Cartoon Network and Adult Swim have announced that for the celebration of its 35th anniversary, Cartoon Network has a five-part documentary series in production.
The series, set to release in 2027, will explore the network and its idiosyncratic artists across multiple eras from the “Checkerboard· to the “Dimensional” and beyond, taking in the foundations of the company as a custodian for classic cartoons to a force for original work from artists who would become vastly influential to the medium of animation as a whole.
The docuseries plans to blend a wealth of archival footage with newly filmed interviews with legendary artists sharing stories of their work and their perspectives on Cartoon Network.
“Most sane people don’t write a memoir at 35 years old, but Cartoon Network has never been sane,” said Cartoon Network and Adult Swim President Michael Ouweleen.
“Three decades of audiences have had their childhoods shaped by the iconoclastic series and on-air voice of Cartoon Network, and now creators across every medium are drawing from that influence.” Ouweleen added: “When incredibly talented Cartoon Network alumni pitched the idea of capturing the spirit behind the network — from Atlanta to Burbank, across the decades — there was never any question. Cartoon Network started with a library of cartoons but quickly became something much bigger: a cultural force and an object lesson in what courage and originality can mean. The only question that this documentary doesn’t answer is the most essential one the tagline that helped define the brand from the beginning: You with us?”[1]
