Cartoonito (also known as Cartoonito on Cartoon Network) was an American weekday morning programming block on Cartoon Network and a content hub within the Maxstreaming service that launched on September 13, 2021 and ended on May 23, 2025.[2][3] It aired series aimed at children aged 2 through 6, and was the first dedicated preschool block to air on Cartoon Network in over fifteen years.
History
Background
In 1996, Cartoon Network created a Sunday morning block of preschool programs, consisting of Big Bag, a live-action/puppet television program by the Children's Television Workshop, and Small World, an anthology of foreign children's shows. Big Bag and Small World moved to the 11:00 a.m. ET hour on weekday mornings in 1998 before moving back to Sunday mornings later that year. After Big Bag and Small World left Cartoon Network's lineup in 2001 and 2002 respectively, an unbranded preschool block on weekday mornings consisting of Baby Looney Tunes, Pecola, Sitting Ducks, and Hamtaro was created during the 2002-03 television season.
On August 22, 2005, Cartoon Network debuted Tickle-U, the network's first official attempt at weekday-morning preschool programming block. The block aired from 9 to 11 a.m.[4][5] and featured a mix of domestic and foreign-imported series, with interstitial segments hosted by two CGI characters: a red butterfly-like creature named Pipoca (voiced by Ariel Winter) and a yellow rabbit-like creature named Henderson (voiced by Tom Kenny).
On June 14, 2021, Cartoonito's YouTube channel uploaded videos featuring new idents of the block's programs (which included Esme & Roy, Mush-Mush & the Mushables, Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, and Love Monster), and a newsletter was announced, with a new banner and avatar on the Cartoonito YouTube Channel in July.[8] A trailer for the block was released on July 29, 2021.[9][10]
Scheduling
The block, originally eight hours in length between 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET/PT weekdays and two hours (6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. ET/PT) on weekends, premiered on September 13, 2021 with an episode of Baby Looney Tunes.[11] From there, the block would lose time due to viewer and ratings feedback, with the 1:00 p.m. hour returning to Cartoon Network on November 16 of the same year, then the noon hour on December 20. The weekend schedule was entirely discontinued on January 29, 2022, followed by the 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon block two days later.[12]
Through the summer of 2022, the block ended at 11:00 a.m. until the resumption of the academic year on September 5. A month later on October 3, the 6:00 a.m. hour was abandoned for Cartoon Network content, leaving it as a four-hour block going into 2023. It underwent two additional cuts, with 2½ hours removed on March 13 with a new 9:00 a.m. endtime, then another half-hour cut on February 19, 2024, resulting in the block airing for only an hour between 7:30 a.m.–8:30 a.m. until its end on May 23, 2025.[13]
Cartoonito featured co-productions and acquired programming, in addition to original series exclusive to the program block on Cartoon Network. Cartoonito's lineup included Bugs Bunny Builders, Batwheels, and Jessica's Big Little World; with Sesame Street exclusive to Max.
Related services
Service
Description
Cartoonito on Demand
A video-on-demand service, which launched concurrently in 2021, and was available to most subscription-based providers. The service offers select episodes of Cartoonito programming seen on Cartoon Network.
Cartoonito App
An online mobile app based on the Cartoonito website.
Since its inception in the United States, Cartoonito rebranded across European territories through various nations and regional feeds. Following its global reintroduction in 2021, the brand has expanded to regions such as Latin America, Africa, and several Asia-Pacific countries.[15]
