History WesternAnimation / WhatACartoonShow

* GirlsLikeMusicians: All Malcolm in "Malcolm and Melvin" has to do is play a few notes on his trumpet for a female neighbor to break down his door admitting she's [[InstantSeduction in love with whoever playing it]] and runs along to put on a [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders cheerleader outfit]] for him when Melvin says it was him. When Malcolm starts playing again in the end dozens of women run towards the source.

** In "Awfully Lucky", after all the suffering due to the curse, the main character decides to throw the cursed pearl into the sea, but actually falls in a fisherman's boat, who immediatly fishes a treasure chest, followed by apparently being crushed by a large falling object.

* WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain: * In "Help?", after injuring his finger while doing a needlepoint, Jof goes through medical hell in an attempt to get treatment. At the end of the short, he's doing another needlepoint, only to end up injuring his finger again. But this time he outright refuses to even yell of pain, deciding to just remain home.

* NoodleIncident: Whatever happened to Grandma in ''Gramps''. According to Gramps' grandchildren, it was a result of their refusing to listen to one of his stories. "SHE WAS DEAD WHEN I GOT THERE!!"

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: In "Larry and Steve" they get into a store and meet a employee that is always smiling and never loses her cheeful personality, except when Larry proposes putting a superpowerful lightbulb on a normal lamp, foreshadowing what a bad idea this is.

** In "Help?", after injuring his finger while doing a needlepoint, Jof goes through medical hell in an attempt to get treatment. At the end of the short, he's doing another needlepoint, only to end up injuring his finger again.

* WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain: At the end of "Help!" Jof is seen sewing again and pricks his finger, but this time he outright refuses to even yell of pain, deciding to just remain home.

[[caption-width-right:250:[[PunctuatedForEmphasis What! A! CARTOON-TOON-TOON!!]].]]

* ScrewySquirrel: The titular character of ''Sledgehammer O'Possum'' spends both of his shorts messing with someone for no good reason. He torments a dog trying to enjoy a drive in "Out and About" and he screws with a postal worker named Ethel for trying to evict him from a mailbox in "What's Goin' On Back There?"

In the late 2000s, a spiritual successor was being produced in the form of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cartoonstitute}}'', and was to be headed by Creator/CraigMcCracken and [[WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot Rob Renzetti]], both of whom got their start on ''WAC''. It never came to be due to both financial issues and the channel's [[NetworkDecay live-action push at the time]], although of the shorts that were completed, two of them (''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'') went on to be successful series' in their own right. In the years since the failure of ''Cartoonstitute'', while Cartoon Network continues to publicly showcase new pilots online (under the name ''Cartoon Network Minis'') in order to gauge viewer response in a similar way as all these prior shows, they no longer are packaged into an anthology series of any kind.

True to Seibert's word, 48 cartoons were produced by a generous handful of creators (mostly Hanna-Barbera staff), each reflecting [[AuthorAppeal the artist's individual style and sensibilities]]. Five of the shorts -- ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerPuffGirls'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheChickenFromOuterSpace'' (which became ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'') -- would go on to be the network's first original shows, or Creator/CartoonCartoons. One wound up being the prototype for a much more popular toon later on (''WesternAnimation/LarryAndSteve'' would serve as one of the inspirations for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera themselves got back in the director's chair to create "Hard Luck Duck" and two shorts featuring Dino of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', respectively. Others, such as ''Yoink of the Yukon'', ''Pfish & Chip'', ''Yuckie Duck'', and ''Shake & Flick'', were not as successful, but have gained a strong cult following from classic CN fans.

After the show's initial 1995-97 run, Fred Seibert would leave Hanna-Barbera to produce [[WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons a counterpart series]] for {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} at his own production company, Creator/FrederatorStudios. In the meantime, CN would retool the series into ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'', with then-vice president of Cartoon Network Sam Register now serving as producer. The rebranded anthology series now showcased new episodes and reruns of the network's full-series cartoons in addition to premieres of new pilot episodes. Three new shorts were made in 1998 and 1999, those being ''Kenny and the Chimp'', ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', and ''King Crab: Space Crustacean''; the second of these would be greenlit into a series. In 2000 and 2001, Cartoon Network would take a more direct approach with "The Big Pick", in which viewers got to vote for brand-new series from that summer's collection of ten pilots. The winner of the 2001 "Big Pick" was ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', with runner-up ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'' also getting picked up.[[note]]The original ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'' short was aired as part of that "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" as well, but had already been greenlit.[[/note]] In 2002, the winner would be ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. Finally, in the summer of 2002, eight more pilots would air and the short ''Lowbrow'' would become ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR''.

In the late 2000s, a spiritual successor was being produced in the form of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cartoonstitute}}'', and was to be headed by Creator/CraigMcCracken and [[WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot Rob Renzetti]], both of whom got their start on ''WAC''. It never came to be due to both financial issues and the channel's [[NetworkDecay live-action push at the time]], although of the shorts that were completed, two of them (''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'') went on to be successful series' in their own right. In the years since the failure of ''Cartoonstitute'', while Cartoon Network continues to publicly showcase new pilots online in order to gauge viewer response in a similar way as all these prior shows, they no longer are packaged into an anthology series of any kind.

After the show's initial 1995-97 run, Fred Seibert would leave Hanna-Barbera to produce [[WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons a counterpart series]] for {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} at his own production company, Creator/FrederatorStudios. In the meantime, CN would retool the series into ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'', with then-vice president of Cartoon Network Sam Register now serving as producer. The rebranded anthology series now showcased new episodes and reruns of the network's full-series cartoons in addition to premieres of new pilot episodes. Three new shorts were made in 1998 and 1990, those being ''Kenny and the Chimp'', ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', and ''King Crab: Space Crustacean''; the second of these would be greenlit into a series. In 2000 and 2001, Cartoon Network would take a more direct approach with "The Big Pick", in which viewers got to vote for brand-new series from that summer's collection of ten pilots. The winner of the 2001 "Big Pick" was ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', with runner-up ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'' also getting picked up.[[note]]The original ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'' short was aired as part of that "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" as well, but had already been greenlit.[[/note]] In 2002, the winner would be ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. Finally, in the summer of 2002, eight more pilots would air and the short ''Lowbrow'' would become ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR''.

* DomesticOnlyCartoon: Being a Cartoon Network program, most of the shorts were made by either Hanna-Barbera or Cartoon Network Studios, but there have been exceptions.

After the show's initial 1995-97 run, Fred Seibert would leave Hanna-Barbera to produce [[WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons a counterpart series]] for {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} at his own production company, Creator/FrederatorStudios. In the meantime, Cartoon Network would continue on with the series as the retooled ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'', with executive Sam Register now serving as producer. The rebranded anthology series now showcased new episodes and reruns of the network's full-series cartoons in addition to premieres of new pilot episodes. Three new shorts were made in 1998 and 1990, those being ''Kenny and the Chimp'', ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', and ''King Crab: Space Crustacean''; the second of these would be greenlit into a series. In 2000 and 2001, Cartoon Network would take a more direct approach with "The Big Pick", in which viewers got to choose a brand-new series from that summer's collection of ten pilots. The winner of the 2001 "Big Pick" was ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', with runner-up ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'' also getting picked up.[[note]]The original ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'' short was aired as part of that "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" as well, but had already been greenlit.[[/note]] In 2002, the winner would be ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. Finally, in the summer of 2002, eight more pilots would air and the short ''Lowbrow'' would become ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR''.

After the show's initial 1995-97 run, Fred Seibert would leave Hanna-Barbera to produce [[WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons a spiritual successor]] at his own production company, Creator/FrederatorStudios, for {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}. In the meantime, Cartoon Network would continue on with the series as the retooled ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'', with executive Sam Register now serving as producer. The rebranded anthology series now showcased new episodes and reruns of the network's full-series cartoons in addition to premieres of new pilot episodes. Three new shorts were made in 1998 and 1990, those being ''Kenny and the Chimp'', ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', and ''King Crab: Space Crustacean''; the second of these would be greenlit into a series. In 2000 and 2001, Cartoon Network would take a more direct approach with "The Big Pick", in which viewers got to choose a brand-new series from that summer's collection of ten pilots. The winner of the 2001 "Big Pick" was ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', with runner-up ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'' also getting picked up.[[note]]The original ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'' short was aired as part of that "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" as well, but had already been greenlit.[[/note]] In 2002, the winner would be ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. Finally, in the summer of 2002, eight more pilots would air and the short ''Lowbrow'' would become ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR''.

After the show's initial 1995-97 run, Fred Seibert would leave Hanna-Barbera to produce [[WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons a spiritual successor]] at his own production company, Creator/FrederatorStudios, for {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}. In the meantime, Cartoon Network would continue on with the series as the retooled ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'', with executive Sam Register now serving as producer. The rebranded anthology series now showcased new episodes and reruns of the network's full-series cartoons in addition to premieres of new pilot episodes. Three new shorts were made in 1998 and 1990, those being ''Kenny and the Chimp'', ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', and ''King Crab: Space Crustacean''; the second of these would be greenlit into a series. In 2000 and 2001, Cartoon Network would take a more direct approach with "The Big Pick", in which viewers got to choose a brand-new series from that summer's collection of ten pilots. The winner of the 2001 "Big Pick" was ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', with runner-up ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'' also getting picked up.[[note]]The original ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'' short was aired as part of that "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" as well, but had already been greenlit.[[/note]] In 2002, the winner would be ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. Finally, in the summer of 2002, eight more pilots would air; the short ''Lowbrow'' would become ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR''.

In the late 2000s, a spiritual successor was being produced in the form of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cartoonstitute}}'', and was to be headed by Creator/CraigMcCracken and [[WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot Rob Renzetti]], both of whom got their start on ''WAC''. It never came to be due to both financial issues and the channel's [[NetworkDecay live-action push at the time]][[/note]], although of the shorts that were completed, two of them (''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'') went on to be successful series' in their own right. In the years since the failure of ''Cartoonstitute'', while Cartoon Network continues to publicly showcase new pilots online in order to gauge viewer response in a similar way as all these prior shows, they no longer are packaged into an anthology series of any kind.

True to Seibert's word, 48 cartoons were produced by a generous handful of creators (mostly Hanna-Barbera staff), each reflecting [[AuthorAppeal the artist's individual style and sensibilities]]. Five of the shorts -- ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerPuffGirls'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheChickenFromOuterSpace'' (which became ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'') -- would go on to be the network's first original shows, or Creator/CartoonCartoons. Two wound up being the prototype for a much more popular toon later on (''WesternAnimation/LarryAndSteve'' would serve as one of the inspirations for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''Kenny and the Chimp'' was retooled into ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''). Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera themselves got back in the director's chair to create "Hard Luck Duck" and two shorts featuring Dino of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', respectively. Others, such as ''Yoink of the Yukon'', ''Pfish & Chip'', ''Yuckie Duck'', and ''Shake & Flick'', were not as successful, but have gained a strong cult following from classic CN fans.

Fred Seibert would produce a spiritual successor, this time for {{Creator/Nickelodeon}}, called ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'', which would spin off its own programs ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'', ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', and ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone''.

Another spiritual successor was planned for TheNewTens in the form of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cartoonstitute}}'' and was to be headed by Creator/CraigMcCracken and Rob Renzetti, both of whom got their start on ''WAC''. For undisclosed reasons, it never came to be, although two of the shorts (''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'') went on to be successful series' in their own right.

'''President:''' ''(in falsetto)'' No problem!

'''President:''' No problem!

** In "Awfully Lucky", after all the suffering to to the curse, the main character decides to throw the cursed pearl into the sea, but actually falls in a fisherman's boat, who immediatly fishes a treasure chest, followed by apparently being crushed by a large falling object.

* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: The Colonel Sanders-expy ghost in "Podunk Possum" who keeps bothering the title character by trying to serve him tried chicken, scaring Podunk's chickens, and smash their eggs.

* SlasherSmile: The aforementioned psychotic Colonel Sanders Ghost from "Podunk Possum" wears a perpetual one while smashing eggs and delivering completely nonsensical catchphrases. [[CaptainObvious Chickens are terrified of him for a reason.]]

** Defied in "Help!", at the end Jof is seen sewing again and pricks his finger, but this time he outright refuses to even yell of pain, deciding to just remain home.

True to Seibert's word, 48 cartoons were produced by a generous handful of creators (mostly Hanna-Barbera staff), each reflecting [[AuthorAppeal the artist's individual style and sensibilities]]. Five of the shorts [''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerPuffGirls'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheChickenFromOuterSpace'' (which became ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'')] would go on to be the network's first original shows, or Creator/CartoonCartoons. Two wound up being the prototype for a much more popular toon later on (''WesternAnimation/LarryAndSteve'' would serve as one of the inspirations for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''Kenny and the Chimp'' was retooled into ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''). Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera themselves got back in the director's chair to create "Hard Luck Duck" and two shorts featuring Dino of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', respectively. Others, such as ''Yoink of the Yukon'', ''Pfish & Chip'', ''Yuckie Duck'', and ''Shake & Flick'', were not as successful, but have gained a strong cult following from classic CN fans.