Cartoon Planet
Encyclopedia
Cartoon Planet is an animated variety show that premiered in 1995 on Superstation TBS, and ran afterward from 1996 to 1997 on Cartoon Network
.
A spin-off of the Cartoon Network
animated TV series Space Ghost Coast to Coast
talk show, the premise was that Space Ghost
had recruited his imprisoned evil arch nemesis Zorak
and the loud and extremely dimwitted arch enemy Brak
to assist him in hosting a variety show.
Cartoon Planet began as an hour long block of cartoons hosted by Space Ghost, Zorak, and Brak. They would introduce full cartoons from the Turner Entertainment
library, including old theatrical shorts and Hanna-Barbera
cartoons, including the original 1960s Space Ghost
episodes. The host segments were often original songs and ad-libbed skits.
In 1997, the show stopped making new material and most of the songs and skits were re-packaged into 22 half hour episodes with no cartoons.
in 1996 (a non-commercial promotional album, now out of print) Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Que
in 1997, and Space Ghost's Surf & Turf
(both commercial albums published by Rhino Entertainment
) in 1998. The albums consisted of songs and dialogue skits with different background music not used in the show.
Regular segments featured on the show included Brak's School Daze, Zorak's Horror Scopes, Poet's Corner, Brak's Monday Ratings Report, The Top 5 Cartoon Countdown (discontinued in 1997 after the show's slot on Saturday mornings was shortened from an hour to a half hour), Vacation Spots Around the Universe (pieced together from clips of Ultra 7 episodes), Messages from Outer Space (also pieced together from the aforementioned Ultra 7, and starring the nefarious Hot Dog Men), Mailbag Day, readings from the Cartoon Planet Storybook, messages from Count Floyd
(Joe Flaherty
's local Public-access television
cable TV horror movie host from SCTV
; the segments were originally shown on Hanna-Barbera's The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
), Learning to Talk Italian, Nuggets of Joy from Zorak, Zorak's Helpful Hints, and Cooking with Brak. The show also had short live-action segments featuring producer Andy Merrill
wearing an ill-fitting Space Ghost costume doing various things like visiting a petting zoo, getting a haircut (although he kept his mask on), playing tennis, or visiting a gift shop. Intros of the show during the early years featured Andy in the costume dancing (very badly) to the mambo-style theme music or sitting in a chair reading a newspaper, falling asleep to lullaby baby music.
Clips of numerous cartoons from the Turner
library would often pop up spontaneously during segments of the show, especially during the music videos. These included (but are certainly not limited to) Tom and Jerry
, Popeye
, Tex Avery
cartoons, early Looney Tunes
shorts, Two Stupid Dogs (Cubby making a cameo in one segment when Brak asks if there are any questions from the audience), shorts from the What a Cartoon Show (including the pilot for Dexter's Laboratory
among others), The Flintstones
, The Jetsons
, and other classic Hanna-Barbera
cartoons.
Head writer/producer Pete Smith gave this official description of Cartoon Planet when the show was still new:
block, where it ran at 5:30 in the morning Eastern time. The series ran again on Adult Swim from July 8 to October 29, 2006 on Sunday mornings at 5:30 Eastern. The reason for the show's disappearance from 2000-2004 was due to Cartoon Network temporarily losing the rights of all the music videos to Rhino Records, who produced the soundtracks. Often, some of the skits would be played during Space Ghost Coast to Coast in 2000 and 2001 as time filler. There are currently no plans for a DVD release of the series, presumably due to licensing issues.
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
.
A spin-off of the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
animated TV series Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast is an American animated parody talk show hosted by the 60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. The show premiered on April 15, 1994 on Cartoon Network...
talk show, the premise was that Space Ghost
Space Ghost
Space Ghost is a fictional superhero created by Hanna-Barbera Productions and designed by Alex Toth for CBS in the 1960s. In his original incarnation, he was a superhero who, with his sidekick teen helpers Jan, Jace, and Blip the monkey, fought supervillains in outer space...
had recruited his imprisoned evil arch nemesis Zorak
Zorak
Zorak is a fictional character who first appeared in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Space Ghost. Zorak appeared as a 7 foot tall green mantis and is a foe of the show's titular superhero.-Space Ghost:...
and the loud and extremely dimwitted arch enemy Brak
Brak (character)
Brak is a supervillain on the 1966 Hanna-Barbera cartoon Space Ghost, portrayed as a catlike alien space pirate trying to conquer the galaxy...
to assist him in hosting a variety show.
Cartoon Planet began as an hour long block of cartoons hosted by Space Ghost, Zorak, and Brak. They would introduce full cartoons from the Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
library, including old theatrical shorts and Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
cartoons, including the original 1960s Space Ghost
Space Ghost (TV series)
Space Ghost is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It first aired on CBS from September 10, 1966 to September 7, 1968. The series was composed of two unrelated segments, Space Ghost and Dino Boy in the Lost Valley...
episodes. The host segments were often original songs and ad-libbed skits.
In 1997, the show stopped making new material and most of the songs and skits were re-packaged into 22 half hour episodes with no cartoons.
Show production
Cartoon Planet guised itself almost like a hokey after-school show: the clichéd "mailbag", in which Space Ghost displayed difficulty with reading; classic cartoon interludes; and strange conversations among the hosts. The humor was a toned-down version of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, but still bizarre, such as when the cast would break out into song with strangely edited music videos. These songs spawned three soundtrack albums: Modern Music for Swinging SuperheroesModern Music for Swinging Superheroes
Modern Music for Swinging Superheroes was a non-commercial promotional soundtrack for the cartoon varitey show Cartoon Planet, made in 1996 and not distributed by any major record label. It was composed of songs and skits spoken and sung by the characters Space Ghost, Zorak and Brak, with two new...
in 1996 (a non-commercial promotional album, now out of print) Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Que
Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Que
Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Que is the first of two commercially available Cartoon Planet soundtrack albums, the second being Space Ghost's Surf & Turf...
in 1997, and Space Ghost's Surf & Turf
Space Ghost's Surf & Turf
Space Ghost's Surf & Turf is the second of two commercially available Cartoon Planet soundtrack albums, the first being Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Que. Featuring songs and skits by Space Ghost and his former arch enemies Zorak and Brak.-Track listing:...
(both commercial albums published by Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
) in 1998. The albums consisted of songs and dialogue skits with different background music not used in the show.
Regular segments featured on the show included Brak's School Daze, Zorak's Horror Scopes, Poet's Corner, Brak's Monday Ratings Report, The Top 5 Cartoon Countdown (discontinued in 1997 after the show's slot on Saturday mornings was shortened from an hour to a half hour), Vacation Spots Around the Universe (pieced together from clips of Ultra 7 episodes), Messages from Outer Space (also pieced together from the aforementioned Ultra 7, and starring the nefarious Hot Dog Men), Mailbag Day, readings from the Cartoon Planet Storybook, messages from Count Floyd
Count Floyd
Count Floyd is a fictional character featured in television and played by comic actor Joe Flaherty. He is a fictional horror host in the tradition of TV hosts on local television in the United States and Canada....
(Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, from 1976 to 1984, and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks...
's local Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV horror movie host from SCTV
Second City Television
Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...
; the segments were originally shown on Hanna-Barbera's The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
Ed Grimley
Edward Mayhoff 'Ed' Grimley is a fictional character created and portrayed by Martin Short. Developed amongst The Second City improv comedy troupe, Grimley made his television debut the sketch comedy show SCTV in 1982, leading to popular success for both Short and the persona continued on Saturday...
), Learning to Talk Italian, Nuggets of Joy from Zorak, Zorak's Helpful Hints, and Cooking with Brak. The show also had short live-action segments featuring producer Andy Merrill
Andy Merrill
Andy Merrill is a television writer, producer, and voice actor best known for his comedy voice portrayal of the character Brak on Space Ghost: Coast To Coast and Cartoon Planet and other related productions from Cartoon Network utilizing characters from the Space Ghost series...
wearing an ill-fitting Space Ghost costume doing various things like visiting a petting zoo, getting a haircut (although he kept his mask on), playing tennis, or visiting a gift shop. Intros of the show during the early years featured Andy in the costume dancing (very badly) to the mambo-style theme music or sitting in a chair reading a newspaper, falling asleep to lullaby baby music.
Clips of numerous cartoons from the Turner
Turner Broadcasting System
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. is the Time Warner subsidiary managing the collection of cable networks and properties started and acquired by Robert Edward "Ted" Turner starting in the mid-1970s. The company has its headquarters in the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. TBS, Inc...
library would often pop up spontaneously during segments of the show, especially during the music videos. These included (but are certainly not limited to) Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
, Popeye
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
, Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
cartoons, early Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
shorts, Two Stupid Dogs (Cubby making a cameo in one segment when Brak asks if there are any questions from the audience), shorts from the What a Cartoon Show (including the pilot for Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter's Laboratory is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Cartoon Network Studios . The show is about a boy named Dexter who has an enormous secret laboratory filled with an endless collection of his inventions...
among others), The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
, The Jetsons
The Jetsons
The Jetsons is a animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing in prime-time from 1962–1963 and again from 1985–1987...
, and other classic Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
cartoons.
Head writer/producer Pete Smith gave this official description of Cartoon Planet when the show was still new:
"Cartoon Planet can best be described as a cross between 'The Sonny & Cher Show,' 'The Electric CompanyThe Electric CompanyThe Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
,' and recess at the Richard M. Nixon School for Wayward Boys.
Combining music, comedy, and musical comedy, Cartoon Planet skillfully steers clear of any semblance of sophisticated humor. Forced by network muckity-mucks to air his dirty spandex in front of millions of impressionable young minds, Space Ghost dragged a reluctant Zorak and a confused Brak into the treacherous waters of sketch comedy. The next thing you know, old Jed's a millionaireThe Ballad of Jed Clampett"The Ballad of Jed Clampett" was the theme song for The Beverly Hillbillies TV show and movie, providing the back story for the series. The song was written and composed by Paul Henning, and sung by Jerry Scoggins, who was accompanied by bluegrass musicians Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs...
...
No wait. That's another showThe Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
.
The end."
Broadcast history
The show's original run was from 1995 to 1999 (although new material stopped being made around 1997), premiering on TBS in 1995 and then moving to Cartoon Network in 1996. From September 24 to October 28, 2005, Cartoon Network briefly revived the show on its Adult SwimAdult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
block, where it ran at 5:30 in the morning Eastern time. The series ran again on Adult Swim from July 8 to October 29, 2006 on Sunday mornings at 5:30 Eastern. The reason for the show's disappearance from 2000-2004 was due to Cartoon Network temporarily losing the rights of all the music videos to Rhino Records, who produced the soundtracks. Often, some of the skits would be played during Space Ghost Coast to Coast in 2000 and 2001 as time filler. There are currently no plans for a DVD release of the series, presumably due to licensing issues.
External links
- Cartoon Planet at Big Cartoon DataBaseBig Cartoon DataBaseThe Big Cartoon DataBase is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows and cartoon shorts....
- Episode Guide at Brak's Scrapbook