GENE SHALIT DEAD AT 100

 

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Best known for his distinctive hair style as well as his film reviews, he portrayed a parody version of himself—Gene Scallop—in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

PAUL BECTON DEAD AT 73

 

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He was a comic book colorist and worked on several issues of DC Comics' Scooby-Doo! series.

TOM KANE DEAD AT 64

 

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He was the announcer of Birthday Land and additional voices in The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat; Dr. Doom in Spider-Man: The Animated Series; a soldier and tech in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command; The President of Outer Space, a rebel, Walter Carbonite, Cooter, Nostrillian Captain and a crewmember in Duck Dodgers; Roswell in Power Rangers S.P.D.; Ultimos, Donovan GrandSmith and Arcticguana in Ben 10 (2006); Magneto, Professor Thornton and a scientist in Wolverine and the X-Men; Announcer #2 and a dad in Back at the Barnyard; and Yoda, Admiral Yularen, Captain Jayfon, Tactical Droid, Police Droid, Twi’lek Punk, Secret Service Officer, Police Captain, Orderly, Major Rigosso, Oked, Balnab Bounty Hunter, Mr. Borkus, Kraken, Medical Droid, Cultist Aide, Cultist Gunner, a creature, a guard and the narrator in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

TED TURNER DEAD AT 87

 

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Among his many founded cable networks was Cartoon Network, whose airtime was populated by the acquired libraries of MGM/United Artists, Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears. His environmental initiatives resulted in the creation of Captain Planet and the Captain Planet Foundation. 

DAVID KENDALL DEAD AT 69

 

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He directed several episodes of Bizaardvark and Coop and Cami Ask the World.

LEN STRAZEWSKI DEAD AT 71

 

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He co-created the character of Prime, which appeared in the animated Ultraforce series, and Jesse Quick, which appeared in the Teen Titans Go! comic. 

GERRY CONWAY DEAD AT 73

 

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Best known for his character-defining run on The Amazing Spider-Man, Conway had long tenures at both Marvel and DC comics.  Characters he’s co-created have appeared in various adaptations, including:
 
DC: Atomic Skull in Superman (1988) and Young Justice; Black Spider in Young Justice; Firestorm in Super Friends and Justice League Action; Hamilton Hill in Batman: The Animated Series, The Batman and Young Justice; Killer Croc in Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The Batman, Beware the Batman, and Teen Titans Go!; Killer Frost in Young Justice and Justice League Action; Jason Todd in Young Justice and the New Teen Titans shorts; Count Vertigo in Batman: The Animated Series, The Batman, and Young Justice; Vibe in DC Nation, Teen Titans Go! and Young Justice; Vixen in Teen Titans Go! and Justice League Action.
 
Marvel: Marvel’s Dracula in Spider-Woman and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends; Glory Grant in Spider-Man: The Animated Series; Hammerhead in Spider-Man (1981), Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and The Spectacular Spider-Man; The Jackal in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man; Man-Wolf in Spider-Man Unlimited and The Spectacular-Spider-Man; The Punisher in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and X-Men: The Animated Series; Spider-Man clone Ben Reilly in X-Men: The Animated Series and Spider-Man: The Animated Series; Tarantula in Marvel’s Spider-Man; Tombstone in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and The Spectacular Spider-Man.
 
For the screen, Conway wrote for Dino-Riders, Batman: The Animated Series and Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

ALAN OSMOND DEAD AT 76

 

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The oldest member of the famous Osmond family of performers, he once voiced himself in The Osmonds animated series as well as performed on the songs used on it with his brothers.

PATRICK MULDOON DEAD AT 57

 

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He played Jeffrey Hunter on Saved by the Bell (1989).

DON SCHLITZ DEAD AT 73

 

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His song, “The Gambler”, appeared in more than the titular franchise; including in Alvin and The Chipmunks (1983).

RICHARD DONAT DEAD AT 84

 

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He played Reuben Bright on the “Cougar!” episode of ABC Weekend Specials and Deej in Star Wars: Ewoks.

SID KROFFT DEAD AT 96

 

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Along with his brother, Marty, Sid was half of Sid & Marty Krofft Productions. They began as theatrical puppeteers before moving into television by designing the characters and sets for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour for Hanna-Barbera. That allowed them to branch out on their own to create H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, both versions of Land of the Lost, Far Out Space Nuts, The Lost Saucer, The Krofft Supershow which included Dr. Shrinker, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, Wonderbug, Bigfoot and Wildboy and Magic Mongo, The Bay City Rollers Show, and Pryor’s Place.

ARNE OLSEN DEAD AT 64

 

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He was the screenwriter for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

JOHNNY BRAVO

 

JOHNNY BRAVO
(Cartoon Network, July 14, 1997-August 27, 2004)
 
Cartoon Network Studios
 
 

            Van Partible, born Efrem Giovanni Bravo Partible, attended Loyola Marymount University. His senior thesis project was an animated short film about an Elvis Presley impersonator called Mess O’ Blues. The short ended up becoming quite the spectacle and a source of pride for the university as, when Partible accidentally destroyed the soundtrack during editing, LMU graduate, writer, producer and voice over artist Lee J. Bognar assembled the cast and musicians to perform the soundtrack live when it was presented. Partible’s animation professor showed the film to a friend at Hanna-Barbera and Partible was asked to submit a pitch for their upcoming anthology showcase, What a Cartoon!

The proto-Johnny.

            Partible revised the main character from Mess O’ Blues. He took inspiration from James Dean, giving the character large blonde hair, a t-shirt with rolled-up cuffs and jeans rather than black hair and an Evils suit, as well as a top-heavy muscular build. He was inspired by Michael Jackson’s use of whip snaps and cracks whenever he struck a pose, which the character would do often to show off. Finally, he would be renamed “Johnny Bravo”, a play on Partible’s middle name and inspired by the alias Greg Brady (Barry Williams) used to secure a record deal on The Brady Bunch.

Johnny attempting to woo a woman by showing off.

            After the first three segments debuted as World Premiere Toons, Johnny Bravo became a series on July 14, 1997 with those original segments comprising its first episode. The series centered on Johnny (Jeff Bennett, continuing the Elvis impersonation), a narcissist and dimwitted self-proclaimed ladies’ man from Aron City (a nod to Elvis’ middle name). Johnny spent all of his time trying to impress a woman enough to go on a date with him (and who always rejected him in a comedically violent manner). Johnny lived with his mother, “Momma” Bravo (Brenda Vaccaro). Other characters included Little Suzy (Mae Whitman), a talkative and intelligent young girl that liked to agitate him; Carl Chryniszzswics (Tom Kenny), a geek that idolized him despite Johnny always bullying him; Master Hamma (Brain Tochi), a martial arts instructor that taught Johnny, but considered him weak and stupid; Pops (Larry Drake), the unscrupulous owner of the local diner that made food with strange ingredients and often advised Johnny; Donny Osmond, playing a version of himself that always irritated Johnny; and Jungle Boy (Cody Dorkin), a feral boy with super strength and the ability to talk to animals.

Johnny showing off for Daphne and the Scooby gang.

            Much of the series’ humor came from pop culture references and celebrity guest stars that included Adam West, Shaquille O’Neal, Seth Green and more, as well as other Hanna-Barbera characters such as the cast of Scooby-Doo, Speed Buggy, Jabberjaw and others. Partible had intended for the middle segment to be a parody of The New Scooby-Doo Movies with celebrity appearances, but ultimately guest stars were used informally. Johnny Bravo was put on hiatus before being renewed for a second season; during which time Warner Bros. took over Turner Broadcasting and fired Partible due to his inexperience. He was replaced by Kirk Tingblad for the next two seasons, who retooled the show’s look, tone and humor. Partible, on the basis of a new pitch he attempted with WB, was rehired and oversaw the final season of Johnny Bravo, which undid a lot of the changes made. Johnny Bravo proved a hit for the network, received numerous award nominations, and continues to be fondly regarded in cartoon retrospective articles and lists.

RIP BARRY CALDWELL

 

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He did storyboards for Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!, The New Adventures of Zorro, The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, The Smurfs (1981), Blackstar, Pandamonium, Alvin & the Chipmunks (1983), Yo Yogi!, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs (1993), Pinky and the Brain, Histeria!, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Static Shock and Duck Dodgers; was the story director for The Gary Coleman Show, Rubik the Amazing Cube, Saturday Supercade, the “Bad Cat” episode of ABC Weekend Specials, It’s Punky Brewster, and several Chipmunks specials; storyboard supervisor for Ozzy & Drix; sequence director for Tiny Toon Adventures and its specials; a director on Animaniacs; and wrote a segment for Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. 

THE POWERPUFF GIRLS (1998)

 

THE POWERPUFF GIRLS (1998)
(Cartoon Network, November 18, 1998-March 25, 2005)
 
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons (season 1-4), Cartoon Network Studios (season 5-6)

 

 

            While attending CalArts, Craig McCracken wanted to produce an animated short film based on a wrestler-type character he called “El Fuego”. However, after drawing three large-eyed little girls on a birthday card for his brother in 1991, he decided to turn them into superheroes and center the short around them. He would end up producing the short Whoopass Stew! The Whoopass Girls in: A Sticky Situation, and showed it during film festivals. McCracken had intended to make three more shorts in the series, but ended up only doing the one. After going to work for Hanna-Barbera, McCracken pitched the short as an entry to the upcoming What a Cartoon! showcase anthology series and was selected to fill one of the 48 slots.

Bubbles, Blossom, Buttercup and Professor Utonium.

            Renamed The Powerpuff Girls as Cartoon Network executives felt nobody would make a kids’ show with the word “ass” in it, McCracken produced a new short called “Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins” that aired as the first entry in what was then-called World Premiere Toons during the February 20, 1995 episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. McCracken introduced the short on the episode wearing an elaborate swimsuit. Unfortunately, the short proved to not be as popular as another he worked on, Dexter’s Laboratory, and in particular performed poorly in test audiences comprised of 11-year-old boys who didn’t buy girls as superheroes and found the designs disturbing. McCracken considered redesigning them, but executive Mike Lazzo convinced him to stick to his vision and allowed him to produce another short, “Crime 101”.

            Cartoon Network greenlit the series after the second short, and The Powerpuff Girls made its debut on November 18, 1998. The series centered on three kindergarten-aged girls with an array of superpowers protecting the city of Townsville, led by the cowardly diminutive Mayor (Tom Kenny in the series, Jim Cummings in the shorts) and his assistant, the buxom Ms. Sara Bellum (Jennifer Martin), whose face was never shown. They were created by Professor Utonium (Tom Kane) who sought to create the “perfect little girl” with a mixture of “sugar, spice and everything nice” (inspired by the 19^th century nursery rhyme). However, he ended up accidentally adding the mysterious Chemical X into the mixture, giving them super strength, speed, senses, flight, limited invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision, energy projection, super durability and the ability to survive in space, along with unique individual powers. Blossom (Cathy Cavadini), adorned in red, was the self-appointed leader embodying the “everything nice”. She was the most level-headed and composed member with strong determination. Bubbles (Tara Strong in the series, Kath Soucie in the shorts), adorned in blue, was the “sugar” that gave her a sweet, innocent personality that hid the extreme rage she could be capable of. Buttercup (E.G. Daily), adorned in green, was the “spice” represented by her being a tough, hot-headed tomboy prone to playing hard and dirty and wanting to pound on an assortment of colorfully goofy bad guys. The animation style was flat and simplistic; reminiscent of classic UPA shorts and early Hanna-Barbera. The girls’ fingerless, big-eyed design was inspired by Margaret Keane’s paintings of children from the 1960s, opting for the “symbolic” look of children over realism. Animation was hand-drawn and handled by Rough Draft Korea; eventually switching to digital ink and paint for the 4^th season and film.

The Powerpuff Girls' villains.

            Upon its premiere, The Powerpuff Girls was the highest-rated debut for the network and consistently scored high each week through various demographics. McCracken was surprised at its wide appeal, having intended it just for children. The series ran for 6 seasons and three specials, racking up several award nominations and wins along the way, as well as a prequel film in 2002 released by Warner Bros. Pictures. Since its conclusion, there have been multiple attempts to continue on with the franchise, including the 52-episode anime series Powerpuff Girls Z; a full reboot in 2016 that, despite being poorly received, ran for 3 seasons; and a pilot for a live-action sequel series in 2021 that ultimately went nowhere.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY EPISODES AND SPECIALS (2026)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! To celebrate the day when everyone considers themselves Irish, we're bringing you a collection of St. Patrick's-themed episodes from some of your favorite Saturday morning programs. Know of any we missed? Let us know!

The Care Bears Family

"Grumpy's Three Wishes"

To bring confidence to a boy named Alvin, Grumpy makes three wishes on an eight-leaf clover...with surprising results.

Doc McStuffins

"St. Patrick's Day Dilemma"

Doc's new Irish paper doll, Fiona, refuses to get cleaned up after getting dirty and wants to go dance in the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Inspector Gadget

"Luck of the Irish"

Gadget must retrieve Ireland's famous Blarney Stone after Dr. Claw steals it.

Jackie Chan Adventures

"Tough Luck"

The Enforcers break out on their own and their first caper spoils Jackie's plans to return a cursed gem to its tomb in Ireland.

The Loud House

"No Such Luck"

Lincoln is excluded from family activities when everyone thinks he's a jinx.

Martin Mystery

"Rage of the Leprechaun"

An angry leprechaun wants the mystic four-leaf clover Martin has that grants the holder limitless good luck.

¡Mucha Lucha!

"Shamrock and Roll"

Rikochet discovers he has a tricky leprechaun doppelganger and is led into a match with him for the rights to the "Rikochet" name.

Puppy Dog Pals

"Somewhere Under the Rainbow"

The pugs journey to the end of the rainbow to find a pot big enough for Bob's St. Patrick's Day stew.

"Pups of the Dance"

Bob wants to learn traditional Irish dance before heading to Ireland, but Bongo and Rolly must find the instructor first after he disappears.

"Find That Fiddle"

The pets must find a new bow for Bob's fiddle so he can play at the festival.

The Real Ghostbusters

"The Scaring of the Green"

In exchange for getting the Ghostbusters out of legal trouble, police chief O'Malley asks them to help rid his family of a leprechaun's curse.

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1981)

"Scooby's Luck of the Irish"

A leprechaun tortures the gang with the promise of a pot of gold.

Teen Titans Go!

"Beast Boy's St. Patrick's Day Luck, and It's Bad"

When accidentally pinching Beast Boy on St. Patrick's Day curses the team with bad luck, they must get gold coins from a leprechaun to free themselves.

"The Gold Standard"

Wishing to become a leprechaun causes Beast Boy to become obsessed with gold.