This article is about the television channel available in India. For the Hindi language television channel available in the Middle East and North Africa, see Cartoon Network Hindi.
Cartoon Network was the first dedicated children's television channel in India, which was launched on 1 May 1995, as a dual-channel with Cartoon Network operating from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (later 9:00 p.m.) and Turner Classic Movies (formerly TNT) taking up the remainder of the daily schedule. On 1 July 2001, Cartoon Network India commenced daily full-day broadcasts.[5]
In early 2004, a separate feed of the channel dedicated to Pakistani and Bangladeshi viewers was launched.[6]
Cartoon Network India initially only aired Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as The Yogi Bear Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, and Scooby-Doo. The channel quickly started to develop, with them airing MGM cartoons such as Tom and Jerry, Droopy, and Spike and Tyke for the first time in 1996, and after Time Warner's purchase of Turner in 1996, Warner Bros. produced cartoons such as Looney Tunes in 1997. In 1998, Cartoon Network India began airing Cartoon Network originals, such as Space Ghost Coast to Coast and The Moxy Show.[citation needed] In its early years, the channel broadcast only in English. At the time, the Indian market was able to understand English without creating language barriers, as the "link language in the subcontinent". Turner's initial strategy for India was all in English, devoid of subtitles and dubbing in national and regional languages, and catered the English-speaking niche, unlike its competitor Star TV. Bob Ross, president of Turner International at the time, was aiming a certain percentage of the English-fluent market, using its vast library assets. After capturing such percentage, there were possible plans to localise the signal to Tamil and Hindi.[7]
On 27 January 2003, Tiny TV, a preschool programming block, was launched. This block was later moved to sister channel Pogo TV.[19] The channel also started acquiring local series and films in 2003 starting with The Adventures of Tenali Raman.[20] Other acquisitions include series like The Adventures of Chhota Birbal, Akbar and Birbal, Jungle Tales and television films like Vikram and Betaal.[21][22][23]Pokémon series was launched on 26 May 2003.[24]
The anime series Beyblade was also launched on 3 June 2005,[25] which enjoyed a No. 1 or No. 2 position in the kids genre, along with Pokémon.[26][27]
On 1 October 2005, the bumpers were replaced with 3D animations of the 'CN (Cartoon Network) City' that all the Cartoon Network toon characters lived in. Show-specific bumpers were replaced with 3D animations of a well-known scene from the particular show (e.g., a Dexter's Laboratory bumper would feature Dexter's house, a Powerpuff Girls bumper would feature most likely the PPG household, and so forth). The retro checkerboard logo was replaced with the new 'CN' city-style logo.
On 10 October 2006, Cartoon Network began to air a new series, Ben 10.[36]
Cartoon Network launched an action series titled Gransazers on the action block Toonami in January 2007 and later Justirisers on 7 March 2007, and the singer Shankar Mahadevan sang its title track in Hindi.[37] The series after airing all episodes was replaced by Sazer X on 3 July 2007 in which Shaan sung the title track.[38] The Boomerang programming block was launched in August 2007 which aired classic properties like Tom & Jerry, Scooby-Doo, Popeye,[39] and Jackie Chan Adventures.[40]
On 6 December 2008, Cartoon Network India, along with the other Asia Pacific feeds, featured an updated graphics package which was titled the "New Wave Era". It had the 'CN' logo tilted slightly diagonally, as opposed to the previous look of the "City Era".[citation needed]
A few days later, on 11 December 2008, Cartoon Network began to air the next series in the Ben 10 franchise, Ben 10: Alien Force.[41] It also aired new Ben 10 movies.[42][43]
On 28 June 2009, an episode titled Johnny Goes to Bollywood was aired exclusively in India. The special was produced by Famous House of Animation in Mumbai.[44]
Cartoon Network started the third series in the Ben 10 franchise, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien on 10 October 2010.[49] Cartoon Network launched Roll No. 21 in November 2010, multiple season and TV movies were launched after the success of first season.[50][51] The new Beyblade series, Beyblade: Metal Fusion started airing from 11 October 2010.[52]
On 1 October 2011, at 9 AM (Indian Standard Time) at the start of The Amazing World of Gumball premiere, Cartoon Network introduced its new branding and logo. Designed by Brand New School, it makes heavy use of the black and white checkerboard motif, as well as CMYK color variations and patterns. The slogan "It's a Fun Thing!" was also introduced. The second season Beyblade: Metal Masters started airing from 22 October 2011.[53]
As the slogan suggests, comedy programs began to occupy most of the timeslots. While initially Tom and Jerry made up most of the time slots, later when Oggy and the Cockroaches was started on the Indian feed in July 2012,[54] In 2012 Cartoon network added a Telugu audio track. CN began to air it hours together each day, which even continued until 2014. In January 2015, Cartoon Network India lost the rights to Oggy and the Cockroaches Seasons 1 to 3, but continued to air Season 4.
Starting from the new era, "It's a Fun Thing", CN began to air shows without providing any information through airings on the channel, like on-air promos and bumpers. ThunderCats, Beyblade Metal Masters, Beyblade Metal Fury, and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated were started with no information about air date and timings on the channel, and information present only on TV schedules.
Animated shows like Green Lantern: The Animated Series, DreamWorks Dragons, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, The Looney Tunes Show, and ThunderCats aired, but for some reason all of these shows aired only the first seasons, and the second seasons haven't been aired yet. In 2013, The third season Beyblade: Metal Fury started airing from 27 October 2013.[56] Cartoon Network acquired the rights of Krrish franchise's animated film series Kid Krrish. The first movie Kid Krrish on 2 October 2013.[57] The film was followed by three additional movies Kid Krrish: Mission Bhutan (premiered on 19 July 2014), Kid Krrish: Mystery in Mongolia (premiered on 27 September 2014), and Kid Krrish: Shakalaka Africa (premiered on 25 April 2015).[58][59]
Cartoon Network celebrated the 20th Anniversary of its Indian feed throughout May 2015. A programming block Happy Birthday Cartoon Network which aired ongoing series like Horrid Henry and Oggy and the Cockroaches as well as classic series like The Flintstones, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Courage the Cowardly Dog.[65]
In December 2015, Cartoon Network aired two specials for the promotion of Hindi film Dilwale. The first special Kris Aur Shahrukh Khan Ki Dilwale Bollywood Class aired on 19 December while Oggy Ki Birthday Party aired on 25 December.[66]
Since 2016, CN India started showing the programmes in 16:9 aspect ratio, however the channel is still natively in 4:3.[65]
In August 2017, Cartoon Network also aired some classic shows during weekend nights on a block called Get Tooned with Toonami, but was abruptly discontinued in October in favour of Dragon Ball Super.[65]
On 1 September 2017, the Bang Zoom dub of Dragon Ball Super[11] started airing weekends on Cartoon Network at a later time slot without any promotion. It was previously aired on Toonami until it became a classic cartoon channel. In mid December 2017, Cartoon Network quietly started airing Dragon Ball Z movies on Sunday nights.[69]
The channel celebrated 20th anniversary of The Powerpuff Girls and announced a special "The Pow-fect Girls" (a list featuring 20 extraordinary women).[73]
In April 2020, Cartoon Network India removed its English Audio Feed and acquired the ZeeQ television series Bandbudh Aur Budbak.[80][81] The fourth season of The Tom and Jerry Show was premiered on 14 November 2020 with a new voiceover commentary.[82][83]
The channel celebrated the International Cat Day, with back to back episodes of The Tom and Jerry Show broadcast on 8 August 2021, using the Cat-Toon Network moniker, which was also used by the American network to celebrate April Fools' Day.[89][90] The third season of Grizzy & The Lemmings titled Grizzy and the Lemmings World Tour was also started from 9 August 2021. A three seven-minute special episode of Lamput premiered on 14 August 2021. On 22 August 2021, the Ben 10,010 movie came on the channel in the form of Ben 10 Special.[91]
In November 2021, Cartoon Network aired the Harry Potter film series.[92] Cartoon Network also began airing Taffy on 24 January 2022.[93]
On 30 March 2022, Cartoon Network India began using the "Redraw Your World" branding and graphics, like its US and Asian counterparts. With the rebrand, Cartoon Network also announced the launch of the Cartoonito block on the channel.[96]
On 22 May 2022, Cartoon Network India aired the Dragon Ball Super marathon, Dragon Ball Super Sunday.[97][98]
The new season of Teen Titans Go! was premiered on the channel on 26 June 2022 in the form of a marathon, Teen Titans Go! Super Sunday.[99] In July 2022, the channel launched a new programming block Morning Laughter Club at 7:00 AM IST onwards. It mainly broadcast shows like The Tom and Jerry Show, Lamput, Maca & Roni and Taffy.[100]
On 15 January 2023, the channel premiered Mechamato,[102] and relaunched Digimon Adventures on 19 February in the form of Digimon Adventures Super Sunday.[103]
The channel premiered Dragon Ball Z Kai on 16 April 2023 in five languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.[104]
In August 2023, Cartoon Network announced that it would air the popular shōnen anime My Hero Academia on the channel.[108][109] The channel premiered the series on 10 September 2023 in five languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.[110][111][112]
In October 2023, the channel premiered Ben 10-Generator Rex: Heroes United for the first time in the form of Ben 10.10.10 Special on 10 October.[115] And on 21 October 2023, the channel along with its sister channel Pogo premiered first ever localized version of Tom and Jerry animated by two Animation Studios based in India and Singapore.[116][117]
The channel premiered the My Hero Academia movies on 3 December 2023 in the form of My Hero Academia Blockbuster.[118][119]
In January 2024, the "Big Block Anime" (a programming block) was introduced on 21 January, featuring a lineup primarily consisting of anime animations such as Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Z Kai, and My Hero Academia.[120] Additionally, the channel premiered We Baby Bears on 29 January.[121]
In October 2024, the channel announced that it will be bringing Dragon Ball Z's eighteenth animated feature film, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, to India.[127][128]
Cartoon Network HD+ (CN HD+) is a high-definition television channel launched on 15 April 2018. Operating as an ad-free platform, it initially debuted in India, it later expanded its reach to prominent operators in neighbouring countries. Notably, the channel offers content in four languages, including Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, alongside English.[129]
Toonami, initially launched as a programming block in 2001, later transitioned into a channel on 26 February 2015, becoming a sister channel to Cartoon Network and Pogo. With a primary focus on showcasing mature animation content, it was based animation/anime genre, dedicated to catering to audiences seeking more mature-themed programming.[132]
In July 2017, the channel underwent a significant revamp, transitioning into classic animation channel before ceasing operations completely at the end of 15 May 2018.[133]
The channel broadcasts in India as well as several neighbouring countries.[3]
The channel used to broadcast in Pakistan till 2004 when the authorities issued an order regarding the ban of several channels because they were airing programmes in Hindi as they were dubbed in India.[142] A separate feed of the channel dedicated to Pakistani and Bangladeshi viewers was launched in 2004.[6]
In 2018 the separate HD feed of the channel was launched, that started broadcasting along with the main feed.[143]