Happy Birthday!

On October 1 Cartoon Network celebrated its 20th birthday. Even though I’m in theory an adult, I love Cartoon Network. I remember watching Courage the Cowardly Dog and Cow and Chicken in the early 00’s, frequently thinking “Nah, this isn’t really for kids, right?” I mean…c’mon. Even more kid friendly shows like Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Laboratory, and The Powerpuff Girls were all building on the idea behind Looney Tunes: make a show for the children, but make it something their parents will also like.

Just think about The Rabbit of Seville or What’s Opera, Doc? These are cartoons about operas, there’s no way these were made solely for kids. And so too the really successful Cartoon Network shows have that bi-level approach.

Even their newer shows are following this, most specifically Adventure Time and Regular Show.

To celebrate this birthday, Cartoon Network put together this fabulous little music video that mashes together all their greatest hits (with a special concentration on old Adventure Time, because let’s face it – it really is that good).

I really like how the video starts with Daffy Duck, giving their elders the rightful respect they deserve. Also the use of color and black and white is really spectacular.

Adweek links to an interview with the creators of the video. This is my favorite bit from that interview:

In our discussion earlier, you mentioned a scene that was cut for being deemed “too risqué.” Can you elaborate?

Ingi: There was a scene that we based on a particular scene from Regular Show featuring a character called Coffee. If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll know the one I mean. We did a spin on this that also featured Cow from Cow and Chicken, for obvious reasons. Again, I’m sure you can put 2 and 2 together if you know the scene, but alas, it wasn’t deemed “safe enough” for the video and was ultimately replaced.

Seriously, there is no way that show is for children, on any level, in any way.