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Description
Would you look at that! An anniversary piece out in the month it should be!

Starting off we have Chowder, created by C.H. GreenBlatt and premiering on the 2nd in 2007. Set in the fictional city of Marzipan, in where the economy is based around food and the citizens birth names are derived from exotic dishes, we follow the titular cat/bear/rabbit hybrid working as an apprentice under Mung Dahl and doing his best to become the best chef ever, in spite of his absent-mindedness and voracious appetite getting in the way. This show was a personal favourite of mine growing up, as I vividly remember tuning in early on weekend mornings to catch for any new episodes and simply adoring quirky cast of characters and the splendid randomness of its humour. Though initially going overlooked in its vigour, I was pleasantly surprised to find the series picking up attention years after its end, even if it is mainly through recirculating clips of its fourth wall humour.

Swingin’ onto the channel around the 3rd in 2006, Class of 3000 is actually one of two CN animated originals to be based around a real-life musical artist. The series’ inception began when the creator, Thomas Lynch, came to meet with his old friend and then-vice president of the network, Mike Lazzo, to discuss the idea of making a musically-inclined cartoon. Sharing a fondness towards the work of hip-hop duo, Outkast, they contacted André 3000 with the proposal of taking his album, The Love Below, and reworking into a show for Adult Swim. André felt the idea a tad uninspired however and decided to get more creatively involved with the project, with the setting and characters overtime taking more directly inspiration from André’s own childhood in Atlanta and the various people he knew growing up. What spawned from all this labour was the story of Sunny Bridges, both voiced and based off André himself, an in-universe renowned record artist who after losing his passion for music, learns to rekindle his love through becoming a music teacher at the Westley School of Performing Arts. Despite receiving positive reception, regime changes at the network, combined with scheduling conflicts with the musical talent involved, resulted in it ending after a short two season run.

Also premiering on the 3rd, this time in 2014, is one of Cartoon Network’s two original mini-series. The series initially went under the title “Tome of the Unknown” before becoming what is known now was Over the Garden Wall, in where two brothers named Wirt and Greg navigate a mysterious forest in an effort to get back home whilst braving the unknown, meeting people of both friendly and deceitful agenda along the way. This compelling narrative told quaintly through a ten eleven-minute episode run is elevated through surprisingly dark elements used sparingly throughout, a 1900s-inspired sountrack and settings that invoke themes of Autumn time all coupled together to create a distinct atmosphere. As such the series has garnered critical acclaim from both audiences and television critics alike, with its creator, Patrick McHale, going on to continue the series in the form of comics and graphic novels. For many in the western animation fandom space, this stands as a good treat to put on during the Halloween season.

Lastly for this piece, we have the brain child of Rebecca Sugar renowned across the internet ever since its premiere on the 4th in 2013. Steven Universe recounts the coming-of-age story of a human child secretly half-born of an shape-shifting extraterrestrial species called Gems, his deceased mother having rebelled against her leaders in order to protect the Earth. Over the course of the series, both Steven and his caretakers, the Crystal Gems, are faced with the pressure of stopping a hostile invasion and working together to protect Beach City from corrupted Gem monsters. From this setup the series tackles themes of family, identity and interpersonal relationships, maintaining a balancing act of lighthearted misadventures and emotionally gut-punching character arcs. Most notably however is how much of an important milestone the show was for LGBT themes becoming less uncommon in mainstream media. While many cartoons prior had alluded to or featured homosexuality in small bits, SU saw these topics tackled head-on and featured prominently. Like it or not, it’s cultural impact is undeniable and many thanks can be contributed to it for the increase in gay couple representation in animation over the years.

Three more to go...

Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-January-and-February
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-March
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-April-Part-One
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-April-Part-Two
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-May
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-June
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-July-Part-One
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-July-Part-Two
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-August-Part-One
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-August-Part-Two
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-September
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-October
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-November-Part-Two
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-November-Part-Three
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-December

Description
Would you look at that! An anniversary piece out in the month it should be!

Starting off we have Chowder, created by C.H. GreenBlatt and premiering on the 2nd in 2007. Set in the fictional city of Marzipan, in where the economy is based around food and the citizens birth names are derived from exotic dishes, we follow the titular cat/bear/rabbit hybrid working as an apprentice under Mung Dahl and doing his best to become the best chef ever, in spite of his absent-mindedness and voracious appetite getting in the way. This show was a personal favourite of mine growing up, as I vividly remember tuning in early on weekend mornings to catch for any new episodes and simply adoring quirky cast of characters and the splendid randomness of its humour. Though initially going overlooked in its vigour, I was pleasantly surprised to find the series picking up attention years after its end, even if it is mainly through recirculating clips of its fourth wall humour.

Swingin’ onto the channel around the 3rd in 2006, Class of 3000 is actually one of two CN animated originals to be based around a real-life musical artist. The series’ inception began when the creator, Thomas Lynch, came to meet with his old friend and then-vice president of the network, Mike Lazzo, to discuss the idea of making a musically-inclined cartoon. Sharing a fondness towards the work of hip-hop duo, Outkast, they contacted André 3000 with the proposal of taking his album, The Love Below, and reworking into a show for Adult Swim. André felt the idea a tad uninspired however and decided to get more creatively involved with the project, with the setting and characters overtime taking more directly inspiration from André’s own childhood in Atlanta and the various people he knew growing up. What spawned from all this labour was the story of Sunny Bridges, both voiced and based off André himself, an in-universe renowned record artist who after losing his passion for music, learns to rekindle his love through becoming a music teacher at the Westley School of Performing Arts. Despite receiving positive reception, regime changes at the network, combined with scheduling conflicts with the musical talent involved, resulted in it ending after a short two season run.

Also premiering on the 3rd, this time in 2014, is one of Cartoon Network’s two original mini-series. The series initially went under the title “Tome of the Unknown” before becoming what is known now was Over the Garden Wall, in where two brothers named Wirt and Greg navigate a mysterious forest in an effort to get back home whilst braving the unknown, meeting people of both friendly and deceitful agenda along the way. This compelling narrative told quaintly through a ten eleven-minute episode run is elevated through surprisingly dark elements used sparingly throughout, a 1900s-inspired sountrack and settings that invoke themes of Autumn time all coupled together to create a distinct atmosphere. As such the series has garnered critical acclaim from both audiences and television critics alike, with its creator, Patrick McHale, going on to continue the series in the form of comics and graphic novels. For many in the western animation fandom space, this stands as a good treat to put on during the Halloween season.

Lastly for this piece, we have the brain child of Rebecca Sugar renowned across the internet ever since its premiere on the 4th in 2013. Steven Universe recounts the coming-of-age story of a human child secretly half-born of an shape-shifting extraterrestrial species called Gems, his deceased mother having rebelled against her leaders in order to protect the Earth. Over the course of the series, both Steven and his caretakers, the Crystal Gems, are faced with the pressure of stopping a hostile invasion and working together to protect Beach City from corrupted Gem monsters. From this setup the series tackles themes of family, identity and interpersonal relationships, maintaining a balancing act of lighthearted misadventures and emotionally gut-punching character arcs. Most notably however is how much of an important milestone the show was for LGBT themes becoming less uncommon in mainstream media. While many cartoons prior had alluded to or featured homosexuality in small bits, SU saw these topics tackled head-on and featured prominently. Like it or not, it’s cultural impact is undeniable and many thanks can be contributed to it for the increase in gay couple representation in animation over the years.

Three more to go...

Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-January-and-February
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-March
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-April-Part-One
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-April-Part-Two
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-May
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-June
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-July-Part-One
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-July-Part-Two
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-August-Part-One
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-August-Part-Two
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-September
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-October
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-November-Part-Two
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-November-Part-Three
Cartoon-Network-Birthdays-of-December