DIC Movie Toons (originally known as the Nickelodeon Sunday Movie Toons in the United States) were a series of

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

made-for-TV movies produced by

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...

, which lasted for just one season (2002) on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

in the United States. It started in 2002, beginning on October 6 and ending on December 29. All films are nowadays a property of

WildBrain WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of childr ...

, which holds the rights to most of DIC's library.

List of movies

Initially, 39 films were ordered from

to air, with later productions including adaptations of concepts such as ''

Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill.Merriam-Webster (1995). ...

'' and ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz afte ...

'', but only 13 of them did so. With the exception of '' Groove Squad'', which was a completely original story (it was about a group of crime-fighting cheerleaders), all of the made-for-TV films were either based on various DIC productions such as ''

Inspector Gadget ''Inspector Gadget'' is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series '' Inspector Gadget''. Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the show, including additional animated ...

'', '' Sabrina: The Animated Series'', and '' Dennis the Menace'', or adapted from stories from classic literature such as ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...

'' and ''

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...

''. In order, the movies featured were: # ''

Inspector Gadget's Last Case ''Inspector Gadget'' is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series ''Inspector Gadget (1983 TV series), Inspector Gadget''. Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the sh ...

'' (based on both the original 1983 ''Inspector Gadget'' series and Disney's 1999 live-action movie, but with character designs from ''

Gadget & the Gadgetinis ''Gadget & the Gadgetinis'' is an animated television series spin-off of the 1983 series ''Inspector Gadget''. The series was a co-production between Fox Kids Europe, DIC Entertainment Corporation, French animation studio SIP Animation, French b ...

'') (10/6/02) # '' Sabrina: Friends Forever'' (based on '' Sabrina: The Animated Series'') () # ''Time Kid'' (based on ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...

'' by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Dennis the Menace: Cruise Control'' (based on the 1986–1988 animated series version of Dennis the Menace) (10/27/02) # ''

The Archies in Jugman ''Archie's Weird Mysteries'' ( French: ''Archie, mystères et compagnie'') is an animated television series based on the characters by Archie Comics. The series premise revolves around a Riverdale High physics lab gone awry, making the town of ...

'' (based on the Archie universe as portrayed in ''

Archie's Weird Mysteries ''Archie's Weird Mysteries'' (French: ''Archie, mystères et compagnie'') is an animated television series based on the characters by Archie Comics. The series premise revolves around a Riverdale High physics lab gone awry, making the town of R ...

'') (11/3/02) # '' Dinosaur Island'' (based on '' The Lost World'' by

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

) (11/10/02) # ''My Fair Madeline'' (based on ''

Madeline ''Madeline'' is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian-American author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series ...

'') (11/17/02) # '' Groove Squad'' (11/24/02) # ''Treasure Island'' (based on ''

'' by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

) (12/1/02) # ''Charles Dickens'' '' A Christmas Carol'' (based on '' A Christmas Carol'' by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

) (12/8/02) # '' Globehunters: An Around the World in 80 Days Adventure'' (based on '' Around the World in Eighty Days'' by Jules Verne) (12/15/02) # ''The Amazing Zorro'' (based on

Johnston McCulley John William Johnston McCulley (February 2, 1883 – November 23, 1958) was an American writer of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro. Biography Born in O ...

's ''

Zorro Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...

'') (12/22/02) # ''20,000 Leagues Under The Sea'' (based on ''

'' by Jules Verne) (12/29/02)

International broadcasts

In October 2002, Disney Television International purchased the broadcast rights to the movies for DIC to air on Disney Channel, Toon Disney and

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Televi ...

networks in France, Germany, Italy, Southeast Asia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, the Middle East and Scandinavia. In November 2002,

Super RTL Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by the RTL Group. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investments ...

purchased the German free-to-air broadcasting rights to the films as part of a six-year deal with DIC. Other networks like YTV in Canada, Cartoon Network Japan,

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

in Mexico and RCTV in Venezuela purchased the broadcast rights to the movies in their respective regions. Later on, DIC would pre-sell the movies to ITV in the UK,

Club RTL Club RTL is a Luxembourgish channel of French language based in Kirchberg, Luxembourg-City, Luxembourg and it was owned by DPG Media and Groupe Rossel, it was originally owned by RTL Group until 31 March 2022. The two principals countries of tr ...

in Belgium, Mediatrade in Italy, Alter TV in Greece and Anteve in Indonesia.

Home media

All of the movies apart from ''A Christmas Carol'' were later released to VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

MGM Home Entertainment Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC ( d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video division of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. History ...

. In 2008,

Gaiam Gaia, Inc., formerly Gaiam, is an American alternative media video streaming service and online community focusing on fringe-science and yoga. Founded by Jirka Rysavy in 1988, its brands include Gaiam TV; the latter's name was changed to Gaia ...

re-released the films on DVD. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, a selection of the films were distributed through

Prism Leisure Prism Leisure Corporation Plc was a distribution and publishing company that primarily focused on reissues and compilations, often at low prices. The company was located in Enfield, Middlesex, United Kingdom, History The company was founded in ...

and later Boulevard Entertainment. In France, Italy, Spain/Latin America, Australia and Ukraine, the movies were released by TF1 Video, Eagle Pictures, Sum, Shock and ICTV respectively. In Poland, these movies were dubbed and distributed by Kartunz.

Notes and references

;Notes ;References {{reflist American motion picture television series DIC Entertainment films Television series by DIC Entertainment Television series by DHX Media