as "G-Force" for example) is Ken Osborne.

The other, high-pitched voiceover (the guy who does most of the "World Premiere Toons" spots) identity is unknown, as are many pre-"Powerhouse" CN voiceovers.

..also don't know who the main promo voice for Powerhouse was, but the voice is way more familiar. He did KYW in the early 90s, but is more famous as that ominous voice for almost EVERY negative political ad. So it's quite a jump from mudslinging to plugging Bugs and Daffy!

As for Phil (Hartman), it was obvious he was going to be the main voiceover guy and the Powerhouse bumpers initially went on air with his voice. After his death, Political Ad Guy took over bumps, but they started using Harry Shearer quite a bit before he went over to TV Land.

They switched to Tom Clark in 2001 (he was featured on-air in one of those great Big Game stunts), then Doug Preis from about 2003-04. Then they switched to the CG bumps and the girl and then I lost track...

 

[Kevin]

Hey, Ace. I've been watching your latest submissions on youtube lately. They've sure brought back a lot of memories. Some of these bumpers I haven't seen in over 10 years and bring back so many memories of watching Cartoon Network when I was little.

I remember when World Premiere Toons were advertised heavily when it first started and that infamous globe logo with the "woo" at the end. It was interested to see how different in style those cartoons were compared to how they were later in their lives.

 

[G.I Darkshooter]

According to HulkieD of YouTube, the guy who did the voiceover for the "Centurions" bumpers (along with many other action show bumpers and commercials, such as "G-Force" for example) is Ken Osborne.

The other, high-pitched voiceover (the guy who does most of the "World Premiere Toons" spots) identity is unknown, as are many pre-"Powerhouse" CN voiceovers.

..also don't know who the main promo voice for Powerhouse was, but the voice is way more familiar. He did KYW in the early 90s, but is more famous as that ominous voice for almost EVERY negative political ad. So it's quite a jump from mudslinging to plugging Bugs and Daffy!

As for Phil (Hartman), it was obvious he was going to be the main voiceover guy and the Powerhouse bumpers initially went on air with his voice. After his death, Political Ad Guy took over bumps, but they started using Harry Shearer quite a bit before he went over to TV Land.

They switched to Tom Clark in 2001 (he was featured on-air in one of those great Big Game stunts), then Doug Preis from about 2003-04. Then they switched to the CG bumps and the girl and then I lost track...

Well you know quite alot. How long have you watched CN for?

I think i remember starting to watch it around 2003. It was the time when over here we still had a Toonami channel and i recall watching nearly every Beyblade episode on the Toonami channel. It was also the time when i really got into Dexters Lab and used to be freaked out by the one episode in which the animator for Ren and Stimpy did the episode for CN.

 

[G.I Darkshooter]

Is that episode that Dexter episode the one where he gets rid of his glasses and preforms laser eye surgery?

No, its the Chicken Scratch one.

 

[Ace Goodheart]

Well you know quite alot. How long have you watched CN for?

I think i remember starting to watch it around 2003. It was the time when over here we still had a Toonami channel and i recall watching nearly every Beyblade episode on the Toonami channel. It was also the time when i really got into Dexters Lab and used to be freaked out by the one episode in which the animator for Ren and Stimpy did the episode for CN.

Actually, I quoted that info from a YouTube user. I didn't know it all beforehand.

I've had CN in my area since at least 1994. Haven't watched regularly outside of Toonami since 2003-ish. I pretty much don't watch at all outside of Adult Swim nowadays.

 

[G.I Darkshooter]

That episode was directed and animated by Gennedy Tartazosky. He basically did the whole episode himself. No Ren and Stimpy people helped at all.

Oh ok then. Im a little slow on Dexters Lab today.

 

[Ace Goodheart]

Hey, Ace. I've been watching your latest submissions on youtube lately. They've sure brought back a lot of memories. Some of these bumpers I haven't seen in over 10 years and bring back so many memories of watching Cartoon Network when I was little.

I remember when World Premiere Toons were advertised heavily when it first started and that infamous globe logo with the "woo" at the end. It was interested to see how different in style those cartoons were compared to how they were later in their lives.

Thanks Kevin! Its amazing to see how far along things have come since I first made this thread......I never thought, back then that I'd get my hands on a goldmine of footage like this, seeing as I never recorded CN myself during the 1990's. You were amongst the first (if not THE first) to contribute classic CN footage, which is what really inspired me to find some myself and further chronicle the early years of CN.

The latest compilation (March 27-April 14, 1995) is up. "Power Zone" and "Toonapalooza"!

 

[Mickialla]

That episode was directed and animated by Gennedy Tartazosky. He basically did the whole episode himself. No Ren and Stimpy people helped at all.

Actually, if I'm correct, the "Chicken Scratch" episode was co-animated by Cartoon Network Studios and Spumco (Spumco was still around at the time). You can tell that the animators are different just by looking at how the characters move.

 

[Jack_6428]

According to HulkieD of YouTube, the guy who did the voiceover for the "Centurions" bumpers (along with many other action show bumpers and commercials, such as "G-Force" for example) is Ken Osborne.

The other, high-pitched voiceover (the guy who does most of the "World Premiere Toons" spots) identity is unknown, as are many pre-"Powerhouse" CN voiceovers.

..also don't know who the main promo voice for Powerhouse was, but the voice is way more familiar. He did KYW in the early 90s, but is more famous as that ominous voice for almost EVERY negative political ad. So it's quite a jump from mudslinging to plugging Bugs and Daffy!

As for Phil (Hartman), it was obvious he was going to be the main voiceover guy and the Powerhouse bumpers initially went on air with his voice. After his death, Political Ad Guy took over bumps, but they started using Harry Shearer quite a bit before he went over to TV Land.

They switched to Tom Clark in 2001 (he was featured on-air in one of those great Big Game stunts), then Doug Preis from about 2003-04. Then they switched to the CG bumps and the girl and then I lost track...

Hey, that's great! thanks for the info, now i finally know haha.. Ken Osborne shure does sound somewhat familiar..and has a cool voice..did he work on any toons too?

I hope to find out the Indian guy aswell

By the way... let's compare Power Zone in the US and India...cause Ive experienced both and find them both different, but at the same time same and interesting.

The US Power Zone, if you take the logo used:

it reminds me of the logo for Spiderman and his Amazing Friends:

They're not 100% same, but very similiar (just flipped) ..i think that CN might have based the PZ logo off the Spiderman one and upgraded it a bit.

Another thing that I found interesting is that the music in the background for the PowerZone promos (atleast in 95') was the one used for "Super Adventures" just a while ago.
Also the animated backgrounds behind show clips are quite same too, atleast in black/white motion color.

Now, the third thing. Was the PowerZone in the US always only at midnight? Because from those 3 promos youve upped it seems so. A bit
bad time for no one to catch. Thats probably why there were'nt any PZ vids uploaded at all uptil now.

Now, the Indian PZ:

Looking at that, the first obvious thing is the different logo. Which I like more (although the US one is a bit more expressive).
This one kind of reminds me of Centurions for some reason. Another difference apart from the visual style of it, is that the Indian one moves
(like the titles in SW do), whereas the US one stands still. The background itself though, is quite similiar to the US one. It has space and lines too.

One last difference is, that although both versions showed clips from the show, the US PowerZone did it through 3 different frames with the animated background behind
them and the Indian PZ showed clips from the show fullscreen. Also, the music in the Indian PZ was different always, specific for the show being promoted.

That's probably all I can think of. I have to say that having the opportunity to experience different kinds of Cartoon Network's was great. IN my case that being:

Cartoon Network USA (93-95)
Cartoon Network India (96-00)
Cartoon Network Europe (97-99)
Cartoon Network Europe (01-04)
Cartoon Network USA (05-06)

I experienced everything action-packed (Super Adventures, Afternoon Adventures, PowerZone, PowerZone India, PowerZone Europe, Toonami)
and everything else too, for eg: (WPT->WAC!->CCW->CC->CCS->CCF->CCT5) and also Toon Tamasha...with so many great shows. Great childhood.


P.S. If anybody has a Centurions PowerZone promo or any CN Centurions promo, post it lol.

 

[Ace Goodheart]

Hey, that's great! thanks for the info, now i finally know haha.. Ken Osborne shure does sound somewhat familiar..and has a cool voice..did he work on any toons too?

I hope to find out the Indian guy aswell

By the way... let's compare Power Zone in the US and India...cause Ive experienced both and find them both different, but at the same time same and interesting.

The US Power Zone, if you take the logo used:

it reminds me of the logo for Spiderman and his Amazing Friends:

They're not 100% same, but very similiar (just flipped) ..i think that CN might have based the PZ logo off the Spiderman one and upgraded it a bit.

Another thing that I found interesting is that the music in the background for the PowerZone promos (atleast in 95') was the one used for "Super Adventures" just a while ago.
Also the animated backgrounds behind show clips are quite same too, atleast in black/white motion color.

Now, the third thing. Was the PowerZone in the US always only at midnight? Because from those 3 promos youve upped it seems so. A bit
bad time for no one to catch. Thats probably why there were'nt any PZ vids uploaded at all uptil now.

Now, the Indian PZ:

Looking at that, the first obvious thing is the different logo. Which I like more (although the US one is a bit more expressive).
This one kind of reminds me of Centurions for some reason. Another difference apart from the visual style of it, is that the Indian one moves
(like the titles in SW do), whereas the US one stands still. The background itself though, is quite similiar to the US one. It has space and lines too.

One last difference is, that although both versions showed clips from the show, the US PowerZone did it through 3 different frames with the animated background behind
them and the Indian PZ showed clips from the show fullscreen. Also, the music in the Indian PZ was different always, specific for the show being promoted.

That's probably all I can think of. I have to say that having the opportunity to experience different kinds of Cartoon Network's was great. IN my case that being:

Cartoon Network USA (93-95)
Cartoon Network India (96-00)
Cartoon Network Europe (97-99)
Cartoon Network Europe (01-04)
Cartoon Network USA (05-06)

I experienced everything action-packed (Super Adventures, Afternoon Adventures, PowerZone, PowerZone India, PowerZone Europe, Toonami)
and everything else too, for eg: (WPT->WAC!->CCW->CC->CCS->CCF->CCT5) and also Toon Tamasha...with so many great shows. Great childhood.


P.S. If anybody has a Centurions PowerZone promo or any CN Centurions promo, post it lol.

Quite an interesting discovery you made there! I never noticed the link between the U.S PZ logo and the Spidey logo. They do indeed look very similar.

Initially yes, it appeared that "Power Zone" was either a replacement for the late Saturday night edition of "Super Adventures", or was simply the name of CN's late Saturday night action block. It did use the same music as that one "Super Adventures Saturday" promo that I uploaded. At the time of this recording (March 1995), the afternoon block on CN was still "Super Adventures". "Afternoon Adventures" replaced SA a little later in '95, don't know when. Sometime in 1996 I believe, "Power Zone" was made the main afternoon block, with the same logo as the initial late night edition (the PZ logo can be seen briefly in the 10th Anniversary Promo), though I dunno if it retained the same bumpers/music. I don't recall seeing the India PZ logo or premise here in the U.S at all. Always been the blue PZ logo.

At this point I can only speculate as to what order CN's pre-Toonami action blocks were in, as there are few other people with clips of SA/AA/PZ and the changes were not documented. Perhaps I'll have a better clue when I venture into my later recordings, which won't be now (taking a much-needed break).

 

[Jack_6428]

Quite an interesting discovery you made there! I never noticed the link between the U.S PZ logo and the Spidey logo. They do indeed look very similar.

Initially yes, it appeared that "Power Zone" was either a replacement for the late Saturday night edition of "Super Adventures", or was simply the name of CN's late Saturday night action block. It did use the same music as that one "Super Adventures Saturday" promo that I uploaded. At the time of this recording (March 1995), the afternoon block on CN was still "Super Adventures". "Afternoon Adventures" replaced SA a little later in '95, don't know when. Sometime in 1996 I believe, "Power Zone" was made the main afternoon block, with the same logo as the initial late night edition (the PZ logo can be seen briefly in the 10th Anniversary Promo), though I dunno if it retained the same bumpers/music. I don't recall seeing the India PZ logo or premise here in the U.S at all. Always been the blue PZ logo.

At this point I can only speculate as to what order CN's pre-Toonami action blocks were in, as there are few other people with clips of SA/AA/PZ and the changes were not documented. Perhaps I'll have a better clue when I venture into my later recordings, which won't be now (taking a much-needed break).

Thanks, yeah, it just came to me randomly, was browsing Spidey series logos..and saw that..and bang, there it was... I really would like to know the truth behind this lol.

Cool, thanks for the explaining. I always like to know. I think that the later PowerZone from 96 had a bit different music and bumps. Hm, so I guess that Indian logo was truly India exclusive. How do you like it ?

Wait, you have even more PowerZone stuff ? You shouldnt have said that lol Thanks that your still uploading stuff though.

BTW, check out whats for sale on Ebay, pretty rare stuff:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CARTOON-NETWORK...in_0?hash=item562c80cb1f&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
http://cgi.ebay.com/CARTOON-NETWORK...in_0?hash=item563403004b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
http://cgi.ebay.com/5x-CARTOON-NETW...in_0?hash=item29fa51e67d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[WolfGran]

UPDATE: I just finished combing through Tape 5 of my six tapes featuring CN material. Tape 5 ends at April 19, 1995 (a date MUCH more infamous for another tragic event). This is the last of the tapes that was recorded in order. The final one, Tape 6, is a hodgepodge of stuff from mid-April 1995 to July 27, 1995, which is where this ambitious project ends. I'm not sure I'll even be able to correctly catalog the dates with whatever I get out of that tape......at the very least it'll be challenging.

I have a backlog of videos which I have to encode and upload. I've already uploaded up until March 24, and got one more video coming down the pike. No time to catalog the vids on YT (apparently people are being lazy and not watching because of the lack of a list of promos and time index on the video description.....bastards ).

For Jack_6428, no "SWAT Kats" as of yet, sorry. However, the latest video package on the way contains a couple 15-second "Power Zone" promos. Yep, "Power Zone" in its first incarnation (Saturday late-night action block). So......stop hassling me already! If I find anything, it'll simply pop up in one of my video packages. If I don't, then it ain't there.

Hope you've been keeping an eye on all of this Mr. OTC. Sorry, I know it must be a hassle to try and parse all of those individual clips, but I'm trying to upload as few clips as possible, max out that 10 minute limit, you dig?

How about we make this thread less of a blog post/promo request and actually talk about the stuff that you're being reminded of through all of these clips? The long-defunct programming blocks, the one-time specials and promotions, the style and technique of CN's "Checkerboard"-era interstitials?

It's pretty sad that you're almost done going through your valuable tapes. Oh well, I'll enjoy the YT videos as much as I can.

Wow! Another rare Toonapalooza(?) promo, and a bunch of commercials, bumpers, and promos that I vaguely remember from my childhood.

It's all coming back to me now! Keep up the good work, Ace.

 

[LightSpeedBlast]

I know several people, including myself, who only watched CN for Toonami (specifically "Dragon Ball Z") and then tuned it off right afterwards. This was during the tail end of 1999-2001, when the first new batch of episodes from FUNimation began airing. Toonami was in its own world within CN. Outside of DBZ and PPG, it had nothing to do with regular CN.

And most of the un-important Hanna-Barbera shows (the "animal" series, the '60's-'80's action series, the Scooby clones) DID begin leaving CN in 2000, as they were gradually moved to the then-new "Boomerang" network (April 1, 2000). Only the tried-and-true classics (Flintstones, Bugs & Daffy, Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry, Acme Hour, Toon Heads, the director shows i.e Tex Avery) were left. By the end of 2004, only Scooby & T&J were still around.

Uh, no. A bunch of shows on Toonami were in with CN. DB/Z, Gundam, Tenchi Muyo, and a bunch more were part of CN. Just PHAIL, man.

And even if they were being taken out earlier, it was not anything major. If you're calling them "unimportant" (which isn't true), then why do you care? The animal series were important, but since it was made that long ago, it would have been nice to put in a place that focused more on shows for that period. I am criticizing those, but it wasn't a bad move to put in a different channel. And Boomerang is part of CN. When CN REALLY was going for the worst, that was at the end of The Golden Age.

The shows that were being taken out for the really worst and more noticeable were Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow & Chicken, and a bunch more. Only a few were left, PPG was taken out not long after, and Ed Edd Eddy has ended.

The like the animal shows, 60s-80s actoin shows, and more should have been on a channel like Boomerang. These shows are and still are awesome, but a CN shouldn't have been fill'd with a bunch of reruns if newer episodes weren't gonna be made.

 

[Baltofan]

Is this thread still alive?!

When talk about comics, I could only find this CN magazine in a second hand store.

 

[Ace Goodheart]

Uh, no. A bunch of shows on Toonami were in with CN. DB/Z, Gundam, Tenchi Muyo, and a bunch more were part of CN. Just PHAIL, man.

And even if they were being taken out earlier, it was not anything major. If you're calling them "unimportant" (which isn't true), then why do you care? The animal series were important, but since it was made that long ago, it would have been nice to put in a place that focused more on shows for that period. I am criticizing those, but it wasn't a bad move to put in a different channel. And Boomerang is part of CN. When CN REALLY was going for the worst, that was at the end of The Golden Age.

The shows that were being taken out for the really worst and more noticeable were Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow & Chicken, and a bunch more. Only a few were left, PPG was taken out not long after, and Ed Edd Eddy has ended.

The like the animal shows, 60s-80s actoin shows, and more should have been on a channel like Boomerang. These shows are and still are awesome, but a CN shouldn't have been fill'd with a bunch of reruns if newer episodes weren't gonna be made.

Gundam & Tenchi never aired outside of Toonami & Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network (at that time). Most anime that aired on Toonami didn't air outside of the block's branding. Was that really necessary? Most, not ALL (DBZ most notably).

 

[Ace Goodheart]

Gundum aired at 1:30am Friday nights during the CN City era. It was CN, not Toonami or Adult Swim. The line up consisted of Cartoon Cartoons and Scooby Doo in the AM.

"Gundam SEED", along with "IGPX" and "Yu Yu Hakusho", were displaced from Toonami due to low ratings, and placed on the only available timeslot on CN at the time; the overnight Friday (aka "graveyard slot") from 1AM-6AM. They originally premiered on Toonami and were moved to the graveyard slot to finish their runs or to be re-ran. Their airings weren't promoted by CN or Toonami AT ALL. I guess these, along with other oddities such as .hack/Twilight & Roots, fall under the "Misc" category; they didn't fit in with Toonami, Adult Swim or regular daytime/evening CN, but catered to the fans who wanted to see these shows air and/or finish. They were NOT paired up with nor promoted alongside the daytime re-runs which typically aired on Friday overnights. That's the way I see/remember things, I can't speak for anybody else, nor am I the guru of all things Cartoon Network.

 

[G.I Darkshooter]

Here's to hoping to you get fired Synder!

Here's hoping the excat same thing happens, although this being irresponsibly greedy twerps, theyll keep him in office for sometime.

Also yossi, dont you mean Cyborg 009?

 

[LightSpeedBlast]

Gundam & Tenchi never aired outside of Toonami & Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network (at that time). Most anime that aired on Toonami didn't air outside of the block's branding. Was that really necessary? Most, not ALL (DBZ most notably).

As I typed before dawg, Toonami is part of CartooNetwork. Therefore, they count. And I mentioned some more cool stuff in my post, check it out.

DBZ did air in places alongside Toonami, but you make it like those airings were uber bigger than how it was on Toonami. It was big, but not as big as the airings on Toonami.

And uh, most is.... ALOT. Most is when it's the majority, so my point prevails.

 

[Jack_6428]

Hey Ace, the Indian PowerZone logo was on CN USA in 1996 aswell afterall !!! Check it out! I was right

This is a frame from the 1996 Optus Vision promo:

And this is that frame from the Indian PZ SK Promo:

So this Swat Kats promo might have aired on CN USA aswell afterall !!


And one other thing..i found on one of my tapes written:
Toons Agogo
Give a Toon for Xmas

anyone have any idea of what these were?

 

[G.I Darkshooter]

Yossi, did you manage to get those Toonami vids sorted yet?