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Intrancity — Almost Complete Cartoon Network Pilots Scorecard

#cartoon #opinion #review #scorecard #cartoonnetwork #hannabarbera #pilot #whatacartoon
Published: 2018-04-20 07:00:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 26903; Favourites: 68; Downloads: 62
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Description

For an overview of this scorecard, essentially, it's based on all of the Cartoon Network pilots I can find from its beginning with What a Cartoon! to being transformed into The Cartoon Cartoon Show with 2 Big Picks and a summerfest, the miscellaneous pilots that don't fit into the other sections, The Cartoonstitute that gave birth to shows such as Regular Show  and Uncle Grandpa  and where future shows were pitched to be greenlit as expected, the Cartoon Network Shorts Department. If you're planning to review the listed pilots on this scorecard, you may notice that the pilots' style is relevant to each part of an era Cartoon Network went through and you can see that the overall feeling of these pilots changed overtime like when Siblings and Stan the Man were produced during the dark era of Cartoon Network when live-action programs were about to invade the channel. I heard that there will be plenty of comments questioning about some things regarding the scorecard, so I'll get the ones I think someone will be curious about:
You haven't got all of the pilots like the Class Clown and Level Up pilots.Hence the title "Almost Complete Cartoon Network Pilots Scorecard". There are some pilots that I couldn't find (like the lost ones) because:

  • They're not listed on Wikipedia
  • I can't find it anywhere on the Internet, therefore omitting the pilots from the scorecard. Ironically, I included a few lost ones in the miscellaneous section because they have a screenshot/title card available or I hope that they'll be found one day.
  • Monster Beach is not from Cartoon Network Shorts Department.I was considering to to put that TV movie in the miscellaneous section, but because I like to do the scorecard chronologically, I placed the TV movie between the Long Live the Royals and We Bare Bears pilots because the aforementioned TV movie was released on Halloween of 2014. Because that there could be more pilot movies, putting the pilot movie into the miscellaneous section will mean too much work because not only do I have to drag all of the Cartoonstitute and Shorts Department pilots, but also the ratings as well, which means trying to find them is tough because I usually copy the rating so that I can count how many of that rating appeared on the scorecard.
    You forgot the Space Ghost Coast to Coast pilot and other pilots made by Cartoon Network StudiosThem? I feel like they're not made for Cartoon Network, but for Adult Swim. I only count Cartoon Network pilots, not Adult Swim ones. That's why you can't find the Welcome to Eltingville and The Groovenians pilots on this scorecard.
    What about the 1st episode of some shows like Samurai Jack? They count as a pilot.They're part of the full series. I watch the pilots that are separated from the series and not part of the show's original airdate.

    If I haven't got all of them, then that's alright because I got this scorecard to express:

    HISTORY

    I remember watching a few Cartoon Network pilots before I stepped foot into reviewing most of the pilots. I didn't watch any pilot part of The Cartoon Cartoon Show or The Cartoonstitute, but there were plenty of pilots I went to watch. They were:

    • The Powerpuff Girls: Meat Fuzzy Lumkins
    • Yuckie Duck: Short Orders
    • Cow and Chicken: No Smoking
    • Boid 'n' Woim
    • Godfrey & Zeek: Lost Control
    • Larry & Steve
    • Gumball
    • Pinky Malinky
    • Clarence
    • Steven Universe
    • Twelve Forever
    • Welcome to My Life (partially)
    • Infinity Train
    What did I think of these pilots? I triggered no reaction to a lot of these mostly because I watched them because I was either bored or curious. However, at first sight while viewing pilots like Boid 'n' Woim and Twelve Forever, I disliked them because the first one had Woim being annoying and the latter reminded me of Star vs. the Forces of Evil  so much, I thought it was a rehash. Not to say that they're my thoughts now, but that was when I first watched them.

    For a short section, here's my production history: I had fun doing this scorecard as expected because not only was I given the privilege to skip pilots that I already reviewed, but also thought it was a lot different watching a series of pilots compared to reviewing a full series and watching most of these pilots were shorter. Sure, attempting to find a few lost ones are irritating, but I saw them coming.

    To find the list of Cartoon Network Pilots, I simply go to Wikipedia and look up the listings for the successful and failed pilots, but since there's obviously more than that, I go to the What a Cartoon!, The Cartoonstitute, and Cartoon Network Shorts Department pages to find the pilots I need for this scorecard. The websites I used to watch and find the pilots are YouTube, Dailymotion, and Vimeo but if I couldn't find the pilot on any site, I go to Kimcartoon to watch them.

    For a lot of the pilots listed in this scorecard, you may not have heard of them because they're long forgotten, but with this scorecard, it'll work as a reminder that yes, this pilot existed.

    PIE CHART ANALYSIS

    This is almost like my Almost Complete 2010s Cartoons Scorecard where there's a lot of decent episodes and a few great ones at least great. Comparing the amount of blessed to damned, there's 3 blessed pilots (A Kitty Bobo Show: Cellphones, LowBrow: Test Drive, and Pinky Malinky) compared to 3 damned pilots (The non-Big Pick black sheep, Sheep in the Big City: In the Baa-ginning, The pilot movie Exchange Student Zero, and one hideous looking piece of crap, Maruined) that makes the bad episodes outnumbered. Speaking of bad, there's only 15 bad pilots where most of them weren't really that bad. Also, we can find 5 mixed bags with our first middling mixed bag this season (Specifically, Wacky Races Forever) and as of the scorecard's release, the most lost episodes counting up to 5, though all of them are just in the miscellaneous section.

    REVIEW

    Before I express my initial thoughts on the series of pilots, there's a big problem that makes it difficult to review all of these as a whole; each pilot is distinct from one another with different animation styles, writing, humor and characters that makes it hard to set up this review on the Cartoon Network Pilots. That's why there's no final rating for the series of pilots as a whole because the series I listed on this scorecard aren't linked together as a franchise. All of the subjects, except for the miscellaneous ones because they're not part of anything, still have a final rating, but not a rating for the entirety of the Cartoon Network pilots.

    So does that mean that the description is complete? No. Why's that? The first show I reviewed on this scorecard, the What a Cartoon! show, have a majority of its shorts sharing many things in common that makes them linked enough as review-able, unlike the other shows where there's different creators who have different tastes than the last. And so, I will do a short review on the What a Cartoon! show BUT each aspect won't get their own part in this review but as part of the full review where they'll be demoted to paragraphs. So, here's my short review on the one that started it all (aside from The Moxy Show and Space Ghost Coast to Coast):
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The episode premises here are pretty simple, which feels like something I won't be that invested in. That makes sense because it's the 90's we're talking about and writing has slowly evolved at this point and what really makes up the What a Cartoon! show is its humor. The humor is basically what you expect from Hanna-Barbera where it gives you that vintage vibe with all of the slapstick. Sadly, it just didn't age well and it's mostly juvenile and dated. I'll give it that the visual gags are creative, but that's about it regarding the humor. To really show that they are Hanna-Barbera cartoons, they may contain cliched cartoon plots like having a duck ending up in a kitchen who is about to be served. Besides, they're not very interesting shorts that are just a product of its time. Not every short feels like you're watching a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, there are plenty of episodes that are more of a poor man's Ren & Stimpy with the exaggerated humor, wackiness and it's so strange where I didn't even know what I just watched (Buy One Get One Free and Worm Paranoia).

    The animation style is pretty consistent in half of the episodes; Painted backgrounds, cartoony and over the top character designs that could be hybrids, etc. Surprisingly though, there are times when the short's character animation is pretty fluid, which is ironic because when the short gets greenlit for a full series, the full series animation feels more choppy than usual. Although many of the animation styles share a similar feeling to one another, there's also the abstract ones that really shine with their overall style; it excellently captures the atmosphere and how wacky the shorts are with choppy animation (even if its intended), twice as much abstract style with simplified backgrounds and a lot of exaggeration to make the shorts as crazy as ever. Sure, The Ren & Stimpy Show  achieved this, but shorts like the Yuckie Duck ones and Pizza Boy in No Tip tried something different with the humor while delivering its wackiness. 

    We finally have the characters, whom I don't really have that much to talk about. Like the writing, they're normally what you expect from Hanna-Barbera; the main characters are comic reliefs who are expected to be funny and haul along the Hanna-Barbera type of slapstick. It's like the writing manipulates the characters where it also brings along some of its aspects, including the cartoon cliches. The one cliche that annoyed the heck out of me is the dimwitted sidekick who, for most of the time, screws up a character's next move. My problem with that cliche is that it's reused multiple times from the George & Junior shorts to the Fat Cats in Drip Dry Drips. But are the characters any funny? Well, like I said in the writing; it's mostly juvenile and dated that it affects how I enjoy what the character have to offer.

    FINAL THOUGHTS

    Though that was a relatively short review that fits perfectly with my Season 1 scorecard reviews, but it was worth it because I didn't took that much notes on the showcase series. Anyways, I think this cartoon shows Hanna-Barbera its age for its time where there's sadly better humor and a lot lustrous comedic cartoons out there that begins to shows Hanna-Barbera's fate. Admittedly, this series would give birth to plenty of childhood favorites and without it, it'll be a different route for Cartoon Network with different shows. It's a good thing that most of the ones that feel new like The Powerpuff Girls  and Dexter's Laboratory  were picked up as a series but still...
    It's mostly what you expect from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon; emphasis on the slapstick and funny characters, but there aren't really much that stands out of this showcase, other than sometimes being unique with the wackiness and ideas, that utilizes cartoon cliches on both the writing and characters and the animation often being unappealing to me.And besides, I didn't think the shorts from the What a Cartoon! show are that funny, even the best shorts from this showcase of what you expect from Hanna-Barbera. I mean, there isn't that much bad about this series, but it's ALRIGHT (65%), nothing special.

    Epilogue: Like what I said in the review, the first bunch of shorts were more targeted towards children, and later on a few pilots would try to find a voice in teenagers and even adults to get them interested into Cartoon Network. I did feel like I'm too old to watch a showcase aimed specifically for children, but I can say that I'm reliving the memories again.

    Related content
    Comments: 39

    RattlerJones [2023-02-21 09:20:38 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    conor08 [2022-11-01 08:35:46 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    souletyler [2022-08-31 23:50:31 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    vl106 [2021-06-22 01:15:01 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Intrancity In reply to vl106 [2021-06-22 03:38:07 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    vl106 In reply to Intrancity [2021-06-22 20:36:26 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    KidBobobo In reply to vl106 [2021-09-15 23:38:34 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    1033Forest [2021-06-22 01:00:49 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Intrancity In reply to 1033Forest [2021-06-22 03:37:53 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    Hissy33 [2021-05-18 02:29:46 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    Locopoton1 [2020-05-03 02:44:48 +0000 UTC]

    You forgot the Evil Con Carne pilot.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Intrancity In reply to Locopoton1 [2020-05-03 03:02:44 +0000 UTC]

    It was produced in 2000 but did not premiere until the show's release date when it was part of the series and not the 1st Big Pick. Its original show, Grim & Evil, had the pilot episode "Meet the Reaper" submitted rather than the pilot for Evil Con Carne. In other words, it's not a stand-alone pilot.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Locopoton1 In reply to Intrancity [2020-05-03 03:12:12 +0000 UTC]

    Okay.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    DannyD1997 [2020-01-02 01:11:52 +0000 UTC]

    How is Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi unsatisfactory?

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Adrielle-Akuryo In reply to DannyD1997 [2020-07-22 20:37:09 +0000 UTC]

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    DannyD1997 In reply to Adrielle-Akuryo [2020-07-23 00:14:51 +0000 UTC]

    Oh

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    oddypants [2019-09-20 13:14:58 +0000 UTC]

    - Mentions Johnny Bravo
    - Links to the Billy and Mandy/Evil Con Carne scorecard

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    BojHater1990 [2019-05-04 18:44:07 +0000 UTC]

    Top 10:
    #10: Gumball
    #9: Trevor
    #8: Craig of the Creek
    #7: Cow and Chicken
    #6: Unica Cartoon
    #5: Captain Sturdy
    #4: Awfully Lucky
    #3: A Kitty Bobo Show
    #2: Lowbrow
    #1: Pinky Malinky

    Bottom 10:
    #10: Malcom and Melvin
    #9: My Freaky Family
    #8: Twelve Forever
    #7: Irazu
    #6: Paranormal Roommates
    #5: Welcome to Wackamo
    #4: Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
    #3: Private Eye Princess
    #2: Exchange Student Zero
    #1: MARUINED!!!!!!!

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    Towers-of-Obscure [2018-11-18 15:46:34 +0000 UTC]

    Mars Safari... GOOD?! I never!

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    HugeTFPFan [2018-10-23 07:34:41 +0000 UTC]

    Based on your thoughts on the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi pilot, I'm interested in seeing a Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi scorecard from you. I did one but I am updating it so it would have title cards instead of screenshots, now that I realized that I can just take pictures of the title cards. 

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    richardgamerxx [2018-09-07 18:41:27 +0000 UTC]

    porque hay un hueco vacio que esta marcado lost?

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Intrancity In reply to richardgamerxx [2018-09-07 19:06:32 +0000 UTC]

    está destinado a representar al piloto desaparecido de Camp Lazlo.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    richardgamerxx [2018-09-02 20:45:09 +0000 UTC]

    cual es el piloto que esta debajo de gumball?

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Intrancity In reply to richardgamerxx [2018-09-02 20:52:21 +0000 UTC]

    Little Rikke

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    richardgamerxx In reply to Intrancity [2018-09-02 20:54:14 +0000 UTC]

    gracis por decirme el nombre del piloto perdido, pero me referia al piloto que tiene en ranking SWELL

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Intrancity In reply to richardgamerxx [2018-09-02 20:56:29 +0000 UTC]

    Oh culpa mía, su nombre es The ATM.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    richardgamerxx In reply to Intrancity [2018-09-02 20:58:06 +0000 UTC]

    gracias

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    TheReviewer20 [2018-09-01 23:43:38 +0000 UTC]

    So some of the pilots became unlost, and one manages to be Bottom 5 material. What a development.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    Shadowstalker55 [2018-08-11 13:03:04 +0000 UTC]

    I like the Phish And Chips, the one with the Shark and Cat character.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    richardgamerxx [2018-07-01 01:03:33 +0000 UTC]

    what are the lost pilots?

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    Intrancity In reply to richardgamerxx [2018-07-01 01:05:44 +0000 UTC]

    read the first question in the description.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    ivanlerma [2018-04-22 00:18:20 +0000 UTC]

    Infinity Train gets a pass, but Victor & Valentino receives a mix rating.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    Waluigi333 [2018-04-21 00:43:06 +0000 UTC]

    420 is the best day for this. 

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    DTH-Incorproductions [2018-04-20 19:28:37 +0000 UTC]

    So...you disliked the Family Guy pilot and liked the Robot Jones pilot.


    Intriguing. Damn....Gennedy Tartavosky did gross out (Maruined)? Ugly....

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    WorldFlower [2018-04-20 11:59:50 +0000 UTC]

    You liked Re-Animated? 

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    SI-LLY [2018-04-20 11:16:55 +0000 UTC]

    the hi-hi puffy amiyumi pilot was recently found
    vimeo.com/263460712

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    TheReviewer20 [2018-04-20 09:59:51 +0000 UTC]

    You did not like Twelve Forever....that is probably te only Controchoice I could find on here. The others I know too little about. But you liking Pinky Malinky is also pretty unpopular.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    DTH-Incorproductions In reply to TheReviewer20 [2018-04-20 19:28:12 +0000 UTC]

    He liked the Robot Jones pilot....

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0

    Yellow-Spider-Kitty [2018-04-20 08:24:19 +0000 UTC]

    Swell? Did Drew Pickles make this scorecard?

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0