''The Cartoonstitute'' was a planned

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

project created by Cartoon Network's executive

Rob Sorcher Robert Sorcher (born December 22, 1961) is an American television executive producer for Warner Bros. Television Group. Sorcher was formerly executive vice president and global chief content officer at Cartoon Network, starting his job in 2008, ...

that would have been a showcase for animated shorts created without the interference of network executives and

focus testing A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...

. It was headed by

Craig McCracken Craig McCracken (born March 31, 1971) is an American animator, writer, producer, director, storyboard artist, and designer known for creating the Cartoon Network's ''The Powerpuff Girls'' and '' Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'', Disney Chann ...

(creator of ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Telev ...

'', ''

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' (also known as ''Foster's Home'', or simply ''Foster's'' for short) is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios as ...

'', ''

Wander Over Yonder ''Wander Over Yonder'' is an American animated television series that aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Created by Craig McCracken, it follows the adventures of the optimistic Wander, who rides across the galaxy to help the inhabitants of v ...

'' and ''

Kid Cosmic ''Kid Cosmic'' is an American animated superhero television series created by Craig McCracken for Netflix. The show is based on his 2009 comic The Kid From Planet Earth. Produced in-house by Netflix Animation, the show is McCracken's first to h ...

'') and

Rob Renzetti Robert John Renzetti is an American animator and author. Renzetti is known for creating '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'' and the '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' series '' Mina and the Count'' for Nickelodeon, directing ''Dexter's Laboratory'', ''The Powerp ...

(creator of ''

My Life as a Teenage Robot ''My Life as a Teenage Robot'' is an American animated superhero comedy television series created by Rob Renzetti for Nickelodeon. It was produced by Frederator Studios and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Set in the fictional town of Tremorton, t ...

''). 39 shorts for the project were in development at

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the production arm of Cartoon Network, and started operating ...

, but only 14 of these were completed. Eventually, balancing 5 upcoming shows and adding another proved difficult and the project was scrapped. Of the shorts which were made, only ''

Regular Show ''Regular Show'' (known as ''Regular Show in Space'' during its eighth season) is an American animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017, over the course of eight seasons a ...

'' and ''

Uncle Grandpa ''Uncle Grandpa'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 2, 2013 to June 30, 2017. It is based on Browngardt's animated short of the same name from the unaired '' Cartoons ...

'' have been greenlit to become animated series. On May 7, 2010, Cartoon Network released nearly all of the shorts to their website. The only shorts not released were ''Maruined'', ''3 Dog Band'', and ''Joey to the World''.

History

The series was first announced on April 3, 2008, at

's annual upfront in New York City. The project was to be similar to ''

The Cartoon Cartoon Show ''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by the ...

'' (also known as the ''What a Cartoon! Show'') which aired on the network more than a decade earlier and gave birth to some of the channel's first animated series, such as ''

Dexter's Laboratory ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a hi ...

'', ''

'' and ''

Cow and Chicken ''Cow and Chicken'' is an American animated comedy television series created by David Feiss for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the third of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. It follows the ...

''. ''The Cartoonstitute'' was to establish a think tank and create an environment in which animators can create characters and stories. A section of

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...

, was set aside exclusively for the project. The "Cartoonstitute" name was imagined by Lauren Faust, the wife of

. The first short to appear legally online via

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

was "3 Dog Band: Get It Together" on July 29, 2009. On September 26, 2009, all 14 completed shorts were posted on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and the account was deleted shortly after posting them.

List of completed shorts

All shorts of the project were developed and produced in 2009, despite their release in 2010.

Rejected

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartoonstitute, The Unaired television shows