An animated series (or a cartoon series or an animated show) is a set of animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can either have a finite number of episodes like, for example, miniseries, a definite end, or be open-ended, without a predetermined number of episodes. They can be released on television or the internet, in movie theaters or direct-to-video. Like other creative works, cartoon series can be of a wide variety of genres and have different target audiences: both males and females, both children and adults.
Animated television series are aired daily or on certain days of the week during a prescribed time slot, including, for example, saturday-morning cartoons, prime time cartoons, late night anime, and weekday cartoons; series broadcast only on weekends.
The duration of an episode also varies. Traditionally, they are produced as half-hour or nearly half-hour cartoons; however, many are animated shorts of 10àâ 11 minutes, which can be combined for filling a set time period in "segments" including several such shorts. When advertising is taken into account, the cartoon itself may be only 15àâ 20 minutes of the half hour, although Netflix and many other streaming services do not show commercials. There are also series with very short episodes lasting approximately five minutes; they have recently become more common in Japanese animation.
If a local station of a television network broadcasts an animated series as a part of its own programming, the time-slot will vary by region.
All early cartoon television series, the first being Crusader Rabbit (1950àâ 1959), are comedy. However, later series include sports (Speed Racer, Captain Tsubasa, Slam Dunk), action (Hajime no Ippo, G.I. Joe), science fiction (Mobile Suit Gundam, Tenchi Muyo!), drama (Neon Genesis Evangelion), adventure (Dragon Ball), martial arts (Baki the Grappler), and other genres.
The first animated sitcom was The Flintstones (1960àâ 1966) produced by Hanna-Barbera. It was followed by other sitcoms of this studio: Top Cat (1961àâ 1962), Jonny Quest (1964àâ 1965), The Jetsons (1962àâ 1963, 1985, 1987); and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1972àâ 1974), an adult-oriented animated series in the style of All in the Family. The Alvin Show from Ross Bagdasarian and Beany and Cecil from Bob Clampett also are sitcoms.
The 1980s and 1990s were a renaissance of children's and adult cartoon television series. Various broadcast networks and media companies began creating television channels and formats designed specifically for airing cartoon series. Companies that already had these types of formats began to revamp their existing models during this time. Most of these animations were American cartoons and Japanese animes. Listed below are examples of television networks and channels that include animation at present.
American
British
Japanese
Canadian
Australian
Examples of animation-focused networks and channels of at present are listed below; but some of them occasionally broadcast live-action shows.
American
South Korean
Canadian
Japanese
During the 1990s, more mature content than those of traditional cartoon series began to appear more widely, extending beyond a primary audience of children. These cartoon series included The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill, and Duckman. Canadian computer-animated series ReBoot, which began as a child-friendly show, shifted its target group to ages 12 and up, resulting in a darker and more mature storyline.
Animated film theatrical series include all early animated series: The Newlyweds (1913àâ 1914), Travelaughs (1913, 1915àâ 1918, 1921àâ 1923), Doc Yak (1913àâ 1915), Colonel Heeza Liar (1913àâ 1917, 1922àâ 1924), ' (1916àâ 1922), Les Aventures des Pieds Nickelés (1917àâ 1918), the Tom and Jerry cartoon short films released in movie theaters from 1940 to 1967, and many others.
Direct-to-video animated series include Japanese OVA series, the first of which was the science fiction drama Dallos (1983àâ 1985). Almost all hentai (pornographic) anime series are released as OVAs.
Animated web series are designed and produced for websites, streaming and online video platforms. Examples include Happy Tree Friends (2000àâ 2016), Battle for Dream Island (2010àâ present), Homestar Runner (2000àâ present), Annoying Orange (2009àâ present), Eddsworld (2003àâ present), Too Cool! Cartoons (2013àâ 2014), RWBY (2013àâ present), Jaiden Animations (2014àâ present), The King's Avatar (2017àâ present), and many others.